Computer Networks

BY
K THYAGARAJAN, ICT Head
1. Andrew S. Tanenbaum,”Computer Networks”, Fourth
Edition, Pearson Education.

K Thyagarajan , Assoc Professor , Dept Of

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 UNIT-2
Medium Access control Sub layer

◼ The Channel Allocation Problem

◼ Static Channel Allocation in LANs and MANs
◼ The traditional way of allocating a single channel,
such as a telephone, among multiple competing
users is Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM).
◼ If there are N users, the bandwidth is divided into N
equal-sized portions ,each user being assigned one
portion. Since each user has a private frequency
band, there is no interference between users.
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◼ When there is only a small and constant number of
users, each of which has a heavy (buffered) load of
traffic, FDM is a simple and efficient allocation
mechanism.
◼ However, when the number of senders is large and
continuously varying or the traffic is bursty, FDM
presents some problems.
◼ If the spectrum is cut up into N regions and fewer than N
users are currently interested in communicating, a large
piece of valuable spectrum will be wasted

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◼ The poor performance of static FDM can easily be seen
from a simple queueing theory calculation.
◼ Let us start with the mean time delay, T, for a channel of
capacity C bps, with an arrival rate of λ frames/sec,
each frame having a length drawn from an exponential
probability density function with mean 1/µ bits/frame.
◼ With these parameters the arrival rate is λ frames/sec
and the service rate is µC frames/sec. From queueing
theory it can be shown that for Poisson arrival and
service times,

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◼ Now let us divide the single channel into N
independent sub channels, each with capacity C/N
bps. The mean input rate on each of the sub
channels will now be λ/N. Recomputing T we get

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 • Dynamic Channel Allocation in LANs and MANs
• five key assumptions, described below
◼ Station Model. The model consists of N
independent stations (e.g., computers, telephones,
or personal communicators), each with a program or
user that generates frames for transmission.
Stations are sometimes called terminals.
◼ The probability of a frame being generated in an
interval of length is , where λ is a constant
(the arrival rate of new frames). Once a frame has
been generated, the station is blocked and does
nothing
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until the frame
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◼ Single Channel Assumption. A single channel is
available for all communication. All stations can
transmit on it and all can receive from it. As far as
the hardware is concerned, all stations are
equivalent, although protocol software may assign
priorities to them.
◼ Collision Assumption. If two frames are
transmitted simultaneously, they overlap in time and
the resulting signal is garbled. This event is called a
collision. All stations can detect collisions. A collided
frame must be transmitted again
K Thyagarajan , Assoc Professor , Deptlater. There are no
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errors other than those generated by collisions.
◼ 4a. Continuous Time. Frame transmission can
begin at any instant. There is no master clock
dividing time into discrete intervals.
◼ 4b. Slotted Time. Time is divided into discrete
intervals (slots). Frame transmissions always
begin at the start of a slot. A slot may contain 0,
1, or more frames, corresponding to an idle slot,
a successful transmission, or a collision,
respectively.
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◼ 5a. Carrier Sense. Stations can tell if the
channel is in use before trying to use it. If the
channel is sensed as busy, no station will
attempt to use it until it goes idle.
◼ 5b. No Carrier Sense. Stations cannot sense
the channel before trying to use it. They just go
ahead and transmit. Only later can they
determine whether the transmission was
successful.
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 Multiple Access Protocols
• ALOHA:
• In 1970 Norman Abramson and his colleagues at the University of Hawaii devised a
new and elegant method to solve the channel allocation problem.
• the ALOHA system, use ground-based radio broadcasting, the basic idea is
applicable to any system in which uncoordinated users are competing for the use of a
single shared channel
• Two versions are available
✓ PURE
✓ SLOTTED
• Pure ALOHA does not require global time synchronization
• Slotted ALOHA does
PURE ALOHA:
Basic Idea:
• Let user transmit, whenever they have data to be sent. If collision occurs, colliding
• frame will be destroyed.
• However, due to the feedback property of broadcasting, a sender can always find out
whether its frame was destroyed by listening to the channel, the same way other
K Thyagarajan
users do. With a LAN, the feedback , Assoc Professor , Dept
is immediate.
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 • In satellite there is a delay of 270 msec before sender know, transmission was
successful.
• System in which multiple users share a common channel, in a way that can
lead to conflict, is known as contention system.
• Here the frames are same length, because throughput of ALOHA is maximized,
rather allowing variable length frames
• the first bit of new frame overlaps with just the last bit of a frame almost
finished, both frames will be totally destroyed and will have to retransmit later.

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 • Slotted ALOHA : Basic idea
• In 1972, Roberts published a method for doubling the
capacity of an ALOHA system. His proposal was to
divide time up into discrete intervals, each interval
corresponding to one frame.
• This approach requires the users to agree to slot
boundaries. One way to achieve synchronization would
be to have one special station emit a pip at the start of
each interval, like a clock.
• In this method a computer is not permitted to send
whenever they want. Instead, it is required to wait for
the beginning of the next slot.

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 Carrier Sense Multiple Access Protocols [CSMA]
• To minimize the chance of collision and to increase the Performance the
CSMA method was developed. the chance of collision can be reduced if
a station sense the medium before trying to use it.
• CSMA based on the principal sense before transmit or listen before
talk
• Several versions are proposed:
• Persistence Strategy
• Persistence strategy defines procedure for sensing the busy medium
1.Non Persistence Strategy
2. Persistence Strategy

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1- Persistent:
• When a station has a data to send it first listen to channel to see anyone else
is transmitting at that moment.
• This protocol is called 1-Persistent because the station transmits with a
probability of 1, whenever it finds the channel idle.
• If channel is busy, the station wait until becomes idle. When station detects
idle channel, it transmits frame.
• When collision occurs, stations wait random time and starts all over again.
• The propagation delay has important effect on the performance of protocol.
• If first station sensed channel found idle medium idle status has not yet
reached station mean while the second station also sensed it also found idle
channel, both being sending frames and results collision.

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• The longer the propagation delays, the performance of protocol not good.
• Even propagation delay is zero, there will still collisions.
• This protocol is far better than Pure ALOHA
P-Persistent:
• When a station becomes ready to send it senses the channel.
• If it is idle it transmit with a probability P, with a probability q = 1 – p, it
defers(postpones) until the next slot.
• If that slot is also idle, it either transmits (or) defers again.
• This process is repeated until either the frame has been transmitted (or)
another station has begin transmitting.
• It reduces the chance of collision increase the performance.

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 CSMA with Collision Detection
• Persistent and nonpersistent CSMA protocols are clearly an improvement
over ALOHA because they ensure that no station begins to transmit when it
senses the channel busy.
• if two stations sense the channel to be idle and begin transmitting
simultaneously, they will both detect the collision almost immediately
• Another improvement is for stations to abort their transmissions as soon
as they detect a collision. .
• they should abruptly stop transmitting as soon as the collision is detected.
Quickly terminating damaged frames saves time and bandwidth.
• This protocol, known as CSMA/CD (CSMA with Collision Detection) is
widely used on LANs in the MAC sublayer.
• CSMA/CD, as well as many other LAN protocols, uses the conceptual
model of Fig. 4-5.

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• At the point marked t0, a station has finished transmitting its frame.
• Any other station having a frame to send may now attempt to do so.
• If two or more stations decide to transmit simultaneously, there will be a
collision.
• Collisions can be detected by looking at the power or pulse width of the
received signal and comparing it to the transmitted signal.
• After a station detects a collision, it aborts its transmission, waits a random
period of time, and then tries again, assuming that no other station has
started transmitting in the meantime.
• Therefore, our model for CSMA/CD will consist of alternating contention
and transmission periods, with idle periods occurring when all stations are
quiet.
• .

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 Figure 13.8 CSMA/CA procedure CSMA/CA
procedure

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 IEEE 802.3 Ethernet
•The real beginning was the ALOHA system constructed to allow
radio communication between machines over the univ of Hawaii.
• Later , carrier sensing was added , and Xerox built a 2.94mbps
CSMA/CD system to connect over 100 personal work stations on 1
–km cable .This system called Ethernet or Xerox Ethernet
• Later , Intel corp enhanced up a standard for a 10-mbps
traditional Ethernet
• Ethernet uses a protocol called CSMA/CD as access method
Ethernet cabling
four types of cables are used in Ethernet
1) 10Base5
2) 10Base2
3) 10base-T
4) 10base-F

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• 10Base5:
-developed by DEC in 1970 . Also know as thick Ethernet.
-Connections are made up of Vampire taps
-uses thick coaxial cables
-It is difficult to install due to its large diameter
-because of high cost and difficulty of installation.

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10base5

Controller
Transceiver Cable

Vampire Taps
Core

Transceiver

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◼ 10Base2:
-called as Thin Ethernet, it bends easily
-Connections are made using BNC
Connectors, to form T Junctions
- This are easier to use and more reliable
-It is much cheaper and easier to install
Draw Backs:
* It can run for only 200 meters
* It can handle only 30 machines per cable segment
* Detecting cable breaks, bad taps, loose connectors
are major problem

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10base2

Transceiver Transceiver
+ Cable
Controller

BNC T
connector

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10baseT
◼ in which all stations have a
cable running to a central hub
◼ The wires used are telephone
company Twisted Pair
◼ The cable Breaks can be
detected easily Controller

◼ Drawbacks: Twisted Pair

◼ Maximum cable run from hub
is only 100 meters
◼ Large Hubs costs more
◼ Faster version of 10BaseT is
100BaseT
HUB

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 • 10BaseF: It uses Fiber Optics
• It is expensive due to cost of connectors and Terminators
• It has excellent Noise Immunity
• Fiber optics provides long distance, higher-speed
migration,
• It is preferable, when running between building or widely
separated Hubs
Name Cable Max.Segment Nodes/segment Advantage
10 Base 5 Thick 500m 100 Good for
Backbones

10 Base 2 Thin 200 30 Cheapest system

10 Base –T Twisted Pair 100m 1024 Easy

Maintenance

10 Base –F Fiber Optics 200m 1024 Best between

Buildings

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 The Ethernet MAC Sublayer Protocol

•The original DIX (DEC, Intel, Xerox) frame structure is shown in

Fig. 4-17(a). Each frame starts with a Preamble of 8 bytes, each
containing the bit pattern 10101010.
.
•Start of frame byte containing 10101011, to denote start of
frame itself
•The frame contains two addresses, one for the destination and
one for the source. The standard allows 2-byte and 6-byte
addresses, but the parameters defined for the 10-Mbps
baseband standard use only the 6-byte addresses
•The length field tells, how many bytes are present in data field

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◼ When a frame is sent to a group address, all the stations
in the group receive it. Sending to a group of stations is
called multicast.
◼ Next come the data, up to 1500 bytes

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◼ In addition to there being a maximum frame length,
there is also a minimum frame length. While a data
field of 0 bytes is sometimes useful, it causes a
problem.
◼ To make it easier to distinguish valid frames from
garbage, Ethernet requires that valid frames must be
at least 64 bytes long, from destination address to
checksum, including both. If the data portion of a
frame is less than 46 bytes, the Pad field is used to fill
out the frame to the minimum size.
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◼ switched Ethernet
◼ switched Ethernet is the Ethernet switch.
◼ This is a networking device that operates at the data
link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model.
◼ It's designed to connect multiple devices within a LAN
and efficiently manage the flow of data between them.
◼ Switched Ethernet gives dedicated 10 Mbps
bandwidth on each of its ports.
◼ Switched Ethernet allows for full-duplex
communication, meaning devices can send and
receive data simultaneously.
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◼ Fast Ethernet
◼ Fast Ethernet is defined by the IEEE 802.3u standard.
◼ It carry data traffic at 100 Mbps in local area
networks (LAN).
◼ It was initially designed for copper-based twisted pair
cable networks and included the 100 Base-TX, 100
Base-T4 and 100 Base-FX standards.
◼ The length of the cable in copper-based fast Ethernet
was restricted to 100 meters
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◼ 100-Base-T4
◼ This has four pairs of UTP of Category 3, two of which
are bi-directional and the other two are unidirectional.
◼ In each direction, three pairs can be used
simultaneously for data transmission.

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◼ 100BASE-TX: 100BASE-TX is the most common
and widely used Fast Ethernet standard.
◼ It operates over two twisted pairs of Category 5 or
higher rated copper cabling.
◼ It uses a star topology, with a hub or a switch at the
center, and it can support distances of up to 100
meters.

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◼ 100BASE-FX: 100BASE-FX is the Fast Ethernet
standard that operates over fiber optic cables.
◼ It offers longer transmission distances than 100BASE-
TX.
◼ It is commonly used for connecting devices over
greater distances, such as in office buildings or
between buildings.
◼ distance between hub and station is 2000m.

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◼ Gigabit Ethernet (GbE):
◼ Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), a transmission technology
based on the Ethernet frame format and protocol used
in local area networks (LANs).
◼ Gigabit Ethernet operates at a maximum data rate of 1
Gbps (1000 megabits per second), which is ten times
faster than the previous standard, Fast Ethernet.
◼ Gigabit Ethernet connects computers and servers in
local networks.

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◼ Gigabit Ethernet can be implemented using various
physical media, including twisted-pair copper cabling
(e.g., Cat 5e or Cat 6), fiber-optic cables,
◼ Gigabit Ethernet is defined by the IEEE 802.3ab
standard for copper cabling and IEEE 802.3z for fiber-
optic cabling.
◼ Gigabit Ethernet is commonly used in environments
where high data transfer rates are crucial, such as for
server connections, network backbones, video
streaming, large file transfers, and data-intensive
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◼ Gigabit Ethernet typically operates in full-duplex mode,
which means it can send and receive data
simultaneously.
◼ Gigabit Ethernet switches are widely available, and
they come in both managed and unmanaged versions.
Managed switches offer more control and
configuration options for network administrators,
making them suitable for larger and more complex
networks.

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 Name Cable Max. Advantages
Segment
1000Base- Fiber optics 550m Multimode fiber
SX
1000Base- Fiber optics 5000m Single or
LX multimode
1000Base- 2 pairs of 25m Shielded twisted
CX STP pair
1000Base- 4 pairs of 100m Standard category
T UTP 5 UTP

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◼ Binary exponential backoff / truncated
exponential backoff
◼ binary exponential backoff or truncated binary
exponential backoff refers to an algorithm used to
space out repeated retransmissions of the same
block of data, often as part of network collision
avoidance.

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◼ Examples are the retransmission of frames in carrier
sense multiple access with collision avoidance
(CSMA/CA) and carrier sense multiple access with
collision detection (CSMA/CD) networks, where this
algorithm is part of the channel access method used to
send data on these network.
◼ In Ethernet networks, the algorithm is commonly used to
schedule retransmissions after collisions. The
retransmission is delayed by an amount of time derived
from the slot time and the number of attempts to
retransmit
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 ◼ After c collisions, a random number of slot times
between 0 and 2c - 1 is chosen.
◼ For the first collision, each sender will wait 0 or 1
slot times.
◼ After the second collision, the senders will wait
anywhere from 0 to 3 slot times.
◼ After the third collision, the senders will wait
anywhere from 0 to 7 slot times , and so forth.
◼ As the number of retransmission attempts
increases, the number of possibilities for delay
increases exponentially
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◼ The 'truncated' simply means that after a certain
number of increases, the exponentiation stops; i.e.
the retransmission timeout reaches a ceiling, and
thereafter does not increase any further.
◼ For example, if the ceiling is set at C= 10 (as it is in
the IEEE 802.3 CSMA/CD standard[1]), then the
maximum delay is 1023 slot times.

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 Wireless LANs
◼ Wireless LANs are increasingly popular, and more and
more office buildings, airports, and other public places
are being connected to computers ,PDA,laptops.The
main wireless standard is 802.11
◼ The 802.11 Architecture and Protocol Stack
◼ 802.11 networks can be used in two modes.
◼ infrastructure mode,
◼ ad hoc network.
◼ The most popular mode is to connect clients, such as
laptops and smart phones, to another network, such as a
company intranet or the Internet. This mode is shown in
Fig. 4-23(a).
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◼ In infrastructure mode, each client is associated with
an AP (Access Point) that is in turn connected to
the other network.
◼ The client sends and receives its packets via the
AP.Several access points may be connected
together
◼ The other mode, shown in Fig. 4-23(b), is an ad hoc
network. This mode is a collection of computers
that are associated so that they can directly send
frames to each other. There is no access point
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◼ 1)Spread-Spectrum LANs :
◼ Spread-spectrum LANs operate in industrial, scientific,
and medical applications, making use of multiple
frequency bands,
◼ Within each of these frequency bands, a star or peer-
to- peer topology can be deployed.
◼ If a star topology is used, a hub as the network center
is mounted on the ceiling.
◼ This hub, serving as an interface between the wired
and wireless LANs,
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◼ All users in the wireless LAN transmit and
receive signals from the hub.
◼ Thus, the traffic flowing among users
moves through the central hub
◼ The spread-spectrum techniques use
three different frequency bands: 902-928
MHz, 2.4 GHz-2.4835 GHz, and 5.725
GHz-5.825 GHz.
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◼ 2)infrared LANs:
◼ The signal-covering in an infrared LAN is limited
to one room.
◼ The infrared Signals cannot penetrate through
walls.
◼ Infrared communication technology is used in
several home devices, such as television remote
controls.

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◼ 802.11 MAC sub layer:
◼ IEEE802.11 provides several key functionalities
◼ reliable data delivery,
◼ media access control,
◼ and security features .
◼ Reliable data delivery is akey feature available in the
MAC layer of IEEE802.11.
◼ The imperfection of the wireless medium ,such as
noise ,interfence may lead to frame loss.
◼ IEEE802.11 uses ACK
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◼ When source send a data frame ,the destination
respond with an ACK to acknowledge receipt of the
frame.
◼ If source does not receive ACK for certain period of
time ,it times out the process and retransmits the
frame.
◼ The request-to-send/clear-to-send(RTS/CTS)
scheme also is used to further enhance reliability.
◼ When it has data to send, a source sends an RTS
signal in the form of a frame to the destination.
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◼ The destination sends
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◼ The source sends the data frame after receiving the
CTS signal from the destination.
◼ The destination then responded with an ACK to
indicate successful receipt of data.
◼ This four way handshake leads to greater reliability
of data delivery.

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◼ The MAC layer consists of two algorithms:
(DCF) and (PCF)
◼ The first, called DCF (Distributed Coordination
Function), does not use any kind of central
control (in that respect, similar to Ethernet).
◼ The other, called PCF (Point Coordination
Function), uses the base station to control all
activity in its cell. All implementations must
support DCF but PCF is optional

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◼ Begin DCF Algorithm for Wireless 802.11 MAC1.
◼ 1. The sender senses the medium for any ongoing
traffic.
◼ 2.If the medium is idle, the sender waits for a time
interval equal to IFS. Then the sender senses the
medium again. If the medium is still idle, the sender
transmits the frame immediately.If the medium is busy,
the sender continues to sense the medium until the
medium becomes idle.
◼ 3. Once the medium becomes idle, the sender delays
its activity by a time interval equal to IFS and senses
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the medium again.
◼ 4. If the medium is still idle, the sender backs off for an
exponential time interval and senses the medium
again after that interval.If the medium continues to be
idle, the sender transmits immediately.

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 ◼ The 802.11 Frame Structure
◼ The 802.11 standard defines three different classes
of frames on the wire: data, control, and
management
◼ The format of the data frame is shown in Fig. 4-30.

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◼ the Frame Control field. It itself has 11 subfields.
◼ The first of these is the Protocol version, which allows
two versions of the protocol to operate at the same
time in the same cell.
◼ Then the Type (data, control, or management) and
Subtype fields (e.g., RTS or CTS).
◼ The To DS and From DS bits indicate the frame is
going to or coming from the inter cell distribution
system (e.g., Ethernet). The MF bit means that more
fragments will follow.
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◼ The Retry bit marks a retransmission of aProfessorframe , Deptsent
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earlier.
◼ The Power management bit is used by the base
station to put the receiver into sleep state or take it out
of sleep state.
◼ The More bit indicates that the sender has additional
frames for the receiver.
◼ The W bit specifies that the frame body has been
encrypted using the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)
algorithm.
◼ Finally, the O bit tells the receiver that a sequence of
frames with this bit on must be processed strictly in
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◼ The second field of the data frame, the Duration field,
tells how long the frame and its acknowledgement will
occupy the channel
◼ The frame header contains four addresses, all in
standard IEEE 802 format. The source and destination
are obviously needed, but what are the other two for?
Remember that frames may enter or leave a cell via a
base station. The other two addresses are used for the
source and destination base stations for intercell
traffic.

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◼ The Sequence field allows fragments to be numbered.
Of the 16 bits available, 12 identify the frame and 4
identify the fragment.
◼ The Data field contains the payload, up to 2312 bytes,
followed by the usual Checksum

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