Global Academy of Technology, Bengaluru

Artificial Intelligence and Data Science

Course: Computer Networks
Module 3: Wired LANs Ethernet
ETHERNET
In the 1980s and 1990s, several different types of wired LANs were used. The Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has subdivided the data-link layer into two sublayers: logical link
control (LLC) and media access control (MAC). The IEEE has also created several physical-layer
standards for different LAN protocols. All these wired LANs use a media access method to solve
the problem of sharing the media. The relationship of the IEEE 802 standard to the TCP/IP protocol
suite is shown in Figure 4.1

The Computer Society of the IEEE started a project, called Project 802, to set standards to enable
intercommunication among equipment from a variety of manufacturers. Project 802 does not seek
to replace any part of the OSI model or TCP/IP protocol suite. Instead, it is a way of specifying
functions of the physical layer and the data-link layer of major LAN protocols.
The Ethernet LAN was developed in the 1970s by Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs. Since then, it
has gone through four generations: Standard Ethernet (10 Mbps), Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps), Gigabit
Ethernet (1 Gbps), and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 Gbps), as shown in Figure 4.2.
STANDARD ETHERNET
Characteristics
Let us first discuss some characteristics of the Standard Ethernet.
Connectionless and Unreliable Service
Ethernet provides a connectionless service, which means each frame sent is independent of the
previous or next frame. Ethernet has no connection establishment or connection termination phases.
The sender sends a frame whenever it has it; the receiver may or may not be ready for it. The sender
may overwhelm the receiver with frames, which may result in dropped frames. If a frame drops, the
sender data-link layer will not know about it unless an upper-layer protocol takes care of it. Ethernet
is also unreliable. If a frame is corrupted during transmission and the receiver finds out about the
corruption, the receiver drops the frame silently. It is the duty of high-level protocols to find out
about it.
Frame Format
The Ethernet frame contains seven fields, as shown in Figure 4.3.

Preamble: This field contains 7 bytes (56 bits) of alternating 0s and 1s that alert the receiving
system to the coming frame and enable it to synchronize its clock if it’s out of synchronization. The
pattern provides only an alert and a timing pulse. The 56-bit pattern allows the stations to miss some
bits at the beginning of the frame.
Start frame delimiter (SFD): This field (1 byte: 10101011) signals the beginning of the frame. The
SFD warns the station or stations that this is the last chance for synchronization. The last 2 bits are
(11)2 and alert the receiver that the next field is the destination address.
Destination address (DA): This field is 6 bytes (48 bits) and contains the link-layer address of the
destination station or stations to receive the packet. When the receiver sees its own link-layer
address, it decapsulates the data from the frame and passes the data to the upper-layer protocol
defined by the value of the type field.
Source address (SA): This field is also 6 bytes and contains the link-layer address of the sender of
the packet.
Type. This field defines the upper-layer protocol whose packet is encapsulated in the frame. This
protocol can be IP, ARP, OSPF, and so on. In other words, it serves the same purpose as the protocol
field in a datagram and the port number in a segment or user datagram. It is used for multiplexing
and demultiplexing.
Data. This field carries data encapsulated from the upper-layer protocols. It is a minimum of 46 and
a maximum of 1500 bytes. If the data coming from the upper layer is more than 1500 bytes, it
should be fragmented and encapsulated in more than one frame. If it is less than 46 bytes, it needs
to be padded with extra 0s. A padded data frame is delivered to the upper-layer protocol as it is
(without removing the padding), which means that it is the responsibility of the upper layer to
remove or, in the case of the sender, to add the padding. The upper-layer protocol needs to know the
length of its data. For example, a datagram has a field that defines the length of the data.
CRC. The last field contains error detection information, in this case a CRC-32. The CRC is
calculated over the addresses, types, and data field. If the receiver calculates the CRC and finds that
it is not zero (corruption in transmission), it discards the frame.
Frame Length
Ethernet imposes restrictions on both the minimum and maximum lengths of a frame. An Ethernet
frame needs to have a minimum length of 512 bits or 64 bytes. Part of this length is the header and
the trailer. If we count 18 bytes of header and trailer (6 bytes of source address, 6 bytes of
destination address, 2 bytes of length or type, and 4 bytes of CRC), then the minimum length of
data from the upper layer is 64 − 18 = 46 bytes. If the upper-layer packet is less than 46 bytes,
padding is added to make up the difference.

Addressing
Each station on an Ethernet network (such as a PC, workstation, or printer) has its own network
interface card (NIC). The NIC fits inside the station and provides the station with a link-layer
address. The Ethernet address is 6 bytes (48 bits), normally written in hexadecimal notation, with a
colon between the bytes. For example, the following shows an Ethernet MAC address:
47:20:1B:2E:08:EE
Transmission of Address Bits
The way the addresses are sent out online is different from the way they are written in hexadecimal
notation. The transmission is left to right, byte by byte; however, for each byte, the least significant
bit is sent first and the most significant bit is sent last.
Figure 4.4 shows how to distinguish a unicast address from a multicast address. If the least
significant bit of the first byte in a destination address is 0, the address is unicast; otherwise, it is
multicast

Implementation
The Standard Ethernet defined several implementations, but only four of them became popular
during the 1980s. Table 4.1 shows a summary of Standard Ethernet implementations

Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps)

In the 1990s, some LAN technologies with transmission rates higher than 10 Mbps such as Fiber
Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) and Fibre Channel, appeared on the market. If the Standard
Ethernet wanted to survive, it had to compete with these technologies. Ethernet made a big jump by
increasing the transmission rate to 100 Mbps, and the new generation was called the Fast Ethernet.
The goals of Fast Ethernet can be summarized as follows:
1. Upgrade the data rate to 100 Mbps.
2. Make it compatible with Standard Ethernet.
3. Keep the same 46-byte address.
4. Keep the same frame format
Auto negotiation
A new feature that was added to Fast Ethernet is called auto negotiation. It allows a station or a hub
a range of capabilities. Auto negotiation allows two devices to negotiate the mode or data rate of
operation. It was designed particularly to allow incompatible devices to connect to one another. For
example, a device with a maximum data rate of 10 Mbps can communicate with a device with a
100-Mbps data rate (but which can work at a lower rate). Auto negotiation was designed
particularly for the following purposes:
To allow incompatible devices to connect to one another. For example, a device with a maximum
capacity of 10 Mbps can communicate with a device with a 100-Mbps capacity (but can work at a
lower rate).
To allow one device to have multiple capabilities.
To allow a station to check a hub’s capabilities.
Physical Layer
To be able to handle a 100-Mbps data rate, several changes need to be made at the physical layer.
Topology
Fast Ethernet is designed to connect two or more stations together. If there are only two stations,
they can be connected point-to-point. Three or more stations need to be connected in a star topology
with a hub or a switch at the center (see Figure 4.5)
Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbps)
The need for an even higher data rate resulted in the design of the Gigabit Ethernet Protocol (1000
Mbps). The IEEE committee calls the Standard 802.3z. The goals of the Gigabit Ethernet were to
upgrade the data rate to 1 Gbps, but keep the address length, the frame format, and the maximum
and minimum frame lengths the same. The goals of the Gigabit Ethernet design can be summarized
as follows:
1. Upgrade the data rate to 1 Gbps.
2. Make it compatible with Standard or Fast Ethernet.
3. Use the same 48-bit address.
4. Use the same frame format.
5. Keep the same minimum and maximum frame lengths. 6. Support auto negotiation as defined in
Fast Ethernet.
MAC Sublayer
A main consideration in the evolution of Ethernet was to keep the MAC sublayer untouched.
However, to achieve a data rate of 1 Gbps, this was no longer possible. Gigabit Ethernet has two
distinctive approaches for medium access: half-duplex and full-duplex. Almost all implementations
of Gigabit Ethernet follow the full-duplex approach, so the half-duplex mode is not often used. In
full-duplex mode, there is a central switch connected to all computers or other switches. In this
mode, for each input port, each switch has buffers in which data are stored until they are
transmitted. Because the switch uses the destination address of the frame and sends a frame out of
the port connected to that particular destination, there is no collision
Full-Duplex Mode
In full-duplex mode, there is a central switch connected to all computers or other switches. In this
mode, each switch has buffers for each input port in which data are stored until they are transmitted.
There is no collision in this mode. Lack of collision implies that the maximum length of the cable is
determined by the signal attenuation in the cable, not by the collision detection process.
Half-Duplex Mode
Gigabit Ethernet can also be used in half-duplex mode, although it is rare. In this case, a switch can
be replaced by a hub, which acts as the common cable in which a collision might occur. The half-
duplex approach uses CSMA/CD. Three methods have been defined: traditional, carrier extension,
and frame bursting.
1)Traditional
In the traditional approach, we keep the minimum length of the frame as in traditional Ethernet (512
bits). However, because the length of a bit is 1/100 shorter in Gigabit Ethernet than in 10-Mbps
Ethernet, the slot time for Gigabit Ethernet is 512 bits × 1/1000 µs, which is equal to 0.512 µs. The
reduced slot time means that collision is detected 100 times earlier. This means that the maximum
length of the network is 25 m.
2)Carrier Extension
To allow for a longer network, we increase the minimum frame length. The carrier extension
approach defines the minimum length of a frame as 512 bytes (4096 bits). This means that the
minimum length is 8 times longer. This method forces a station to add extension bits (padding) to
any frame that is less than 4096 bits. In this way, the maximum length of the network can be
increased 8 times to a length of 200 m. This allows a length of 100 m from the hub to the station.
3)Frame Bursting
Carrier extension is very inefficient if we have a series of short frames to send; each frame carries
redundant data. To improve efficiency, frame bursting was proposed. Instead of adding an extension
to each frame, multiple frames are sent. However, to make these multiple frames look like one
frame, padding is added between the frames (the same as that used for the carrier extension method)
so that the channel is not idle.
Physical Layer
The physical layer in Gigabit Ethernet is more complicated than that in Standard or Fast Ethernet.
We briefly discuss some features of this layer.
Topology
Gigabit Ethernet is designed to connect two or more stations. If there are only two stations, they can
be connected point-to-point. Three or more stations need to be connected in a star topology with a
hub or a switch at the center. Another possible configuration is to connect several star topologies or
let a star topology be part of another.
Implementation
Gigabit Ethernet can be categorized as either a two-wire or a four-wire implementation. The two-
wire implementations use fiber-optic cable [1000Base-SX (short-wave,) or 1000Base-LX (long-
wave)] or STP (1000Base-CX). The four-wire version uses category 5 twisted-pair cable
(1000Base-T). In other words, we have four implementations. 1000Base-T was designed in
response to those users who had already installed this wiring for other purposes such as Fast
Ethernet or telephone services.

10 Gigabit Ethernet
In recent years, there has been another look at Ethernet for use in metropolitan areas. The idea is to
extend the technology, the data rate, and the coverage distance so that Ethernet can be used as a
LAN and a metropolitan area network(MAN). The IEEE committee created 10 Gigabit Ethernet and
called it Standard 802.3ae. The goals of the 10 Gigabit Ethernet design can be summarized as
upgrading the data rate to 10 Gbps; keeping the same frame size and format; and allowing the
interconnection of LANs, MANs, and WANs possible. This data rate is possible only with fiber-
optic technology at this time. The standard defines two types of physical layers: LAN PHY and
WAN PHY. The first is designed to support existing LANs; the second actually defines a WAN with
links connected through SONET OC-192.
Implementation
10 Gigabit Ethernet operates only in full-duplex mode, which means there is no need for contention;
CSMA/CD is not used in 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Four implementations are the most common:
10GBase-SR, 10GBase-LR, 10GBase-EW, and 10GBase-X4. Table 4.4 shows a summary of these
10-Gigabit Ethernet implementations.

Wireless LANs
Wireless communication is one of the fastest-growing technologies. The demand for connecting
devices without the use of cables is increasing everywhere. Wireless LANs can be found on college
campuses, in office buildings, and in many public areas.
Characteristics
There are several characteristics of wireless LANs that either do not apply to wired LANs or the
existence of which is negligible and can be ignored
Attenuation
The strength of electromagnetic signals decreases rapidly because the signal disperses in all
directions; only a small portion of it reaches the receiver. The situation becomes worse with mobile
senders that operate on batteries and normally have small power supplies.
Interference
Another issue is that a receiver may receive signals not only from the intended sender, but also
from other senders if they are using the same frequency band.
Multipath Propagation
A receiver may receive more than one signal from the same sender because electromagnetic waves
can be reflected back from obstacles such as walls, the ground, or objects. The result is that the
receiver receives some signals at different phases (because they travel different paths). This makes
the signal less recognizable.
Error
With the above characteristics of a wireless network, we can expect that errors and error detection
are more serious issues in a wireless network than in a wired network.

IEEE 802.11 PROJECT

IEEE has defined the specifications for a wireless LAN, called IEEE 802.11, which covers the
physical and data-link layers. It is sometimes called wireless Ethernet.
Architecture
The IEEE standard defines two kinds of services: the basic service set (BSS) and the extended
service set (ESS).
Basic Service Set
IEEE 802.11 defines the basic service set (BSS) as the building blocks of a wireless LAN. A basic
service set is made up of stationary or mobile wireless stations and an optional central base station,
known as the access point (AP). Figure 4.7 shows two sets in this standard.
The BSS without an AP is a stand-alone network and cannot send data to other BSSs. It is called an
ad hoc architecture. In this architecture, stations can form a network without the need of an AP; they
can locate one another and agree to be part of a BSS. A BSS with an AP is sometimes referred to as
an infrastructure BSS
Extended Service Set
An extended service set (ESS) is made up of two or more BSSs with APs. In this case, the BSSs are
connected through a distribution system, which is a wired or a wireless network. The distribution
system connects the APs in the BSSs. IEEE 802.11 does not restrict the distribution system; it can
be any IEEE LAN such as an Ethernet. Note that the extended service set uses two types of stations:
mobile and stationary. The mobile stations are normal stations inside a BSS. The stationary stations
are AP stations that are part of a wired LAN. Figure 4.8 shows an ESS.
When BSSs are connected, the stations within reach of one another can communicate without the
use of an AP. However, communication between a station in a BSS and the outside BSS occurs via
the AP.

Station Types
IEEE 802.11 defines three types of stations based on their mobility in a wireless LAN: no-
transition, BSS-transition, and ESS-transition mobility. A station with no-transition mobility is
either stationary (not moving) or moving only inside a BSS. A station with BSS transition mobility
can move from one BSS to another, but the movement is confined inside one ESS. A station with
ESS-transition mobility can move from one ESS to another. However, IEEE 802.11 does not
guarantee that communication is continuous during the move.
MAC Sublayer
IEEE 802.11 defines two MAC sublayers: the distributed coordination function (DCF) and the point
coordination function (PCF). Figure 4.9 shows the relationship among the two MAC sublayers, the
LLC sublayer, and the physical layer.

Frame Exchange Time Line

Figure 4.10 shows the exchange of data and control frames in time.
1. Before sending a frame, the source station senses the medium by checking the energy level at the
carrier frequency.
a. The channel uses a persistence strategy with backoff until the channel is idle.
b. After the station is found to be idle, the station waits for a period of time called the DCF
interframe space (DIFS); then the station sends a control frame called the request to send (RTS).
2. After receiving the RTS and waiting a period of time called the short interframe space (SIFS), the
destination station sends a control frame, called the clear to send (CTS), to the source station. This
control frame indicates that the destination station is ready to receive data.
3. The source station sends data after waiting an amount of time equal to the SIFS.
4. The destination station, after waiting an amount of time equal to the SIFS, sends an
acknowledgment to show that the frame has been received. Acknowledgment is needed in this
protocol because the station does not have any means to check for the successful arrival of its data
at the destination.
Frame Format
The MAC layer frame consists of nine fields, as shown in Figure 4.12.
 Fram
e control (FC). The FC field is 2 bytes long and defines the type of frame and some control
information
D. This field defines the duration of the transmission that is used to set the value of NAV. In one
control frame, it defines the ID of the frame.
Addresses. There are four address fields, each 6 bytes long. The meaning of each address field
depends on the value of the To DS and From DS subfields.
Sequence control. This field, often called the SC field, defines a 16-bit value. The first 4 bits define
the fragment number; the last 12 bits define the sequence number, which is the same in all
fragments.
Frame body. This field, which can be between 0 and 2312 bytes, contains information based on the
type and the subtype defined in the FC field.
FCS: The FCS field is 4 bytes long and contains a CRC-32 error-detection sequence.
Frame Types
A wireless LAN defined by IEEE 802.11 has three categories of frames: management frames,
control frames, and data frames.
Management Frames Management frames are used for the initial communication between stations
and access points.
Control Frames Control frames are used for accessing the channel and acknowledging frames.
Figure 4.13 shows the format.
Data Frames
Data frames are used for carrying data and control information.

Addressing Mechanism
IEEE 802.11 specifies four addressing mechanism cases, defined by the value of the two flags in the
FC field, To DS and From DS. Each flag can be either 0 or 1, resulting in four different situations.
The interpretation of the four addresses (address 1 to address 4) in the MAC frame depends on the
value of these flags, as shown in Table 4.7.
Case 1:00. In this case, To DS = 0 and From DS = 0. This means that the frame is not going to a
distribution system (To DS = 0) and is not coming from a distribution system (From DS = 0). The
frame is going from one station in a BSS to another without passing through the distribution system.
The addresses are shown in Figure 4.14
Case 2:01. In this case, To DS = 0 and From DS = 1. This means that the frame is coming from a
distribution system (From DS = 1). The frame is coming from an AP and going to a station. The
addresses are as shown in Figure 4.14. Note that address 3 contains the original sender of the frame
(in another BSS).
Case 3:10. In this case, To DS = 1 and From DS = 0. This means that the frame is going to a
distribution system (To DS = 1). The frame is going from a station to an AP. The ACK is sent to the
original station. The addresses are as shown in Figure 4.14. Note that address 3 contains the final
destination of the frame in the distribution system.
Case 4:11. In this case, To DS = 1 and From DS = 1. This is the case in which the distribution
system is also wireless. The frame is going from one AP to another AP in a wireless distribution
system. Here, we need four addresses to define the original sender, the final destination, and two
intermediate APs. Figure 4.14 shows the situation.

BLUETOOTH
Bluetooth is a wireless LAN technology designed to connect devices of different functions such as
telephones, notebooks, computers (desktop and laptop), cameras, printers, and even coffee makers
when they are at a short distance from each other. A Bluetooth LAN is an ad hoc network, which
means that the network is formed spontaneously; the devices, sometimes called gadgets, find each
other and make a network called a piconet
Bluetooth was originally started as a project by the Ericsson Company. It is named for Harald
Blaatand, the king of Denmark (940–981) who united Denmark and Norway. Blaatand translates to
Bluetooth in English.
Today, Bluetooth technology is the implementation of a protocol defined by the IEEE 802.15
standard. The standard defines a wireless personal area network (WPAN) operable in an area the
size of a room or a hall.
Architecture
Bluetooth defines two types of networks: piconet and scatternet.
Piconets
A Bluetooth network is called a piconet, or a small net. A piconet can have up to eight stations, one
of which is called the primary; the rest are called secondaries. The communication between the
primary and secondary stations can be one-to-one or one-to-many. Figure 4.20 shows a piconet

Scatternet
Piconets can be combined to form what is called a scatternet. A secondary station in one piconet can
be the primary in another piconet. This station can receive messages from the primary in the first
piconet (as a secondary) and, acting as a primary, deliver them to secondaries in the second piconet.
A station can be a member of two piconets. Figure 4.21 illustrates a scatternet.
Bluetooth Layers
Bluetooth uses several layers that do not exactly match those of the Internet model we have defined
in this book. Figure 4.22 shows these layers.

The Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP) (L2 here means LL) is roughly
equivalent to the LLC sublayer in LANs. It is used for data exchange on an ACL link; SCO
channels do not use L2CAP. Figure 4.23 shows the format of the data packet at this level. The 16-
bit length field defines the size of the data, in bytes, coming from the upper layers. Data can be up
to 65,535 bytes. The channel ID (CID) defines a unique identifier for the virtual channel created at
this level. The L2CAP has specific duties: multiplexing, segmentation and reassembly, quality of
service (QoS), and group management.
Multiplexing
The L2CAP can do multiplexing. At the sender site, it accepts data from one of the upper-layer
protocols, frames them, and delivers them to the baseband layer. At the receiver site, it accepts a
frame from the baseband layer, extracts the data, and delivers them to the appropriate protocol layer.
Segmentation and Reassembly
The L2CAP divides these large packets into segments and adds extra information to define the
location of the segments in the original packet. The L2CAP segments the packet at the source and
reassembles the segments at the destination.
QoS Bluetooth allows the stations to define a quality-of-service level.
Group Management Another functionality of L2CAP is to allow devices to create a type of logical
addressing between themselves
Baseband Layer
The baseband layer is roughly equivalent to the MAC sublayer in LANs. The access method is
TDMA. The primary and secondary stations communicate with each other using time slots.
Frame Format
A frame in the baseband layer can be one of three types: one-slot, three-slot, or five-slot.
Figure 4.26 shows the format of the three frame types.

The following describes each field:

Access code. This 72-bit field normally contains synchronization bits and the
identifier of the primary to distinguish the frame of one piconet from another.
Header. This 54-bit field is a repeated 18-bit pattern. Each pattern has the following
subfields:
Address. The 3-bit address subfield can define up to seven secondaries (1 to 7). If
the address is zero, it is used for broadcast communication from the primary to all
secondaries.
Type. The 4-bit type subfield defines the type of data coming from the upper layers.
F. This 1-bit subfield is for flow control. When set (1), it indicates that the device is
unable to receive more frames (buffer is full).
A. This 1-bit subfield is for acknowledgment. Bluetooth uses Stop-and-Wait ARQ; 1
bit is sufficient for acknowledgment.
S. This 1-bit subfield holds a sequence number. Bluetooth uses Stop-and-Wait ARQ;
1 bit is sufficient for sequence numbering.
HEC. The 8-bit header error-correction subfield is a checksum to detect errors
in each 18-bit header section. The header has three identical 18-bit sections. The
receiver compares these three sections, bit by bit. If each of the corresponding
bits is the same, the bit is accepted; if not, the majority opinion rules. This is a
form of forward error correction (for the header only). This double error control
is needed because the nature of the communication, via air, is very noisy. Note
that there is no retransmission in this sublayer.
Payload. This subfield can be 0 to 2740 bits long. It contains data or control information
coming from the upper layers.
Radio Layer
The radio layer is roughly equivalent to the physical layer of the Internet model. Bluetooth devices
are low-power and have a range of 10 m.