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Token Ring

Token ring networks, developed by IBM in the early 1980s, utilize a MAC protocol where a token circulates on the network, allowing nodes to transmit data when they possess the token. The document discusses the IEEE 802.5 standard, the operation of token ring networks, and two MAC protocol variations: Release After Transmission (RAT) and Release After Reception (RAR). It also explains the role of elasticity buffers in managing transmission rates and provides an analysis of the efficiency of the RAT protocol.

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36 views4 pages

Token Ring

Token ring networks, developed by IBM in the early 1980s, utilize a MAC protocol where a token circulates on the network, allowing nodes to transmit data when they possess the token. The document discusses the IEEE 802.5 standard, the operation of token ring networks, and two MAC protocol variations: Release After Transmission (RAT) and Release After Reception (RAR). It also explains the role of elasticity buffers in managing transmission rates and provides an analysis of the efficiency of the RAT protocol.

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ezekiel nyamu
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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5.

3 Token Ring Networks

Token ring networks are another widely used family of LANs. The token ring
networks were developed by IBM in the early 1980s. We will first explain the
operations of some token ring MAC protocols, and we will calculate their
efficiency. We will then discuss the IEEE 802.5 standard, which specifies the
physical layer and the MAC protocol of a token ring network.

Figure 5.12 is a schematic diagram of a token ring network. The transmission


medium is typically a twisted pair or a coaxial cable, although some versions
use optical fibers. The MAC protocol of the token ring is as follows: A specific
bit pattern, called the token, circulates on the ring. When a node wants to
transmit, it waits until the token comes by. It then replaces the token with
another pattern (SFD) which indicates the start of frame, and it appends its
packet. The node converts the token into an SFD by monitoring the signal it
receives from the ring and by modifying the token while it is stored in the
interface buffer (see Figure 5.12) before retransmitting it. For instance, if the
token and the SFD are bit patterns that differ by only the value of the last bit,
it is enough for the interface buffer to delay the ring signal by one bit. Once
the packet has been transmitted, the node transmits the token, which then
becomes available to another node. We will see two versions of this protocol:
Release After Transmission (RAT) And Release After Reception
(RAR). These versions differ by when the node releases the token.
A node that is not transmitting repeats the packets that it receives. To do
this, the node recovers the bits from the signal it receives on the input cable.

and it retransmits these bits on the output cable. The rate of the bit transmission is controlled by a
quartz oscillator in the transmitter. This transmission rate differs from the bit reception rate,
which is the transmission rate of the upstream node, because no two quartz oscillators have
exactly the same rate. This difference in rates means that each node must have a buffer. This
node, called the elasticity buffer, stores the bits that accumulate when the input rate is higher
than the transmission rate. A transmission rate higher than the input rate is handled as follows:
the node starts transmitting when the buffer contains a specified number B of received bits; it
stops when the complete incoming packet is repeated. The network designer selects a large
enough number B for the buffer to prevent the buffer’s becoming empty during the packet
retransmission.

The steps of the release after transmission (RAT) protocol are shown in Figure 5.13. With this
protocol, the node releases the token as soon as it has completely transmitted the packet.
We will calculate the efficiency ηRAT of the RAT protocol, defined as the fraction of time that
the nodes transmit packets when they use that protocol and when all the nodes have packets to
transmit. From the analysis, you will see that:

where N is the number of nodes, TRANSP is the time to transmit a packet, and PROP is the
propagation time of a signal around the ring.Consider the timing diagram in Figure 5.14. Node 1
starts transmitting a packet and the transmission lasts TRANSP. The transmission of a token
lasts TRANST. After TRANSP + TRANST, the last bit of the token has just been transmitted
by node 1. That bit arrives at node 2 at time TRANSP + TRANST + PROP(1 → 2), where
PROP(1 → 2) designates the propagation time of a signal from node 1 to node 2.The first bit of
the packet sent by node 2 leaves that node at time TRANSP + TRANST + PROP(1 → 2) + 1,
where the last 1 refers to the one-bit delay in node 2. That is, we assume that the nodes delay the
signal by one bit to be able to replace the token with an SFD.

The result of the analysis would not change if the node delay were a small number of bits
different from one. Such a small delay is negligible compared with the packet transmission time.

Each station takes an equivalent amount of time to transmit a packet and the token. Figure 5.14
shows that the N nodes transmit one packet each in a time:

/www.sce.carleton.ca/faculty/lambadaris/courses/521/supplementary/token.pdf

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