1502346 - Computer Communications and

Networks
Dr. Mohamed Saad
Department of Computer Engineering
University of Sharjah

msaad@sharjah.ac.ae

Chapter 4: The Medium Access Control Sublayer

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The Medium Access Control Sublayer

• We have seen that networks can be divided into 2 categories: those using
point-to-point links, and those using broadcast channels.

• In broadcast networks, the key issue is how to determine who gets to use
the channel when there is competition for it → multiple access

• The protocols used to resolve the multiple access issue belong to a

sublayer of the data link layer called the medium access control (MAC)
sublayer.

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Static Channel Allocation

• Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM):

– If there are N users, divide the bandwidth into N equal-sized bands
(portions), and assign each user to a frequency band.
– Works well if the number of users N is small and constant, and each
user has a heavy load of traffic.
– Inefficient if the number of users is large → if the spectrum is divided
into N bands and more than N users are interested in communicating,
some users will be denied access even if some of the users who have
been assigned a frequency band are not transmitting.
– Inefficient even if the number of users is held constant at N → if some
users are idle, their frequency bands are simply lost.

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Static Channel Allocation (contd.)

• Time Division Multiplexing (TDM):

– Divide the time into N slots, each user is assigned a slot.
– Inefficient if a user has nothing to transmit during its assigned slot.

• Solution → Dynamic Channel allocation

– ALOHA
– CSMA

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ALOHA

• Introduced by Norman Abramson and his colleges at the University of

Hawaii.

• We will discuss 2 versions of ALOHA: pure ALOHA and slotted ALOHA.

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ALOHA

• Users transmit whenever they have a frame to send.

• If collision occurred, the sender waits a random amount of time and

sends the same frame again.
– Note that a collision can be detected either by listening to the channel,
or by the use of acknowledgement.

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Performance of Pure ALOHA

• Offered load G: Average number of frames (new and retransmissions)

generated per frame time.

• Throughput S: Average number of frames successfully delivered per

frame time.

• It can be shown that S = Ge−2G.

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Performance (contd.)

S (throughput per frame time) 0.40

Slotted ALOHA: S = Ge–G
0.30

0.20

0.10 Pure ALOHA: S = Ge–2G

0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0

G (attempts per packet time)

• The maximum throughput of pure ALOHA occurs at G = 0.5, with

S = 1/2e ≃ 0.184.

• The best channel utilization we can hope for is 18%.

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Slotted ALOHA

• Time is divided into discrete time slots.

• A user is allowed to transmit only at the beginning of a time slot.

• Sender algorithm:
– When a user has a frame to send, it waits until the beginning of the
next time slot and transmits the frame.
– If collision occurs, the user waits for a random number of time slots
and sends the same frame again.

• It can be shown that, for slotted ALOHA, S = Ge−G .

• The maximum throughput of slotted ALOHA occurs at G = 1, with

S = 1/e ≃ 0.368 (double the capacity of pure ALOHA).

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Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA)

• The best channel utilization that can be achieved with ALOHA is 36%.

• This is not surprising → users transmit without paying attention to what

the other users are doing.

• Improvement → listen for ongoing transmissions and act accordingly →

carrier sense protocols.

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1-persistent CSMA

• If a station has data to send, it first listens to the channel to see if

anyone else is transmitting at the moment.
– If the channel is idle, the station transmits.
– If the channel is busy, the station waits until it becomes idle, then
transmits.

• If a collision occurs, the station waits a random amount of time and

starts over again.

• Intuitively, this protocol performs better than ALOHA.

• Collisions occur if 2 stations are waiting for the channel to become idle at
the same time. Once the channel becomes idle they will send together.

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Nonpersistent CSMA

• If a station has data to send, it first listens to the channel to see if

anyone else is transmitting at the moment.
– If the channel is idle, the station transmits.
– If the channel is busy, the station does not continuously sense it with
the purpose of seizing it immediately upon detecting the end of the
previous transmission. Instead, it waits a random period of time and
repeats the algorithm.

• This algorithm leads to better channel utilization but longer delays than
1-persistent CSMA.

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p-persistent CSMA

• it applies to slotted channels, and works as follows:

• When a station becomes ready, it senses the channel.

– If the channel is idle, the station transmits with probability p. With
probability 1 − p, it defers until the next time slot and tries again. This
process is repeated until the frame has been transmitted, or another
stations starts transmitting. In the latter case, the station waits a
random time and tries again.
– If the channel is busy, it waits until the next time slot and tries again.

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CSMA with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD)

• In CSMA protocols, if 2 stations sense the channel idle at the same time,
they may begin transmitting simultaneously.

• Collision detection → station continues sensing the channel after

beginning to transmit, stop transmitting as soon as a collision is detected
(rather than finishing transmission).

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Performance of Multiple Access Techniques

0.01-persistent CSMA
1.0
0.9 Nonpersistent CSMA
S (throughput per packet time)

0.8 0.1-persistent CSMA

0.7
0.6 0.5-persistent
CSMA
0.5
Slotted
0.4 ALOHA
0.3 1-persistent
Pure CSMA
0.2
ALOHA
0.1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
G (attempts per packet time)

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Wireless LAN Protocols

• Consider a number of mobile devices (e.g., laptop computers) that can communicate
with each other using the radio (wireless) channel as the shared medium.
• The above configuration is known as wireless LAN.
• Two users can communicate if they are in radio range of each other.
• Collision happens when a receiver is in radio range of 2 active transmitters.

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The Hidden Station Problem

• We will see that CSMA cannot be used in wireless LANs.

A B C D A B C D

Radio range

(a) (b)

• Assume that A and B are within each other’s range and can potentially interfere with
each other. C can also interfere with B and D, but not with A.
• Let A be transmitting to B.
• If C senses the medium, it will not hear A because A is out of range, and thus will
falsely conclude that it can transmit to B → collision will occur.
• The problem of a station not being able to detect a potential competitor for the medium
because the competitor is too far away is called the hidden station problem.

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The Exposed Station Problem

A B C D A B C D

Radio range

(a) (b)

• Consider the reverse situation: B is transmitting to A.

• If C senses the medium it will hear an ongoing transmission, and will falsely conclude
that it cannot send to D.
• Such transmission (from C to D) would not interfere with the transmission from b to
A, because C’s transmission cannot reach A.
• In wireless LANs, what matters is the interference at the receiver, not at the sender.

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Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (MACA)

Range of A's transmitter Range of B's transmitter

C A RTS B D C A CTS B D

E E

(a) (b)

• Consider how A sends a frame to B.

– A starts by sending an RTS (Request to Send) frame to B. This short frame (30
bytes) contains the length of the data frame that will eventually follow.
– Then B replies with a CTS (Clear to send) frame. The CTS frame contains the data
length (copied from the RTS frame)
– Upon receipt of the CTS frame, A begins transmission.

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Collision Avoidance

• Any other station hearing the RTS is clearly close to A and must remain
silent long enough for the CTS to be transmitted back to A without
conflict.

• Any station hearing the CTS is clearly close to B and must remain silent
during the upcoming data transmission (length of data transmission can
be obtained by examining the CTS frame).

• Note that any station hearing the RTS but not the CTS is close to the
sender, but far away from the receiver, and can transmit.

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Example
Range of A's transmitter Range of B's transmitter

C A RTS B D C A CTS B D

E E

(a) (b)

• C is within range of A but not within range of B ⇒ C hears RTS from A but does not
hear CTS from B ⇒ C is free to transmit.
• D is within range of B but not A ⇒ D does not hear the RTS but does hear the CTS
⇒ D cannot transmit.
• E hears both RTS and CTS ⇒ E cannot transmit.

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Collision Can Still Happen . . .

• For example, B and C could both send an RTS to A at the same time.
These will collide and be lost.

• A transmitter will know about the collision of an RTS frame if it does

not receive a CTS within a time out interval.

• In the case of a collision of an RTS, the transmitter waits a random

amount of time and tries again.

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Ethernet (revisited)

• We have now finished our general discussion of channel allocation

(multiple access) protocols, so it is time to have a look at the real
systems that use them.

• Ethernet (now IEEE 802.3 standard) is an important networking

technology that uses CSMA.

• We have introduced Ethernet in the Introduction and will add some

details here.

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Classic Ethernet

Transceiver
Interface
cable
Ether

• Transmission medium is a coaxial cable (not vacuum) called “the ether”, up to 2.5 km
long, with repeaters every 500 m.
• Up to 256 machines connected to the cable.
• Transmission rate 2.94 Mbps.
• In 1978: DEC, Intel and Xerox standardized a 10 Mbps Ethernet.
• Now 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps Ethernet’s exist.

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Switched Ethernet

• Switched Ethernets can be built using hubs or switches.

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Repeaters, Hubs, Bridges, Switches, Routers and

Gateways

Application layer Application gateway

Transport layer Transport gateway Packet (supplied by network layer)

Frame Packet TCP User

Network layer Router CRC
header header header data

Data link layer Bridge, switch Frame (built by data link layer)

Physical layer Repeater, hub

(a) (b)
• Repeaters: analog devices connecting two cable segments; a signal appearing on one
cable is amplified and put out on the other one. Repeaters are physical layer devices,
i.e., they do not examine any address. They do not understand frames, packets or
headers; they understand volts.
Repeater

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Hubs, Switches and Bridges

A B C D A B C D A B C D
Host

Hub Bridge Switch

LAN

E F G H E F G H E F G H

(a) (b) (c)

• Hubs:
– Each machine is connected to the hub by a separate twisted pair cable.
– Frames arriving on any of the hub’s lines are sent out (without buffering, and without
examining any address) on all other lines.
– If two frames arrive at the same time, they will collide, just as on coaxial cable. In
other words, the entire hub forms a single collision domain.

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Hubs, Switches and Bridges (contd.)

A B C D A B C D A B C D
Host

Hub Bridge Switch

LAN

E F G H E F G H E F G H

(a) (b) (c)

• Switches: frames arriving at an input port/line are forwarded to the right output
port/line by reading the MAC address (in the Ethernet frame header), then looking up
a table to see where to send the frame.
• Bridges: switches used to interconnect several LANs (Ethernets), as to create extended
LANs.

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Ethernet Frame Format

• Frame formats: (a)DIX (DEC, Intel, Xerox) Ethernet. (b) IEEE 802.3.

Bytes 8 6 6 2 0-1500 0-46 4

Destination Source Check-

(a) Preamble Type Data Pad
address address sum

Destination Source Check-

(b) Preamble Length Data Pad
address address sum

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DIX Ethernet Frame Format

• Preamble: 8 bytes containing the pattern 10101010 (repeated 8 times); used for
synchronization purposes (extracting the clock with the use of Manchester encoding).
• Source and destination addresses: 48-bit data link layer (MAC) addresses. Every
manufactured Ethernet board comes with a globally unique 48-bit MAC address.
• Type: tells the receiver which network layer protocol to hand the frame to.
• Data: up to 1500 bytes of data.
• Pad: frames with fewer than 64 bytes are padded out to 64 bytes. Having a minimum
frame length is important to allow senders to keep transmitting for long enough so that
they can detect a collision during transmission.
• Checksum: used for error detection.

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Bridges and LAN Switches

• Switches can be used to forward packets between shared-media LANs such as Ethernets.
Such switches are sometimes known as LAN switches; historically they have been
referred to as bridges.

• If a frame arrives at one of the ports, it is forwarded along the other ports.

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Learning Bridges

• A frame sent from A to B will be received by the bridge at port 1. The bridge, however,
does not need to forward this frame along port 2 (to the other LAN).
• Question: how does the bridge learn on which port the various hosts reside?
• Answer: the bridge maintains a forwarding table that specifies the port on which each
host resides. If the destination of a frame that arrives at port 1 resides also on port 1
(according to the table), the frame is not forwarded.

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Learning Bridges (contd.)

Host Port
A 1
B 1
C 1
X 2
Y 2
Z 2

• The bridge dynamically creates the table as follows:

– When the bridge first boots, the table is empty.
– The bridge inspects the source address of all frames it receives.
– Thus when host A sends a frame to any other host, this frame will be received by
the bridge at port 1. The bridge will create the first entry of the table above.

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Learning Bridges (contd.)

• To protect against the situation in which hosts may move from one
network to the other, every table entry is associated with a timeout; after
timeout the entry is deleted.

• At any time, the table is not necessarily complete. Completeness of the

table is not required for correctness of the operation. The table is an
optimization.

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Example: Building LAN Using Hubs and a Switch

Cable
duct

Hub

Corri dor

Switch

Hub

Twisted pair Office

to a hub

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Thanks

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