WIRED LOCAL AREA NETWORK:

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that is designed for a

limited geographic area such as a building or a campus. Although a LAN
can be used as an isolated network to connect computers in an
organization for the sole purpose of sharing resources, most LANs today
are also linked to a wide area network (WAN) or the Internet.

IEEE STANDARDS:
1985, 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.
The standard was adopted by the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI). In 1987, the International Standards Organization (ISO) also
approved it as an international standard under the designation ISO 8802.
The relationship of the 802 Standard to the traditional OSI model is
shown in Figure 3.1.
The IEEE has subdivided the data link layer into two sub layers: logical
link control (LLC) and media access control (MAC).
Frame Format:
The packet sent in an Ethernet LAN is called a frame.
Frame Format
The Ethernet frame contains seven fields: preamble, SFD, DA, SA,
length or type of data unit, upper-layer data, and the CRC. Ethernet does
not provide any mechanism for acknowledging received frames, making
it what is known as an unreliable medium.

Preamble: it is used to synchronize its input timing. The preamble is

actually added at the physical layer.
Start frame delimiter (SFD: The SFD warns the station or stations that
this is the last chance for synchronization.
Destination addresses (DA): The DA field is 6 bytes and contains the
physical address of the destination station or stations to receive the
packet.
Source address (SA): The SA field is also 6 bytes and contains the
physical address of the sender of the packet.
Length or type: This field is defined as a type field or length field. The
IEEE standard used it as the length field to define the number of bytes in
the data field

Data: This field carries data encapsulated from the upper-layer protocols
CRC: The last field contains error detection information.
Frame Length
Ethernet has imposed restrictions on both the minimum and maximum
lengths of a frame.

The minimum length restriction is required for the correct operation of

CSMA/CD, An Ethernet frame needs to have a minimum length of 512
bits or 64 bytes.
Minimum length: 64 bytes (512 bits) Maximum length: 1518 bytes
(12,144 bits)
Ethernet Evolution
Ethernet was created in 1976 at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center
(PARC). Since then, it has gone through four generations: Standard
Ethernet (10 Mbps), Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps), Gigabit Ethernet
(1 Gbps), and Ten-Gigabit Ethernet (10 Gbps).

Access Method: CSMA/CD

The IEEE 802.3 standard defines carrier sense multiple access with
collision detection (CSMA/CD) as the access method for traditional
Ethernet. Stations on a traditional Ethernet can be connected together
using a physical bus or star topology. By this, we mean that the medium
(channel) is shared between stations and only one station at a time can
use it.

To minimize the chance of collision and, therefore, increase the

performance, the CSMA method was developed. The chance of
collision can be reduced if a station senses the medium before
trying to use it. Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA)
requires that each station first listen to the medium (or check the
state of the medium) before sending.
 In other words, CSMA is based on the principle “sense before
Transmit” or “listen before talk.” CSMA can reduce the
possibility of collision, but it cannot eliminate it.

The possibility of collision still exists because of propagation delay;

when a station sends a frame, it still takes time for the first bit to reach
every station and for every station to sense it. In other words, a station
may sense the medium and find it idle, only because the first bit sent by
another station has not yet been received.

Carrier senses multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD)

augments the algorithm to handle the collision. In this method, a
station monitors the medium after it sends a frame to see if the
transmission was successful. If so, the station is finished. If,
however, there is a collision, the frame is sent again. To better
understand CSMA/CD,
Let us look at the first bits transmitted by the two stations involved
in the collision. Although each station continues to send bits in the
frame until it detects the collision, we show what happens as the
first bits collide. In Figure 3.8, stations A and C are involved in the
collision.
At time t1, station A has started sending the bits of its frame. At time t2,
station C has not yet sensed the first bit sent by A. Station C starts
sending the bits in its frame, which propagate both to the left and to the
right. The collision occurs sometime after time t2. Station C detects a
collision at time t3 when it receives the first bit of A’s frame. Station C
immediately (or after a short time, but we assume immediately) aborts
transmission. Station A detects collision at time t4 when it receives the
first bit of C’s frame; it also immediately aborts transmission.

Implementation
The Standard Ethernet defined several implementations, but only four of
them became popular during ’80s. Table 3.1 shows a summary of
Standard Ethernet implementations.
In the nomenclature 10Base-X, the number defines the data rate (10
Mbps), the term Base means baseband (digital) signal, and X
approximately defines either the maximum size of the cable in 100
meters (for example 5 for 500 or 2 for 185 meters) or the type of the
cable, T for unshielded twisted pair cable (UTP) and F for fiber-optic.
Fast Ethernet
Fast Ethernet was designed to compete with LAN protocols such as
FDDI or Fiber Channel. IEEE created Fast Ethernet under the name
802.3u. Fast Ethernet is backward-compatible with Standard Ethernet,
but it can transmit data 10 times faster at a rate of 100 Mbps.

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. In this section, we
concentrate on two wireless technologies for LANs: IEEE 802.11
wireless LANs, sometimes called wireless Ethernet, and Bluetooth, a
technology for small wireless LANs.

IEEE 802.11
IEEE has defined the specifications for a wireless LAN, called IEEE
802.11, which covers the physical and data link layers.
Architecture
The 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 block of a wireless LAN. A basic service set is made of
stationary or mobile wireless stations and an optional central base
station, known as the access point (AP).
Figure 3.13 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 network.
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 usually a wired LAN. The distribution
system connects the APs in the BSSs. 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 3.14 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 two stations in two different BSSs usually occurs via two APs.
Fragmentation
The wireless environment is very noisy; a corrupt frame has to be
retransmitted. The protocol, therefore, recommends fragmentation—the
division of a large frame into smaller ones. It is more efficient to resend
a small frame than a large one.

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.

Hidden Station Problem

Figure 3.19 shows an example of the hidden station problem.

Station B has a transmission range shown by the left oval
(sphere in space); every station in this range can hear any signal
transmitted by station B. Station C has a transmission range
shown by the right oval (sphere in space); every station located
in this range can hear any signal transmitted by C. Station C is
outside the transmission range of B; likewise, station B is
outside the transmission range of C. Station A, however, is in
the area covered by both B and C; it can hear any signal
transmitted by B or C.
Assume that station B is sending data to station A. In the middle
of this transmission, station C also has data to send to station A.
However, station C is out of B’s range and transmissions from B
cannot reach C. Therefore C thinks the medium is free. Station
C sends its data to A, which results in a collision at A because
this station is receiving data from both B and C. In this case, we
say that stations B and C are hidden from each other with
respect to A.
Hidden stations can reduce the capacity of the network because of
the possibility of collision. The solution to the hidden station
problem is the use of the handshake frames (RTSand CTS) that we
discussed earlier. Figure 3.20 shows that the RTS message from
B reaches A, but not C. However, because both B and C are
within the range of A, the CTS message, which contains the
duration of data transmission from B to A reaches C.

The CTS frame in CSMA/CA handshake can prevent collision

from a hidden station. RTS/CTS (request to send / clear to send) is the optional
mechanism used by the 802.11 wireless networking protocol to reduce frame collisions introduced
by the hidden node problem.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a wireless LAN technology designed to connect
devices of different functions such as telephones, notebooks,
computers (desktop and laptop), cameras, printers, coffee
makers, and so on. 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. A Bluetooth LAN can even be
connected to the Internet if one of the gadgets has this
capability.

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 (PAN) operable in an area the size of a room or a
hall.

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. All the secondary
stations synchronize their clocks and hopping sequence with the
primary. Note that a piconet can have only one primary station.
The communication between the primary and the secondary can
be one-to-one or one-to-many.

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.
Bluetooth Devices
A Bluetooth device has a built-in short-range radio transmitter. The
current data rate is 1 Mbps with a 2.4-GHz bandwidth. This means that
there is a possibility of interference between the IEEE 802.11b wireless
LANs and Bluetooth LANs.

Media Access Control

When nodes or stations are
connected and use a common link, we
need a multiple-access protocol to
coordinate access to the link. Many
protocols have been devised to handle
access to a shared link.
Propagation Delay: Propagation delay is
the time it takes for a bit to travel from
point A to point B in the transmission
media.
TP = (Distance) / (Propagation speed)

Transmission Delay (TT) : A sender

needs to put the bits in a packet on the
line one by one. If the first bit of the
packet is put on the line at time t1 and
the last bit is put on the line at time t2,
transmission delay of the packet is (t2 −
t1).
Tt = (Packet length (L)) / (Transmission
rate or Bandwidth (B)) = L / B
RANDOM ACCESS:

1. In random access methods, no station is superior

to another station and none is assigned the
control over another.
2. No station permits, or does not permit, another
station to send.
Two features give this method its name. First, there
is no scheduled time for a station to transmit.
Transmission is random among the stations. That is
why these methods are called random access.
Second, no rules specify which station should send
next. Stations compete with one another to access
the medium. That is why these methods are also
called contention methods.
1. However, if more than one station tries to send,
there is an access conflict-collision-and the frames will be
either destroyed or modified.

Aloha
1. Earliest random-access method, was
developed at the University of Hawaii around
1970.It was designed for a radio (wireless) LAN,
but it can be used on any shared medium.

2. The original ALOHA protocol is called

pure ALOHA.

3. The idea is that each station sends a

frame whenever it has a frame to send.
However, there is the possibility of collision
between frames from different stations.
 We assume that the stations send fixed-
length frames with each frame taking Tfr
to send.
 Vulnerable time in which there is a
possibility of collision, we see that the
time during which a collision may occur in
pure ALOHA, is 2 times the frame
transmission time. Pure ALOHA
vulnerable time= 2 x Tfr
If all these stations try to resend their frames
after the time-out, the frames will collide again.
•Pure ALOHA dictates that when the time-out
period passes, each station waits a random
amount of time before resending its frame. The
randomness will help avoid more collisions. We
call this time the back-off time TB.
•Pure ALOHA has a second method to prevent
congesting the channel with retransmitted
frames. After a maximum number of
retransmissions attempts Kmax a station must
give up and try later.

ALOHA:

Slotted ALOHA
Pure ALOHA has a vulnerable time of 2 x Tfr. This
is so because there is no rule that defines when the
station can send. A station may send soon after
another station has started or soon before another
station has finished.

Slotted ALOHA was invented to improve the

efficiency of pure ALOHA. In slotted ALOHA we
divide the time into slots of Tfr s and force the
station to send only at the beginning of the time
slot.

Because a station is allowed to send only at the

beginning of the synchronized time slot, if a
station misses this moment, it must wait until
the beginning of the next time slot. This means
that the station which started at the beginning
of this slot has already finished sending its
frame.
•Off course, there is still the possibility of
collision if two stations try to send at the
beginning of the same time slot. However, the
vulnerable time is now reduced to one-half,
equal to Tfr

Throughput:

It can be proved that the average number of successful transmissions for

slotted ALOHA is S = G x e-G. The maximum throughput S max is 0.368, when
G = 1. In other words, if a frame is generated during one frame
transmission time, then 36.8 percent of these frames reach their destination
successfully.

Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA)

 To minimize the chance of collision and, therefore, increase the
performance, the CSMA method was developed. The chance of
collision can be reduced if a station senses the medium before
trying to use it. Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) requires that
each station first listen to the medium (or check the state of the
medium) before sending. In other words, CSMA is based on the
principle "sense before transmit" or "listen before talk."
 CSMA can reduce the possibility of collision, but it cannot
eliminate it.
  The possibility of collision still exists because of propagation
delay; when a station sends a frame, it still takes time (although
very short) for the first bit to reach every station and for every
station to sense it. In other words, a station may sense the medium
and find it idle, only because the first bit sent by another station
has not yet been received.

 Vulnerable Time:
 The vulnerable time for CSMA is the propagation time Tp. When a
station sends a frame and any other station tries to send a frame
during this time, a collision will result.
 But if the first bit of the frame reaches the end of the medium,
every station will already have heard the bit and will refrain from
sending.

Persistence Methods:
 What should a station do if the channel is busy? What should a
station do if the channel is idle?
 Three methods have been devised to answer these questions:
 1-persistent method
 Non-persistent method

 P-persistent method
1-Persistent The 1-persistent method is simple
and straightforward. In this method, after the
station finds the line idle, it sends its frame
immediately (with probability 1). This method
has the highest chance of collision because two
or more stations may find the line idle and send
their frames immediately.

Non-persistent In the non-persistent method, a

station that has a frame to send senses the line. If the
line is idle, it sends immediately. If the line is not idle, it
waits a random amount of time and then senses the
line again.
The non-persistent approach reduces the
chance of collision because it is unlikely that two or
more stations will wait the same amount of time
and retry to send simultaneously. However, this
method reduces the efficiency of the network
because the medium remains idle when there may
be stations with frames to send.
P-Persistent The p-persistent approach combines the
advantages of the other two strategies. It reduces the
chance of collision and improves efficiency. In this
method, after the station finds the line idle it follows
these steps:
With probability p, the station sends its frame. With
probability q = 1 - p, the station waits for the beginning
of the next time slot and checks the line again.
a. If the line is idle, it goes to step 1.
b. If the line is busy, it acts as though a collision has
occurred and uses the backoff procedure.
Carrier Sense Multiple Access with
Collision Detection (CSMA/CD)

In this method, a station monitors the medium

after it sends a frame to see if the transmission
was successful. If so, the station is finished. If,
however, there is a collision, the frame is sent
again.
•Minimum Frame Size - For CSMA / CD to work,
we need a restriction on the minimum frame
size. Before sending the last bit of the frame,
the sending station must detect a collision, if
any, and abort the transmission.
•This is so because the station, once the entire
frame is sent, does not monitor the line for
collision detection. Therefore, the frame
transmission time Tfr must be at least two times
the maximum propagation time Tp.
•To understand the reason, let us think about
the worst-case scenario. If the two stations
involved in a collision are the maximum
distance apart, the signal from the first takes
time Tp to reach the second, and the effect of
the collision takes another time Tp to reach the
first. So the requirement is that the first station
must still be transmitting after 2Tp.