Chapter 6

Ethernet Fundamentals
 6.1.1 Introduction to
Ethernet
From its beginning in the 1970s,
Ethernet has evolved to meet
the increasing demand for high
speed LANs. the same protocol
that transported data at 3 Mbps
in 1973 is carrying data at 10
Gbps.
The success of Ethernet is due
to the following factors:
Simplicity and ease of
maintenance
Ability to incorporate new
technologies
Reliability
Low cost of installation and
upgrade
 6.1.1 Introduction to
Ethernet
The original idea for Ethernet This work later formed the
grew out of the problem of basis for the Ethernet access
allowing two or more hosts to method known as
use the same medium and
prevent the signals from CSMA/CD.
interfering with each other.
This problem of multiple user
access to a shared medium
was studied in the early 1970s
at the University of Hawaii. A
system called Alohanet was
developed to allow various
stations on the Hawaiian
Islands structured access to
the shared radio frequency
band in the atmosphere.
 6.1.1 Introduction to
Ethernet
In 1985, the Institute of The differences between
Electrical and Electronics the two standards were so
Engineers (IEEE) standards minor that any Ethernet
committee for LANs published
standards. They started with network interface card
the number 802. Called (NIC) can transmit and
Ethernet 802.3. This had to be receive both Ethernet and
compatible with the ISO/OSI 802.3 frames. Essentially,
model. To do this, the IEEE Ethernet and IEEE 802.3
802.3 standard had to address are the same standards.
the needs of Layer 1 and the
lower portion of Layer 2 of the
OSI model. As a result, some
small modifications to the
original Ethernet standard were
made in 802.3.
6.1.2 IEEE Ethernet naming
rules
Ethernet is not one The abbreviated
networking technology, description consists of:
but a family of networking A number indicating the
technologies that includes number of Mbps
Legacy, Fast Ethernet, and transmitted.
Gigabit Ethernet. Ethernet The word base, indicating
speeds can be 10, 100, that baseband signaling is
used.
1000, or 10,000 Mbps. The
basic frame format and the One or more letters of the
alphabet indicating the
IEEE sublayers of OSI type of medium used (F=
Layers 1 and 2 remain fiber optical cable, T =
consistent across all copper unshielded twisted
forms of Ethernet. pair).
6.1.3 Ethernet and the OSI
model
Ethernet operates in two
areas of the OSI model, the
lower half of the data link
layer, known as the MAC
sublayer and the physical
layer.
6.1.3 Ethernet and the OSI
model
A collision domain is then
a shared resource.
Problems originating in
one part of the collision
domain will usually impact
the entire collision
domain.
 6.1.3 Ethernet and the OSI
model
maps a variety of Ethernet technologies to the lower
half of OSI Layer 2 and all of Layer 1. Ethernet at
Layer 1 involves interfacing with media, signals, bit
streams that travel on the media, components that
put signals on media, and various topologies.
Ethernet Layer 1 performs a key role in the
communication that takes place between devices,
but each of its functions has limitations. Layer 2
addresses these limitations.
 6.1.3 Ethernet and the OSI model
• Layer 1 involves media, signals, bit streams that travel on media, components
that put signals on media, and various topologies. Each of its functions has its
limitations. Layer 2 addresses these limitations.
• For each limitation in Layer 1, Layer 2 has a solution.
• Layer 1 cannot communicate with the upper-level layers; Layer 2 does that
with logical link control (LLC).
• Layer 1 cannot name or identify computers; Layer 2 uses an addressing (or naming)
process.
• Layer 1 can only describe streams of bits; Layer 2 uses framing to organize or
group the bits.
• Layer 1 cannot choose which computer will transmit binary data, from a group in which
all computers are trying to transmit at the same time; Layer 2 accomplishes this by
using a system called Media Access Control (MAC).
6.1.3 Ethernet and the OSI model
Data link sublayers contribute significantly to
technology compatibility and computer
communication. The MAC sublayer is concerned with
the physical components that will be used to
communicate the information. The Logical Link
Control (LLC) sublayer remains relatively independent
of the physical equipment that will be used for the
communication process.
 6.1.4 Naming
Ethernet uses MAC addresses that are 48 bits in length and
expressed as twelve hexadecimal digits. The first six hexadecimal
digits, which are administered by the IEEE, identify the manufacturer
or vendor. This portion of the MAC address is known as the
Organizational Unique Identifier (OUI). The remaining six
hexadecimal digits represent the interface serial number, or another
value administered by the specific equipment manufacturer. MAC
addresses are sometimes referred to as burned-in addresses (BIA)
because they are burned into read-only memory (ROM) and are
copied into random-access memory (RAM) when the NIC initializes.
 6.1.5 Layer 2 framing
Framing helps obtain essential information that could not,
otherwise, be obtained with coded bit streams alone.
 Which computers are communicating with one another
 When communication between individual computers begins
and when it terminates
 Provides a method for detection of errors that occurred during
the communication
 Whose turn it is to "talk" in a computer "conversation"
 6.1.5 Layer 2 framing
The frame format diagram shows different groupings of bits
(fields) that perform other functions.
The names of the fields are as follows:
 Start frame field
 Address field
 Length / type field
 Data field
 Frame check sequence field 
 6.1.5 Layer 2 framing
All frames contain naming information, such as the name of the
source node (MAC address) and the name of the destination node
(MAC address).
In some technologies, a length field specifies the exact length of a
frame in bytes. Some frames have a type field, which specifies the
Layer 3 protocol making the sending request.
Data
The Frame Check Sequence (FCS) field contains a number that is
calculated by the source node based on the data in the frame. This
FCS is then added to the end of the frame that is being sent.
There are three primary ways to calculate the Frame Check
Sequence number:
 Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) – performs calculations on the data.
 Two-dimensional parity – adds an 8th bit that makes an 8 bit sequence
have an odd or even number of binary 1s.
 Internet checksum – adds the values of all of the data bits to arrive at a
sum.
6.1.6 Ethernet frame structure
 6.1.7 Ethernet frame fields
fields permitted or required in an 802.3 Ethernet Frame are:
 Preamble - is an alternating pattern of ones and zeroes used for
timing synchronization in the asynchronous 10 Mbps and
slower implementations of Ethernet.
 Start Frame Delimiter - one-octet field that marks the end of the
timing information, and contains the bit sequence 10101011.
 Destination Address
 Source Address
 Length/Type
 Data and Pad
 FCS - contains a four byte CRC value that is created by the
sending device and is recalculated by the receiving device to
check for damaged frames.
 Extension
 6.2.1 Media Access Control (MAC)
There are two broad categories of Media Access Control,
deterministic (taking turns) and non-deterministic (first come,
first served).
deterministic protocols include Token Ring and FDDI.
Non-deterministic MAC protocols use a first-come, first-served
approach. CSMA/CD is a simple system. The NIC listens for an
absence of a signal on the media and starts transmitting.
 6.2.1 Media Access Control (MAC)
The specific technologies for each are as follows:
 Ethernet – logical bus topology (information flow is on a linear bus)
and physical star or extended star (wired as a star)
 Token Ring – logical ring topology (in other words, information flow
is controlled in a ring) and a physical star topology (in other words,
it is wired as a star)
 FDDI – logical ring topology (information flow is controlled in a ring)
and physical dual-ring topology (wired as a dual-ring)
 6.2.2 MAC rules and collision
detection/backoff
The access method CSMA/CD used in Ethernet performs
three functions:
 Transmitting and receiving data packets
 Decoding data packets and checking them for valid addresses
before passing them to the upper layers of the OSI model
 Detecting errors within data packets or on the network
 6.2.3 Ethernet timing
The electrical signal takes time to travel down the cable (delay), and each
subsequent repeater introduces a small amount of latency in forwarding the
frame from one port to the next. Because of the delay and latency, it is
possible for more than one station to begin transmitting at or near the same
time. This results in a collision.
Full-duplex operation also changes the timing considerations and eliminates
the concept of slot time. Full-duplex operation allows for larger network
architecture designs since the timing restriction for collision detection is
removed.
In half duplex, assuming that a collision does not occur, the sending station
will transmit 64 bits of timing synchronization information that is known as
the preamble. The sending station will then transmit the following information:
 Destination and source MAC addressing information
 Certain other header information
 The actual data payload
 Checksum (FCS) used to ensure that the message was not corrupted along the way
Stations receiving the frame recalculate the FCS to determine if the incoming
message is valid and then pass valid messages to the next higher layer in the
protocol stack.
 6.2.4 Interframe spacing and backoff
The minimum spacing between two non-colliding frames is
also called the interframe spacing.

The minimum spacing between two non-colliding frames is

also called the interframe spacing.
6.2.5 Error handling
 6.2.6 Types of collisions
Collisions typically take place when two or more Ethernet stations
transmit simultaneously within a collision domain. A single collision is a
collision that was detected while trying to transmit a frame, but on the
next attempt the frame was transmitted successfully.
Three types of collisions are:
 Local - collision on coax cable (10BASE2 and 10BASE5), the signal travels
down the cable until it encounters a signal from the other station.
 Remote - a frame that is less than the minimum length, has an invalid FCS
checksum, but does not exhibit the local collision symptom of over-voltage or
simultaneous RX/TX activity. This sort of collision usually results from
collisions occurring on the far side of a repeated connection.
 Late - Collisions occurring after the first 64 octets. The most significant
difference between late collisions and collisions occurring before the first 64
octets is that the Ethernet NIC will retransmit a normally collided frame
automatically, but will not automatically retransmit a frame that was collided
late.
 6.2.7 Ethernet errors

The following are the sources of Ethernet error:

 Collision or runt – Simultaneous transmission occurring before slot
time has elapsed
 Late collision – Simultaneous transmission occurring after slot time
has elapsed
 Jabber, long frame and range errors – Excessively or illegally long
transmission 
 Short frame, collision fragment or runt – Illegally short transmission
 FCS error – Corrupted transmission
 Alignment error – Insufficient or excessive number of bits transmitted
 Range error – Actual and reported number of octets in frame do not
match
 Ghost or jabber – Unusually long Preamble or Jam event
 6.2.8 FCS and beyond
A received frame that has a bad Frame Check Sequence,
also referred to as a checksum or CRC error, differs from
the original transmission by at least one bit. In an FCS error
frame the header information is probably correct, but the
checksum calculated by the receiving station does not
match the checksum appended to the end of the frame by
the sending station. The frame is then discarded.
 6.2.9 Ethernet auto-negotiation
10BASE-T required each station to transmit a link pulse
about every 16 milliseconds, whenever the station was not
engaged in transmitting a message. Auto-Negotiation
adopted this signal and renamed it a Normal Link Pulse
(NLP). When a series of NLPs are sent in a group for the
purpose of Auto-Negotiation, the group is called a Fast Link
Pulse (FLP) burst. Each FLP burst is sent at the same
timing interval as an NLP, and is intended to allow older
10BASE-T devices to operate normally in the event they
should receive an FLP burst.
Auto-Negotiation is accomplished by transmitting a burst
of 10BASE-T Link Pulses from each of the two link
partners. The burst communicates the capabilities of the
transmitting station to its link partner.
6.2.10 Link establishment and full and
half duplex
Link partners are allowed to skip offering configurations of
which they are capable. This allows the network
administrator to force ports to a selected speed and duplex
setting, without disabling Auto-Negotiation. 
 The End

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