Introduction to Networking

TN 122
Lecture 4 – LAN Technologies
Introduction
 The LAN technologies will assist the devices on
the network communicate with each other.
 These LAN technology are the special
combinations of software and hardware which
makes the network perform at a specific speed
and in the certain way.
 Here twisted pair, coaxial and fiber optic cable as
well as wireless medias are the most common
form of network media used to transfer data.
Introduction

 Ethernet and Wi-Fi are the two most

commonly used LAN technologies.
 Other LAN technologies, including Token
Ring, Fiber Distributed Data Interface
and ARCNET have lost favor as
Ethernet and Wi-Fi speeds have
increased.
Ethernet

 Ethernet is one of the most widely used

technology in the LAN.
 It also strikes a good balance between
price, speed, supportability and easy of
installation.
 Approximately 80 % of most of the LAN
connections use Ethernet today
A bit of history…..
 Back in the 1970s at the Xerox Palo Alto Research
Center, Dr. Robert M. Metcalf developed a network
standard that enabled the sharing of printers to personal
workstations.
 This original system, entitled the “Alto Aloha Network”
(later re-named “Ethernet”), was able to transmit data at
a rate of 3 Mb/s between all connected computers and
printers.
 Later, in 1980 a multi-vendor consortium consisting of
DEC, Intel, and Xerox released the DIX Standard for
Ethernet.
 It was through this effort that Ethernet was able to
become an open standard for network operations
IEEE STANDARDS
In 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. Project 802 is a way of specifying
functions of the physical layer and the data link layer of
major LAN protocols.
IEEE 802 Standards Working
Groups

 The important ones are marked with *. The ones

marked with  are hibernating. The one marked with †
gave up.
 IEEE 802.3
 The subcommittee that developed the standards for
the CSMA/CD, functionally very similar to the DIX
Ethernet system, was 802.3.
 Later in 1985, the official standards were released for
the IEEE 802.3. The standards were for Carrier
Sensing Multiple Access with Collision Detection
access method.
 It is important at this point to distinguish between
original DIX Ethernet and what is termed Ethernet
today.
 Ethernet today refers to the IEEE 802.3 standards
IEEE 802.3 Subtypes
 There are currently three “versions” of Ethernet
available for commercial use.
 The difference between these types lies in the
speed at which they can transmit data.
 The earliest form of the IEEE 802.3 standard, still in
use today by many offices and LANs, is the 10 Mb/s
speed.
 This means that this version can transmit data at 10
Mb/s (1,000,000 bits / second).
IEEE 802.3 Subtypes
 The 10 Mb/s Ethernet can transmit over thick or
thin Coaxial cable, UTP (Unshielded Twisted
Pair) wire, or fiber optic cable.
 The early Thick and Thin Ethernet, which
referred to the type of coaxial cable used, were
set up in a bus topology.
 However, with UTP as the transmission medium
of choice, the topology of Ethernet networks
have evolved into the Star topology. (This
greatly reduces the problems associated
with damaged cabling)
IEEE 802.3 Subtypes

 The next category is the 100 Mb/s Ethernet

or “Fast Ethernet.”
 The only functional difference between
these two is the speed of data
transmission.
 With a transfer rate of 100 Mb/s, this
system typically uses either Category 5
UTP cable or Fiber Optics for the
transmission medium
IEEE 802.3 Subtypes
 The newest form of Ethernet is the 1 Gb/s
category.
 This technology is functionally similar to the 10
and 100 Mb/s technologies, but has subtle
differences.
 The main difference is that the transmission
medium for 1 Gb/s Ethernet is the fiber optic
cable not UTP
Figure 13.3 Ethernet 802.3 Subtypes
How Ethernet Works
 Ethernet function at Data Link Layer.
 It uses Carrier Sense Multiple Access/
Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) mechanism to
send information in a shared environment.
 Ethernet was initially developed with an idea
that many devices would be connected to the
same physical piece of wiring.
 Hence CSMA/CD
Illustration of Ethernet Transmission

 Only one station transmits at any time

 Signal propagates across entire cable
 All stations receive transmission

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CSMA/CD Paradigm

 Multiple Access (MA)

 Multiple computers attach to shared media
 Each uses same access algorithm

 Carrier Sense (CS)

 Wait until medium idle
 Begin to transmit frame

 Simultaneous transmission possible

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CSMA/CD Paradigm – con’t

 Two simultaneous transmissions

 Interfere with one another
 Called collision

 CSMA plus Collision Detection (CD)

 Listen to medium during transmission
 Detect whether another station’s signal interferes

 Back off from interference and try again

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CSMA/CD Paradigm – con’t

 Two simultaneous transmissions

 Interfere with one another
 Called collision

 CSMA plus Collision Detection (CD)

 Listen to medium during transmission
 Detect whether another station’s signal interferes

 Back off from interference and try again

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Backoff After Collision

 When collision occurs

 Wait random time t1, 0 ≤ t1 ≤ d
 Use CSMA and try again
 If second collision occurs
 Wait random time t2, 0 ≤ t2 ≤ 2d
 Double range for each successive collision
 Called exponential backoff

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The IEEE 802.3 Data Frame
 The CSMA/CD system sends information
through the network using MAC (Medium
Access Control) data frames.
 Simply put, a data frame is a small slice of
data wrapped in MAC information. This MAC
information is what allows the packet to be
delivered to the correct place and in one piece.
 The reason the system uses data frames is
simple.
The IEEE 802.3 Data Frame
 When a single transport medium is shared by many
different nodes, each trying to send information to a
particular destination, it is much more efficient to
break down a large amount of data into small
packets and send each packet when the network is
clear.
 This allows every node on the network to have a
chance to send a small piece of its data at a time.
 The concept is very much like multiplexing, where a
bit stream is broken down into individual bits and
each gets its place along the cable.
The IEEE 802.3 Data Frame
IEEE 802.11 Standard
 A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a data transmission
system designed to provide location-independent
network access between computing devices by
using radio waves rather than a cable infrastructure.
 In the corporate enterprise, wireless LANs are
usually implemented as the final link between the
existing wired network and a group of client
computers, giving these users wireless access to
the full resources and services of the corporate
network across a building or campus setting.
Classification of Wireless Networks
 Base Station :: all communication
through an Access Point (AP). Other
nodes can be fixed or mobile.
 Infrastructure Wireless :: AP is
connected to the wired Internet.
 Ad Hoc Wireless :: wireless nodes
communicate directly with one another.
 MANETs (Mobile Ad Hoc Networks) ::
ad hoc nodes are mobile.
Wireless LANs

Figure(a) Wireless networking with a base station. (b) Ad hoc

networking.
Wireless Local Area Networks
 The proliferation of laptop computers and other mobile
devices (PDAs and cell phones) created an obvious
application level demand for wireless local area
networking.
 Companies jumped in, quickly developing incompatible
wireless products in the 1990’s.
 Industry decided to entrust standardization to IEEE
committee that dealt with wired LANs
– namely, the IEEE 802 committee!!
What is 802.11?
 A family of wireless LAN (WLAN) specifications
developed by a working group at the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
 Defines standard for WLANs using the following four
technologies
 Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS)
 Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)
 Infrared (IR)
 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
 Versions: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11e,
802.11f, 802.11i
Differences in IEEE 802.11?

　 IEEE IEEE IEEE IEEE

802.11 802.11b 802.11a 802.11g

Frequency 2.4G Hz 2.4G Hz 5 G Hz 2.4G Hz

Transmission 1~2 Mbps 1~11Mbps 6~54 22~54Mbps

Rate Mbps
Modulation FHSS/DSSS FHSS/DSSS OFDM PBCC-22 +
Technique CCK-OFDM

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Differences between IEEE 802.11?
 802.11a, is much faster than 802.11b, with a 54Mbps
maximum data rate operates in the 5GHz frequency
range and allows eight simultaneous channels.
 802.11a uses Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing (OFDM), an encoding scheme that
offers benefits over spread spectrum in channel
availability and data rate.
 Channel availability is significant because the more
independent channels that are available, the more
scalable the wireless network becomes.
Differences between IEEE 802.11?
 With 802.11b WLANs, mobile users can get
Ethernet levels of performance, throughput, and
availability.
 The basic architecture, features, and services of
802.11b are defined by the original 802.11 standard.
The 802.11b specification affects only the physical
layer, adding higher data rates and more robust
connectivity.
 The key contribution of the 802.11b addition to the
wireless LAN standard was to standardize the
physical layer support of two new speeds,5.5 Mbps
and 11 Mbps.
Differences between IEEE 802.11?
 One of the more significant disadvantages of 802.11b is
that the frequency band is crowded, and subject to
interference from other networking technologies, microwave
ovens, 2.4GHz cordless phones (a huge market), and
Bluetooth [ Wireless Standards Up in the Air].
 There are drawbacks to 802.11b, including lack of
interoperability with voice devices, and no QoS provisions
for multimedia content.
 Interference and other limitations aside, 802.11b is the
clear leader in business and institutional wireless
networking and is gaining share for home applications
as well.
Differences between IEEE 802.11?
 Though 5GHz has many advantages, it also has
problems. The most important of these is compatibility.
 The different frequencies mean that 802.11a products
aren't interoperable with the 802.11b base. To get around
this, the IEEE developed 802.11g, which should extend the
speed and range of 802.11b so that it's fully compatible
with the older systems.
 The standard operates entirely in the 2.4GHz frequency,
but uses a minimum of two modes (both mandatory) with
two optional modes.
 The mandatory modulation/access modes are the same
CCK (Complementary Code Keying) mode used by
802.11b (hence the compatibility) and the OFDM
(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) mode used
by 802.11a (but in this case in the 2.4GHz frequency band).
Differences between IEEE 802.11?
 The obvious advantage of 802.11g is that it
maintains compatibility with 802.11b (and
802.11b's worldwide acceptance) and also offers
faster data rates comparable with 802.11a.
 The number of channels available, however, is not
increased, since channels are a function of
bandwidth, not radio signal modulation - and on
that score, 802.11a wins with its eight channels,
compared to the three channels available with
either 802.11b or 802.11g.
Media Access on a Wireless Net

 Limited range
 Not all stations receive all transmissions
 Cannot use CSMA/CD
 Example in diagram
 Maximum transmission distance is d
 Stations 1 and 3 do not receive each other’ transmissions

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CSMA/CA

 Used on wireless LANs

 Both sides send small message followed by
data transmission
 ‘‘X is about to send to Y’’
 ‘‘Y is about to receive from X’’
 Data frame sent from X to Y

 Purpose: inform all stations in range of X or Y

before transmission
 Known as Collision Avoidance (CA)

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