Ethernet: Mrs.R.Shanthi Prabha M.SC., M.Phil., Assistant Professor, DEPARTMENT OF Computer Science

ETHERNET
Mrs.R.Shanthi Prabha M.Sc., M.Phil.,

Assistant Professor,
DEPARTMENT OF Computer Science
Overview
• Ethernet is now the dominant LAN technology in the
world.
• Ethernet is not one technology but a family of LAN

technologies.
• Ethernet specifications support different media,

bandwidths, and other Layer 1 and 2 variations.
• However, the basic frame format and addressing scheme

is the same for all varieties of Ethernet.
• The original concept for
Ethernet grew out of the
problem of collisions.
• A system called Alohanet was

developed.
▫ Allowed structured access to
the shared radio frequency
band.
• This work later formed the

basis for the Ethernet access
method known as
CSMA/CD.
• Ethernet developed in 1973 by
Xerox.
Ethernet Generations
• Original Ethernet:
▫ Coaxial cable (10Base5)
▫ Thicknet.
• Next Generation:
▫ Thin coax cable (10Base2)
▫ Thinnet.
• Modern Ethernet:
▫ Twisted pair ethernet
(10BaseT)
▫ Uses hub: physical star but
logical bus.
Why Ethernet
• 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
• Scalable
Operation
• 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.
8
CS 640
Multiple Access Methods

• Controlled
▫ Partition channel so each node gets a slice of the bandwidth
▫ Essentially circuit switching – thus inefficient
▫ Examples: TDMA, FDMA, CDMA (all used in wireless/cellular
environments)
• Contention-based
▫ Nodes contends equally for bandwidth and recover from
collisions
▫ Examples: Aloha, Ethernet
• Token-based or reservation-based
▫ Take turns using the channel
▫ Examples: Token ring
Ethernet Fundamentals
• Gigabit Ethernet Started as a LAN technology
▫ Now extends out to distances that make Ethernet a
metropolitan-area network (MAN) and wide-area
network (WAN) standard.
• Ethernet is not one networking technology, but a

family of networking technologies that includes
Legacy, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet.
Ethernet speeds can be 10, 100, 1000, or 10,000
Mbps.
10
CS 640
Experiences with Ethernet
• Ethernets work best under light loads

▫ Utilization over 30% is considered heavy
 Network capacity is wasted by collisions
• Most networks are limited to about 200 hosts
▫ Specification allows for up to 1024
• Most networks are much shorter
▫ 5 to 10 microsecond RTT
• Transport level flow control helps reduce load
(number of back to back packets)
• Ethernet is inexpensive, fast and easy to administer!
Ethernet Problems
• Ethernet’s peak utilization is pretty low (like Aloha)
• Peak throughput worst with
▫ More hosts
 More collisions needed to identify single sender
▫ Smaller packet sizes
▫ Longer links
 Collisions take longer to observe, more wasted
bandwidth
▫ Efficiency is improved by avoiding these conditions
12
CS 640
Switched Ethernet
• Switches forward and filter frames based on LAN addresses
▫ It’s not a bus or a router (although simple forwarding tables
are maintained)
• Very scalable
▫ Options for many interfaces
▫ Full duplex operation (send/receive frames simultaneously)
• Connect two or more “segments” by copying data frames
between them
▫ Switches only copy data when needed
 key difference from repeaters
• Higher link bandwidth
▫ Collisions are completely avoided
• Much greater aggregate bandwidth
▫ Separate segments can send at once
13
Ethernet Frames
• Preamble is a sequence of 7 bytes, each set to “10101010”
▫ Used to synchronize receiver before actual data is sent
• Addresses
▫ unique, 48-bit unicast address assigned to each adapter
 example: 8:0:e4:b1:2
 Each manufacturer gets their own address range
▫ broadcast: all 1s
▫ multicast: first bit is 1
• Type field is a demultiplexing key used to determine which
higher level protocol the frame should be delivered to
• Body can contain up to 1500 bytes of data
14
CS 640
Fast and Gigabit Ethernet

• Fast Ethernet (100Mbps) has technology very similar to
10Mbps Ethernet
▫ Uses different physical layer encoding (4B5B)
▫ Many NIC’s are 10/100 capable
 Can be used at either speed
• Gigabit Ethernet (1,000Mbps)
▫ Compatible with lower speeds
▫ Uses standard framing and CSMA/CD algorithm
▫ Distances are severely limited
▫ Typically used for backbones and inter-router connectivity
▫ Becoming cost competitive
▫ How much of this bandwidth is realizable?
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CS 640
Physical Layer Configurations for 802.3

• Physical layer configurations are specified in three parts
• Data rate (10, 100, 1,000)
▫ 10, 100, 1,000Mbps
• Signaling method (base, broad)
▫ Baseband
 Digital signaling
▫ Broadband
 Analog signaling
• Cabling (2, 5, T, F, S, L)
▫ 5 - Thick coax (original Ethernet cabling)
▫ F – Optical fiber
▫ S – Short wave laser over multimode fiber
▫ L – Long wave laser over single mode fiber
Ethernet Family Tree
12-
21
Various Line Coding Methods

Gigabit
Ethernet
uses NRZ.
Manchester
consumes
too much
Bandwidth.
Gigabit
Ethernet
cannot afford
to use it.
MAC Addresses
• Ethernet uses MAC addresses that are 48 bits in
length and expressed as twelve hexadecimal digits.
• MAC addresses are 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.
• FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF (Broadcast)
Interframe Spacing
• The minimum spacing between two non-
colliding frames is also called the interframe
spacing.
▫ This is measured from the last bit of the FCS field
of the first frame to the first bit of the preamble of
the second frame.
Interframe Spacing Cont.
• Regardless of the speed/version of Ethernet, the spacing remains
the same.
▫ This interval is referred to as the spacing gap. The gap allows slow
stations time to process the previous frame and prepare for the
next frame.
Backoff Timing
• After a collision occurs all stations allow the cable to
become idle (each waits the full interframe spacing)
▫ Stations that collided must wait an additional and
potentially progressively longer period of time before
attempting to retransmit the collided frame.
 Traditional Ethernet is half duplex
 Either transmit or receive but not both simultaneously
 With full-duplex, station can transmit and receive data
simultaneously
 With full duplex, Throughput (actual transmission rate) is
doubled.
 10-Mbps Ethernet in full-duplex mode, theoretical
transfer rate becomes 20 Mbps
 100-Mbps Ethernet in full-duplex mode, theoretical
transfer rate becomes 200 Mbps
 Changes that should be made with any computer in order to
operate in Full-Duplex Mode
1) Attached stations must have full-duplex NIC cards
2) Must use two pairs of wire one pair for transmitting
from host to switch (inbound) and the other pair for
transmitting from switch to host (outbound)
3) Must use a switch as a central device not a hub
4) Devices must be connected point-to-point (dedicated) to
the switch
 Each station constitutes separate collision domain
 CSMA/CD algorithm no longer needed (no collision)
 No limit on the segment length
 Same 802.3 MAC frame format used
Ethernet Errors
• 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

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ETHERNET

Mrs.R.Shanthi Prabha M.Sc., M.Phil.,

• Ethernet is not one technology but a family of LAN

• Ethernet specifications support different media,

• However, the basic frame format and addressing scheme

• A system called Alohanet was

• This work later formed the

• The success of Ethernet is due to the following

• Simplicity and ease of maintenance

Multiple Access Methods

• Ethernet is not one networking technology, but a

Experiences with Ethernet

• Ethernets work best under light loads

Fast and Gigabit Ethernet

Physical Layer Configurations for 802.3

Various Line Coding Methods

• MAC addresses are referred to as burned-in

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