15-441 Computer Networks

Ethernet I

Professor Hui Zhang

hzhang@cs.cmu.edu

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 Aloha Network

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 Original Ethernet

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 High Level View

❖ Goal: share a communication medium among

multiple hosts connected to it
❖ Problem: arbitrate between connected hosts
❖ Solution goals:
▪ High resource utilization
▪ Avoid starvation
▪ Simplicity (non-decentralized algorithms)

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 Medium Access Protocols

❖ Channel partitioning
▪ Divide channel into smaller “pieces” (e.g., time slots,
frequency)
▪ Allocate a piece to node for exclusive use
❖ Random access
▪ Allow collisions
▪ “recover” from collisions
❖ Taking-turns
▪ Tightly coordinate shared access to avoid collisions

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 Random Access Protocols

❖ When node has packet to send

▪ Transmit at full channel data rate R.
▪ No a priori coordination among nodes
❖ Two or more transmitting nodes -> “collision”,
❖ Random access MAC protocol specifies:
▪ How to detect collisions
▪ How to recover from collisions
❖ Examples of random access MAC protocols:
▪ Aloha
▪ Slotted ALOHA
▪ CSMA and CSMA/CD

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 Aloha

❖ Nodes sends the message when

it has data to send.
Central
❖ If it receives an ack, it considers Computer
the transmission completed,
otherwise it retransmits after a
random delay.
❖ Simple, distributed protocol, but
not very efficient
▪ 18% maximum utilization
❖ Slotted Aloha: more efficient.
▪ Reduces chances of collision
▪ 37% maximum utilization

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 Slotted Aloha

❖ Time is divided into equal size slots (= packet transmission

time)
❖ Node with new arriving pkt: transmit at beginning of next slot
❖ If collision: retransmit pkt in future slots with probability p, until
successful.

Success (S), Collision (C), Empty (E) slots

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 CSMA/CD

Broadcast technology host host host host

host host host host

hub

❖ Carrier-sense multiple access with collision

detection (CSMA/CD).
▪ MA = multiple access
▪ CS = carrier sense
▪ CD = collision detection

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 CSMA/CD Algorithm

❖ Sense for carrier.

❖ If carrier present, wait until carrier ends.
▪ Sending would force a collision and waste time
❖ Send packet and sense for collision.
❖ If no collision detected, consider packet delivered.
❖ Otherwise, abort immediately, perform “exponential back
off” and send packet again.
▪ Start to send at a random time picked from an interval
▪ Length of the interval increases with every retransmission

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 Collision Detection

A B C
Time

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 Collision Detection:
Implications
❖ All nodes must be able to detect A B C
the collision.
▪ Any node can be sender
❖ The implication is that either we
must have a short wires, or long
packets.
▪ Or a combination of both
❖ Can calculate length/distance
based on transmission rate and
propagation speed.
▪ Messy: propagation speed is media-
dependent, low-level protocol details,
..
▪ Minimum packet size is 64 bytes
– Cable length ~256 bit times
▪ Example: maximum coax cable length
is 2.5 km
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 CSMA/CD: Some Details

❖ When a sender detects a collision, it sends a

“jam signal”.
▪ Make sure that all nodes are aware of the collision
▪ Length of the jam signal is 32 bit times

❖ Exponential backoff operates in multiples of 512

bit times.
▪ Longer than a roundtrip time
▪ Guarantees that nodes that back off longer will notice the
earlier retransmission before starting to send

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 Ethernet Frame Format

8 6 6 2 4

Preamble Dest Source Type Data Pad CRC

❖ Preamble marks the beginning of the frame.

▪ Also provides clock synchronization
❖ Source and destination are 48 bit IEEE MAC addresses.
▪ Flat address space
▪ Hardwired into the network interface
❖ Type field is a demultiplexing field.
▪ What network layer (layer 3) should receive this packet?
▪ Is actually a length field in the 802.3 standard
❖ CRC for error checking.

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 Minimum Packet Size

❖ Why put a minimum packet size?

❖ Give a host enough time to detect collisions
❖ In Ethernet, minimum packet size = 64 bytes (two
6-byte addresses, 2-byte type, 4-byte CRC, and 46
bytes of data)
❖ If host has less than 46 bytes to send, the adaptor
pads (adds) bytes to make it 46 bytes
❖ What is the relationship between minimum packet
size and the length of the LAN?

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 Minimum Packet Size (more)
Host 1 Host 2
a) Time = t; Host 1
propagation delay (d)
starts to send frame

Host 1 Host 2
b) Time = t + d; Host 2 propagation delay (d)
starts to send a frame
just before it hears from
host 1’s frame

Host 1 Host 2
c) Time = t + 2*d; Host 1
propagation delay (d)
hears Host 2’s frame →
detects collision

LAN length = (min_frame_size)*(light_speed)/(2*bandwidth) =

= (8*64b)*(2*108mps)/(2*107 bps) = 5.12 km

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 Ethernet Physical Layer

❖ 10Base2 standard based on

host host host host
thin coax.
▪ Thick coax no longer used
▪ Nodes are connected using
thin coax cables and “T” Host
connectors in a bus topology
❖ 10-BaseT uses twisted pair
and hubs.
▪ Hub acts as a concentrator
❖ The two designs have the
same protocol properties. host host host host
▪ Key: electrical connectivity
between all nodes
▪ Deployment is different Hub

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 Ethernet Technologies: 10Base2

❖ 10: 10Mbps; 2: under 200 meters max cable length

❖ Thin coaxial cable in a bus topology

❖ Repeaters used to connect up to multiple segments

❖ Repeater repeats bits it hears on one interface to its other
interfaces: physical layer device only!

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 10BaseT and 100BaseT

❖ 10/100 Mbps rate; later called “fast ethernet”

❖ T stands for Twisted Pair
❖ Hub to which nodes are connected by twisted pair, thus
“star topology”

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 802.3u Fast Ethernet
❖ Apply original CSMA/CD medium access protocol at
100Mbps
❖ Must change either minimum frame or maximum
diameter: change diameter
❖ Requires
▪ 2 UTP5 pairs (4B5B) or
▪ 4 UTP3 pairs (8B6T) or
▪ 1 fiber pair
❖ No more “shared wire” connectivity.
▪ Hubs and switches only
❖ 4B/5B encoding

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 Gbit Ethernet

❖ Use standard Ethernet frame format

❖ Allows for point-to-point links and shared broadcast
channels
❖ In shared mode, CSMA/CD is used; short distances
between nodes to be efficient
❖ Uses hubs, called here “Buffered Distributors”
❖ Full-Duplex at 1 Gbps for point-to-point links

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 Traditional IEEE 802 Networks:
MAC in the LAN and MAN

❖ Ethernet defined as IEEE 802.3.

▪ Not quite identical
❖ The IEEE 802.* set of standards defines a common
framing and addressing format for LAN protocols.
▪ Simplifies interoperability
▪ Addresses are 48 bit strings, with no structure
❖ 802.3 (Ethernet)
❖ 802.5 (Token ring)
❖ 802.X (Token bus)
❖ 802.6 (Distributed queue dual bus)
❖ 802.11 (Wireless)

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 LAN Properties

❖ Exploit physical proximity.

▪ Typically there is a limitation on the physical distance between the
nodes, for example,
– to collect collisions in a contention based network
– to limit the overhead introduced by token passing or slot
reservations
❖ Relies on single administrative control and some level of
trust.
▪ Broadcasting packets to everybody and hoping everybody (other
than the receiver) will ignore the packet
▪ Token passing protocols assume everybody plays by the rules

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 Why Ethernet?
❖ Easy to manage.
▪ You plug in the host and it basically works
▪ No configuration at the datalink layer
❖ Broadcast-based.
▪ In part explains the easy management
▪ Some of the LAN protocols (e.g. ARP) rely on broadcast
– Networking would be harder without ARP
▪ Not having natural broadcast capabilities adds complexity to a LAN
– Example: ATM
❖ Drawbacks.
▪ Broadcast-based: limits bandwidth since each packets consumes the
bandwidth of the entire network
▪ Distance

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 802.3z Gigabit Ethernet

❖ Same frame format and size as Ethernet.

▪ This is what makes it Ethernet

❖ Full duplex point-to-point links in the

backbone are likely the most common use.
▪ Added flow control to deal with congestion

❖ Choice of a range of fiber and copper

transmission media.
❖ Defining “jumbo frames” for higher efficiency.

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