Content Overview Ethernet is now the dominant LAN technology in the world. Ethernet is not one technology but a family of LAN technologies and may be best understood by using the OSI reference model. All LANs must deal with the basic issue of how individual stations (nodes) are named, and Ethernet is no exception. 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. For multiple stations to access physical media and other networking devices, various media access control strategies have been invented. Understanding how network devices gain access to the network media is essential for understanding and troubleshooting the operation of the entire network. Students completing this module should be able to:
Content 6.1 Ethernet Fundamentals 6.1.1 Introduction to Ethernet Most of the traffic on the Internet originates and ends with Ethernet connections. From its beginning in the 1970s, Ethernet has evolved to meet the increasing demand for high speed LANs. When a new media was produced, such as optical fiber, Ethernet adapted to take advantage of the superior bandwidth and low error rate that fiber offers. Now, 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: With the introduction of Gigabit Ethernet, what started as a LAN technology now extends out to distances that make Ethernet a metropolitan-area network (MAN) and wide-area network (WAN) standard. The original idea for Ethernet grew out of the problem of allowing two or more hosts to use the same medium and prevent the signals from 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. This work later formed the basis for the Ethernet access method known as CSMA/CD. The first LAN in the world was the original version of Ethernet. Robert Metcalfe and his coworkers at Xerox designed it more than thirty years ago. The first Ethernet standard was published in 1980 by a consortium of Digital Equipment Company, Intel, and Xerox (DIX). Metcalfe wanted Ethernet to be a shared standard from which everyone could benefit, so it was released as an open standard. The first products developed using the Ethernet standard were sold during the early 1980s. Ethernet transmitted at up to 10 Mbps over thick coaxial cable up to a distance of two kilometers. This type of coaxial cable was referred to as thicknet and was about the width of a small finger. In 1985, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards committee for Local and Metropolitan Networks published standards for LANs. These standards start with the number 802. The standard for Ethernet is 802.3. The IEEE wanted to make sure that its standards were compatible with the International Standards Organization (ISO)/OSI model. To do this, the IEEE 802.3 standard had to address 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. The differences between the two standards were so minor that any Ethernet network interface card (NIC) can transmit and receive both Ethernet and 802.3 frames. Essentially, Ethernet and IEEE 802.3 are the same standards. The 10-Mbps bandwidth of Ethernet was more than enough for the slow personal computers (PCs) of the 1980s. By the early 1990s PCs became much faster, file sizes increased, and data flow bottlenecks were occurring. Most were caused by the low availability of bandwidth. In 1995, IEEE announced a standard for a 100-Mbps Ethernet. This was followed by standards for gigabit per second (Gbps, 1 billion bits per second) Ethernet in 1998 and 1999. All the standards are essentially compatible with the original Ethernet standard. An Ethernet frame could leave an older coax 10-Mbps NIC in a PC, be placed onto a 10-Gbps Ethernet fiber link, and end up at a 100-Mbps NIC. As long as the packet stays on Ethernet networks it is not changed. For this reason Ethernet is considered very scalable. The bandwidth of the network could be increased many times without changing the underlying Ethernet technology. The original Ethernet standard has been amended a number of times in order to manage new transmission media and higher transmission rates. These amendments provide standards for the emerging technologies and maintain compatibility between Ethernet variations. Web Links Ethernet Basics http://howto.lycos.com/lycos/step/ 1,,26166+25845+ 18041,00.html
Content 6.1 Ethernet Fundamentals 6.1.2 IEEE Ethernet naming rules 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. The basic frame format and the IEEE sublayers of OSI Layers 1 and 2 remain consistent across all forms of Ethernet. When Ethernet needs to be expanded to add a new medium or capability, the IEEE issues a new supplement to the 802.3 standard. The new supplements are given a one or two letter designation such as 802.3u. An abbreviated description (called an identifier) is also assigned to the supplement. The abbreviated description consists of: Ethernet relies on baseband signaling, which uses the entire bandwidth of the transmission medium. The data signal is transmitted directly over the transmission medium. In broadband signaling, not used by Ethernet, the data signal is never placed directly on the transmission medium. An analog signal (carrier signal) is modulated by the data signal and the modulated carrier signal is transmitted. Radio broadcasts and cable TV use broadband signaling. The IEEE cannot force manufacturers of networking equipment to fully comply with all the particulars of any standard. The IEEE hopes to achieve the following: Interactive Media Activity Drag and Drop: IEEE 802 Standards This activity tests familiarity with all the IEEE 802 Standards. Web Links IEEE 802 Committee Standards http://www.usyd.edu.au/is/comms/ networkcourse/ USydNet_mod1_ introduction&osimodel.html#tocIEEE
Content 6.1 Ethernet Fundamentals 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. To move data between one Ethernet station and another, the data often passes through a repeater. All other stations in the same collision domain see traffic that passes through a repeater. A collision