NOTES:

ETHERNET

PRESENTED BY:
DEEKSHA PATHAK
CS-3RD YEAR.

NOTES ON:
ETHERNET
WHAT IS ETHERNET?
Ethernet is a physical and data link layer technology
for local area networks (LANs).
It has been relatively inexpensive, reasonably fast
and very popular LAN technology for several
decades.

HISTORY:
For the connections of computer users on remote islands
to the main /central computer, researcher NORMAN
ABRAMSON and his colleagues at the University of Hawaii
found the short range radios.
Each user terminal was equipped with a small radio
having two frequencies:
UPSTREAM: to the central computer.
DOWNSTREAM: from the central computer.
When the user wanted to contact the computer, it just
transmitted a packet containing the data in upstream
channel. If no one was transmitting at that instant, the
packet probably got through and was acknowledged on

downstream channel .If there was contention for the

upstream channel, the terminal noticed the lack of
acknowledgement and tried again. Since, there was only
one sender on downstream channel (the central
computer), there were never collisions there. This system
was called ALOHANET.
Later on, concept of ETHERNET came.
Ethernet was originally developed by Xerox from an
earlier specification called Alohanet (for the Palo Alto
Research Center Aloha network) and then developed
further by Xerox, DEC, and Intel [DIX].
Ethernet was invented by engineer Robert Metcalfe at
PALO ALTO RESEARCH CENTRE (PALO).

STRUCTURE :
ETHERNET got its name after the luminiferous ether,
through which electromagnetic radiations was thought to
propagate.
The transmission medium here was not a vacuum, but a
thick co-axial cable upto2.5km long, with repeaters at
every 500 meters.
Up to 256 machines could be attached to the system via
transreceivers screwed on to the cable.
A cable with multiple machines attached to it in parallel is
called a MULTIDROP CABLE.
The system ran at 2.94 Mbps.

ADVANTAGE OVER ALOHANET:

ETHERNET has a major improvement over ALOHANET:
before transmitting, a computer first listened to the cable
to see if someone else was already transmitting.If so, the
computer held back until the current transmission
finished .Hence,increases the efficiency.
ALOHANET did not work like this because it was
impossible for a terminal on one island to sense the
transmission of a terminal on distant island.With a single
cable, this problem does not exist.

ETHERNET PROTOCOL:
The original 802.3 standard was defined for a bus-based
coaxial cable LAN in which terminal transmissions are
broadcast over the bus medium using Carrier Sensing
Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA-CD) for
the MAC protocol .A station with a frame to transmit
waits until the channel is silent .Ethernet adopts the 1persistent mode so that when the channel goes silent
,the station transmits immediately.During transmission
,the station continues to listen for collisions that can
occur if other s\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\tation
also begin to transmit .If a collision occurs , the station
aborts the transmission and schedules a later random
time when it will reattempt to transmits its frame.
ETHERNET has survived because its protocol has the
following characteristics:

1)It is easy to understand, implement, manage and

maintain.
2)It allows low cost network implementations.
3)I t provides extensive topological flexibility for
network installation.
4)It guarantees successful interconnection and
operation of standards compliant products,
regardless of manufacturer.

ETHERNET EVOLUTION:

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 The original 10 Mbps Ethernet standard was first

published in 1983 by the DEC-Intel-Xerox vendor
consortium.
Using the first initial of each company, this became
known as the DIX Ethernet standard.
This standard, entitled The Ethernet, a Local Area
Network: Data Link Layer and Physical Layer
Specifications, contained the specifications for the
operation of Ethernet as well as the specs for a single
media system based on thick coaxial cable.
ETHERNET continued to develop and is still
developing.
New versions at 100Mbps, 1000Mbps, and still higher
have come out.
Also the cabling has improved, and switching and
other features have been added.

ARCHITECTURE OF ORIGINAL
ETHERNET:

ADVANTAGES OF ETHERNET:
1.Conceptually Simple :
Ethernet is simply daisy-chained together with
coax cable and "T" adapters. There are usually no
hubs, transrecievers, or other devices used.
2.Relatively Inexpensive:
Due to the simplicity inherent in the design of
Ethernet, it can be an inexpensive technology to
implement.
3.Noise Immunity:
The coaxial cable used in an Ethernet network is
very wellshielded, and has a very high immunity
from electrical noise caused by outside sources.

DISADVANTAGES OF
ETHERNET:
1.Infrastructure Requirements:

We must have the necessary wiring and

equipment. Also, we will need a port on the switch
for each wired device.
2.Distance limitations: Each wire has maximum
length from the network adapter on the computer
to the hub/switch/router/gateway.
3.Difficult To Change:
Reconfiguring an Ethernet is somewhat difficult to
do once it is in place. Any changes to the network
will result in at least some "down time," as the bus
must be broken and a
new section spliced in at the point of the break.
4.Fault Intolerant:
If any device or cable section attached to the
network fails, it will most likely make the entire
network go down.
5.Difficult Troubleshooting:
Ethernet networks are very difficult to troubleshoot.
There is no easy way to determine what node or
cable section is causing a problem, and the network
must be troubleshot by
a "process of elimination." This can be very time
consuming.