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edu
 Token Ring

Developed by IBM in the mid 1980s– still used today

Token Ring Network can be use with

• ring topology
• star topology with central access point called MSAU
(Multistation Access Unit)

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 Features
Network of heavy traffic, token passing is the most efficient network
architecture.

Token Passing technology eliminate network collision because stations

are not allowed to simultaneously transmit on the network.

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 Token Passing

The token ring network introduced a unique method : Token Passing

 Token Ring IEEE 802.5 standards passes a special frame : Token

the first computer that comes online on the token ring network generates
this token. This station is called as : Active Monitor.

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The signal will travel from one station to the other until it reaches its initiator .
When the destination
computer receives the data
frame, the data frame is
modified and sent on the
network back to the source
computer, indicating that the
transmission of data was S
successful.

D
When S want to transmit data it grabs the token
and then begin transmission. After receiving the
token, S will attach the data frame with the address
of destination computer . Each frame transmitted
on the ring is transmitted from one computer to the
next, until it ultimately returns to the initiator of the
transmission.

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 Priorities
Token passing is also called as deterministic.
( we can calculate the maximum time before a workstation can grab the
token and begin to transmit)

 Token Ring networks has a priority system that allows stations

with high priority to use the network more frequently

 The priority is defined by the frame's priority and reservation fields.

 In order to seize a token a station must have priority which equals or is

higher than the priority field of the token. Only than the station can
reserve the token for the next pass around the network.

 This way when the next token is generated, it includes the higher reserving
station. Stations must change the priority back to its previous value after
their transmission has completed.
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Token Ring Frame

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 Token

The token is 3 bytes:

Start delimiter.
Access Control Byte.
End delimiter.
Other fields are added to the token when
data/command information is to be
transmitted.

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Data/Command Frame

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Start delimiter - which alerts the stations of a
token arrival (or data/command frame).

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Access Control.
Priority field/Reservation field.
Permits designated high-priority stations to use
the network more frequently.
Token bit.
Distinguishes token from data/command frame.
Monitor bit.
Determines whether a frame is continuously
circling the ring endlessly.

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Frame Control Byte
Only present in data/command frames
Indicates whether frame contains data or
control information
If control, this byte specifies type

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Destination/Source addresses
6 bytes

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Data Field
Length limited by the maximum time a station may hold
the token

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FCS Field
Frame Check Sequence
Source fills field with calculated value
 Dependent on frame contents
Destination recalculates to check data
integrity
 Frame is discarded if damaged

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End Delimiter
Completes the token or data/command frame
Contains damage indicator
Last of logical sequence

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 Token Ring Fault Management

In order to detect and correct network faults Token Ring networks

may dedicate a station for monitoring frames which are circling
around without being dealt with. This monitor removes such frames
and allow the network to function in a normal manner all over
again.

 Active monitoring

 Beaconing

 Selective removal of station

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 Active Monitoring

 One station on the Token ring network designated as a

active monitor.

 The active monitor perform maintenance function,

such as removing continuously circulated rings and
generating new tokens.

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 Beaconing

Beaconing refers to a frame that is sent around the network when a

serious network problem occur.

Frame is sent to the nearest active upstream neighbor (NAUN) until the
frame stops.

When the frame stops, beaconing determines that the next upstream
neighbor has a problem.

If the station that initiated the beacon receive its own beacon, it
assumes the link failure has been fixed, and then regenerates the token.

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 Multi Station Access Units

MSAU
Can see all information in a Token
Ring Network
Check for problems
Selectively remove stations from the
ring if needed

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 Overview of FDDI(Fiber
distributed data interconnect)
 FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interconnect) is an improved
token ring specification based on fiber as the physical
medium.

 FDDI is a ring based technology with data rates speed of 100

Mbits/s
.

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Token is passed simultaneously
on the network's inner and outer
rings which backup each other.

FDDI uses two rings to

achieve recovery capabilities.

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 in case of broken connection or station malfunction, the closest
station closes the network loop by sending the token it received from
the outer/inner ring back using the inner/outer ring. This feature is
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www.imt.edu
SAS/DAS/DAC

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 Single-Attachment Stations

SAS
Attach to one ring (primary)
Attached through a concentrator
Provides connection for multiple SASs
Ensures that no one SAS can interrupt
the ring

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 Dual Attachment Stations

DAS
Class A
Attach to both rings
Has two ports to connect to the dual ring
Both ports connect to both rings

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Preamble
Prepares each station for the upcoming frame
Start delimiter

Frame Control
Indicates the size of the address fields
Indicates whether frame contains asynchronous
or synchronous data
Other control information

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Destination address
6 bytes
Unicast: to one address
Multicast: to several addresses
Broadcast: to all addresses
Source address
Data
Frame Check Sequence
End Delimiter
Frame Status

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FDDI Token

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 Advantages of Optical Fiber
Security
Fiber does not emit electrical signals that
can be tapped
Reliability
Fiber is immune to electrical interference
Speed
Optical fiber has much higher
throughput potential than copper cable

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 FDDI Rings
FDDI specifies dual rings for physical
connections
Traffic on each ring travels in opposite
directions
Rings consist of two or more point-to-point
connections between adjacent stations
Primary ring is for data transmission
Secondary ring is for back up

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 Ethernet

Shortly after the 1980 IEEE 802.3

specification, Digital Equipment
Corporation (DEC), Intel Corporation, and
Xerox Corporation jointly developed and
released an Ethernet specification. Version
2.0, that was substantially compatible with
IEEE 802.3. Together, Ethernet and IEEE
802.3 currently maintain the greatest
market share of any LAN protocol.

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 Ethernet

Today, the term Ethernet is often

used to refer to all carrier sense
multiple access/collision detection
(CSMA/CD) LAN’s that generally
conform to Ethernet specifications,
including IEEE 802.3.

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Ethernet

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 Ethernet

Ethernet performs three functions:

 Transmitting and receiving data packets
 decoding data packets and checking them for
valid addresses before passing them to the
upper layers of the OSI model
 detecting errors within data packets or on the
network
In the CSMA/CD access method, networking
devices with data to transmit over the networking
media work in a listen-before-transmit mode.

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 NICs
Provides ports for network connection
Communicate with network via serial
connection
Communication with computer through
parallel connection
Resources required:
IRQ, I/O address, upper memory addresses

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 Selection Factors for NICs

Type of network
Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI
Type of media
Twisted pair, coax, fiber
Type of system bus
PCI, ISA

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 NIC Operations
Layer 1 & Layer 2 device
Primarily Layer 2
Communicates with upper layers in the computer
Logical Link Control (LLC)
Has MAC address burned in
Encapsulates data into frames
Provides access to the media
Also Layer 1
Creates signals and interfaces with the media
On-board transceiver

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 Bridges
Connects two network segments
Can connect different layer 2 protocols
Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI
Makes intelligent decisions about traffic
Reduces unnecessary traffic
Minimizes collisions
Filters traffic based on MAC address
Maintains address tables
Rarely implemented today
Conceptually important

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 Bridge Operations

Bridging occurs at the data link layer:

Controls data flow
Handles transmission errors
Provides physical addressing
Manages access to the physical medium

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 Bridge Operations
Transparent to upper layers
Best used in low traffic areas
Can cause bottlenecks
Must examine every packet
Broadcasts
Messages sent to all devices
Destination MAC address unknown
Bridge will always forward
Can cause Broadcast Storm
• Network time outs, traffic slowdowns,
unacceptable performance

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 Switching Operation
Microsegmentation
Each switch port acts as a micro bridge (Layer 2 device)
Multiple traffic paths within the switch
• Virtual circuits
• Temporarily exist - only when needed
Each data frame has a dedicated path
No collisions
Increases bandwidth availability
• Each host gets full bandwidth

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 Advantages of Switches

Much faster than bridges

Hardware based, not software
Support new uses
e.g. virtual LANs
Reduce collision domains

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 Advantages of Switches
Allows many users to communicate in parallel
Creates virtual circuits
Creates dedicated segments
Collision free
Maximizes bandwidth
Cost effective
Can simply replace hubs in same cable infrastructure
Minimal disruption
Flexible network management
Software based configuration

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 Broadcast Domains

All hosts connected to the same switch

are still in the same broadcast domain
A broadcast from one node will be seen
by all other nodes connected through the
LAN switch

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 Two primary reasons for
segmenting a LAN

Isolate traffic between segments

Achieve more bandwidth per user by
creating smaller collision domains

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 Bridge Drawback
Bridges increase the latency (delay) in
a network by 10-30%
A bridge is considered a store-and-
forward device slowing network
transmissions, thus causing delay.

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 Layer 2 Technologies

It is important to note that even though

100% of the bandwidth may be available,
Ethernet networks perform best when
kept under 30-40% of full capacity.
Bandwidth usage that exceeds the
recommended limitation results in
increased collisions.

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The Router is a layer 3 (Network) device,
but operates at layers 1-3.
Routers create the highest level of
segmentation because of their ability to make
exact determinations of where to send the data
packet.
Because routers perform more functions than
bridges, they operate with a higher rate of
latency.

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