IEEE 802.

3
There are a number of versions of IEEE 802.3 protocol. The most popular ones are.

 IEEE 802.3: This was the original standard given for 10BASE-5. It used a thick single coaxial cable into which a
connection can be tapped by drilling into the cable to the core. Here, 10 is the maximum throughput, i.e. 10
Mbps, BASE denoted use of baseband transmission, and 5 refers to the maximum segment length of 500m.
 IEEE 802.3a: This gave the standard for thin coax (10BASE-2), which is a thinner variety where the segments
of coaxial cables are connected by BNC connectors. The 2 refers to the maximum segment length of about 200m
(185m to be precise).
 IEEE 802.3i: This gave the standard for twisted pair (10BASE-T) that uses unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
copper wires as physical layer medium. The further variations were given by IEEE 802.3u for 100BASE-TX,
100BASE-T4 and 100BASE-FX.
 IEEE 802.3i: This gave the standard for Ethernet over Fiber (10BASE-F) that uses fiber optic cables as medium
of transmission

Frame Format of IEEE 802.3

The main fields of a frame of classic Ethernet are -

 Preamble: It is a 7 bytes starting field that provides alert and timing pulse for transmission.
 Start of Frame Delimiter: It is a 1 byte field that contains an alternating pattern of ones and zeros ending with
two ones.
 Destination Address: It is a 6 byte field containing physical address of destination stations.
 Source Address: It is a 6 byte field containing the physical address of the sending station.
 Length: It a 7 bytes field that stores the number of bytes in the data field.
  Data: This is a variable sized field carries the data from the upper layers. The maximum size of data field is 1500
bytes.
 Padding: This is added to the data to bring its length to the minimum requirement of 46 bytes.
 CRC: CRC stands for cyclic redundancy check. It contains the error detection information.

Advantages of IEEE 802. 3

 Simple Protocol: CSMA/CD makes the ease of implementation of Ethernets.

 Cost-effective: IEEE 802. 3 uses basic technology without modems and other modem fancy
equipment; thus, it avoids the need to make extra expense in installation or for timely
maintenance.
 Widespread Adoption: Currently, Ethernet is one of the most popular established network
standards across the globe, which simply means that compatibility of Ethernet hardware and
software equipment will comprise switches, routers, and NICs.

Disadvantages of IEEE 802.3

 Decreased Efficiency at High Loads: If the number of devices in the network rises, then the
collision incidences are more frequent, hence pulling down the efficiency and the throughput of
large networks.
 Not Suitable for Real-Time Applications: Due to the fact that it is a collision-based system, IEEE
802. 3 is not good for real-time operation requirements such as video conferencing and live
streaming, playing games, and so on.
 Limited Priority Support: Many networks do not have a mechanism of identifying which of the
data packets is more important than others. This is particularly the case where several packages of
data have to get to a specific destination before other nonurgent packages like videos or voice do.
 Token Bus (IEEE 802.4) Network

Token Bus (IEEE 802.4) is a standard for implementing token ring over the virtual ring in LANs.
The physical media has a bus or a tree topology and uses coaxial cables. A virtual ring is created
with the nodes/stations and the token is passed from one node to the next in a sequence along
this virtual ring. Each node knows the address of its preceding station and its succeeding station.
A station can only transmit data when it has the token. The working principle of the token bus is
similar to Token Ring.

Token Passing Mechanism in Token Bus

A token is a small message that circulates among the stations of a computer network providing
permission to the stations for transmission. If a station has data to transmit when it receives a
token, it sends the data and then passes the token to the next station; otherwise, it simply
passes the token to the next station. This is depicted in the following diagram −

Frame Format of Token Bus

The frame format is given by the following diagram −

The fields of a token bus frame are −

 Preamble: 1 byte for synchronization.

 Start Delimiter: 1 byte that marks the beginning of the frame.
 Frame Control: 1 byte that specifies whether this is a data frame or control frame.
 Destination Address: 2-6 bytes that specifies address of destination station.
 Source Address: 2-6 bytes that specifies address of source station.
 Payload: A variable length field that carries the data from the network layer.
 Checksum: 4 bytes frame check sequence for error detection.
 End Delimiter: 1 byte that marks the end of the frame.

Advantages of IEEE 802. 4

 High Efficiency Under Heavy Load: Token Bus networks are specifically ideal for high-traffic
networks, as collisions are completely eliminated notwithstanding the size of the network.

 Prioritization of Stations: Standard: IEEE 802. 4 It makes some stations have charge over others
so as to ensure that the important jobs are processed first. This is important, especially in
industrial applications or the overall network, when some or certainly certain data has to be
updated in real time, for instance.

 Real-Time Traffic Support: This is because it allows real-time data transfer since the token
allows only those who have authorized access to the network; it is therefore ideal in the industrial
area that needs frequent data transfer.

Disadvantages of IEEE 802. 4

  Complex Protocol: Token passing protocol, which is much more complex to be implemented in
comparison to CSMA/CD. It employs other interface equipment, for instance, the modems, and
therefore, the general start-up and operational costs of such a system are usually high.

 Less Flexibility: Logical ring also suggests that for opposing Ethernet networks, adding or
removing the stations in the network is complicated.

 Obsolete in Modern Networks: Today the token bus networks are not widely used due to
Ethernet and are very easily substitutive by others faster, cheaper, and simpler networks.

Token Ring frame format

 Topology – Ring topology

 Transmission – Unidirectional

 Encoding – Differential Manchester encoding

 Access control – Token passing

 Data rates – 4 Mbps, 16 Mbps

Token Ring Frame format:

 Start frame delimiter (SFD) – Alerts each station for the arrival of token(or data frame) or start
of the frame. It is used to synchronize clocks.
  Access control (AC) –

Priority bits and reservation bits help in implementing priority. Priority bits = reservation bits = 3. Eg:-
server is given priority = 7 and client is given priority = 0.

Token bit is used to indicate presence of token frame. If token bit = 1 –> token frame and if token bit = 0
–> not a token frame.

Monitor bit helps in solving orphan packet problem. It is covered by CRC as monitor are powerful
machines which can recalculate CRC when modifying monitor bit. If monitor bit = 1 –> stamped by
monitor and if monitor bit = 0 –> not yet stamped by monitor.

 Frame control (FC) – First 2 bits indicates whether the frame contains data or control
information. In control frames, this byte specifies the type of control information.

 Destination address (DA) and Source address (SA) – consist of two 6-byte fields which is used
to indicate MAC address of source and destination.

 Data – Data length can vary from 0 to maximum token holding time (THT) according to token
reservation strategy adopted. Token ring imposes no lower bound on size of data i.e. an advantage
over Ethernet.
  Cyclic redundancy check (CRC) – 32 bit CRC which is used to check for errors in the frame,
i.e., whether the frame is corrupted or not. If the frame is corrupted, then its discarded.

 End delimiter (ED) – It is used to mark the end of frame. In Ethernet, length field is used for this
purpose. It also contains bits to indicate a damaged frame and identify the frame that is the last in
a logical sequence.

 Frame status (FS) – It Is a 1-byte field terminating a data frame.

It makes use of 2 copies of AC bits are used as a error detection mechanism (100% redundancy)
as CRC does not cover FS byte so that destination does not have to recalculate CRC when
modifying AC bits.

Advantages of IEEE 802. 5

 No Collision: Like in Token Bus, Token Ring does not have collision data in the network
because only one station sends data in the network at a particular period of time.

 Support for Large Data Transfers: Other vile standards which he pointed that regulated the
size of fields in the data frames differed from the IEEE 802. 5 is for variable size data frames
which makes its use useful in instances that involve large data frames such as file transfer or a
video stream.

 Real-Time and Interactive Applications: Because there is no limit in data field size and very
efficient network topology, Token Ring most suits for real-time applications like video
conferencing, online games, and client-server activities.

Disadvantages of IEEE 802. 5

 Moderate Complexity: Relative to the other network, the token ring can be considered as
moderate complex because, in order for the communication between the stations to occur
 properly, modems are needed. This is time-consuming and expensive, hence contributing to the
total cost of developing the network.

 Dependency on Token: Of course, the entire network is associated with the functionality of the
token. The problem with this setup is that if the token has been lost or becomes corrupted, the
network halts and would take time before sorting, which in the process creates downtimes.

 Less Popular in Modern Networks: Token Ring networks are comparatively costly and
elaborate than the Ethernet networks and hence are not so widely used as the latter. Ethernet
dominates current-day networks because of the simplicity of the technology and the fact that it is
cheaper than the token ring.

Difference between IEEE 802.3, 802.4 and 802.5

IEEE 802.3 IEEE 802.4 IEEE 802.5

Topology used in
Topology used in IEEE Topology used in IEEE 802.5
IEEE 802.4 is Bus
802.3 is Bus Topology. is Ring Topology.
or Tree Topology.

Size of the frame

Size of the frame format in Frame format in IEEE 802.5
format in IEEE
IEEE 802.3 standard is standard is of the variable
802.4 standard is
1572 bytes. size.
8202 bytes.

There is no priority given It supports priorities In IEEE 802.5 priorities are

in this standard. to stations. possible

Size of the data

Size of the data field is 0 No limit is on the size of the
field is 0 to 8182
to 1500 bytes. data field.
bytes.

Minimum frame required is It can handle short It supports both short and
64 bytes. minimum frames. large frames.

Efficiency decreases when Throughput &

Throughput & efficiency at
speed increases and efficiency at very
very high loads are
throughput is affected by high loads are
outstanding.
the collision. outstanding.

Modems are
Like IEEE 802.4, modems
Modems are not required. required in this
are also required in it.
standard.
 IEEE 802.3 IEEE 802.4 IEEE 802.5

Protocol is Protocol is moderately

Protocol is very simple.
extremely complex. complex.

It is not applicable on Real It can be applied for Real

time applications, time applications and
It is applicable to
interactive Applications interactive applications
Real time traffic.
and Client-Server because there is no limitation
applications. on the size of data.