LANs

Studying
Local Area Networks
Via
Media Access Control (MAC) SubLayer

Local Area Networks 1

 Local Area Networks
• Aloha
• Slotted Aloha
• CSMA (non-persistent, 1-persistent, p-
persistent)
• CSMA/CD
• Ethernet
• Token Ring
Local Area Networks 2
 Network Layer
Network Layer

LLC 802.2 Logical Link Control

Data Link
Layer

802.3 802.5 802.11 Other

MAC CSMA-CD Token Ring Wireless LANs
LAN

Physical
Physical Various Physical Layers
Layer
Layer

IEEE 802 OSI Figure 6.11

Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies

Local Area Networks 3
 3
2 4
1

Shared Multiple
Access Medium

M 5


Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks Figure 6.1

Local Area Networks 4

 Static Channel Allocation Problem
The history of broadcast networks includes
satellite and packet radio networks.
Let us view a satellite as a repeater amplifying
and rebroadcasting everything that comes
in.
To generalize this problem, consider networks
where every frame sent is automatically
received by every site (node).

Local Area Networks 5

 Satellite Channel = fin

= fout

Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks Figure 6.3

Local Area Networks 6

 Static Channel Allocation Problem
We model this situation as n independent
users (one per node), each wanting to
communicate with another user and they
have no other form of communication.
Channel Allocation Problem

To manage a single broadcast channel which must be shared

efficiently and fairly among n uncoordinated users.

Local Area Networks 7

 Ring networks

Multitapped Bus

Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks
Figure 6.5

Local Area Networks 8

 Possible Model Assumptions for
Channel Allocation Problem

0. Listen property :: (applies to satellites)

The sender is able to listen to sent frame one
round-trip after sending it.
 no need for explicit ACKs
1. Model consists of n independent stations.
2. A single channel is available for communications.

Local Area Networks 9

 Possible Model Assumptions for
Channel Allocation Problem
3. Collision Assumption :: If two frames are
transmitted simultaneously, they overlap in time
and the resulting signal is garbled. This event is a
collision.
4a. Continuous Time Assumption :: frame
transmissions can begin at any time instant.
4b. Slotted Time Assumption :: time is divided into
discrete intervals (slots). Frame transmissions
always begin at the start of a time slot.

Local Area Networks 10

 Possible Model Assumptions for
Channel Allocation Problem
5a. Carrier Sense Assumption ::
Stations can tell if the channel is busy (in use) before
trying to use it. If the channel is busy, no station will
attempt to use the channel until it is idle.

5b. No Carrier Sense Assumption ::

Stations are unable to sense channel before attempting
to send a frame. They just go ahead and transmit a
frame.

Local Area Networks 11

 a :: Relative Propagation Time
  length of the data path (in bits)
a = --------------------------------------------------
length of a standard frame (in bits)
-OR-
propagation time ( in seconds)
a = ------------------------------------------------
transmission time (in seconds)
-OR-
delay-bandwidth product*
a= ----------------------------------------- [ LG&W def p.346]
average frame size 
* Delay-bandwidth product :: the product of the capacity (bit
rate) and the delay.
Local Area Networks 12
Local Area Networks 13
 Relative Propagation Time
R = capacity (data rate)
d = maximum distance of communications path
v = propagation velocity (Assume v = 2/3 speed of light 2 x
108 meters/second)
L = frame length

d/v Rd
a = ------- = ------
L/R vL

Local Area Networks 14

 Upper Bound on Utilization for
Shared Media LAN
Assume a perfect, efficient access that allows one
transmission at a time where there are no
collisions, no retransmissions, no delays between
transmissions and no bits wasted on overhead.
{These are best-case assumptions}

Tput L
Util = --------------- = ------------------------------------------------
Capacity propagation time + transmission time
--------------------------------------------------------
R

Local Area Networks 15

 Maximum Utilization for LANs
L
---------------
d L L 1
max. Util = ---- + ---- = --------------- = ------------
v R Rd a + 1
  ------------------- ---- + L
R v
 

1
max. Util = ---------
1 + a

Local Area Networks 16

 Distance d meters
tprop = d /  seconds
A transmits
at t = 0 A B
B transmits
before t = tprop
A B
and detects
A detects collision
collision at shortly
A B
t = 2 tprop thereafter

Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Figure 6.7

Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks

Local Area Networks 17

Local Area Networks 18
 Efficiency [LG&W p.346]

L 1
Efficiency = --------------- = -----------
L + 2t prop R 1 + 2a

Why is this result different?

Local Area Networks 19

 LAN Design considering Performance
For broadcast LANs what are the factors under the
designer’s control that affect LAN performance?
• Capacity {function of media}
• Propagation delay {function of media, distance}
• Bits /frame (frame size)
• MAC protocol
• Offered load – depends on how retransmissions
are handled
• Number of stations
• Error rate
Local Area Networks 20
 Historic LAN Performance Notation
I :: input load - the total (normalized) rate of data
generated by all n stations
G :: offered load – the total (normalized) data rate
presented to the network including retransmissions
S :: throughput of LAN - the total (normalized) data
rate transferred between stations
D :: average frame delay – the time from when a frame
is ready for transmission until completion of a
successful transmission.

Local Area Networks 21

 Normalizing Throughput (S)
[assuming one packet = one frame]
Throughput (S) is normalized using packets/packet
time where
packet time :: the time to transmit a standard fixed-
length packet
i.e., packet length
packet time = -----------------
bit rate
NOTE: Since the channel capacity is one packet
/packet time, S can be viewed as throughput as a
fraction of capacity.
Represented in LG&W by  in later graphs.
Local Area Networks 22
Local Area Networks 23
 Typical frame delay versus throughput performance
E[T]/E[X]
Transfer Delay

1

max 1
Load
Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks Figure 6.8

Local Area Networks 24

 Delay-Throughput Performance Dependence
on a
E[T]/E[X]
a > a

a a
Transfer Delay

1

max max 1

Load
Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks Figure 6.9

Local Area Networks 25

 ALOHA
• Abramson solved the channel allocation problem
for ground radio at University of Hawaii in 1970’s

Aloha Transmission Strategy

Stations transmit whenever they have data to send

• Collisions will occur and colliding frames are

destroyed
Aloha Retransmission Strategy

Station waits a random amount of time before sending again

Local Area Networks 26
 ALOHA

First transmission Retransmission

t
t0-X t0 t0+X t0+X+2tprop t0+X+2tprop

Vulnerable Time-out Backoff Retransmission

period period if necessary

random backoff period B

Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks Figure 6.16

Local Area Networks 27

Local Area Networks 28
 Slotted ALOHA (Roberts 1972)
• uses discrete time intervals as slots (i.e., slot = one
packet transmission time) and synchronize send
time (e.g., use “pip” from a satellite)
Slotted Aloha Strategy

Stations transmit ONLY at the beginning of a time slot

• Collisions will occur and colliding frames are
destroyed
Slotted Aloha Retransmission Strategy

Station waits a random amount of time before sending again

Local Area Networks 29
 Slotted ALOHA

t
kX (k+1)X t0 +X+2tprop t0 +X+2tprop

Vulnerable Time-out Backoff Retransmission

period period if necessary

random backoff period B slots

Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks Figure 6.18

Local Area Networks 30

 ALOHA and Slotted ALOHA
Throughput versus Load
0.4
0.368
0.35

0.3

S 0.25 Ge-G
0.2 0.184
0.15

0.1

0.05 Ge-2G
0
0.01563

0.03125

0.0625

0.25
0.125

0.5

8
G

Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks Figure 6.17

Local Area Networks 31

Non-Persistent CSMA (Carrier Sense with
Multiple Access)

nonpersistent CSMA is less greedy

  Sense the channel.
IF the channel is idle, THEN transmit.
 
If the channel is busy, THEN wait a random
amount of time and start over.

Local Area Networks 32

 1 - Persistent CSMA (Carrier Sense with
Multiple Access)

1 - persistent CSMA is selfish

  Sense the channel.
IF the channel is idle, THEN transmit.
 
IF the channel is busy, THEN continue to
listen until channel is idle. Now transmit
immediately.
Local Area Networks 33
P - Persistent CSMA (Carrier Sense with
Multiple Access)

p - persistent CSMA is a slotted approximation

Sense the channel.

IF the channel is idle, THEN with probability p

transmit and with probability (1-p) delay for one
time slot and start over.

  IF the channel is busy, THEN delay one time-slot

and start over.  
Local Area Networks 34
 P – Persistent CSMA details
• the time slot is usually set to the maximum
propagation delay.
• as p decreases, stations wait longer to
transmit but the number of collisions
decreases
• Considerations for the choice of p: (n x p)
must be < 1 for stability, where n is
maximum number of stations

Local Area Networks 35

 CSMA Collisions
• In all three cases a collision is possible.

• CSMA determines collisions by the lack of an

ACK which results in a TIMEOUT. {This is
extremely expensive with respect to performance.}
• If a collision occurs, THEN wait a random amount
of time and start over.
–  

Local Area Networks 36

 CSMA/CD Collisions
• If a collision is detected during transmission,
THEN immediately cease transmitting the frame.
• The first station to detect a collision sends a jam
signal to all stations to indicate that there has been
a collision.
• After receiving a jam signal, a station that was
attempting to transmit waits a random amount of
time before attempting to retransmit.
• The maximum time needed to detect a collision =
2 x propagation delay.

Local Area Networks 37

 CSMA vs CSMA/CD
• CSMA is essentially a historical technology now.
• If propagation time is short compared to transmission
time, station can be listening before sending with
CSMA
• Collision detection (CD) accomplished by detecting
voltage levels outside acceptable range. Thus
attenuation limits distance without a repeater.
• If the collision time is short compared to packet time
(i.e., small a), performance will increase due to CD

Local Area Networks 38

 frame contention frame

Probability of 1 successful transmission:

Ps u c c e s s  n p (1  p )n 1 Pmax
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
Psuccess is maximized at p=1/n: 0.2
0.1
1 n 1 1 0
Psmax
uc ce s s  n (1  )  2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
n e
n
Local Area Networks 39
Figure 6.23
 Throughput vs Load varying a

S 0.9 0.81
0.8

0.7

0.6 0.01
Non-Persistent 0.5 0.51
CSMA 0.4

0.3

0.2 0.14
0.1
0.1

0
G
0 .0 2

0 .0 3

0 .0 6

0 .1 3

0 .2 5

0 .5

16

32

64
1

8
1

Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks Figure 6.21 - Part 1

Local Area Networks 40

 Throughput vs Load varying a

0.6

0.53
0.5
S
0.4
1-Persistent
CSMA 0.3
0.01
0.2
0.45
0.1
0.1
0.16
0
0 .0 2
0 .0 3
0 .0 6
0.1 3
0.2 5
0 .5

16
32
64
1
2
4
8
1
G

Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks Figure 6.21 - Part 2

Local Area Networks 41

 Maximum Achievable Throughputs

CSMA/CD
1 1-P CSMA
0.8
Non-P CSMA
max 0.6
Slotted Aloha
0.4

Aloh
0.2
a
0
0.01 0.1 1
a

Copyright ©2000 The McGraw Hill Companies Leon-Garcia & Widjaja: Communication Networks Figure 6.24

Local Area Networks 42

 Frame Delay varying a

CSMA-CD
a = 0.01
a = 0.2 a = 0.1
30
Avg. Transfer Delay

25
20
15
10
5
0
0.12
0.18
0.24

0.36
0.42
0.48
0.54

0.66

0.84

0.96
0
0.06

0.3

0.6

0.72
0.78

0.9
Load

Local Area Networks 43

Figure 6.51