IEEE 802.

4 Token Bus
Stations should not starve Assign priorities to frames Solution is token bus. Each station knows its neighbors Special control frame is a token Owner of the token can send After sending, should pass token to neighbor

Collisions are avoided Neighbors are not physical, since broadcast cable. Logical neighbors Logically, a ring Physically, like ethernet

MAC Sublayer Protocol

Stations are ordered according to address initially Each station can hold token for fixed time. After that, has to release Can transmit multiple frames within the period If nothing to send, passes token on to neighbor

Priorities
Priority classes 0, 2, 4, 6. 0 is lowest. Each priority is queued individually at each station. Token first goes to priority 6, then 4, etc. Each class has its own timer. Can allocate more time to high priority traffic Unused time can be used by lower priority classes.

Different frames
Data frames and control frames Data frames have priority field If ack required, specify. Otherwise, destination will not have token to send ack. Data can be 8182 bytes long. Control frames can have token passing frames, or other control signals. The token itself is a frame.

Token Ring
Ring networks consist of point to point links and interfaces Easy to analyze Each interface takes incoming bit, copies on to other line. Token circulates around ring. To transmit, seize the token.

Token is a 3 byte frame. Only one station can have token at any time.

Delay constraint
Ring must have enough delay to contain token when all stations are idle. Link delays are one factor Second factor is the 1-bit buffer at each station. What if some stations are removed from ring? Have to introduce artificial delay.

A physical message
Message is a bunch of bits going around the ring After they complete tour, need to be removed from ring by sender. Can have part of a frame on the ring this way. Need one ack bit that the destination station sets. The sender can check when frame comes back. Under light load, token just circulates. Under heavy load, everyone transmits in round robin.

Under high load, efficiency is almost 100%. What happens if one station goes down? Ring breaks. To prevent this, can have logical ring, but a different topology physically.

Token Ring MAC Sublayer Protocol

Each station can hold the token for a fixed period of time, normally 10msec. Can send multiple frames if there is time. A and C bits in frame. Destination station turns on A bit when it comes, and turns on C if it is copied inside the station. Source station looks at A and C to determine what happened to frame.

Multiple Priority Frames

Token has priority specified on it. It also has a reservation field. To send frame of priority n, capture token with priority at most n. Can make reservation for next frame by writing priority onto passing data frame.. Cannot reserve over higher priority reservation. When current frame is finished, new token has the reserved priority.

Mechanism exists for lowering priority. Protocol not kind to low priority frames.

Comparison
802.3 is simple, efficient at low load. Easy to hook machines on to network. Involves lots of analog circuitry. Minimum frame size can cause inefficiency. No priorities, cable length short.

802.4 is reliable, can have short frames. Has priorities, can guarantee bandwidth to high priority frames. Efficient at high load. Use analog engineering, modems etc. Complex protocol Inefficient at low load. Not widely used

802.5 easy topology, fully digital. Can use any medium. Has priorities, but not very fair. Can have short or very long frames. Efficient at high loads. Centralized monitoring necessary. Inefficient at low loads. No clear winner.