The link layer provides transport-like services between connected hosts. This lecture will examine the link layer in a general way, followed by a close look at Ethernet. Ethernet is quite an interesting link layer technology and has been extraordinarily successful in wiring the world together. The shared-medium concept is a great strength as well as some trouble interms of media access.
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
describe the mission, scope, addressing mechanism, data types and responsibilities/services of the Data Link Layer.
describe the differences between broadcast and point-to-point links.
describe three different general types of media access protocols.
describe the CSMA/CD protocol, including the details of Ethernet's implementation.
use space-time diagrams to describe or solve problems relating to media access, including details of Ethernet's implementation.
describe the Ethernet frame format.
solve problems involving interaction of several Ethernet senders and receivers, collisions, propagation times, and the details of Ethernet's CSMA/CD algorithm.