7.1.9 This page describes the architecture of Fast Ethernet.
Fast Ethernet links generally consist of a connection between a station and a hub or switch. Hubs are considered multi-port repeaters and switches are considered multi-port bridges. These are subject to the 100-m (328 ft) UTP media distance limitation.
A Class I repeater may introduce up to 140 bit-times latency. Any repeater that changes between one Ethernet implementation and another is a Class I repeater. A Class II repeater is restricted to smaller timing delays, 92 bit times, because it immediately repeats the incoming signal to all other ports without a translation process. To achieve a smaller timing delay, Class II repeaters can only connect to segment types that use the same signaling technique.
As with 10-Mbps versions, it is possible to modify some of the architecture rules for 100-Mbps versions. Modification of the architecture rules is strongly discouraged for 100BASE-TX. 100BASE-TX cable between Class II repeaters may not exceed 5 m (16 ft). Links that operate in half duplex are not uncommon in Fast Ethernet. However, half duplex is undesirable because the signaling scheme is inherently full duplex.
Figure shows architecture configuration cable distances. 100BASE-TX links can have unrepeated distances up to 100 m. Switches have made this distance limitation less important. Most Fast Ethernet implementations are switched.
This page concludes this lesson. The next lesson will discuss Gigabit and 10-Gigabit Ethernet. The first page describes 1000-Mbps Ethernet standards.
7.2.1 This page covers the 1000-Mbps Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet standards. These standards specify both fiber and copper media for data transmissions. The 1000BASE-T standard, IEEE 802.3ab, uses Category 5, or higher, balanced copper cabling. The 1000BASE-X standard, IEEE 802.3z, specifies 1 Gbps full duplex over optical fiber.
1000BASE-TX, 1000BASE-SX, and 1000BASE-LX use the same timing parameters, as shown in Figure . They use a 1 ns, 0.000000001 of a second, or 1 billionth of a second bit time. The Gigabit Ethernet frame has the same format as is used for 10 and 100-Mbps Ethernet. Some implementations of Gigabit Ethernet may use different processes to convert frames to bits on the cable. Figure shows the Ethernet frame fields.
The differences between standard Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet occur at the physical layer. Due to the increased speeds of these newer standards, the shorter duration bit times require special considerations. Since the bits are introduced on the medium for a shorter duration and more often, timing is critical. This high-speed transmission requires higher frequencies. This causes the bits to be more susceptible to noise on copper media.
These issues require Gigabit Ethernet to use two separate encoding steps. Data transmission is more efficient when codes are used to represent the binary bit stream. The encoded data provides synchronization, efficient usage of bandwidth, and improved signal-to-noise ratio characteristics.
At the physical layer, the bit patterns from the MAC layer are converted into symbols. The symbols may also be control information such as start frame, end frame, and idle conditions on a link. The frame is coded into control symbols and data symbols to increase in network throughput.
Fiber-based Gigabit Ethernet, or 1000BASE-X, uses 8B/10B encoding, which is similar to the 4B/5B concept. This is followed by the simple nonreturn to zero (NRZ) line encoding of light on optical fiber. This encoding process is possible because the fiber medium can carry higher bandwidth signals.
The next page will discuss the 1000BASE-T standard.
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