FIT 100
© Copyright University of
Washington 1999-2000
Ethernet … It’s Like Conversation
vThink of a dozen
students sitting around the dorm telling stories …
oEveryone listens
while one person tells his/her story
oWhen the story is
finished, there is a pause
oA person with a
story to tell starts talking, listening all the while
;If no one else started
talking too, the person continues
;If others started talking,
he/she stops and waits briefly before trying
again
vIn Ethernet, only
the computers actually communicating listen to the transmission … the others simply
wait for the break