Cisco Systems VIP-FE-TX/4E Network Card User Manual


 
30 VIP-FE-TX/4E Installation and Configuration
VIP Port Adapter Functions
The stations detect the collision and use backoff algorithms to determine when they should
retransmit. Both Ethernet and IEEE 802.3u are broadcast networks, which means that all stations see
all transmissions. Each station must examine received frames to determine whether it is the intended
destination and, if it is, pass the frame to a higher protocol layer for processing.
Each physical layer protocol has a name that summarizes it characteristics in the format
speed/signaling method/segment length where speed is the LAN speed in megabits per second
(Mbps), signaling method is the signaling method used (either baseband or broadband), and segment
length is typically the maximum length between stations in hundreds of meters. Therefore,
100BASE-T specifies a 100-Mbps, baseband LAN with maximum network segments of 100 meters
(or 400 meters for 100BASE-FX).
IEEE 802.3u specifies the following different physical layers for 100BASE-T:
100BASE-TX—100BASE-T, half and full duplex over Category 5 unshielded twisted-pair
(UTP), Electronics Industry Association/Telecommunications Industry Association
[EIA/TIA]–568-compliant cable
100BASE-FX—100BASE-T, half and full duplex over optical fiber
100BASE-T4—100BASE-T, half and full duplex over Category 3, 4, or 5 UTP or shielded
twisted-pair (STP) cabling with four pairs; also called 4T+ or T2, which is 2-pair UTP over
Category 3 cable.