Local-area communication networks-an overview

Local-area communication networks represent a new field of activity. This paper describes three scenarios for the use of these networks, and then discusses various technical approaches. Particular emphasis is put on bus and ring systems with various media access control mechanisms. Specifically, it compares the delay-throughput characteristic of two access methods, carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection and token passing, and discusses some significant differences of bus and ring systems concerning wiring, media, transmission, and reliability.