N-GEN Communications Web-based Seminars ©NGCS

Seminar - An Overview of Communications Technologies

Module 7 - LAN, WAN, VPN, WLAN, MAN, FDDI and Optical MANS                                                      Slide 12 of 45 _________________                                                                                  __________

                                                LAN Components

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A Local Area Network contains four components that transport data between end users: channel, the physical interface, protocol and user station.

Channel: A channel consists of twisted pair, coax cable or optical fiber. Coax cable and optical fiber are used because of their large transmission capacity, a good signal-to-noise ratio, low signal radiation and low bit error rate.

Interface: The interface between a user station and the channel can be a CATV tap, infrared diodes, microwave antennas or LEDs for Optical fiber.

Protocol: Controls the LAN and provides end user access onto the network. CSMA/CD and Token Passing are the dominant LAN protocols.

Workstation: A PC to a mainframe computer.