Ethernet Overview
2
ETHERNET OVERVIEW
Following it is presented general information about the Ethernet technology.
2.1
ETHERNET TECHNOLOGY
Ethernet is a technology for interconnecting local area networks (LAN) based on frames forwarding. It defines wiring
and electrical signals for the physical layer, the frame format and protocol for media access control layer (MAC) of the
OSI model.
Ethernet, however, mainly defines the physical medium and the frame format. Based on Ethernet, multiple protocols
and higher-level services were specified and developed in order to perform desired activities over a network, such as
packet routing, connection establishment, sending and receiving files, etc. Several of these protocols have also been
widely disseminated and employed, such as IP, TCP, UDP, FTP, HTTP.
Widely used to interconnect computers in the office environment, the Ethernet technology also started being used in
industrial environments for interconnection of field devices. For industrial environment also emerged different com-
munication protocols based on Ethernet, among which we can mention Modbus TCP, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET.
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