A simulation model of an Ethernet with network partitioning

One of the local area network medium access control standards created by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in IEEE Project 802 is the carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) medium access control. Numerous studies have been reported in the literature on the performance of CSMA/CD. These studies show that CSMA/CD performs well under light network load but not well at heavy load. To improve the performance of CSMA/CD under heavy load, a new concept called network partitioning is presented. Network partitioning allows the network to be partitioned into segments when under heavy load. Partition stations then act as bridges between the segments. The impact of network partitioning on network performance was tested using a simulation model of an Ethernet local area network (an implementation of the CSMA/CD medium access control). The simulation results show that network partitioning can improve the performance of CSMA/CD under heavy load