Data Link Layer
The standard Ethernet Data Link Layer is extended by an additional bus scheduling mechanism which secures that at a time only one node is accessing the network. The schedule is divided into an isochronous phase and an asynchronous phase. During the isochronous phase, time-critical data is transferred, while the asynchronous phase provides bandwidth for the transmission of non time-critical data. The Managing Node (MN) grants access to the physical medium via dedicated poll request messages. As a result, only one single node (CN) has access to the network at a time, which avoids collisions, present on older Ethernet hubs before switches. The CSMA/CD mechanism of non-switched Ethernet, which caused non-deterministic Ethernet behaviour, is avoided by the Ethernet Powerlink scheduling mechanism.
Read more about this topic: Ethernet Powerlink
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