Multiple Access Protocols in Computer Network

The•• Data Link Layer is responsible for transmission of data between two nodes.
Its main functions are-
• Data Link Control
• Multiple Access Control

Data Link control –

The data link control is responsible for reliable transmission of message over
transmission channel by using techniques like framing, error control and flow
control.
Multiple Access Control –
If there is a dedicated link between the sender and the receiver then data link
control layer is sufficient, however if there is no dedicated link present then
multiple stations can access the channel simultaneously. Hence multiple access
protocols are required to decrease collision and avoid crosstalk. For example, in a
classroom full of students, when a teacher asks a question and all the students (or
stations) start answering simultaneously (send data at same time) then a lot of
chaos is created( data overlap or data lost) then it is the job of the teacher
(multiple access protocols) to manage the students and make them answer one at
a time.
Thus, protocols are required for sharing data on non dedicated channels. Multiple
access protocols can be subdivided further as –

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1. Random Access Protocol: In this, all stations have same superiority that is no
station has more priority than another station. Any station can send data
depending on medium’s state( idle or busy). It has two features:
1. There is no fixed time for sending data
2. There is no fixed sequence of stations sending data
The Random access protocols are further subdivided as:
(a) ALOHA – It was designed for wireless LAN but is also applicable for shared
medium. In this, multiple stations can transmit data at the same time and can
hence lead to collision and data being garbled.
• Pure Aloha:
When a station sends data it waits for an acknowledgement. If the
acknowledgement doesn’t come within the allotted time then the
station waits for a random amount of time called back-off time (Tb) and
re-sends the data. Since different stations wait for different amount of
time, the probability of further collision decreases.
Vulnerable Time = 2* Frame transmission time
Throughput = G exp{-2*G}
Maximum throughput = 0.184 for G=0.5
• Slotted Aloha:
It is similar to pure aloha, except that we divide time into slots and
sending of data is allowed only at the beginning of these slots. If a
station misses out the allowed time, it must wait for the next slot. This
reduces the probability of collision.
Vulnerable Time = Frame transmission time
Throughput = G exp{-*G}
Maximum throughput = 0.368 for G=1
(b) CSMA – Carrier Sense Multiple Access ensures fewer collisions as the station
is required to first sense the medium (for idle or busy) before transmitting data. If
it is idle then it sends data, otherwise it waits till the channel becomes idle.
However there is still chance of collision in CSMA due to propagation delay. For
example, if station A wants to send data, it will first sense the medium.If it finds
the channel idle, it will start sending data. However, by the time the first bit of
data is transmitted (delayed due to propagation delay) from station A, if station B
requests to send data and senses the medium it will also find it idle and will also
send data. This will result in collision of data from station A and B.
CSMA access modes-
• 1-persistent: The node senses the channel, if idle it sends the data,
otherwise it continuously keeps on checking the medium for being idle
and transmits unconditionally(with 1 probability) as soon as the
channel gets idle.

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 • Non-Persistent: The node senses the channel, if idle it sends the data,
otherwise it checks the medium after a random amount of time (not
continuously) and transmits when found idle.
• P-persistent: The node senses the medium, if idle it sends the data with
p probability. If the data is not transmitted ((1-p) probability) then it
waits for some time and checks the medium again, now if it is found idle
then it send with p probability. This repeat continues until the frame is
sent. It is used in Wifi and packet radio systems.
• O-persistent: Superiority of nodes is decided beforehand and
transmission occurs in that order. If the medium is idle, node waits for
its time slot to send data.
(c) CSMA/CD – Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection. Stations
can terminate transmission of data if collision is detected.
(d) CSMA/CA – Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance. The
process of collisions detection involves sender receiving acknowledgement
signals. If there is just one signal(its own) then the data is successfully sent but if
there are two signals(its own and the one with which it has collided) then it
means a collision has occurred. To distinguish between these two cases, collision
must have a lot of impact on received signal. However it is not so in wired
networks, so CSMA/CA is used in this case.
CSMA/CA avoids collision by:
1. Interframe space – Station waits for medium to become idle and if
found idle it does not immediately send data (to avoid collision due to
propagation delay) rather it waits for a period of time called Interframe
space or IFS. After this time it again checks the medium for being idle.
The IFS duration depends on the priority of station.
2. Contention Window – It is the amount of time divided into slots. If the
sender is ready to send data, it chooses a random number of slots as
wait time which doubles every time medium is not found idle. If the
medium is found busy it does not restart the entire process, rather it
restarts the timer when the channel is found idle again.
3. Acknowledgement – The sender re-transmits the data if
acknowledgement is not received before time-out.
2. Controlled Access:
In this, the data is sent by that station which is approved by all other stations. For
3. Channelization:
In this, the available bandwidth of the link is shared in time, frequency and code
to multiple stations to access channel simultaneously.
• Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) – The available
bandwidth is divided into equal bands so that each station can be
allocated its own band. Guard bands are also added so that no two
bands overlap to avoid crosstalk and noise.
• Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) – In this, the bandwidth is
shared between multiple stations. To avoid collision time is divided into
slots and stations are allotted these slots to transmit data. However

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 there is a overhead of synchronization as each station needs to know its
time slot. This is resolved by adding synchronization bits to each slot.
Another issue with TDMA is propagation delay which is resolved by
addition of guard bands.
• Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) – One channel carries all
transmissions simultaneously. There is neither division of bandwidth
nor division of time. For example, if there are many people in a room all
speaking at the same time, then also perfect reception of data is
possible if only two person speak the same language. Similarly, data
from different stations can be transmitted simultaneously in different
code languages.
• Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) – In
OFDMA the available bandwidth is divided into small subcarriers in
order to increase the overall performance, Now the data is transmitted
through these small subcarriers. it is widely used in the 5G technology.
Advantages:
• Increase in efficiency
• High data rates
• Good for multimedia traffic
Disadvantages:
• Complex to implement
• High peak to power ratio

• Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA) – SDMA uses multiple

antennas at the transmitter and receiver to separate the signals of
multiple users that are located in different spatial directions. This
technique is commonly used in MIMO (Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output)
wireless communication systems.
Advantages :
• Frequency band uses effectively
• The overall signal quality will be improved
• The overall data rate will be increased

Disadvantages :
• It is complex to implement
• It require the accurate information about the channel

Features of multiple access protocols:

Contention-based access: Multiple access protocols are typically contention-

based, meaning that multiple devices compete for access to the communication
channel. This can lead to collisions if two or more devices transmit at the same
time, which can result in data loss and decreased network performance.

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Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA): CSMA is a widely used multiple access
protocol in which devices listen for carrier signals on the communication channel
before transmitting. If a carrier signal is detected, the device waits for a random
amount of time before attempting to transmit to reduce the likelihood of
collisions.
Collision Detection (CD): CD is a feature of some multiple access protocols that
allows devices to detect when a collision has occurred and take appropriate
action, such as backing off and retrying the transmission.
Collision Avoidance (CA): CA is a feature of some multiple access protocols that
attempts to avoid collisions by assigning time slots to devices for transmission.
Token passing: Token passing is a multiple access protocol in which devices
pass a special token between each other to gain access to the communication
channel. Devices can only transmit data when they hold the token, which ensures
that only one device can transmit at a time.
Bandwidth utilization: Multiple access protocols can affect the overall
bandwidth utilization of a network. For example, contention-based protocols may
result in lower bandwidth utilization due to collisions, while token passing
protocols may result in higher bandwidth utilization due to the controlled access
to the communication channel.

Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA)

This method was developed to decrease the chances of collisions when two or
more stations start sending their signals over the data link layer. Carrier Sense
multiple access requires that each station first check the state of the
medium before sending.
Vulnerable Time:
Vulnerable time = Propagation time (Tp)

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The persistence methods can be applied to help the station take action when the
channel is busy/idle.

1. Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD):

In this method, a station monitors the medium after it sends a frame to see if the
transmission was successful. If successful, the transmission is finished, if not, the
frame is sent again.

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In the diagram, starts sending the first bit of its frame at t1 and since C sees the
channel idle at t2, starts sending its frame at t2. C detects A’s frame at t3 and
aborts transmission. A detects C’s frame at t4 and aborts its transmission.
Transmission time for C’s frame is, therefore, t3-t2 and for A’s frame is t4-
t1
So, the frame transmission time (Tfr) should be at least twice the maximum
propagation time (Tp). This can be deduced when the two stations involved in a
collision are a maximum distance apart.
Process: The entire process of collision detection can be explained as follows:

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Throughput and Efficiency: The throughput of CSMA/CD is much greater than
pure or slotted ALOHA.
• For the 1-persistent method, throughput is 50% when G=1.
• For the non-persistent method, throughput can go up to 90%.

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2. Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) –

The basic idea behind CSMA/CA is that the station should be able to receive while
transmitting to detect a collision from different stations. In wired networks, if a
collision has occurred then the energy of the received signal almost doubles, and
the station can sense the possibility of collision. In the case of wireless networks,
most of the energy is used for transmission, and the energy of the received signal
increases by only 5-10% if a collision occurs. It can’t be used by the station to sense
collision. Therefore CSMA/CA has been specially designed for wireless
networks.
These are three types of strategies:
1. InterFrame Space (IFS): When a station finds the channel busy it
senses the channel again, when the station finds a channel to be idle it
waits for a period of time called IFS time. IFS can also be used to define
the priority of a station or a frame. Higher the IFS lower is the priority.
2. Contention Window: It is the amount of time divided into slots. A
station that is ready to send frames chooses a random number of slots
as wait time.
3. Acknowledgments: The positive acknowledgments and time-out timer
can help guarantee a successful transmission of the frame.

Characteristics of CSMA/CA :

1. Carrier Sense: The device listens to the channel before transmitting, to

ensure that it is not currently in use by another device.
2. Multiple Access: Multiple devices share the same channel and can
transmit simultaneously.
3. Collision Avoidance: If two or more devices attempt to transmit at the
same time, a collision occurs. CSMA/CA uses random backoff time
intervals to avoid collisions.
4. Acknowledgment (ACK): After successful transmission, the receiving
device sends an ACK to confirm receipt.
5. Fairness: The protocol ensures that all devices have equal access to the
channel and no single device monopolizes it.
6. Binary Exponential Backoff: If a collision occurs, the device waits for a
random period of time before attempting to retransmit. The backoff time
increases exponentially with each retransmission attempt.
7. Interframe Spacing: The protocol requires a minimum amount of time
between transmissions to allow the channel to be clear and reduce the
likelihood of collisions.
8. RTS/CTS Handshake: In some implementations, a Request-To-Send
(RTS) and Clear-To-Send (CTS) handshake is used to reserve the channel
before transmission. This reduces the chance of collisions and increases
efficiency.

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 9. Wireless Network Quality: The performance of CSMA/CA is greatly
influenced by the quality of the wireless network, such as the strength of
the signal, interference, and network congestion.
10. Adaptive Behavior: CSMA/CA can dynamically adjust its behavior in
response to changes in network conditions, ensuring the efficient use of
the channel and avoiding congestion.
Overall, CSMA/CA balances the need for efficient use of the shared channel with
the need to avoid collisions, leading to reliable and fair communication in a
wireless network.
Process: The entire process of collision avoidance can be explained as follows:

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Types of CSMA Access Modes:
There are 4 types of access modes available in CSMA. It is also referred as 4
different types of CSMA protocols which decide the time to start sending data
across shared media.
1. 1-Persistent: It senses the shared channel first and delivers the data
right away if the channel is idle. If not, it must wait
and continuously track for the channel to become idle and then
broadcast the frame without condition as soon as it does. It is an
aggressive transmission algorithm.
2. Non-Persistent: It first assesses the channel before transmitting data;
if the channel is idle, the node transmits data right away. If not, the
station must wait for an arbitrary amount of time (not continuously),
and when it discovers the channel is empty, it sends the frames.
3. P-Persistent: It consists of the 1-Persistent and Non-Persistent modes
combined. Each node observes the channel in the 1Persistent mode, and
if the channel is idle, it sends a frame with a P probability. If the data is
not transferred, the frame restarts with the following time slot after
waiting for a (q = 1-p probability) random period.
4. O-Persistent: A supervisory node gives each node a transmission
order. Nodes wait for their time slot according to their allocated
transmission sequence when the transmission medium is idle.

Advantages of CSMA:

1. Increased efficiency: CSMA ensures that only one device

communicates on the network at a time, reducing collisions and
improving network efficiency.
2. Simplicity: CSMA is a simple protocol that is easy to implement and
does not require complex hardware or software.
3. Flexibility: CSMA is a flexible protocol that can be used in a wide range
of network environments, including wired and wireless networks.
4. Low cost: CSMA does not require expensive hardware or software,
making it a cost-effective solution for network communication.

Disadvantages of CSMA:

1. Limited scalability: CSMA is not a scalable protocol and can become

inefficient as the number of devices on the network increases.
2. Delay: In busy networks, the requirement to sense the medium and
wait for an available channel can result in delays and increased latency.
3. Limited reliability: CSMA can be affected by interference, noise, and
other factors, resulting in unreliable communication.

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 4. Vulnerability to attacks: CSMA can be vulnerable to certain types of
attacks, such as jamming and denial-of-service attacks, which can
disrupt network communication.

Comparison of various protocols:

Collision
Transmission
Protocol detection Efficiency Use cases
behavior
method

Low-traffic
Pure Sends frames No collision
Low networks
ALOHA immediately detection

Better than Low-traffic

Slotted Sends frames at No collision
pure networks
ALOHA specific time slots detection
ALOHA

Wired
Monitors medium Collision
networks
after sending a detection by
CSMA/CD High with
frame, retransmits monitoring
moderate to
if necessary transmissions
high traffic

Wireless
Collision networks
Monitors medium
avoidance with
while transmitting,
CSMA/CA through random High moderate to
adjusts behavior to
backoff time high traffic
avoid collisions
intervals and high
error rates

Collision Detection in CSMA/CD

CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/ Collision Detection) is a media access
control method that was widely used in Early Ethernet technology/LANs when
there used to be shared Bus Topology and each node ( Computers) were connected
By Coaxial Cables. Now a Days Ethernet is Full Duplex and Topology is either Star
(connected via Switch or Router) or Point to Point ( Direct Connection). Hence
CSMA/CD is not used but they are still supported though.
Consider a scenario where there are ‘n’ stations on a link and all are waiting to
transfer data through that channel. In this case, all ‘n’ stations would want to
access the link/channel to transfer their own data. The problem arises when

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more than one station transmits the data at the moment. In this case, there will be
collisions in the data from different stations.
CSMA/CD is one such technique where different stations that follow this protocol
agree on some terms and collision detection measures for effective transmission.
This protocol decides which station will transmit when so that data reaches the
destination without corruption.
How CSMA/CD works?
• Step 1: Check if the sender is ready for transmitting data packets.
• Step 2: Check if the transmission link is idle.
Sender has to keep on checking if the transmission link/medium is idle.
For this, it continuously senses transmissions from other nodes. Sender
sends dummy data on the link. If it does not receive any collision signal,
this means the link is idle at the moment. If it senses that the carrier is
free and there are no collisions, it sends the data. Otherwise, it refrains
from sending data.
• Step 3: Transmit the data & check for collisions.
Sender transmits its data on the link. CSMA/CD does not use an
‘acknowledgment’ system. It checks for successful and unsuccessful
transmissions through collision signals. During transmission, if a
collision signal is received by the node, transmission is stopped. The
station then transmits a jam signal onto the link and waits for random
time intervals before it resends the frame. After some random time, it
again attempts to transfer the data and repeats the above process.
• Step 4: If no collision was detected in propagation, the sender
completes its frame transmission and resets the counters.
How does a station know if its data collide?

Consider the above situation. Two stations, A & B.

Propagation Time: Tp = 1 hr ( Signal takes 1 hr to go from A to B)

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At time t=0, A transmits its data.
t= 30 mins : Collision occurs.
After the collision occurs, a collision signal is generated and sent to both A & B to
inform the stations about the collision. Since the collision happened midway, the
collision signal also takes 30 minutes to reach A & B.
Therefore, t=1 hr: A & B receive collision signals.
This collision signal is received by all the stations on that link. Then,
How to ensure that it is our station’s data that collided?
For this, Transmission time (Tt) > Propagation Time (Tp) [Rough bound]
This is because we want that before we transmit the last bit of our data from our
station, we should at least be sure that some of the bits have already reached
their destination. This ensures that the link is not busy and collisions will not
occur.
But, above is a loose bound. We have not taken the time taken by the collision
signal to travel back to us. For this consider the worst-case scenario.
Consider the above system again.

At time t=0, A transmits its data.

t= 59:59 mins : Collision occurs

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This collision occurs just before the data reaches B. Now the collision signal takes
59:59 minutes again to reach A. Hence, A receives the collision information
approximately after 2 hours, that is, after 2 * Tp.
Hence, to ensure tighter bound, to detect the collision completely,
Tt > >= 2 * Tp
This is the maximum collision time that a system can take to detect if the collision
was of its own data.
What should be the minimum length of the packet to be transmitted?
Transmission Time = Tt = Length of the packet/ Bandwidth of the
link
[Number of bits transmitted by sender per second]
Substituting above, we get,
Length of the packet/ Bandwidth of the link>= 2 * Tp
Length of the packet >= 2 * Tp * Bandwidth of the link
Padding helps in cases where we do not have such long packets. We can pad extra
characters to the end of our data to satisfy the above condition.

Collision detection in CSMA/CD involves the following features:

• Carrier sense: Before transmitting data, a device listens to the network

to check if the transmission medium is free. If the medium is busy, the
device waits until it becomes free before transmitting data.
• Multiple Access: In a CSMA/CD network, multiple devices share the
same transmission medium. Each device has equal access to the
medium, and any device can transmit data when the medium is free.
• Collision detection: If two or more devices transmit data
simultaneously, a collision occurs. When a device detects a collision, it
immediately stops transmitting and sends a jam signal to inform all
other devices on the network of the collision. The devices then wait for
a random time before attempting to transmit again, to reduce the
chances of another collision.
• Backoff algorithm: In CSMA/CD, a backoff algorithm is used to
determine when a device can retransmit data after a collision. The
algorithm uses a random delay before a device retransmits data, to
reduce the likelihood of another collision occurring.
• Minimum frame size: CSMA/CD requires a minimum frame size to
ensure that all devices have enough time to detect a collision before the
transmission ends. If a frame is too short, a device may not detect a
collision and continue transmitting, leading to data corruption on the
network.

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Advantages of CSMA/CD:

• Simple and widely used: CSMA/CD is a widely used protocol for

Ethernet networks, and its simplicity makes it easy to implement and
use.
Fairness: In a CSMA/CD network, all devices have equal access to the
transmission medium, which ensures fairness in data transmission.
Efficiency: CSMA/CD allows for efficient use of the transmission
medium by preventing unnecessary collisions and reducing network
congestion.

Disadvantages of CSMA/CD:

• Limited scalability: CSMA/CD has limitations in terms of scalability,

and it may not be suitable for large networks with a high number of
devices.
Vulnerability to collisions: While CSMA/CD can detect collisions, it
cannot prevent them from occurring. Collisions can lead to data
corruption, retransmission delays, and reduced network performance.
Inefficient use of bandwidth: CSMA/CD uses a random backoff
algorithm that can result in inefficient use of network bandwidth if a
device continually experiences collisions.
Susceptibility to security attacks: CSMA/CD does not provide any
security features, and the protocol is vulnerable to security attacks such
as packet sniffing and spoofing.

Controlled Access Protocols in Computer Network

•
In controlled access, the stations seek information from one another to find which
station has the right to send. It allows only one node to send at a time, to avoid
the collision of messages on a shared medium. The three controlled-access
methods are:
1. Reservation
2. Polling
3. Token Passing
Reservation
• In the reservation method, a station needs to make a reservation before
sending data.
• The timeline has two kinds of periods:
1. Reservation interval of fixed time length
2. Data transmission period of variable frames.
• If there are M stations, the reservation interval is divided into M slots,
and each station has one slot.

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 • Suppose if station 1 has a frame to send, it transmits 1 bit during the
slot 1. No other station is allowed to transmit during this slot.
• In general, i th station may announce that it has a frame to send by
inserting a 1 bit into i th slot. After all N slots have been checked, each
station knows which stations wish to transmit.
• The stations which have reserved their slots transfer their frames in
that order.
• After data transmission period, next reservation interval begins.
• Since everyone agrees on who goes next, there will never be any
collisions.
The following figure shows a situation with five stations and a five-slot
reservation frame. In the first interval, only stations 1, 3, and 4 have made
reservations. In the second interval, only station 1 has made a reservation.

Advantages of Reservation:
• The main advantage of reservation is high rates and low rates of data
accessing time of the respective channel can be predicated easily. Here
time and rates are fixed.
• Priorities can be set to provide speedier access from secondary.
• Predictable network performance: Reservation-based access methods
can provide predictable network performance, which is important in
applications where latency and jitter must be minimized, such as in
real-time video or audio streaming.
• Reduced contention: Reservation-based access methods can reduce
contention for network resources, as access to the network is pre-
allocated based on reservation requests. This can improve network
efficiency and reduce packet loss.
• Quality of Service (QoS) support: Reservation-based access methods
can support QoS requirements, by providing different reservation types
for different types of traffic, such as voice, video, or data. This can
ensure that high-priority traffic is given preferential treatment over
lower-priority traffic.
• Efficient use of bandwidth: Reservation-based access methods can
enable more efficient use of available bandwidth, as they allow for time

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 and frequency multiplexing of different reservation requests on the
same channel.
• Support for multimedia applications: Reservation-based access
methods are well-suited to support multimedia applications that
require guaranteed network resources, such as bandwidth and latency,
to ensure high-quality performance.
Disadvantages of Reservation:
• Highly trust on controlled dependability.
• Decrease in capacity and channel data rate under light loads; increase in
turn-around time.
Polling
• Polling process is similar to the roll-call performed in class. Just like the
teacher, a controller sends a message to each node in turn.
• In this, one acts as a primary station(controller) and the others are
secondary stations. All data exchanges must be made through the
controller.
• The message sent by the controller contains the address of the node
being selected for granting access.
• Although all nodes receive the message the addressed one responds to
it and sends data if any. If there is no data, usually a “poll reject”(NAK)
message is sent back.
• Problems include high overhead of the polling messages and high
dependence on the reliability of the controller.

Advantages of Polling:
• The maximum and minimum access time and data rates on the channel
are fixed predictable.
• It has maximum efficiency.
• It has maximum bandwidth.
• No slot is wasted in polling.

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 • There is assignment of priority to ensure faster access from some
secondary.
Disadvantages of Polling:
• It consume more time.
• Since every station has an equal chance of winning in every round, link
sharing is biased.
• Only some station might run out of data to send.
• An increase in the turnaround time leads to a drop in the data rates of
the channel under low loads.
Efficiency Let Tpoll be the time for polling and Tt be the time required for
transmission of data. Then,
Efficiency = Tt/(Tt + Tpoll)
Token Passing
• In token passing scheme, the stations are connected logically to each
other in form of ring and access to stations is governed by tokens.
• A token is a special bit pattern or a small message, which circulate from
one station to the next in some predefined order.
• In Token ring, token is passed from one station to another adjacent
station in the ring whereas incase of Token bus, each station uses the
bus to send the token to the next station in some predefined order.
• In both cases, token represents permission to send. If a station has a
frame queued for transmission when it receives the token, it can send
that frame before it passes the token to the next station. If it has no
queued frame, it passes the token simply.
• After sending a frame, each station must wait for all N stations
(including itself) to send the token to their neighbours and the other N –
1 stations to send a frame, if they have one.
• There exists problems like duplication of token or token is lost or
insertion of new station, removal of a station, which need be tackled for
correct and reliable operation of this scheme.

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Performance of token ring can be concluded by 2 parameters:-
1. Delay, is a measure of time between when a packet is ready and when it
is delivered. So, the average time (delay) required to send a token to the
next station = a/N.
2. Throughput, which is a measure of successful traffic.
Throughput, S = 1/(1 + a/N) for a<1
and
S = 1/{a(1 + 1/N)} for a>1.
where N = number of stations
a = Tp/Tt
(Tp = propagation delay and Tt = transmission delay)
Advantages of Token passing:
• It may now be applied with routers cabling and includes built-in
debugging features like protective relay and auto reconfiguration.
• It provides good throughput when conditions of high load.
Disadvantages of Token passing:
• Its cost is expensive.
• Topology components are more expensive than those of other, more
widely used standard.
• The hardware element of the token rings are designed to be tricky. This
implies that you should choose on manufacture and use them
exclusively.

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