FDDI-II operation and architectures

FDDI (fiber distributed data interface) provides both the high bandwidth and low latency needed to match the increased capacity of future personal computers, at least for traditional LAN applications. The improved latency, however, is not low enough for a true multimedia LAN. What is needed is an access method that simplifies the interface to video and sound networks as well. FDDI-II is an extension of FDDI that provides this additional service. The authors discuss the FDDI-II architectural models and operations as defined in the FDDI hybrid ring controller (HRC) specification and present example implementation architectures for FDDI-II systems. It is shown that FDDI-II implementations can be quite simple, with the extensions to an FDDI implementation requiring only variations on the time-division multiplexing circuitry that has already been well-developed by telecommunication designers