Sending Data

Sending Data

The network adapter card places data on the network and receives data from the network. These tasks require a certain amount of flow control (see the following section). The MAC-layer software also must know when to put data on the network. Chapter 4, “Network Topologies and Architectures,” discusses various media-access methods (such as CSMA/CD or token passing) used by the card, as well as how and when each of these methods provides access to the transmission medium.

As Chapter 4 describes, the network adapter card receives packets from the network, checking the destination address of all packets and interrupting the CPU only if the packet is addressed to the local system.