Which part of Ethernet defines how devices know when to transmit on an Ethernet segment?

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Multiple Choice

Which part of Ethernet defines how devices know when to transmit on an Ethernet segment?

On a traditional shared Ethernet segment, how devices decide when to transmit is defined by CSMA/CD. Carrier Sense means a device first listens to the network to check if another transmission is ongoing. Multiple Access means many devices can attempt to send whenever the channel is free. Collision Detection means if two devices start transmitting at the same time and their signals collide, the devices detect the collision, stop transmitting, and wait for a random period before attempting again. This mechanism directly governs the timing of when a device can send on the shared medium, preventing and recovering from collisions. ARP resolves IP addresses to MAC addresses, but it doesn’t control when a device transmits. A MAC address is simply a hardware identifier for a network interface. EtherType indicates what protocol is encapsulated in the Ethernet frame, not how access to the medium is managed. In modern switched Ethernet, CSMA/CD isn’t as central because switches isolate collision domains, but the concept being tested is the one that explains how devices share and access a common Ethernet segment.

On a traditional shared Ethernet segment, how devices decide when to transmit is defined by CSMA/CD. Carrier Sense means a device first listens to the network to check if another transmission is ongoing. Multiple Access means many devices can attempt to send whenever the channel is free. Collision Detection means if two devices start transmitting at the same time and their signals collide, the devices detect the collision, stop transmitting, and wait for a random period before attempting again. This mechanism directly governs the timing of when a device can send on the shared medium, preventing and recovering from collisions.

ARP resolves IP addresses to MAC addresses, but it doesn’t control when a device transmits. A MAC address is simply a hardware identifier for a network interface. EtherType indicates what protocol is encapsulated in the Ethernet frame, not how access to the medium is managed. In modern switched Ethernet, CSMA/CD isn’t as central because switches isolate collision domains, but the concept being tested is the one that explains how devices share and access a common Ethernet segment.

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