Key Product Features; Media Access Control (Mac) - GE MDS SD Series Technical Manual

Coordination of
Channel Access
4

2.2 Key Product Features

The transceiver is designed to meet the demanding needs of today's
wireless networks in a compact, and rugged package. It offers an array
of features in a single hardware platform:
• Software-configurable via a built-in Device Manager—no man-
ual controls or adjustments.
• Media Access Control (MAC) to prevent data collisions when
two or more radios try to use the radio channel at the same time.
• Available encryption of payload data (AES 128-bit)
• Supports Virtual LAN (VLAN) operation
• Terminal Server capability to enable IP addressing of serial inter-
face ports on individual radios
• Store and Forward capability
• Supports a wide variety of modem speeds and bandwidths for
regulatory compliance in virtually all regions of the world
• Ethernet & serial interfaces—ideal for migration to IP networks
• Dual serial functionality (RS-232 and RS-485)
• Over-the-air reprogramming of remote units—no unnecessary
trips to radio sites
• Licensed 5-watt design, maximizes communications range with
low interference risk from other users
• Configurable via software as a Remote or an AP unit
• Low power "sleep mode"—ideal for battery-powered solar sites
• Virtual Radio Channels (VRC) support multiple polling applica-
tions on one radio
NOTE:
Some features may not be available on all units, depending on the
options purchased and regulatory constraints for the region in which
the radio will operate

Media Access Control (MAC)

An important feature of the transceiver is Media Access Control (MAC).
The radio's MAC is specifically designed for use with narrow band-
width, half duplex radio networks such as those commonly used in
licensed telemetry systems. When the MAC is enabled, it provides effi-
cient support of multiple data traffic models including multiple hosts,
synchronous and asynchronous polls, and report-by-exception (push
traffic). MAC ensures that every transceiver in the network has an equal
probability of gaining access to the radio channel when it has data to
send.
The main objective of the MAC is to coordinate channel access for all
radios in the network, preventing data "collisions" that can occur with
simultaneous transmissions from radios on the same RF channel. With
MAC operation, a single radio is configured as an Access Point (AP)
SD Series Technical Manual
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MDS 05-4846A01, Rev. H