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The maximum packet size is 1518 bytes. If the upper layer protocol submits a PDU (Protocol data unit) less than 64 bytes, 802.3 will pad the LLC Info field to achieve the minimum 64 bytes.
Although it is not technically correct, the terms " packet" and frame are used interchangeably. The
This original Ethernet, today, is called "Experimental Ethernet". It is not in use anywhere, but is thought to be the only Ethernet by purists. However, as many standards have been developed that are based on Experimental Ethernet - the technical community has accepted the term Ethernet for all of them. Therefore, Ethernet can be used to name any of the following:
| Ethernet Standard | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Experimental Ethernet | 1972 (patented 1978) | 2.94 Mbit/s over coaxial cable (coax) cable bus |
| Ethernet II (DIX v2.0) | 1982 | 10 Mbit/s over thin coax (thinnet) - Frames have a Type field. The internet protocol suite use this frame format on any media. |
| IEEE 802.3 | 1983 | 10BASE5 10 Mbit/s over thick coax - same as DIX except Type field is replaced by Length and LLC fields |
| 802.3a | 1985 | 10BASE2 10 Mbit/s over thin Coax (thinnet or cheapernet) |
| 802.3c | 1985 | 10 Mbit/s repeater specs |
| 802.3d | 1987 | FOIRL (Fiber-Optic Inter-Repeater Link) |
| 802.3i | 1990 | 10BASE-T 10 Mbit/s over twisted pair |
| 802.3j | 1993 | 10BASE-F 10 Mbit/s over Fiber-Optic |
| 802.3u | 1995 | 100BASE-T100BASE-T is any of several Fast Ethernet 100 Mbit/s CSMA/CD standards for twisted pair cables, including: 100BASE-TX (100 Mbit/s over two-pair Cat5 or better cable), 100BASE-T4 (100 Mbit/s over four-pair Cat3 or better cable, defunct), 100BASE-T2 (100 Mb Fast Ethernet at 100 Mbit/s (w/Auto-Negotiation) |
| 802.3x | 1997 | Full Duplex |
| 802.3z | 1998 | 1000BASE-X Gigabit Ethernet over coax at 1 Gbit/s |
| 802.3ab | 1999 | 1000BASE-T1000BASE-T is a standard for Gigabit Ethernet. While 100BASE-T Ethernet only uses 2 pairs of the cat5 cable, 1000BASE-T uses cat 5e or cat 6 cable, and utilizes all 4 wire pairs and a different modulation technique. The standard was approved by the IEEE i Gigabit Ethernet over twisted pair at 1 Gbit/s |
| 802.3ac | 1998 | Max frame size extended to 1522 bytes (to allow VLAN tag) |
| 802.3ad | 2000 | Link aggregation for parallel links |
| 802.3ae | 2003 | 10 Gigabit Ethernet over fiber |
| 802.3af | 2003 | Power over EthernetPower over Ethernet technology describes any system that transmits electrical power, in addition to data, to remote devices over standard twisted-pair wire in an Ethernet network. This technology is useful for powering IP telephones, wireless LAN access p |
What is defined in the IEEE 802.3 standard is often confused for what is used in practice: almost any network frame you can find on a LAN will be an Ethernet II frame, since the internet protocol suite will use this format, with the type field set to the corresponding IETF protocol type.