network segment


network segment

(networking)A part of an Ethernet or other network, onwhich all message traffic is common to all nodes, i.e. it isbroadcast from one node on the segment and received by allothers. This is normally because the segment is a singlecontinuous conductor, though it may include repeaters(?).

Since all nodes share the physical medium, collision detection or some other protocol is required to determinewhether a message was transmitted without interference fromother nodes. The receiving node inspects the destinationaddress of a packet to tell if it was (one of) the intendedrecipient(s).

Communication between nodes on different segments is via oneor more routers.