SMSC SMC6516TF - Manual (Page 41)

Segmented Ethernet LAN
To reduce contention, the network is segmented into separate
repeater groups. This enables the workstations on each
segment to share the 10 Mbps bandwidth of that segment.
Reducing the number of stations on each segment decreases
the amount of collisions that occur as a matter of course on a
conventional shared Ethernet LAN when traffic is heavy. Note
that stations on the same segment can communicate only with
one another; there is no communication between segments.
Since each SMC Tigerstack hub can be segmented into two to
four repeater groups, the stack of eight TigerStack hubs shown
below can be subdivided into as many as 32 independent LAN
segments (separate 10 Mbps collision domains) with an aggre-
gate bandwidth potential of 320 Mbps.
Figure 3-2. Microsegmented LAN
3-7
P
LANNING
TigerStack
Segments 1-32