Overview of Networking2-14Interoperability and Standards BodiesThe most common Local Area Networking technologies (Ethernet, Token Ring,and FDDI) have standards ratified and in place for their operation andconfiguration. ATM, still in the draft stages in some aspects, is operating under aworking interim standard, which is intended to allow ATM equipment to beproduced which will be compatible with future ATM standards. The standardsbodies that this document is concerned with and the standards they oversee arelisted below:The OSI Model, Basis of StandardsThe International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Open SystemsInterconnect (OSI) Model provides a framework for the development of systemconnection standards by defining a consistent hierarchy of rules. The OSI modeldefines where the needed tasks of system interconnection are performed but nothow they are performed. How tasks are performed on a given layer is determinedby the protocols, or rules, written for that particular network based on the OSImodel. The layers may be implemented in hardware, software, or both. Each layerin a network based on the OSI model performs specific types of functionsrequired for proper system interconnection.Table 2-1. Networking Standards BodiesStandards Committee Technology Standard CodeInstitute of Electrical andElectronic Engineers (IEEE)Ethernet IEEE 802.3Token Ring IEEE 802.5American National StandardsInstitute Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) ANSI X3T9.5ATM Forum Asynchronous Transfer Mode UNI V3.0
