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Carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection

media access control method used most notably in early Ethernet technology for local area networking

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia

Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0

Source revisionJun 21, 2026

Entity authorityQ373155 ↗

Source-derived summary

Carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) is a medium access control (MAC) method used most notably in early Ethernet technology for local area networking. It uses carrier-sensing to defer transmissions until no other stations are transmitting. This is used in combination with collision detection, in which a transmitting station detects collisions by sensing transmissions from other stations while it is transmitting a frame. When this collision condition is detected, the station stops transmitting that frame, transmits a jam signal, and then waits for a random time interval before trying to resend the frame.

CSMA/CD is a modification of pure carrier-sense multiple access (CSMA). CSMA/CD is used to improve CSMA performance by terminating transmission as soon as a collision is detected, thus shortening the time required before a retry can be attempted.

With the growing popularity of Ethernet switches in the 1990s, full duplex point-to-point operation became standard in FastEthernet and GigabitEthernet. Collisions don’t occur in such networks. Also, IEEE 802.3 deprecated Ethernet repeaters in 2011 in favor of Ethernet switches, making CSMA/CD and half-duplex operation less common and less important.

Procedure

The following procedure is used to initiate a transmission.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection” is media access control method used most notably in early Ethernet technology for local area networking. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Carrier-sense, multiple and access, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2011—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Carrier-sense, multiple and access is the immediate research focus.

Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “media access control method used most notably in early Ethernet technology for local area networking” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q373155. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2011.

Critical limits

A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Subject index

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Carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection history →Carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection primary sources →Carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection archive →Carrier-sense research →multiple research →access research →collision research →

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.