Final answer:
Ethernet is non-deterministic because it is not possible to determine the maximum time a device will have to wait to transmit. The correct option is d.
Step-by-step explanation:
Ethernet is said to be non-deterministic because of option d: It is not possible to determine the maximum time a device will have to wait to transmit.
Non-deterministic means that the time it takes for a device to transmit a frame is not fixed or predictable. In Ethernet, multiple devices may want to transmit at the same time, and they have to wait for their turn. Since the waiting time can vary, it is not possible to determine the maximum wait time a device will have to wait to transmit.
This non-determinism is addressed by using a media access control (MAC) protocol called CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection), which helps devices on an Ethernet network avoid transmitting at the same time and minimizes collisions.
Ethernet is said to be non-deterministic primarily because it is not possible to determine the maximum time a device will have to wait to transmit. In an Ethernet network, multiple devices share the same communication medium and use a method known as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) to manage simultaneous access.
When multiple devices attempt to send data at the same time, a collision can occur, requiring each device to wait a random amount of time before trying to retransmit, resulting in a non-deterministic network where the exact transmission time cannot be predicted.