Communication channel is shared by all the machines on the network in

In a network where the communication channel is shared by all the machines, this typically refers to a broadcast network architecture. In such networks, when a machine sends a message, the communication channel carries that message to all machines on the network. Each machine receives the message but processes it only if the message is addressed to it. This shared communication model is fundamental to several types of networks, including:

1. Ethernet networks: Traditional Ethernet networks use a bus topology where all computers are connected to a single communication line or a coaxial cable. In this scenario, data packets sent by any computer are broadcast to and can be received by all other computers on the network, but only the intended recipient processes the message further.

2. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), such as Wi-Fi: In a WLAN, all wireless devices within the same broadcast domain (usually defined by the range of the wireless access point) share the same communication medium (airwaves). When a device transmits data, all other devices within the network can receive the data, but similar to the Ethernet model, only the intended recipient processes the data.

3. Token Ring networks (largely historical): In a Token Ring network, the communication channel is shared in a slightly different sense. A token circulates around the ring, and a machine can send a message only when it has the token. Although not a broadcast mechanism in the strictest sense, the ring topology inherently shares the channel among all