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This technical report provides an introduction to the set of International Standards which describe local area networks, specifically those which make use of the 48-bit MAC address format.

The MAC technologies described in this technical report have in common the ability to provide sufficient capability to support the MAC Service which is defined in ISO/IEC 15802-1.

The scope of this Technical Report is therefore limited to those International Standards which describe processes and procedures resident in the Data Link and Physical Layers of the OSI Basic Reference Model and can be said to relate to local area networks.

This technical report does not itself describe new Service or Protocol definitions. Its intent is to set the context for local area networks which include both the International Standards describing FDDI and the technologies described by the set of ISO/IEC 8802 International Standards.

Additionally this technical report provides the record of cooperative work between ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC 6 WG 1 and the IEEE 802 LMSC as a part of the Category C liaison established in November 1999 either through the usual Fast Track procedures or via the cooperative working procedures described in this technical report.