Stations take turns transmitting a single frame at a full rate ( R ) bps
Transmissions are organized into variable length cycles
Each cycle begins with a reservation interval that consists of (N) minislots. One minislot for each of the N stations
When a station needs to send a data frame, it makes a reservation in its own minislot.
By listening to the reservation interval, every station knows which stations will transfer frames, and in which order.
The stations that made reservations can send their data frames after the reservation frame.