Lecture 10 (Data Link Layer) Outline

„ Data link layer protocols:

z HDLC
z PPP
z Ethernet
z Wireless LAN

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 10.1. Data Link Layer Protocols

„ Data link layer protocols

PPP
HDLC
Ethernet
LANs
WLAN
z HDLC (High-level Data Link Control)
Base protocol for most data link layer protocols
z PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol)
Most popular dial-up networking protocol
z Ethernet
Most popular LAN protocol
z IEEE 802.11 WLAN
Most popular wireless LAN protocol
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 10.1.1. High-level Data Link Control

„ High-level Data Link Control (HDLC):

z Is a base protocol for all other bit-oriented data
link layer protocols.
z Supports both half-duplex and full-duplex mode.
z Supports both point-to-point and multipoint.
z Link layer services:
Framing: uses bit-oriented framing.
Flow control: uses sliding window.
Error control: uses CRC with either go-back-n ARQ
or selective-reject ARQ.
Link access control: uses polling method.
MAC is not defined for multipoint configuration.

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 10.1.1. High-level Data Link Control

„ HDLC frame:

z Flag: 01111110 (6 ones).

z Address: Address of the secondary station.
11111111 = broadcast address (to all stations).
z Control: Differentiate 3 types of frames.
Information, supervisory, and unnumbered frames.
z FCS: Frame check sequence.
Uses CRC for error-detection.
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 10.1.1. High-level Data Link Control

„ Bit stuffing:
z Is the process of adding one extra 0 whenever
there are five consecutive 1s in the data so that
the receiver does not mistake the data for a flag.

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 10.1.1. High-level Data Link Control

„ Three frame types:

z Information (I-frame): transports user data.
z Supervisory (S-frame): transports control information.
z Unnumbered (U-frame): reserved for system management.

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 10.1.1. High-level Data Link Control

„ Control field:
z N(S) = N(R) = 3 bits – means window size = 8
z Uses piggybacking – means combining data to be
sent with acknowledgement of the frame received.
„ Poll/final field:
z Has meaning only when it is set (= 1).
z Can mean poll or final depending the frame
sender.

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 10.1.1. High-level Data Link Control

„ S-frame:
z Used for link access control.
z Also used for ACK/NACK when the receiver does
not have data (I-frame) to send.

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 10.1.1. High-level Data Link Control

„ Examples of S-frame usage in polling:

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 10.1.2. Point-to-Point Protocol

„ Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP):

z Is a protocol for configuring PPP connection and
managing data transfer in a dial-up line.
Telephone line provides the physical link.
PPP provides the data link.
z Uses a variation of HDLC.
z Link layer services:
Framing: uses bit-oriented framing.
Flow control: none.
Error control: uses CRC for error detection, no error
correction.
Link access control: detect connection liveness.
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 10.1.2. Point-to-Point Protocol

„ PPP frame:

z Most fields are similar to HDLC.

z Control: does nothing
11000000 show that the frame does not contain
any sequence numbers and no flow and error
control
z Protocol: defines what is being carried in the data
field.
RFC 1700 gives a list of protocol numbers
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 10.1.2. Point-to-Point Protocol

„ Protocol field:
z Allow to carry data of any network layer protocol
(not just IP) at the same time.
LCP packets for link establishment.
CHAP packets for user authentication.
NCP, IPX, Appletalk packets – other network layer
protocols.
z This allows PPP to support:
User authentication.
Dynamic assignment of IP address.

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 10.1.2. Point-to-Point Protocol

„ Before exchanging network-layer data, data

link peers must
z configure PPP link (max. frame length, user
authentication)
z learn/configure network layer information
e.g. for IP, it carries IP Control Protocol (IPCP)
messages to learn/configure IP address

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 10.1.2. Point-to-Point Protocol

„ Typical PPP connection states:

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 10.1.2. Point-to-Point Protocol

„ Typical PPP connection process:

Uses LCP

Uses PAP

Uses LCP
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 10.1.2. Point-to-Point Protocol

„ LCP: Link Control Protocol

z For establishing and terminating links.
z For configuring links – negotiating options
between the two points.
z All LCP packets are carried in the data field of
PPP frames.

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 10.1.2. Point-to-Point Protocol

„ LCP packet:
z Fields:
Code: defines the type of LCP packet.

ID: is used to match a request with a reply.

Length: length of the whole LCP packet.
Information: contains options that can be
negotiated between the two end points.
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 10.1.2. Point-to-Point Protocol

„ PAP: Password Authentication Protocol

z A simple protocol for authenticating users.

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 10.1.2. Point-to-Point Protocol

„ PAP packet:
z There are three types of PAP packets.
z PAP packets are encapsulated in a PPP frame.

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 10.1.3. Local Area Networks

„ A local area network:

z Is a data communication system that allows a
number of independent devices to communicate
directly with each other in a limited geographic
area.
z Some LAN architectures:
Ethernet
Token Bus
Token Ring, FDDI
Wireless LAN
z The data link layer of the LAN protocols are all
based on HDLC.
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 10.1.3. Local Area Networks

„ IEEE Project 802:

z Specifies functions of the physical layer and data
link layer to interconnect various LAN protocols.
z Specifies the internetworking between the LAN
protocols.

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 10.1.3. Local Area Networks

„ IEEE 802.2 logical link control (LLC).

z Common to all LAN protocols
z Contains the end-user portions of the HDLC frame.
z LLC protocol data unit (PDU):
DSAP and SSAP: identify the protocol stacks on
the receiving and sending machines
Control: same as HDLC control field.

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 10.1.3. Local Area Networks

„ IEEE 802.3, 802.4, 802.5, 802.6, 802.11:

z Contains the physical layer specifications.
z Contains the data link layer specifications,
including the framing, flow, error control to use,
and physical address format.
z Defines media access control to resolve the
contention for the shared media.
IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) – CSMA/CD
IEEE 802.4 (Token Bus) – Token passing
IEEE 802.5 (Token Ring) – Token passing
IEEE 802.6 (FDDI) – Token passing
IEEE 802.11 (Wireless LAN) – CSMA/CA
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 10.1.3.1. Ethernet

„ Ethernet:
z “Dominant” LAN technology.
Cheap HK$100 for 100 Mbps.
Simpler, cheaper than token passing LANs.
Kept up with speed race: 10, 100, 1000 Mbps
z Link layer services:
Framing: Bit-oriented framing.
Flow control: no flow control.
Error control: CRC for error detection, no error
correction – provide unreliable services.
Link access control: uses CSMA/CD for MAC
protocol.

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 10.1.3.1. Ethernet

„ Ethernet frame:

z Preamble: 7 bytes with pattern 10101010.

used to synchronize receiver, sender clock rates
z SFD: signals the beginning of the frame.
Preamble+SFD = Flag in HDLC.
z Destination/source address: contains the physical
address of the frame destination/source
z Data: LLC PDU, 46-1500 bytes.

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 10.1.3.1. Ethernet

„ Physical or Ethernet address:

z Is a unique address encoded on its network
interface card (NIC).
z Its length is six bytes.
z Commonly written as six pairs of hexadecimal
digits with dashes or colons.
e.g. 00-B0-D0-3C-D4-A4.
z On your PC, try to find out the Ethernet address
using winipcfg or ipconfig -all command.

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 10.1.3.1. Ethernet

„ Access method: CSMA/CD

A: sense channel, if idle
then {
transmit and monitor the channel;
If detect another transmission
then {
abort and send jam signal;
update # collisions;
delay as required by exponential backoff algorithm;
goto A
}
else {done with the frame; set collisions to zero}
}
else {wait until ongoing transmission is over and goto A}

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 10.1.3.1. Ethernet

„ Access method: CSMA/CD

z Jam signal: make sure all other transmitters are
aware of collision = 48 bits.
z Exponential backoff:
Goal: adapt retransmission attempts to estimated current
load.
heavy load: random wait will be longer.
First collision:
choose K from { 0,1 }
wait K × 512 bit transmission times
After second collision: choose K from { 0,1, 2, 3 }
…
After ten or more collisions, choose K from { 0,1, 2, 3, 4,
…, 1023 }
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 10.1.3.1. Ethernet

„ Physical specifications:
z Two categories:

First number indicates the data rate in Mbps.

Support data rates between 1 to 100 Mbps.
Last number indicates the maximum cable length or
the type of cable.
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 10.1.3.1. Ethernet

„ Example: 10Base5 (thick Ethernet or Thicknet)

z Bus topology using a thick coaxial cable.

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 10.1.3.1. Ethernet

„ Repeaters used to connect up to multiple segments.

„ Repeater repeats bits it hears on one interface to its
other interfaces: physical layer device only!
„ To reduce collisions, total length of bus should not
exceed 2500 meters (5 segments).

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 10.1.3.1. Ethernet

„ Example: 10Base-T (twisted-pair Ethernet).

z Star topology using unshielded twisted pair (UTP).
z Most popular standard.

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 10.1.3.1. Ethernet

„ Newer Ethernet standards:

z Fast Ethernet
Operates at 100 Mbps instead of 10 Mbps
z Gigabit Ethernet
Operates at 1 Gbps

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 10.1.3.2. Wireless LAN

„ IEEE 802.11:
z Defines physical layer and MAC functionalities.
z Physical:
Uses unlicensed RF frequency 2.4Ghz and infrared.
Allows bit rate 1–2 Mbps.
z Link layer services:
Framing: Bit-oriented framing.
Flow control: no flow control.
Error control: CRC for error detection, no error
correction – provide unreliable services.
Link access control: uses CSMA/CA for MAC
protocol.

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 10.1.3.2. Wireless LAN

„ IEEE 802.11 architecture:

z Basic Service Set (BSS) (a.k.a. “cell”) contains:
wireless hosts
access point (AP): base station
z Multiple BSS’s form the distribution system (DS).

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 10.1.3.2. Wireless LAN

IEEE 802.11 CSMA:

„ Sender
- if sense channel idle for
longer than DIFS time unit
then transmit entire frame
(no collision detection)
- if sense channel busy
then binary backoff
„ Receiver:
- if received OK
then return ACK after SIFS DIFS = Distribution Inter Frame Space
„ Others SIFS = Short Inter Frame Space
NAV = Network Allocation Vector
z defer access for NAV time
units
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 10.1.3.2. Wireless LAN

„ Hidden terminal effect:

z Due to decreasing signal strength (obstacles, signal
attenuation), A and C cannot hear each other.
If they transmit at the same time to B, collisions will occur at B.
z Goal: to avoid collisions at B.
Use CSMA/CA: CSMA with Collision Avoidance

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 10.1.3.2. Wireless LAN

IEEE 802.11 CSMA/CA:

„ Explicit channel reservation
z sender: send short RTS
z receiver: reply with short CTS
z CTS reserves channel for
sender, notifying (possibly
hidden) stations
„ Avoid hidden station
collisions
„ RTS and CTS short:
z collisions less likely RTS = Request to Send
z end result similar to collision CTS = Clear to Send
detection

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 10.1.4. Summary

„ Four popular data link protocols:

z HDLC, PPP, Ethernet, IEEE 802.10.
z All uses bit-oriented framing.
z HDLC provides reliable services.
z All others derive from HDLC but provide no flow
control and unreliable services.
z Popular MAC method: CSMA.
Carrier sensing allow high throughput even at high
load.

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 10.1.5. Further Readings

„ Data link layer protocols:

z HDLC : Section 10.4.
z PPP : Chapter 15.
z Ethernet : Section 12.1 – 12.3.
z Wireless LAN
Ross Section 5.7
http://www.palowireless.com/i802_11/tutorials.asp

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 Next Lecture

Internetworking Devices
(Forouzan Chapter 21)

41