Computer Networks with Internet Technology William Stallings

Chapter 13 Wide Area Networks

Frame Relay Networks

Designed to eliminate much of the overhead in X.25 Call control signaling on separate logical connection from user data Multiplexing/switching of logical connections at layer 2 (not layer 3) No hop-by-hop flow control and error control Throughput an order of magnitude higher than X.25

Frame Relay Architecture

X.25 has 3 layers: physical, link, network Frame Relay has 2 layers: physical and data link (or LAPF) LAPF core: minimal data link control
Preservation of order for frames Small probability of frame loss

LAPF control: additional data link or network layer end-to-end functions

Figure 13.1 Frame Relay User-Network Interface Protocol Architecture

LAPF Core
Frame delimiting, alignment and transparency Frame multiplexing/demultiplexing Inspection of frame for length constraints Detection of transmission errors Congestion control

Figure 13.2 LAPF-core Formats

Frame Relay User Data Transfer

No control field, which is normally used for:
Identify frame type (data or control) Sequence numbers

Implication:
Connection setup/teardown carried on separate channel Cannot do flow and error control

Asynchronous Transfer Mode ATM

Similarities between ATM and packet switching
Transfer of data in discrete chunks Multiple logical connections over single physical interface

In ATM flow on each logical connection is in fixed sized packets called cells Minimal error and flow control
Reduced overhead

Data rates (physical layer) 25.6Mbps to 622.08Mbps

ATM Logical Connections

Virtual channel connections (VCC)
Analogous to virtual circuit in X.25 Basic unit of switching Between two end users Full duplex Fixed size cells Data, user-network exchange (control) and networknetwork exchange (network management and routing)

Virtual path connection (VPC)

Bundle of VCC with same end points

Figure 13.3 ATM Connection Relationship

Advantages of Virtual Paths

Simplified network architecture Increased network performance and reliability Reduced processing Short connection setup time Enhanced network services

VP/VC Characteristics
Quality of service Switched and semi-permanent channel connections Call sequence integrity Traffic parameter negotiation and usage monitoring VPC only
Virtual channel identifier restriction within VPC

Control Signaling - VCC

Done on separate connection Semi-permanent VCC Meta-signaling channel
Used as permanent control signal channel

User to network signaling virtual channel

For control signaling Used to set up VCCs to carry user data

User to user signaling virtual channel

Within pre-established VPC Used by two end users without network intervention to establish and release user to user VCC

Control Signaling - VPC

Semi-permanent Customer controlled Network controlled

ATM Cells
Fixed size 5 octet header 48 octet information field Small cells reduce queuing delay for high priority cells Small cells can be switched more efficiently Easier to implement switching of small cells in hardware

Figure 13.4 ATM Cell Format

Header Format
Generic flow control
Only at user to network interface Controls flow only at this point

Virtual path identifier Virtual channel identifier Payload type

e.g. user info or network management

Cell loss priority Header error control

Header Error Control

8 bit error control field Calculated on remaining 32 bits of header Allows some error correction

Generic Flow Control (GFC)

Control traffic flow at user to network interface (UNI) to alleviate short term overload Two sets of procedures
Uncontrolled transmission Controlled transmission

Every connection either subject to flow control or not Subject to flow control
May be one group (A) default May be two groups (A and B)

Flow control is from subscriber to network

Controlled by network side

Single Group of Connections (1)

Terminal equipment (TE) initializes two variables
TRANSMIT flag to 1 GO_CNTR (credit counter) to 0

If TRANSMIT=1 cells on uncontrolled connection may be sent any time If TRANSMIT=0 no cells may be sent (on controlled or uncontrolled connections) If HALT received, TRANSMIT set to 0 and remains until NO_HALT

Single Group of Connections (2)

If TRANSMIT=1 and no cell to transmit on any uncontrolled connection:
If GO_CNTR>0, TE may send cell on controlled connection
Cell marked as being on controlled connection GO_CNTR decremented

If GO_CNTR=0, TE may not send on controlled connection

TE sets GO_CNTR to GO_VALUE upon receiving SET signal

Null signal has no effect

Use of HALT
To limit effective data rate on ATM Should be cyclic To reduce data rate by half, HALT issued to be in effect 50% of time Done on regular pattern over lifetime of connection

ATM Service Categories

Real time
Constant bit rate (CBR) Real time variable bit rate (rt-VBR)

Non-real time
Non-real time variable bit rate (nrt-VBR) Available bit rate (ABR) Unspecified bit rate (UBR) Guaranteed frame rate (GFR)

Real Time Services

Amount of delay Variation of delay (jitter)

CBR
Fixed data rate continuously available Tight upper bound on delay Uncompressed audio and video
Video conferencing Interactive audio A/V distribution and retrieval

rt-VBR
Time sensitive application
Tightly constrained delay and delay variation

rt-VBR applications transmit at a rate that varies with time e.g. compressed video
Produces varying sized image frames Original (uncompressed) frame rate constant So compressed data rate varies

Can statistically multiplex connections

nrt-VBR
May be able to characterize expected traffic flow Improve QoS in loss and delay End system specifies:
Peak cell rate Sustainable or average rate Measure of how bursty traffic is

e.g. Airline reservations, banking transactions

UBR
May be additional capacity over and above that used by CBR and VBR traffic
Not all resources dedicated Bursty nature of VBR

For application that can tolerate some cell loss or variable delays
e.g. TCP based traffic

Cells forwarded on FIFO basis Best efforts service

ABR
Application specifies peak cell rate (PCR) and minimum cell rate (MCR) Resources allocated to give at least MCR Spare capacity shared among all ARB sources e.g. LAN interconnection

Guaranteed Frame Rate (GFR)

Designed to support IP backbone subnetworks Better service than UBR for frame based traffic
Including IP and Ethernet

Optimize handling of frame based traffic passing from LAN through router to ATM backbone
Used by enterprise, carrier and ISP networks Consolidation and extension of IP over WAN

ABR difficult to implement between routers over ATM network GFR better alternative for traffic originating on Ethernet
Network aware of frame/packet boundaries When congested, all cells from frame discarded Guaranteed minimum capacity Additional frames carried of not congested

Cellular Wireless Networks

Underlying technology for mobile phones, personal communication systems, wireless networking etc. Developed for mobile radio telephone
Replace high power transmitter/receiver systems
Typical support for 25 channels over 80km

Use lower power, shorter range, more transmitters

Cellular Network Organization

Multiple low power transmitters
100w or less

Area divided into cells

Each with own antenna Each with own range of frequencies Served by base station
Transmitter, receiver, control unit

Adjacent cells on different frequencies to avoid crosstalk

Shape of Cells
Square
Width d cell has four neighbors at distance d and four at distance 2 d Better if all adjacent antennas equidistant
Simplifies choosing and switching to new antenna

Hexagon
Provides equidistant antennas Radius defined as radius of circum-circle
Distance from center to vertex equals length of side

Distance between centers of cells radius R is Not always precise hexagons

Topographical limitations Local signal propagation conditions Location of antennas

3R

Figure 13.5 Cellular Geometries

Frequency Reuse
Power of base transceiver controlled
Allow communications within cell on given frequency Limit escaping power to adjacent cells Allow re-use of frequencies in nearby cells Use same frequency for multiple conversations 10 50 frequencies per cell

E.g.
N cells all using same number of frequencies K total number of frequencies used in systems Each cell has K/N frequencies Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) K=395, N=7 giving 57 frequencies per cell on average

Characterizing Frequency Reuse

D = minimum distance between centers of cells that use the same band of frequencies (called cochannels) R = radius of a cell d = distance between centers of adjacent cells (d = R) N = number of cells in repetitious pattern
Reuse factor Each cell in pattern uses unique band of frequencies

Hexagonal cell pattern, following values of N possible

N = I2 + J2 + (I x J), I, J = 0, 1, 2, 3,

Possible values of N are 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16, 19, 21, D/R= 3N D/d = N

Figure 13.6 Frequency Reuse Patterns

Increasing Capacity (1)

Add new channels
Not all channels used to start with

Frequency borrowing
Taken from adjacent cells by congested cells Or assign frequencies dynamically

Cell splitting
Non-uniform distribution of topography and traffic Smaller cells in high use areas
Original cells 6.5 13 km 1.5 km limit in general More frequent handoff More base stations

Increasing Capacity (2)

Cell Sectoring
Cell divided into wedge shaped sectors 3 6 sectors per cell Each with own channel set
Subsets of cells channels

Directional antennas

Microcells
Move antennas from tops of hills and large buildings to tops of small buildings and sides of large buildings
Even lamp posts

Form microcells Reduced power Good for city streets, along roads and inside large buildings

Figure 13.7 Frequency Reuse Example

Operation of Cellular Systems

Base station (BS) at center of each cell
Antenna, controller, transceivers

Controller handles call process

Number of mobile units may in use at a time

BS connected to mobile telecommunications switching office (MTSO)

One MTSO serves multiple BS MTSO to BS link by wire or wireless

MTSO:
Connects calls between mobile units and from mobile to fixed telecommunications network Assigns voice channel Performs handoffs Monitors calls (billing)

Fully automated

Figure 13.8 Overview of Cellular System

Channels
Control channels
Setting up and maintaining calls Establish relationship between mobile unit and nearest BS

Traffic channels
Carry voice and data

Typical Call in Single MTSO Area (1)

Mobile unit initialization
Scan and select strongest set up control channel Automatically selected BS antenna of cell
Usually but not always nearest (propagation anomalies)

Handshake to identify user and register location Scan repeated to allow for movement
Change of cell

Mobile unit monitors for pages (see below)

Mobile originated call

Check set up channel is free
Monitor forward channel (from BS) and wait for idle

Send number on pre-selected channel

Paging
MTSO attempts to connect to mobile unit Paging message sent to BSs depending on called mobile number Paging signal transmitted on set up channel

Typical Call in Single MTSO Area (2)

Call accepted
Mobile unit recognizes number on set up channel Responds to BS which sends response to MTSO MTSO sets up circuit between calling and called BSs MTSO selects available traffic channel within cells and notifies BSs BSs notify mobile unit of channel

Ongoing call
Voice/data exchanged through respective BSs and MTSO

Handoff
Mobile unit moves out of range of cell into range of another cell Traffic channel changes to one assigned to new BS
Without interruption of service to user

Figure 13.9 Example of Mobile Cellular Call

Other Functions
Call blocking
During mobile-initiated call stage, if all traffic channels busy, mobile tries again After number of fails, busy tone returned

Call termination
User hangs up MTSO informed Traffic channels at two BSs released

Call drop
BS cannot maintain required signal strength Traffic channel dropped and MTSO informed

Calls to/from fixed and remote mobile subscriber

MTSO connects to PSTN MTSO can connect mobile user and fixed subscriber via PSTN MTSO can connect to remote MTSO via PSTN or via dedicated lines Can connect mobile user in its area and remote mobile user

Required Reading
Stallings chapter 13