UNIT-II

DATA LINK LAYER

The data link layer in the OSI (Open System Interconnections) Model is
in between the physical layer and the network layer. This layer converts the
raw transmission facility provided by the physical layer to a reliable and
error-free link.
Design issues of Data Link Layer
1. Service Provided to Network Layer
2. Framing
3. Error Control
4. Flow Control

1. Service Provided to Network Layer

The types of services provided can be of three types
 Unacknowledged connectionless service
 Acknowledged connectionless service
 Acknowledged connection - oriented service
Unacknowledged connectionless service
 It consists of having the source machine send independent frames to
destination machine without having the destination machine
acknowledge them.
Eg: Ethernet
 The service rate is used when the error rate is low.
Acknowledged connectionless service
 There is no logical connections b/w the sender and receiver.
 Each and every frame sent is individually acknowledged
 This service simply provides acknowledged connectionless service i.e.
packet delivery is simply acknowledged, with help of stop and wait for
protocol.
Acknowledged connection - oriented service
 In this type of service, connection is established first among sender and
receiver or source and destination before data is transferred.
 It is guarantees that are frame is received exactly once.

This process is shown in diagram

Framing

 The Data Link Layer should detect and correct the errors
 In this purpose, DLL will break up the bit stream into discrete frames,
compute a small token called a checksum each frame and include the
checksum in the frame when it is transmitted.
 When the frame arrives at the destination, the checksum is recomputed.
 After dividing the data into frames, we should be able to identify the
starting & and ending of each frame.

There are two types of framing

1. Fixed Length: The frame is of fixed size and there is no need to provide
boundaries to the frame, the length of the frame itself acts as a delimiter.
2. Variable Length: In this, there is a need to define the end of the frame as
well as the beginning of the next frame to distinguish

There are four methods in the framing

 Character Set
 Flag Byte or Character Stuffing or Byte Stuffing
 Bit Stuffing
 Violation of Physical layer

Character Set

 This is a method uses a field in the header to specify the number of bytes
in the frame.
 When the DLL at the destination sees the byte count, it knows how many
bytes follow & hence where the end of the frame.
 This problem occurs if the byte count is changed by any transmission
error.
 If the byte count of 5 becomes 7due to error in this method is used
rarely.
Flag Byte or Character Stuffing or Byte Stuffing

 In this method special byte called flag byte is used as both the starting
& ending delimiter of each frame.
 Two consequent flag bytes indicate end of the frame and start the next
frame.
 If the receiver looses the synchronization, it can search for two flag
bytes to find the end of the frame.
 One way to solve this problem is to insert a special byte called (ESC)
just before each flag byte in the data.
 The DLL on the receiving end removes the escape bytes before giving the
data to the network layer.
 This technique is called as Byte Stuffing.

Bit Stuffing

 Most protocols used a special 8bit pattern flag 01111110 as the

delimiter the beginning and ending of the frame. The bit stuffing is done
at the sender end and bit removal at the receiver end.
 If u has 0 after five consequent 1s we still stuff a 0.The receiver remove
the 0.
Violation of Physical layer

 In order to operate a division between frames in Data Link Layer this

approach exploits the redundancy in Physical Layer Encoding that
represents data as 00 error, 01 low, 10 high, 11 error

Error Control

 To ensure reliable delivery, the sender should be provided with some

feedback about what is happening at receiver.
 In this purpose ,receiver sends special control frames having positive or
negative acknowledgement
 If sender receives positive acknowledgment, it means that the frame has
transmitted safely.
 If sender receives negative acknowledgment, it means that the frame is
lost and the sender must retransmit the frame.
 To overcome this timer are used in DLL
 When sender transmits 0 frames, it also starts a timer.
 The timer is set to the time interval required for the data to reach the
destination and ACK to reach the source.
 If the timer expire ,it means that either the frame is lost or ACK is lost
Flow control

 Flow is controlled by sending the data according to the capability of the

receiver.

There are two types

1. Feedback based flow control: The receiver sends some feedback to the
sender .This feedback includes:-

 When to send the data

 How much data the sender can transmit
 At what rate data can be transmitted

2. Rate based flow control: There is built in mechanism that limits the rate
at which senders can transmit data. Without using feedback from receiver.

Error detection and Corrections

 Error detections codes are used when the error rate high.

Error detection codes

1. Parity 2.Checksum 3.CRC (Cyclic Redundancy check)

1. Parity: It can detect single bit error.

There are two types: 1.Even parity 2. Odd parity

2. Checksum or 1’s Representation Method

Step-01:

At sender side,

 If m bit checksum is used, the data unit to be transmitted is divided

into segments of m bits.
 All the m bit segments are added.
 The result of the sum is then complemented using 1’s complement
arithmetic.
 The value so obtained is called as checksum.
Step-02:

 The data along with the checksum value is transmitted to the receiver.

Step-03:

At receiver side,

 If m bit checksum is being used, the received data unit is divided into
segments of m bits.
 All the m bit segments are added along with the checksum value.
 The value so obtained is complemented and the result is checked.

Then, following two cases are possible-

Case-01: Result = 0

 If the result is zero,

 Receiver assumes that no error occurred in the data during the
transmission.
 Receiver accepts the data.

Case-02: Result ≠ 0

 If the result is non-zero,

 Receiver assumes that error occurred in the data during the
transmission.
 Receiver discards the data and asks the sender for retransmission.

Checksum Example-

Consider the data unit to be transmitted is-

10011001111000100010010010000100

Consider 8 bit checksum is used.

Step-01:

At sender side,

The given data unit is divided into segments of 8 bits as-

Now, all the segments are added and the result is obtained as-

 10011001 + 11100010 + 00100100 + 10000100 = 1000100011

 Since the result consists of 10 bits, so extra 2 bits are wrapped around .
 00100011 + 10 = 00100101 (8 bits)
 Now, 1’s complement is taken which is 11011010.
 Thus, checksum value = 11011010

Step-02:

The data along with the checksum value is transmitted to the receiver.

Step-03:

At receiver side,

 The received data unit is divided into segments of 8 bits.

 All the segments along with the checksum value are added.
 Sum of all segments + Checksum value = 00100101 + 11011010 =
11111111
 Complemented value = 00000000

Since the result is 0, receiver assumes no error occurred in the data and
therefore accepts it.

3. CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check)

 Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is an error detection method.

 It is based on binary division.
 CRC generator is an algebraic polynomial represented as a bit pattern.
 Bit pattern is obtained from the CRC generator using the following rule
is The power of each term gives the position of the bit and the coefficient
gives the value of the bit.
 The polynomial code bit strings are representation of polynomials with
coefficients of 0 and 1 only.
 When the polynomial code is employed, the sender and receiver must agree
upon a generator polynomial G(x).
  The result is 0 check summed frame to be transmitted T(X).

Here the Binary pattern is 11011011

CRC Generator
If CRC generator or divisor is n bits the CRC bits are (n-1)

Formula for CRC bits =data+ (n-1)/CRC Generator

Error Detection and Correction Method-Hamming Code

Hamming code is a block code that is capable of detecting up to two

simultaneous bit errors and correcting single-bit errors. It was developed by
R.W. Hamming for error correction.

In this coding method, the source encodes the message by inserting

redundant bits within the message. These redundant bits are extra bits that
are generated and inserted at specific positions in the message itself to
enable error detection and correction. When the destination receives this
message, it performs recalculations to detect errors and find the bit position
that has error.
Encoding a message by Hamming Code (Sender)

The procedure used by the sender to encode the message encompasses the
following steps −
Step 1 − Calculation of the number of redundant bits.
Step 2 − Positioning the redundant bits.
Step 3 − Calculating the values of each redundant bit.
Once the redundant bits are embedded within the message, this is sent to
the user.

Step 1 − Calculation of the number of redundant bits.

If the message contains m𝑚number of data bits, r𝑟number of redundant bits

are added to it so that m𝑟 is able to indicate at least (m + r+ 1) different
states. Here, (m + r) indicates location of an error in each of (𝑚 + 𝑟) bit
positions and one additional state indicates no error. Since, r𝑟 bits can
indicate 2r𝑟 states, 2r𝑟 must be at least equal to (m + r + 1). Thus the
following equation should hold 2r ≥ m+r+1

Step 2 − Positioning the redundant bits.

The r redundant bits placed at bit positions of powers of 2, i.e. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16

etc. They are referred in the rest of this text as r1 (at position 1), r2 (at
position 2), r3 (at position 4), r4 (at position 8) and so on.

Step 3 − Calculating the values of each redundant bit.

The redundant bits are parity bits. A parity bit is an extra bit that makes the
number of 1s either even or odd. The two types of parity are −
Even Parity − Here the total number of bits in the message is made even.
Odd Parity − Here the total number of bits in the message is made odd

Decoding a message in Hamming Code (Receiver)

Once the receiver gets an incoming message, it performs recalculations to

detect errors and correct them. The steps for recalculation are −
Step 1 − Calculation of the number of redundant bits.
Step 2 − Positioning the redundant bits.
Step 3 − Parity checking.
Step 4 − Error detection and correction
Ex: Let us assume the even parity hamming code from the above
example (111001101) is transmitted and the received code is
(110001101). Now from the received code, let us detect and correct the
error.

To detect the error, let us construct the bit location table.

Bit Location 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Bit
D5 P4 D4 D3 D2 P3 D1 P2 P1
designation

Binary
1001 1000 0111 0110 0101 0100 0011 0010 0001
representation

Received code 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
Checking the parity bits

For P1 : Check the locations 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. There is three 1s in this group,

which is wrong for even parity. Hence the bit value for P1 is 1.

For P2 : Check the locations 2, 3, 6, 7. There is one 1 in this group, which is

wrong for even parity. Hence the bit value for P2 is 1.

For P3 : Check the locations 3, 5, 6, 7. There is one 1 in this group, which is

wrong for even parity. Hence the bit value for P3 is 1.

For P4 : Check the locations 8, 9. There are two 1s in this group, which is
correct for even parity. Hence the bit value for P4 is 0.

The resultant binary word is 0111. It corresponds to the bit location 7 in the
above table. The error is detected in the data bit D4. The error is 0 and it
should be changed to 1. Thus the corrected code is 111001101.

Elementary Data Link Layer Protocols

Based on error control and flow control mechanism the elementary data link
layer protocols are divided in two transmission channels.

1. Noise Less

2. Noisy
Simplex Protocol or Unrestricted Protocol or Utopian Protocol
Simplex Stop and Wait Protocol error free channel
Simplex stop and wait protocol for noisy channel
Sliding window protocol(one bit)
G0 BACK N ARQ
SELECTIVE REPEAT ARQ
Data Link Layer Protocol in HDLC
High-level Data Link Control (HDLC) is a group of communication protocols
of the data link layer for transmitting data between network points or nodes.
Since it is a data link protocol, data is organized into frames. A frame is
transmitted via the network to the destination that verifies its successful
arrival. It is a bit - oriented protocol that is applicable for both point - to -
point and multipoint communications.

Transfer Modes

HDLC supports two types of transfer modes, normal response mode and
asynchronous balanced mode.

Normal Response Mode (NRM) − Here, two types of stations are there, a
primary station that send commands and secondary station that can
respond to received commands. It is used for both point - to - point and
multipoint communications.

Asynchronous Balanced Mode (ABM) − Here, the configuration is balanced,

i.e. each station can both send commands and respond to commands. It is
used for only point - to - point communications.

HDLC Frame Structure

HDLC is a bit - oriented protocol where each frame contains up to six
fields. The structure varies according to the type of frame. The fields of a
HDLC frame are

Flag − It is an 8-bit sequence that marks the beginning and the end of the
frame. The bit pattern of the flag is 01111110.

Address − It contains the address of the receiver. If the frame is sent by the
primary station, it contains the address(es) of the secondary station(s). If it is
sent by the secondary station, it contains the address of the primary station.
The address field may be from 1 byte to several bytes.

Control − It is 1 or 2 bytes containing flow and error control information.

Payload − This carries the data from the network layer. Its length may vary
from one network to another.

FCS − It is a 2 byte or 4 bytes frame check sequence for error detection. The
standard code used is CRC (cyclic redundancy code)

Types of HDLC Frames

There are three types of HDLC frames. The type of frame is determined by the
control field of the frame

I-frame − I-frames or Information frames carry user data from the network
layer. They also include flow and error control information that is
piggybacked on user data. The first bit of control field of I-frame is 0.

S-frame − S-frames or Supervisory frames do not contain information field.

They are used for flow and error control when piggybacking is not required.
The first two bit of control field of S-frame is 10.

U-frame − U-frames or Un-numbered frames are used for myriad

miscellaneous functions, like link management. It may contain an
information field, if required. The first two bit of control field of U-frame is
11.
Point to point protocol (PPP)
 The PPP stands for Point-to-Point protocol. It is the most commonly
used protocol for point-to-point access. Suppose the user wants to
access the internet from the home, the PPP protocol will be used.
 The PPP protocol can be used on synchronous link like ISDN as well as
asynchronous link like dial-up. It is mainly used for the communication
between the two devices.
 It is also known as a byte-oriented protocol

Services provided by PPP

 It defines the format of frames through which the transmission occurs.
 It defines the link establishment process.
 It defines data exchange process, i.e., how data will be exchanged, the
rate of the exchange.
 The main feature of the PPP protocol is the encapsulation. It defines
how network layer data and information in the payload are
encapsulated in the data link frame.
 It defines the authentication process between the two devices. The
authentication between the two devices, handshaking and how the
password will be exchanged between two devices are decided by the PPP
protocol.

Services not provided by the PPP protocol(RFC1661)

 It does not support flow control mechanism.
 It has a very simple error control mechanism.
 As PPP provides point-to-point communication, so it lacks addressing
mechanism to handle frames in multipoint configuration.

Frame format of PPP protocol

Flag: The flag field is used to indicate the start and end of the frame. The flag
field is a 1-byte field that appears at the beginning and the ending of the
frame. The pattern of the flag is similar to the bit pattern in HDLC, i.e.,
01111110.

Address: It is a 1-byte field that contains the constant value which is

11111111. These 8 ones represent a broadcast message.

Control: It is a 1-byte field which is set through the constant value, i.e.,
11000000. It is not a required field as PPP does not support the flow control
and a very limited error control mechanism. The control field is a mandatory
field where protocol supports flow and error control mechanism.

Protocol: It is a 1 or 2 bytes field that defines what is to be carried in the

data field. The data can be a user data or other information.

Payload: The payload field carries either user data or other information. The
maximum length of the payload field is 1500 bytes

CRC: It is a 16-bit field which is generally used for error detection

Transition phases of PPP protocol

Dead: Dead is a transition phase which means that the link is not used or
there is no active carrier at the physical layer.

Establish: If one of the nodes starts working then the phase goes to the
establish phase. In short, we can say that when the node starts
communication or carrier is detected then it moves from the dead to the
establish phase.

Authenticate: It is an optional phase which means that the communication

can also moves to the authenticate phase. The phase moves from the
establish to the authenticate phase only when both the communicating
nodes agree to make the communication authenticated.

Network: Once the authentication is successful, the network is established

or phase is network. In this phase, the negotiations of network layer
protocols take place.

Open: After the establishment of the network phase, it moves to the open
phase. Here open phase means that the exchange of data takes place. Or we
can say that it reaches to the open phase after the configuration of the
network layer.

Terminate: When all the work is done then the connection gets terminated,
and it moves to the terminate phase.

Components in PPP
 Link Control Protocol (LCP)
 Authentication protocols

Link Control Protocol (LCP): The role of LCP is to establish, maintain,

configure, and terminate the links. It also provides negotiation mechanism .

Authentication protocols: This protocol plays a very important role in the

PPP protocol because the PPP is designed for use over the dial-up links where
the verification of user identity is necessary. Thus this protocol is mainly
used to authenticate the endpoints for the use of other services.
Multilink PPP

Multilink PPP (also referred to as MLPPP, MP, MPPP, MLP, or Multilink)

provides a method for spreading traffic across multiple distinct PPP
connections. It is defined in RFC 1990. It can be used, for example, to
connect a home computer to an Internet Service Provider using two
traditional 56k modems, or to connect a company through two leased lines.

On a single PPP line frames cannot arrive out of order, but this is possible
when the frames are divided among multiple PPP connections. Therefore,
Multilink PPP must number the fragments so they can be put in the right
order again when they arrive.

Multilink PPP is an example of a link aggregation technology. Cisco

IOS Release 11.1 and later supports Multilink PPP.

Multilink PPP is a communications strategy that makes use of the basic

concept of point-to-point protocol. Essentially, the approach allows for the
utilization of more than one PPP communication port in order to achieve a
higher amount of bandwidth to work with. This type of communications
protocol can often be employed with a personal computer and thus enhance
the overall efficiency of many tasks The utilization of Multilink PPP can be
especially helpful in locations where dial up connections to the Internet are
the only alternative. The end user will make use of two different modems to
establish independent connections to the Internet. The connections are made
to the same Internet Service Provider. Assuming that the ISP allows for this
type of connectivity, the end user can effectively double the operating speed,
as the two connections divide the requested data into packets that are
simultaneously transmitted through each connection, then recombined at
the user end.

However, there are other applications for Multilink PPP that go beyond
simply increasing the speed associated with dial up service. The same
concept is often employed in fiber optic systems that function primarily as a
means of providing audio signaling. Cable modems can also employ
Multilink PPP to enhance transmission. Satellite transmissions can also
make use of the principles of Multilink PPP in order to increase the efficiency
of data transfers. The overall simplicity of employing this type of multiple
connection protocol makes it easily adaptable to a number of different
situations, and can often be an ideal solution for persons located in relatively
isolated areas.