CS3591- COMPUTER NETWORKS

UNIT V DATA LINK AND PHYSICAL LAYERS 12

5.1 Data Link Layer
5.2 Framing
5.3 Flow control
5.4 Error control
5.5 Data-Link Layer Protocols
5.6 HDLC
5.7 PPP
5.8 Media Access Control
5.9 Ethernet Basics
5.10 CSMA/CD
5.11 Virtual LAN
5.12 Wireless LAN (802.11)
5.13 Physical Layer: Data and Signals
5.14 Transmission media-
5.15 Switching
5.16 Circuit Switching.

5.1 Data Link Layer

 In the OSI model, the data link layer is the 2nd layer from the bottom.
 It is responsible for transmitting frames from one node to next node.
 The main responsibility of the Data Link Layer is to transfer the
datagram across an individual link.
 An important characteristic of a Data Link Layer is that datagram can
be handled by different link layer protocols on different links in a path.
 The other responsibilities of this layer are
1. Framing - Divides the stream of bits received into data units called frames.
2. Physical addressing – If frames are to be distributed to different systems
on the same network, data link layer adds a header to the frame to define the
sender and receiver.
3. Flow control- If the rate at which the data are absorbed by the receiver is
less than the rate produced in the sender, the Data link layer imposes a flow
control mechanism.
4. Error control- Used for detecting and retransmitting damaged or lost
frames and to prevent duplication of frames. This is achieved through a
trailer added at the end of the frame.
5. Medium Access control - Used to determine which device has control over

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the link at any given time.

5.2 FRAMING
 The data-link layer packs the bits of a message into frames, so that each frame
is distinguishable from another.

 Although the whole message could be packed in one frame, that is not
normally done.
 One reason is that a frame can be very large, making flow and error
control very inefficient.
Frame Size
 Frames can be of fixed or variable size.
 Frames of fixed size are called cells. In fixed-size framing, there is no need for
defining the boundaries of the frames; the size itself can be used as a delimiter.
 In variable-size framing, we need a way to define the end of one frame and the
beginning of the next. Two approaches were used for this purpose: a character-
oriented approach and a bit-oriented approach.
Character-Oriented Framing
 In character-oriented (or byte-oriented) framing, data to be carried are 8-bit
characters.
 To separate one frame from the next, an 8-bit (1-byte) flag is added at the
beginning and the end of a frame.
 The flag, composed of protocol-dependent special characters, signals the start
or end of a frame.

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Bit-Oriented Framing
 In bit-oriented framing, the data section of a frame is a sequence of bits to
be interpreted by the upper layer as text, graphic, audio, video, and so on.

 In addition to headers and trailers), we still need a delimiter to separate one

frame from the other.
 Most protocols use a special 8-bit pattern flag, 01111110, as the delimiter to
define the beginning and the end of the frame
 If the flag pattern appears in the data, the receiver must be informed that
this is not the end of the frame.

5.3 FLOW CONTROL

 Flow control refers to a set of procedures used to restrict the amount of data
that the sender can send before waiting for acknowledgment.
 The receiving device has limited speed and limited memory to store the data.
 Therefore, the receiving device must be able to inform the sending device to
stop the transmission temporarily before the limits are reached.
 It requires a buffer, a block of memory for storing the information until they
are processed.

Two methods have been developed to control the flow of data:

1. Stop-and-Wait
2. Sliding Window
STOP-AND-WAIT
 The simplest scheme is the stop-and-wait algorithm.
 In the Stop-and-wait method, the sender waits for an acknowledgement

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after every frame it sends.

 When acknowledgement is received, then only next frame is sent.

 The process of alternately sending and waiting of a frame continues until
the sender transmits the EOT (End of transmission) frame.

 If the acknowledgement is not received within the allotted time, then the sender
assumes that the frame is lost during the transmission, so it will retransmit the
frame.
 The acknowledgement may not arrive because of the following three scenarios :
1. Original frame is lost
2. ACK is lost
3. ACK arrives after the timeout

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SLIDING WINDOW
 The Sliding Window is a method of flow control in which a sender can
transmit the several frames before getting an acknowledgement.
 In Sliding Window Control, multiple frames can be sent one after the another
due to which capacity of the communication channel can be utilized efficiently.
 A single ACK acknowledge multiple frames.
 Sliding Window refers to imaginary boxes at both the sender and receiver end.
 The window can hold the frames at either end, and it provides the upper limit
on the number of frames that can be transmitted before the acknowledgement.
 Frames can be acknowledged even when the window is not completely filled.
 The window has a specific size in which they are numbered as modulo-n means
that they are numbered from 0 to n-1.
 For example, if n = 8, the frames are numbered from
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,0,1........
 The size of the window is represented as n-1. Therefore, maximum n-1 frames
can be sent before acknowledgement.
 When the receiver sends the ACK, it includes the number of the next frame that
it wants to receive.
 For example, to acknowledge the string of frames ending with frame number 4,
the receiver will send the ACK containing the number 5.
 When the sender sees the ACK with the number 5, it got to know that the
frames from 0 through 4 have been received.

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5.4 ERROR CONTROL

Data can be corrupted during transmission. For reliable communication, errors must
be detected and corrected. Error Control is a technique of error detection and
retransmission.

TYPES OF ERRORS

SINGLE-BIT ERROR

The term Single-bit error means that only one bit of a given data unit (such as byte,
character, data unit or packet) is changed from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1.

BURST ERROR

The term Burst Error means that two or more bits in the data unit have changed from 1
to 0 or from 0 to 1.

ERROR DETECTION TECHNIQUES / METHODS

The basic idea behind any error detection scheme is to add additional information to a
frame that can be used to determine if errors have been introduced.

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PARITY CHECK

 One bit, called parity bit is added to every data unit so that the total number of
1’s in the data unit becomes even (or) odd.
 The source then transmits this data via a link, and bits are checked and verified
at the destination.
 Data is considered accurate if the number of bits (even or odd) matches the
number transmitted from the source.
 This techniques is the most common and least complex method.

1. Even parity – Maintain even number of

1s E.g., 1011 → 1011 1
2. Odd parity – Maintain odd number of
1s E.g., 1011 → 1011 0

CYCLIC REDUNDANCY CHECK

 Cyclic codes refers to encoding messages by adding a fixed-length check

value.
 CRCs are popular because they are simple to implement, easy to analyze
mathematically and particularly good at detecting common errors caused
in transmission channels.

Steps Involved :

 Consider the original message (dataword) as M(x) consisting of ‘k’ bits and the
divisor as C(x) consists of ‘n+1’ bits.
 The original message M(x) is appended by ‘n’ bits of zero’s. Let us call this
zero-extended message as T(x).
 Divide T(x) by C(x) and find the remainder.
 The division operation is performed using XOR operation.
 The resultant remainder is appended to the original message M(x) as CRC and
sent by the sender(codeword).

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Polynomials

 A pattern of 0s and 1s can be represented as a polynomial with coefficients of

0 and 1.
 The power of each term shows the position of the bit; the coefficient shows the
value of the bit.

Example 1:
 Consider the Dataword / Message M(x) = 1001
 Divisor C(x) = 1011 (n+1=4)
 Appending ‘n’ zeros to the original Message M(x).
 The resultant messages is called T(x) = 1001 000. (here n=3)
 Divide T(x) by the divisor C(x) using XOR operation.

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CHECKSUM

 Checksum is a calculated value that is used to determine the integrity of data.

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ERROR CONTROL

 Error control includes both error detection and error correction.

 Whenever an error is detected, specified frames are retransmitted
 It allows the receiver to inform the sender if a frame is lost or damaged during
transmission and coordinates the retransmission of those frames by the sender.
 Includes the following actions:
Error detection
1. Positive Acknowledgement (ACK): if the frame arrived with no errors
2. Negative Acknowledgement (NAK): if the frame arrived with errors
3. Retransmissions after Timeout: Frame is retransmitted after certain
amount of time if no acknowledgement was received
 Error control in the data link layer is based on automatic repeat request (ARQ).

Categories of Error Control

STOP-AND-WAIT ARQ

 Stop-and-wait ARQ is a technique used to retransmit the data in case

of damaged or lost frames.
 This technique works on the principle that the sender will not transmit the
next frame until it receives the acknowledgement of the last transmitted
frame.

Two possibilities of the retransmission in Stop and Wait ARQ:

Damaged Frame: When the receiver receives a damaged frame(i.e., the frame contains
an error), then it returns the NAK frame. For example, when the frame DATA 1 is sent,
and then the receiver sends the ACK 0 frame means that the data 1 has arrived
correctly. The sender transmits the next frame: DATA 0. It reaches undamaged, and the

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receiver returns ACK 1.The sender transmits the third frame: DATA 1. The receiver
reports an error and returns the NAK frame. The sender retransmits the DATA 1 frame.

Lost Frame: Sender is equipped with the timer and starts when the frame is
transmitted. Sometimes the frame has not arrived at the receiving end so that it
cannot be acknowledged either positively or negatively. The sender waits for
acknowledgement until the timer goes off. If the timer goes off, it retransmits the last
transmitted frame.

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SLIDING WINDOW ARQ

Sliding Window ARQ is a technique used for continuous transmission error control.

Two protocols used in sliding window ARQ:

1. GO-BACK-N ARQ

In Go-Back-N ARQ protocol, if one frame is lost or damaged, then it retransmits

all the frames after which it does not receive the positive ACK

 In the above figure, three frames (Data 0,1,2) have been transmitted before
an error discovered in the third frame.
 The receiver discovers the error in Data 2 frame, so it returns the NAK 2 frame.
 All the frames including the damaged frame (Data 2,3,4) are discarded as it is
transmitted after the damaged frame.
 Therefore, the sender retransmits the frames (Data2,3,4).

SELECTIVE-REJECT(REPEAT) ARQ

 Selective-Reject ARQ technique is more efficient than Go-Back-n ARQ.

 In this technique, only those frames are retransmitted for which
negative acknowledgement (NAK) has been received.
 The receiver storage buffer keeps all the damaged frames on hold until
the frame in error is correctly received.
 The receiver must have an appropriate logic for reinserting the frames in
a correct order.
 The sender must consist of a searching mechanism that selects only
the requested frame for retransmission.

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 In the above figure, three frames (Data 0,1,2) have been transmitted
before an error discovered in the third frame.
 The receiver discovers the error in Data 2 frame, so it returns the NAK
2 frame.
 The damaged frame only (Data 2) is discarded.
 The other subsequent frames (Data 3,4) are accepted.
 Therefore, the sender retransmits only the damaged frame (Data2).
5.5 DATA-LINK LAYER PROTOCOLS

Four protocols have been defined for the data-link layer controls.
They are
1. Simple Protocol
2. Stop-and-Wait Protocol
3. Go-Back-N Protocol
4. Selective-Repeat Protocol

SIMPLE PROTOCOL

 The first protocol is a simple protocol with neither flow nor error control.
 We assume that the receiver can immediately handle any frame it receives.
 In other words, the receiver can never be overwhelmed with incoming frames.
 The data-link layers of the sender and receiver provide transmission services
for their network layers.

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 The data-link layer at the sender gets a packet from its network layer,
makes a frame out of it, and sends the frame.
 The data-link layer at the receiver receives a frame from the link,
extracts the packet from the frame, and delivers the packet to its network
layer.

5.6 HDLC (HIGH-LEVEL DATA LINK CONTROL)

 High-level Data Link Control (HDLC) is a bit-oriented protocol

 HDLC is used for communication over point-to-point and
multipoint links.
 HDLC implements the Stop-and-Wait protocol.
HDLC CONFIGURATIONS AND TRANSFER MODES

 HDLC provides two common transfer modes that can be used in

different configurations:
1. Normal response mode (NRM)
2. Asynchronous balanced mode (ABM).

Normal response mode (NRM)

 In normal response mode (NRM), the station configuration is unbalanced.
 We have one primary station and multiple secondary stations.
 A primary station can send commands; a secondary station can only respond.
 The NRM is used for both point-to-point and multipoint links.

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Asynchronous balanced mode (ABM)

 In ABM, the configuration is balanced.
 The link is point-to-point, and each station can function as a primary and a
secondary (acting as peers).
 This is the common mode today.

HDLC FRAMES

HDLC defines three types of frames:

1. Information frames (I-frames) - used to carry user data
2. Supervisory frames (S-frames) - used to carry control information
3. Unnumbered frames (U-frames) – reserved for system management

Each type of frame serves as an envelope for the transmission of a different type of
message. Each frame in HDLC may contain up to six fields:
1. Beginning flag field
2. Address field
3. Control field
4. Information field (User Information/ Management Information)
5. Frame check sequence (FCS) field
6. Ending flag field In multiple-frame transmissions, the ending flag of one frame
can serve as the beginning flag of the next frame.

 Flag field - This field contains synchronization pattern 01111110, which

identifies both the beginning and the end of a frame.

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 Address field - This field contains the address of the secondary station. If a
primary station created the frame, it contains a ‘to’ address. If a secondary
station creates the frame, it contains a ‘from’ address. The address field can be
one byte or several bytes long, depending on the needs of the network.
 Control field. The control field is one or two bytes used for flow and error
control.

 Information field. The information field contains the user’s data from the
network layer or management information. Its length can vary from one
network to another.

 FCS field. The frame check sequence (FCS) is the HDLC error detection
field. It can contain either a 16- bit or 32-bit CRC
CONTROL FIELD FORMAT FOR THE DIFFERENT FRAME TYPES

Control Field for I-Frames

 I-frames are designed to carry user data from the network layer. In
addition, they can include flow-control and error-control information
 The first bit defines the type. If the first bit of the control field is 0, this
means the frame is an I-frame.
 The next 3 bits, called N(S), define the sequence number of the frame.
 The last 3 bits, called N(R), correspond to the acknowledgment number
when piggybacking is used.
 The single bit between N(S) and N(R) is called the P/F bit. If this bit is 1 it
means poll (the frame is sent by a primary station to a secondary).

Control Field for S-Frames

 Supervisory frames are used for flow and error control whenever
piggybacking is either impossible or inappropriate.
 S-frames do not have information fields
 If the first 2 bits of the control field are 10, this means the frame is an S-frame.
 The last 3 bits, called N(R),correspond to the acknowledgment number
(ACK) or negative acknowledgment number (NAK), depending on the type
of S- frame.
 The 2 bits called code are used to define the type of S-frame itself.
 With 2 bits, we can have four types of S-frames – Receive ready (RR),
Receive not ready (RNR), Reject (REJ) and Selective reject (SREJ).

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Control Field for U-Frames

 Unnumbered frames are used to exchange session management and
control information between connected devices.
 U-frames contain an information field, but used only for system
management information and not user data.
 If the first 2 bits of the control field are 11, this means the frame is an U-frame.
 U-frame codes are divided into two sections: a 2-bit prefix before the P/F bit
and a 3-bit suffix after the P/F bit.
 Together, these two segments (5 bits) can be used to create up to 32
different types of U-frames.

5.7 POINT-TO-POINT PROTOCOL (PPP)

 Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) was devised by IETF (Internet Engineering

Task Force) in 1990 as a Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP).
 PPP is a data link layer communications protocol used to establish a direct
connection between two nodes.
 It connects two routers directly without any host or any other networking
device in between.
 It is used to connect the Home PC to the server of ISP via a modem.
 It is a byte - oriented protocol that is widely used in broadband
communications having heavy loads and high speeds.

Services Provided by PPP

The main services provided by Point - to - Point Protocol are –

1. Defining the frame format of the data to be transmitted.
2. Defining the procedure of establishing link between two points and exchange
of data.
3. Stating the method of encapsulation of network layer data in the frame.
4. Stating authentication rules of the communicating devices.
5. Providing address for network communication.
6. Providing connections over multiple links.
7. Supporting a variety of network layer protocols by providing a range
os services.

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PPP Frame

PPP is a byte - oriented protocol where each field of the frame is composed of one
or more bytes.

1. Flag − 1 byte that marks the beginning and the end of the frame. The bit
pattern of the flag is 01111110.
2. Address − 1 byte which is set to 11111111 in case of broadcast.
3. Control − 1 byte set to a constant value of 11000000.
4. Protocol − 1 or 2 bytes that define the type of data contained in the payload
field.
5. Payload − This carries the data from the network layer. The
maximum length of the payload field is 1500 bytes.
6. FCS − It is a 2 byte(16-bit) or 4 bytes(32-bit) frame check sequence
for error detection. The standard code used is CRC.

Components/Protocols of PPP

Three sets of components/protocols are defined to make PPP powerful:

 Link Control Protocol (LCP)
 Authentication Protocols (AP)
 Network Control Protocols (NCP)

Link Control Protocol (LCP) –

It is responsible for establishing, configuring, testing, maintaining and terminating

links for transmission. It also provides negotiation mechanisms to set options
between the two endpoints. Both endpoints of the link must reach an agreement about
the options before the link can be established.

Authentication Protocols (AP) –

Authentication means validating the identity of a user who needs to access a set of
resources. PPP has created two protocols for authentication -Password Authentication
Protocol and Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol.

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PAP

The Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) is a simple authentication procedure

with a two-step process:
a. The user who wants to access a system sends an authentication identification
(usually the user name) and a password.
b. The system checks the validity of the identification and password and either
accepts or denies connection.

CHAP

The Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) is a three-way

handshaking authentication protocol that provides greater security than PAP. In this
method, the password is kept secret; it is never sent online.
a. The system sends the user a challenge packet containing a challenge value.
b. The user applies a predefined function that takes the challenge value and the
user’s own password and creates a result. The user sends the result in the response
packet to the system.
c. The system does the same. It applies the same function to the password of the
user (known to the system) and the challenge value to create a result. If the result
created is the same as the result sent in the response packet, access is granted;
otherwise, it is denied.
CHAP is more secure than PAP, especially if the system continuously changes
the challenge value. Even if the intruder learns the challenge value and the result,
the password is still secret.

Network Control Protocols (NCP) –

PPP is a multiple-network-layer protocol. It can carry a network-layer data packet

from protocols defined by the Internet. PPP has defined a specific Network Control
Protocol for each network protocol. These protocols are used for negotiating the
parameters and facilities for the network layer. For every higher-layer protocol
supported by PPP, one NCP is there.

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5.8 MEDIA ACCESS CONTROL (MAC)

 When two or more nodes transmit data at the same time, their frames
will collide and the link bandwidth is wasted during collision.
 To coordinate the access of multiple sending/receiving nodes to the shared
link, we need a protocol to coordinate the transmission.
 These protocols are called Medium or Multiple Access Control
(MAC) Protocols. MAC belongs to the data link layer of OSI model
 MAC defines rules for orderly access to the shared medium. It tries to
ensure that no two nodes are interfering with each other’s transmissions, and
deals with the situation when they do.

Goals of MAC

1. Fairness in sharing
2. Efficient sharing of bandwidth
3. Need to avoid packet collisions at the receiver due to interference

MAC Management

1. Medium allocation (collision avoidance)

2. Contention resolution (collision handling)

5.9 ETHERNET (IEEE 802.3)

 Ethernet was developed in the mid-1970’s at the Xerox Palo Alto Research
Center (PARC),
 IEEE controls the Ethernet standards.
 The Ethernet is the most successful local area networking technology, that uses
bus topology.
 The Ethernet is multiple-access networks that is set of nodes send and
receive frames over a shared link.
 Ethernet uses the CSMA / CD ( Carrier Sense Multiple Access with
Collision Detection) mechanism.

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EVOLUTION OF ETHERNET

ACCESS METHOD/ PROTOCOL OF ETHERNET

The access method of Ethernet is CSMA/CD.

Note : Refer CSMA/CD from MAC

COLLISION DETECTION IN ETHERNET

 As the Ethernet supports collision detection, senders are able to determine a

collision.
 At the moment an adaptor detects that its frame is colliding with another, it first
makes sure to transmit a 32-bit jamming sequence along with the 64-bit
preamble (totally 96 bits) and then stops the transmission.
 These 96 bits are sometimes called Runt Frame.

FRAME FORMAT OF ETHERNET

The Ethernet frame is defined by the format given in the Fig.

 The 64-bit preamble allows the receiver to synchronize with the signal; it is
a sequence of alternating 0’s and 1’s.
 Both the source and destination hosts are identified with a 48-bit address.
 The packet type field serves as the demultiplexing key.
 Each frame contains up to 1500 bytes of data(Body).
 CRC is used for Error detection

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Ethernet Addresses

 Every Ethernet host has a unique Ethernet address (48 bits – 6 bytes).
 Ethernet address is represented by sequence of six numbers separated by colons.
 Each number corresponds to 1 byte of the 6 byte address and is given by pair
of hexadecimal digits.
 Eg: 8:0:2b:e4:b1:2 is the representation of 00001000 00000000 00101011
11100100 10110001 00000010
 Each frame transmitted on an Ethernet is received by every adaptor connected
to the Ethernet.
 In addition to unicast addresses an Ethernet address consisting of all 1s is treated as
broadcast address.
 Similarly the address that has the first bit set to 1 but it is not the broadcast address
is called multicast address.

5.10 CARRIER SENSE MULTIPLE ACCESS / COLLISION

DETECTION (CSMA / CD)

 Carrier Sense in CSMA/CD means that all the nodes sense the medium to
check whether it is idle or busy.
 If the carrier sensed is idle, then the node transmits the entire frame.
 If the carrier sensed is busy, the transmission is postponed.
 Collision Detect means that a node listens as it transmits and can therefore detect
when a frame it is transmitting has collided with a frame transmitted by another node.
Flowchart of CSMA/CD Operation

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5.11 VLAN

Virtual Local Area Networks or Virtual LANs (VLANs) are a logical group of
computers that appear to be on the same LAN irrespective of the configuration of the
underlying physical network. Network administrators partition the networks to match the
functional requirements of the VLANs so that each VLAN comprise of a subset of ports on a
single or multiple switches or bridges. This allows computers and devices in a VLAN to
communicate in the simulated environment as if it is a separate LAN.

Features of VLANs
 A VLAN forms sub-network grouping together devices on separate physical LANs.
 VLAN's help the network manager to segment LANs logically into different
broadcast domains.
 VLANs function at layer 2, i.e. Data Link Layer of the OSI model.
 There may be one or more network bridges or switches to form multiple,
independent VLANs.
 Using VLANs, network administrators can easily partition a single switched network
into multiple networks depending upon the functional and security requirements of
their systems.
 VLANs eliminate the requirement to run new cables or reconfiguring
physical connections in the present network infrastructure.
 VLANs help large organizations to re-partition devices aiming improved
traffic management.

Types of VLANs

Protocol VLAN − Here, the traffic is handled based on the protocol used. A switch or bridge
segregates, forwards or discards frames the come to it based upon the traffics protocol.

Port-based VLAN − This is also called static VLAN. Here, the network administrator assigns
the ports on the switch / bridge to form a virtual network.
Dynamic VLAN − Here, the network administrator simply defines network membership
according to device characteristics.

5.12 WIRELESS LAN ( IEEE 802.11)

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 Wireless communication is one of the fastest-growing technologies.

 The demand for connecting devices without the use of cables is
increasing everywhere.
 Wireless LANs can be found on college campuses, in office buildings, and
in many public areas.

ADVANTAGES OF WLAN / 802.11

1. Flexibility: Within radio coverage, nodes can access each other as radio waves can
penetrate even partition walls.
2. Planning : No prior planning is required for connectivity as long as devices follow
standard convention
3. Design : Allows to design and develop mobile devices.
4. Robustness : Wireless network can survive disaster. If the devices survive,
communication can still be established.

TECHNOLOGY USED IN WLAN / 802.11

 WLAN’s uses Spread Spectrum (SS) technology.

 The idea behind Spread spectrum technique is to spread the signal over a wider
frequency band than normal, so as to minimize the impact of interference from other
devices.
 There are two types of Spread Spectrum:

 Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS)

 Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS)

 Frequency hopping is a spread spectrum technique that involves transmitting the

signal over a random sequence of frequencies.
 That is, first transmitting at one frequency, then a second, then a third, and so on.
 The random sequence of frequencies is computed by a pseudorandom number
generator.
 The receiver uses the same algorithm as the sender and initializes it with the same
seed and hence is able to hop frequencies in sync with the transmitter to correctly
receive the frame.

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Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)

 Each bit of data is represented by multiple bits in the transmitted signal.

 DSSS takes a user data stream and performs an XOR operation with a pseudo –
random number.
 This pseudo random number is called as chipping sequence.

ARCHITECURE OF WLAN / 802.11

 The standard defines two kinds of services: the Basic Service Set (BSS) and
the Extended Service Set (ESS).

Basic Service Set (BSS)

 IEEE 802.11 defines the basic service set (BSS) as the building blocks of a
wireless LAN.
 A basic service set is made of stationary or mobile wireless stations and an
optional central base station, known as the access point (AP).

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Extended Service Set (ESS)

 An extended service set (ESS) is made up of two or more BSSs with APs.
 In this case, the BSSs are connected through a distribution system, which is a
wired or a wireless network.
 The distribution system connects the APs in the BSSs. The extended service set
uses two types of stations: mobile and stationary.
 The mobile stations are normal stations inside a BSS.
 The stationary stations are AP stations that are part of a wired LAN.

COLLISION AVOIDANCE IN WLAN / 802.11

Wireless protocol would follow exactly the same algorithm as the Ethernet—Wait
until the link becomes idle before transmitting and back off should a collision
occur.

Hidden Node Problem

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 Consider the situation shown in the Figure.

 Here A and C are both within range of B but not with each other.
 Suppose both A and C want to communicate with B and so they each send a
frame to B.
 A and C are unaware of each other since their signals do not carry that far.
 These two frames collide with each other at B, but neither A nor C is aware of
this collision.
 A and C are said to be hidden nodes with respect to each other.

Exposed Node Problem

 Each of the four nodes is able to send and receive signals that reach just the
nodes to its immediate left and right.
 For example, B can exchange frames with A and C but it cannot reach D, while
C can reach B and D but not A.
 Suppose B is sending to A. Node C is aware of this communication because it
hears B’s transmission.
 If at the same time, C wants to transmit to node D.
 It would be a mistake, however, for C to conclude that it cannot transmit to
anyone just because it can hear B’s transmission.
 This is not a problem since C’s transmission to D will not interfere with A’s
ability to receive from B.

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 This is called exposed problem.

 Although B and C are exposed to each other’s signals, there is no interference
if B transmits to A while C transmits to D.

5.13 Physical Layer: Data and Signals

 The physical layer coordinates the functions required to transmit a bit stream
over a physical medium.
 Signals: It determines the type of the signal used for transmitting the
information.
 Data Rate or Transmission rate - The number of bits sent each second –is
also defined by the physical layer.

5.14 TRANSMISSION MEDIA

 Transmission media is a communication channel that carries the information
from the sender to the receiver.
 Data is transmitted through the electromagnetic signals.
 The main functionality of the transmission media is to carry the information in
the form of bits (Either as Electrical signals or Light pulses).
 It is a physical path between transmitter and receiver in data communication.
 The characteristics and quality of data transmission are determined by the
characteristics of medium and signal.
 Transmission media is of two types : Guided Media (Wired) and UnGuided
Media (wireless).

FACTORS FOR DESIGNING THE TRANSMISSION MEDIA

 Bandwidth: All the factors are remaining constant, the greater the bandwidth
of a medium, the higher the data transmission rate of a signal.

 Transmission impairment: When the received signal is not identical to the

transmitted one due to the transmission impairment. The quality of the signals
will get destroyed due to transmission impairment.

 Interference: An interference is defined as the process of disrupting a signal

when it travels over a communication medium on the addition of some
unwanted signal.

5.15 SWITCHING
 The technique of transferring the information from one computer network to

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another network is known as switching.

 Switching in a computer network is achieved by using switches.
 A switch is a small hardware device which is used to join multiple computers
together with one local area network (LAN).
 Switches are devices capable of creating temporary connections between two
or more devices linked to the switch.
 Switches are used to forward the packets based on MAC addresses.
 A Switch is used to transfer the data only to the device that has been addressed.
It verifies the destination address to route the packet appropriately.
 It is operated in full duplex mode.
 It does not broadcast the message as it works with limited bandwidth.

5.16 CIRCUIT SWITCHING

 Circuit switching is a switching technique that establishes a dedicated path
between sender and receiver.
 In the Circuit Switching Technique, once the connection is established then the
dedicated path will remain to exist until the connection is terminated.
 Circuit switching in a network operates in a similar way as the telephone works.
 A complete end-to-end path must exist before the communication takes place.
 In case of circuit switching technique, when any user wants to send the data,
voice, video, a request signal is sent to the receiver then the receiver sends back
the acknowledgment to ensure the availability of the dedicated path. After
receiving the acknowledgment, dedicated path transfers the data.
 Circuit switching is used in public telephone network. It is used for voice
transmission.
 Fixed data can be transferred at a time in circuit switching technology.

Advantages
 It is suitable for long continuous transmission, since a continuous
transmission route is established, that remains throughout the conversation.
 The dedicated path ensures a steady data rate of communication.
 No intermediate delays are found once the circuit is established. So, they are
suitable for real time communication of both voice and data transmission.

Disadvantages
 Circuit switching establishes a dedicated connection between the end parties.
This dedicated connection cannot be used for transmitting any other data, even
if the data load is very low.
 Bandwidth requirement is high even in cases of low data volume.
 There is underutilization of system resources. Once resources are allocated to a
particular connection, they cannot be used for other connections.

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 Time required to establish connection may be high.

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