Data Link Layer

Framing
• Framing is a function of the data link layer.

• The advantage of using frames is that data is

divided into recoverable chunks that can
easily be checked for corruption.
Problems in Framing
• Detecting start of the frame
Station detects frames by looking out for a
special sequence of bits that marks the
beginning of the frame i.e. SFD (Starting
Frame Delimiter)
Problems in Framing
• How does the station detect a frame?
Every station listens to link for SFD pattern
through a sequential circuit. If SFD is detected,
sequential circuit alerts station. Station checks
destination address to accept or reject frame.
Problems in Framing
• Detecting end of frame
When to stop reading the frame.
Types of framing
1. Fixed size – The frame is of fixed size
no need to provide boundaries to the frame
(length of the frame :delimiter )
Drawback:
It suffers from internal fragmentation if the
data size is less than the frame size
Solution:
Padding
Types of framing
2. Variable size –
need to define the end of the frame as well as the
beginning of the next frame.

This can be done in two ways:

• Length field – indicate the length of the frame.

Used in Ethernet(802.3).
The problem with this is that sometimes the length field
might get corrupted.
• End Delimiter (ED) – indicate the end of the frame.
Used in Token Ring
The problem with this is that ED can occur in the data
Framing Approaches
There are mainly three types of framing
approaches:
• Bit-Oriented Framing
• Byte-Oriented Framing
• Clock Based Framing
Methods of Framing
1. Character Count
2. Flag Byte with Character Stuffing
3. Starting and Ending Flags, with Bit Stuffing
4. Encoding Violations
Character Count
 rarely used
 required to count total number of characters
that are present in frame.
 This is be done by using field in header.
 Character count method ensures data link
layer at the receiver or destination about total
number of characters that follow, and about
where the frame end.
Character Count
 There is disadvantage also of using this
method i.e., if anyhow character count is
disturbed or distorted by an error occurring
during transmission, then destination or
receiver might lose synchronization.
 The destination or receiver might also be not
able to locate or identify beginning of next
frame.
Character Count
Character Stuffing
• also known as byte stuffing or character-
oriented framing
• In byte stuffing, special byte that is basically
known as ESC (Escape Character) added to
data section of the data stream or frame
• when there is message or character that has
same pattern as that of flag byte. But receiver
removes this ESC and keeps data part that
causes some problems or issues
Character Stuffing
Bit Stuffing

Bit stuffing is the insertion of non information

bits into data. Note that stuffed bits should not
be confused with overhead bits.
Overhead bits are non-data bits that are
necessary for transmission (usually as part of
headers, checksums etc.).
Example in upcoming slide
Bit-Oriented Framing
• frames as a collection of bits.
• The data is transmitted as a sequence of bits
that can be interpreted as text and
multimedia data in the upper layer.
Bit-Oriented Framing
• Consider the frame to be sent and received by
the devices.
• The 8 bits added at the start and end of the
frame in this protocol are 01111110
• Frame
011111100101000111111001111110
Bit-Oriented Framing
011111100101000111111001111110
ie.
011111100101000111111001111110
In Bit Stuffing, stuff a pattern of bits of
arbitrary length in the message to differentiate
from the delimiter.
Bit-Oriented Framing
• whenever the sender device finds the frame
consisting of five consecutive 1’s, it will stuff
a ‘0’ bit.
0111111001010001111101001111110. When
the receiving device receives this frame and
encounters a ‘0’ after five consecutive bits, it
will remove it to maintain the original frame.
• High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC) is a data
link layer protocol.
Byte-Oriented Approach
• frames as a collection of bytes(8 bits), also
known as a character (Character Oriented
Approach)
There are three Byte-Oriented Protocols:
1. Binary Synchronous Communication Protocol
(BISYNC)
2. Digital Data Communication Message
Protocol (DDCMP)
3. Point-to-Point Protocol(PPP).
HDLC
 High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC)
 a bit - oriented protocol
 each frame contains up to six fields.
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.
 High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC)
• 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.
1.I-Frame
2.S-Frame
3.U-Frame
• I-frame −
Information frames carry user data from the
network layer.
include flow and error control information
The first bit of control field of I-frame is 0.
• S-frame −
Supervisory frames do not contain information
field.
used for flow and error
The first two bits of control field of S-frame is 10.
• U-frame −
Un-numbered frames are used for miscellaneous
functions, like link management.
It may contain an information field, if required.
The first two bits of control field of U-frame is 11.
 Binary Synchronous Communication
Protocol (BISYNC)

• Also known as Basic Mode Protocol

• It is a sentinel approach.
• frame format
 Binary Synchronous Communication
Protocol (BISYNC)

 SYN: Special starting character,

 SOH: Start of the Header,
 STX: Start of the text,
 ETX: End of the text.
The STX and ETX guard the data part of the portion.
To avoid the framing error problem, Byte Stuffing is used.
This is used when the frames consist of characters.
A byte is stuffed in the message to differentiate from the
delimiter.
Point-to-Point Protocol(PPP)
• It is a wide area network protocol that runs
over internet links.
• mainly used in broadband communication
that deals with high speed and heavy loads.
• The frame format
Point-to-Point Protocol(PPP)
 The bit pattern for the flag is 01111110.
 The address field is set to 11111111 in case of
broadcast.
 The control value is set to a constant value of
11000000.
 The protocol consists of 1 or 2 bytes that define the
type of data in the payload section.
 The maximum length of this field is 1500 bytes.
 The checksum field is used for error detection.
 if the flag bits appear in the payload part, the situation
is overcome using character/byte stuffing.
Digital Data Communication Message
Protocol (DDCMP)

• A new count field is introduced in this

protocol.
• The frame format
Digital Data Communication Message
Protocol (DDCMP)

• if transmission error corrupts the count field,

then the end of the frame will not be detected
by the receiver correctly.
Clock Based Framing
• mainly used for Optical Networks such as
SONET.
• In this approach, a series of repetitive pulses
maintain a constant bit rate and keep the
digital bits aligned in the data stream.