Virtual-Circuit Networks: Frame Relay and ATM
Virtual-Circuit Networks: Frame Relay and ATM
18.1
18-1 FRAME RELAY
18.2
Frame Relay is a packet switched communication service
from LANs (Local Area Network) to backbone networks and
WANs.
It operates at two layers: physical layer and data link layer. It
supports all standard physical layer protocols. It is mostly
implemented at the data link layer.
18.4
The biggest difference between Frame Relay and X.25 is that
X.25 guarantees data integrity and network managed flow
control at the cost of some network delays. Frame Relay
switches packets end-to-end much faster, but there is no
guarantee of data integrity at all.
Features of frame relay:
Some important features of frame relay are :
1. Frame relay operates at a high speed (1.544 Mbps to 44.376
Mbps).
2. Frame relay operates only in the physical and data link
layers. So it can be easily used in Internet.
3. It allows the bursty data.
4. It has a large frame size of 9000 bytes. So it can
accommodate all local area network frame sizes.
5. Frame relay can only detect errors (at the data link layer).
But there is no flow control or error control.
18.5
6.The damaged frame is simply dropped. There is no
retransmission. This is to increase the speed. So frame relay
needs a reliable medium and protocols having flow and error
control.
Frame relay architecture:
• Frame relay can provide two types of virtual circuits.
1. Permanent Virtual Circuits (PVC).
2. Switched Virtual Circuits (SVC).
• Fig. Shows the frame relay network connected to internet.
The routers connect LANs and WANs in the Internet.
Virtual Circuits:
The virtual circuits in frame relay are called as Data Link
Connection Identifier (DLCI).
This is actually a number which identifies a virtual circuit in
frame relay.
18.6
Figure 18.1 Frame Relay network
18.7
VCIs in Frame Relay are called DLCIs.
Switches:
• The switches in frame relay are supposed to route
frames. For this each switch has a table.
• The routing procedure is same as that in the data
transfer mode except for one change. VCIs are replaced
by DLCIs.
18.8
How frame relay works?
• Frame relay can support the Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) as well as Switched
Virtual Circuits (SVC).
• Whether to use PVC or SVC is decided by the user, based on the data
transmission requirements and the
budget.
• The Frame Relay works on the basis of virtual circuits. These virtual circuits are
created and used in the data link layer.
• Each virtual circuit is identified by a number called Data Link Connection
Identifier (DLCI).
• When a virtual circuit is established, a DTE (Data Transmission Equipment) is
provided with a DLCI which it can use to communicate with the remote DTE.
• Assume that a virtual circuit has been established between computers A and C
using the DLCI numbers of Fig.
• Then computer A uses DLCI = 68 (i.e. that of C) while sending a packet from A to
C. On the other hand, computer C uses DLCI = 30 (that of A) while sending a packet
from C to A.
• The DLCI numbers are assigned permanently if PVC IS being supported and on a
per connection basis if SVC is supported.
18.9
Frame relay switching:
• A frame relay uses the concept of switching in order to
route packet from the sender to receiver.
• Each switch is a special type of computer that can forward
packets based on the address contained in the packet.
18.10
Frame relay layers
• Frame relay has only two layers i.e. physical layer and data
link layer.
Physical layer
• Frame relay supports ANSI standards.
• No specific protocol is defined for the physical layer. The
user can use any protocol which is recognized by ANSI.
Data link layer
• A simplified version of HDLC is employed by the frame relay
at the data link layer.
• A simpler version is used because flow control and error
correction is not needed in frame relay.
18.11
Figure 18.2 Frame Relay layers
18.12
Note
18.13
The structure of the Frame Relay frame shown in the figure.
The Frame Relay package, very similar to the X.25 package,
has the following components:
1. DLCI field:
The first part of DLCI is of 6 bits and the second part is of 4
bits. They together form a 10 bit data link connection
identifier.
2. Command / Response (C / R):
The C/R bit allows the upper layers to identify a frame as
either a command or response. It is not used by the frame
relay protocol.
3. Extended Address (EA):
• This bit indicates whether the current byte is the final byte
of the address.
• If EA = 1 it indicates that the current byte is the final one but
if EA = 0, then it tells that another address byte is going to
follow.
18.14
4. Forward Explicit Congestion Notification (FECN):
• This bit can be set by any switch to indicate that traffic is
congested in the direction of travel of the frame.
• The destination is informed about the congestion via this
bit.
5. Backward Explicit Congestion Notification (BECN):
• This bit indicates the congestion in the direction opposite
to the direction of frame travel.
• It informs the sender about the congestion.
6. Discard Eligibility (DE):
• The DE bit indicates the priority level of the frame. In the
overload situations a frame may have to be discarded.
• If DE = 1 then that frame can be discarded in the event of
congestion.
• DE bit can be set by the sender or by any switch in the
network.
Extended address (Frame Relay Assembler I Disassembler) :
The frame relay address has been extended from the
18.15
Figure 18.3 Frame Relay frame
18.16
Note
18.17
Figure 18.4 Three address formats
18.18
The need for frame relay:
• The frame relay is being used for a number of reasons. Some of the
important reasons are as follows:
1. Higher data rates.
2. It allows transfer of bursty data.
3. It has lower overheads.
18.19
18-2 ATM
18.20
Design Goals
Among the challenges faced by the designers of ATM
1. Foremost is the need for a transmission system to optimize the
use of high-data-rate transmission media, in particular optical
fiber. In addition to offering large bandwidths, newer transmission
media and equipment are dramatically less susceptible
to noise degradation. A technology is needed to take advantage of
both factors and thereby maximize data rates.
2. The system must interface with existing systems and provide
wide-area interconnectivity between them without lowering their
effectiveness or requiring their replacement.
3. The design must be implemented inexpensively so that cost
would not be a barrier to adoption. If ATM is to become the
backbone of international communications, as intended, it must be
available at low cost to every user who wants it.
4. The new system must be able to work with and support the
existing telecommunications hierarchies (local loops, local
providers, long-distance carriers, and so on).
18.21
5. The new system must be connection-oriented to ensure
accurate and predictable delivery.
6. Last but not least, one objective is to move as many of the
functions to hardware as possible (for speed) and eliminate as
many software functions as possible (again for speed).
14.4.2 Problems
Before we discuss the solutions to these design requirements, it is
useful to examine some of the problems associated with existing
systems.
Frame Networks
Before ATM, data communications at the data-link layer had been
based on frame switching and frame networks. Different protocols
use frames of varying size and intricacy.
18.22
Mixed Network Traffic
The variety of frame sizes makes traffic unpredictable. Switches,
multiplexers, and routers must incorporate elaborate software
systems to manage the various sizes of frames
Another problem is that of providing consistent data rate delivery
when frame sizes are unpredictable and can vary so dramatically.
Imagine the results of multiplexing frames from two networks with
different requirements (and frame designs) onto one link (see
Figure 14.40)
If line 1’s gigantic frame X arrives at the multiplexer even a
moment earlier than line 2’s frames, the multiplexer puts frame X
onto the new path first. After all, even if line 2’s frames have
priority, the multiplexer has no way of knowing to wait for them
and so processes the frame that has arrived. Frame A must
therefore wait for the entire X bit stream to move into place before
it can follow. The sheer size of X creates an unfair delay for frame
A.
18.23
Figure 18.6 Multiplexing using different frame sizes
18.24
Note
A cell network uses the cell as the basic unit
of data exchange.
A cell is defined as a small, fixed-size block of
information. As frames of different sizes and
formats reach the cell network from a tributary
network, they are split into multiple small data
units of equal length and are loaded into cells.
The cells are then multiplexed with other cells and
routed through the cell network.
18.25
Figure 18.7 Multiplexing using cells
18.26
Asynchronous TDM
ATM uses statistical (asynchronous) time-division multiplexing—
that is why it is called Asynchronous Transfer Mode—to multiplex
cells coming from different channels.
It uses fixed-size slots (size of a cell).
ATM multiplexers fill a slot with a cell from any input channel that
has a cell;
the slot is empty if none of the channels has a cell to send.
Figure 14.42 shows how cells from three inputs are multiplexed.
At the first tick of the clock, channel 2 has no cell (empty input
slot), so the multiplexer fills the slot with a cell from the third
channel. When all the cells from all the channels are multiplexed,
the output slots are empty. In this way, a cell network can handle
real-time transmissions, such as a phone call, without the parties
being aware of the segmentation or multiplexing at all.
18.27
Figure 18.8 ATM multiplexing
18.28
ATM is a cell-switched network. The user access devices, called
the endpoints, are connected through a user-to-network
interface (UNI) to the switches inside the network.
The switches are connected through network-to-network
interfaces (NNIs). Figure 14.43 shows an example of an ATM
network.
Virtual Connection
Connection between two endpoints is accomplished through
transmission paths, virtual paths, and virtual circuits.
A transmission path (TP) is the physical connection (wire,
cable, satellite, and so on) between an endpoint and a switch or
between two switches.
Think of two switches as two cities. A transmission path is the set
of all highways that directly connect the two cities.
18.29
A transmission path is divided into several virtual paths. A virtual
path (VP) provides a connection or a set of connections between
two switches.
Think of a virtual path as a highway that connects two cities. Each
highway is a virtual path; the set of all highways is the
transmission path.
Cell networks are based on virtual circuits (VCs).
All cells belonging to a single message follow the same virtual
circuit and remain in their original order until they reach their
destination.
Think of a virtual circuit as the lanes of a highway (virtual path).
18.30
Identifiers
In a virtual circuit network, to route data from one
endpoint to another, the virtual connections
need to be identified. For this purpose, the
designers of ATM created a hierarchical
identifier with two levels: a virtual-path identifier
(VPI) and a virtual-circuit identifier (VCI). The VPI
defines the specific VP, and the VCI defines a
particular VC inside the VP. The VPI is the same
for all virtual connections that are bundled
(logically) into one VP.
18.31
Figure 18.9 Architecture of an ATM network
18.32
Figure 18.10 TP, VPs, and VCs
18.33
Figure 18.11 Example of VPs and VCs
18.34
Note
18.35
Figure 18.12 Connection identifiers
18.36
Figure 18.13 Virtual connection identifiers in UNIs and NNIs
18.37
The lengths of the VPIs for UNIs and NNIs are different.
In a UNI, the VPI is 8 bits, whereas in an NNI, the VPI is
12 bits. The length of the VCI is the same in both
interfaces (16 bits).
We therefore can say that a virtual connection is
identified by 24 bits in a UNI and by 28 bits in an NNI
The whole idea behind dividing a virtual circuit identifier
into two parts is to allow hierarchical routing.
Most of the switches in a typical ATM network are routed
using VPIs.
The switches at the boundaries of the network, those
that interact directly with the endpoint devices, use both
VPIs and VCIs.
18.38
Figure 18.14 An ATM cell
18.39
Cells
The basic data unit in an ATM network is called
a cell. A cell is only 53 bytes long with
5 bytes allocated to the header and 48 bytes
carrying the payload (user data may be less
than 48 bytes).
Most of the header is occupied by the VPI and
VCI that define the virtual connection through
which a cell should travel from an endpoint to a
switch or from a switch to another switch. Figure
14.46 shows the cell structure.
18.40
Connection Establishment and Release
ATM uses two types of connections: PVC and SVC.
PVC
A permanent virtual-circuit connection (PVC) is
established between two endpoints by the network
provider. The VPIs and VCIs are defined for the
permanent connections, and the values are entered for
the tables of each switch.
SVC
In a switched virtual-circuit connection (SVC), each
time an endpoint wants to make a connection with
another endpoint, a new virtual circuit must be
established. ATM cannot do the job by itself, but needs
the network-layer addresses and the services of
another protocol (such as IP).
18.41
Figure 18.15 Routing with a switch
18.42
ATM uses switches to route the cell from a source
endpoint to the destination endpoint.
A switch routes the cell using both the VPIs and the
VCIs. The routing requires the whole identifier.
Figure 14.47 shows how a PVC switch routes the cell. A
cell with a VPI of 153 and VCI of 67 arrives at switch
interface (port) 1.
The switch checks its switching table, which stores six
pieces of information per row: arrival interface number,
incoming VPI, incoming VCI, corresponding outgoing
interface number, the new VPI, and the new VCI. The
switch finds the entry with interface 1, VPI 153, and
VCI 67 and discovers that the combination corresponds
to output interface 3, VPI 140,
and VCI 92. It changes the VPI and VCI in the header to
140 and 92, respectively, and sends the cell out through
18.43
ATM Layers
The ATM standard defines three layers. They are, from
top to bottom, the application adaptation layer, the ATM
layer, and the physical layer (see Figure 14.48). The
endpoints use all three layers while the switches use
only the two bottom layers.
AAL Layer
The application adaptation layer (AAL) was designed
to enable two ATM concepts. First, ATM must accept
any type of payload, both data frames and streams of
bits. A data frame can come from an upper-layer
protocol that creates a clearly defined frame
to be sent to a carrier network such as ATM. A good
example is the Internet.
18.44
ATM must also carry multimedia payloads. It can
accept continuous bit streams and break them
into chunks to be encapsulated into a cell at the
ATM layer.
AAL uses two sublayers to accomplish these
tasks. Whether the form of the data is a data
frame or a stream of bits, the payload must
be segmented into 48-byte segments to be
carried by a cell.
At the destination, these segments need to be
reassembled to recreate the original payload.
The AAL defines a sublayer, called a
segmentation and reassembly (SAR) sublayer,
to do so. Segmentation is at the source;
18.45
Before data are segmented by SAR, they must be prepared to
guarantee the integrity of the data. This is done by a sublayer
called the convergence sublayer (CS).
ATM defines four versions of the AAL: AAL1, AAL2, AAL3/4, and
AAL5. We discuss only AAL5 here, which is used in the Internet
today.
For Internet applications, the AAL5 sublayer was designed. It is
also called the simple and efficient adaptation layer (SEAL).
AAL5 assumes that all cells belonging to a single message travel
sequentially and that control functions are included in the
upper layers of the sending application.
Figure 14.49 shows the AAL5 sublayer.
The packet at the CS uses a trailer with four fields. The UU is the
user-to-user identifier.
The CPI is the common part identifier. The L field defines the
length of the original data. The CRC field is a two-byte error-
checking field for the entire data.
18.46
Figure 18.16 ATM layers
18.47
Figure 18.17 ATM layers in endpoint devices and switches
18.48
Figure 18.18 ATM layer
18.49
ATM Layer
The ATM layer provides routing, traffic
management, switching, and multiplexing
services. It processes outgoing traffic by
accepting 48-byte segments from the AAL
sublayers and transforming them into 53-byte
cells by the addition of a 5-byte header.
Physical Layer
Like Ethernet and wireless LANs, ATM cells can
be carried by any physical-layer carrier.
Congestion Control and Quality of Service
ATM has a very developed congestion control
and quality of service.
18.50
Figure 18.23 AAL5
18.55
18-3 ATM LANs
18.57
Figure 18.25 Pure ATM LAN
18.58
Figure 18.26 Legacy ATM LAN
18.59
Figure 18.27 Mixed architecture ATM LAN
18.60
Figure 18.28 Client and servers in a LANE
18.61
Figure 18.29 Client and servers in a LANE
18.62