Data Link Layer

Function of Data Link Layer

• The data link layer transforms the physical layer, a raw
transmission facility, to a link responsible for node-to-
node (hop-to-hop) communication.
• Specific responsibilities of the data link layer include
framing, addressing, flow control, error control, and
media access control.
• The data link layer divides the stream of bits received
from the network layer into manageable data units
called frames. The data link layer adds a header to the
frame to define the addresses of the sender and receiver
of the frame.
• If the rate at which the data are absorbed by the
receiver is less than the rate at which data are produced
in the sender, the data link layer imposes a flow control
mechanism to avoid overwhelming the receiver.
• The data link layer also adds reliability to the physical
layer by adding mechanisms to detect and retransmit
damaged, duplicate, or lost frames.
• When two or more devices are connected to the same
link, data link layer protocols are necessary to
determine which device has control over the link at any
given time.
Service Provided By Data Link Layer
• Data link layer provides several services to the network layer.
The one of the major services provided is the transferring the
data from network layer on the source machine to the
network layer on destination machine.
• On source machine data link layer receives the data from
network layer and on destination machine pass on this data to
the network layer as shown in Figure. The path shown in fig
(a) is the virtual path.
• But the actual path is Network layer -> Data link layer ->
Physical layer on source machine, then to physical media and
thereafter physical layer -> Data link layer -> Network layer on
destination machine
• The three major types of services offered by
data link layer are:
• Unacknowledged connectionless service.
• Acknowledged connectionless service.
• Acknowledged connection-oriented service
 Framing
• In the physical layer, data transmission involves synchronized
transmission of bits from the source to the destination. The
data link layer packs these bits into frames.
• Data-link layer takes the packets from the Network Layer and
encapsulates them into frames.
• If the frame size becomes too large, then the packet may be
divided into small sized frames.
• Smaller sized frames make flow control and error control more
efficient. Then, it sends each frame bit-by-bit on the hardware.
• At receiver’s end, data link layer picks up signals from
hardware and assembles them into frames.
 Parts of a Frame
• Frame Header − It contains the source and the
destination addresses of the frame.
• Payload field − It contains the message to be
delivered.
• Trailer − It contains the error detection and
error correction bits. Flag − It marks the
beginning and end of the frame.
 Types of Framing
• Framing can be of two types, fixed sized framing and
variable sized framing.
• Fixed-sized Framing : Here the size of the frame is fixed and
so the frame length acts as delimiter of the frame.
Consequently, it does not require additional boundary bits
to identify the start and end of the frame. Example − ATM
cells
• Variable – Sized Framing: Here, the size of each frame to
be transmitted may be different. So additional mechanisms
are kept to mark the end of one frame and the beginning
of the next frame. It is used in local area networks.
 Flow Control
• Data link layer protocols are mainly responsible for flow control. When a data
frame is sent from one host to another over a single medium, it is required
that the sender and receiver should work at the same speed.
• That is, sender sends at a speed on which the receiver can process and
accept the data. If sender is sending too fast, the receiver may be overloaded
and data may be lost.
• Flow control is basically technique that gives permission to two of stations
that are working and processing at different speeds to just communicate with
one another.
• Flow control in Data Link Layer simply restricts and coordinates number of
frames or amount of data sender can send just before it waits for an
acknowledgment from receiver.
• Flow control is actually set of procedures that explains sender about how
much data or frames it can transfer or transmit before data overwhelms
receiver.
 Approaches to Flow Control:
• Feedback-based Flow Control: In these
protocols, the sender sends frames after it has
received acknowledgments from the user. This
is used in the data link layer.
• Rate-based Flow Control: These protocols
have built in mechanisms to restrict the rate of
transmission of data without requiring
acknowledgment from the receiver. This is
used in the transport layer.
 Control the Flow
• Two types of mechanisms can be deployed to
control the flow based on the feedback:
• A simple stop and wait Protocol
• Sliding Window Protocol
 Simplex Stop and Wait
• This flow control mechanism forces
the sender after transmitting a data
frame to stop and wait until the
acknowledgement of the data-
frame sent is received.
• The sender sends the next frame
only when it has received a positive
acknowledgement from the receiver
that it is available for further data
processing.
• Data transmission is one directional,
but must have bidirectional line.
 Sliding Window
• In this flow control mechanism, both sender and receiver agree on the number of
data-frames after which the acknowledgement should be sent.
• As we learnt, stop and wait flow control mechanism wastes resources, this protocol
tries to make use of underlying resources as much as possible.
• In this protocol, multiple frames can be sent by a sender at a time before receiving an
acknowledgment from the receiver.
• This protocol improves the efficiency of stop and wait protocol by allowing multiple
frames to be transmitted before receiving an acknowledgment.
• The working principle of this protocol can be described as follows −
• Both the sender and the receiver have finite sized buffers called windows. The sender
and the receiver agree upon the number of frames to be sent based upon the buffer
size.
• The sender sends multiple frames in a sequence, without waiting for
acknowledgment. When its sending window is filled, it waits for acknowledgment. On
receiving acknowledgment, it advances the window and transmits the next frames,
according to the number of acknowledgments received.
 Error Control
• Error control in data link layer is the process of detecting
and correcting data frames that have been corrupted or
lost during transmission.
• In case of lost or corrupted frames, the receiver does
not receive the correct data-frame and sender is
ignorant about the loss.
• Data link layer follows a technique to detect transit
errors and take necessary actions, which is
retransmission of frames whenever error is detected or
frame is lost. The process is called Automatic Repeat
Request (ARQ).
 Phases in Error Control
• The error control mechanism in data link layer involves the
following phases
• Detection of Error: Transmission error, if any, is detected by either
the sender or the receiver.
• Acknowledgment: acknowledgment may be positive or negative.
– Positive ACK − On receiving a correct frame, the receiver sends a
positive acknowledge.
– Negative ACK − On receiving a damaged frame or a duplicate frame, the
receiver sends a negative acknowledgment back to the sender.
• Retransmission: The sender maintains a clock and sets a timeout
period. If an acknowledgment of a data-frame previously
transmitted does not arrive before the timeout, or a negative
acknowledgment is received, the sender retransmits the frame.
 Error Control Techniques
• Error Control Techniques in data link layer are:
• Stop and Wait ARQ
• Sliding Window ARQ
– Go-Back-N ARQ
– Selective Repeat ARQ
 Stop and Wait ARQ
• The following transition may occur in Stop-and-Wait ARQ:
• The sender maintains a timeout counter.
• When a frame is sent, the sender starts the timeout counter.
• If acknowledgement of frame comes in time, the sender
transmits the next frame in queue.
• If acknowledgement does not come in time, the sender
assumes that either the frame or its acknowledgement is
lost in transit. Sender retransmits the frame and starts the
timeout counter.
• If a negative acknowledgement is received, the sender
retransmits the frame
 Sliding Window ARQ
• This technique is generally used for continuous transmission error control. It is further
categorized into two categories as given below:
• Go-Back-N ARQ:
• In this protocol, we can send several frames before receiving acknowledgements; we
keep a copy of these frames until the acknowledgements arrive. Stop and wait
mechanism does not utilize the resources at their best. When the acknowledgement
is received, the sender sits idle and does nothing. In Go-Back-N method, both sender
and receiver maintain a window.
– The sending-window size enables the sender to send multiple frames without receiving the
acknowledgement of the previous ones.
– The receiving-window enables the receiver to receive multiple frames and acknowledge
them. The receiver keeps track of incoming frame’s sequence number.
• When the sender sends all the frames in window, it checks up to what sequence
number it has received positive acknowledgement. If all frames are positively
acknowledged, the sender sends next set of frames. If sender finds that it has
received NACK or has not receive any ACK for a particular frame, it retransmits all the
frames after which it does not receive any positive ACK
 Selective Repeat ARQ:
• In Go-back-N ARQ, it is assumed that the receiver does
not have any buffer space for its window size and has to
process each frame as it comes.
• This enforces the sender to retransmit all the frames
which are not acknowledged.
• In Selective-Repeat, the receiver while keeping track of
sequence numbers, buffers the frames in memory and
sends NACK for only frame which is missing or damaged.
• The sender in this case, sends only packet for which
NACK is received.
Error Detection and Correction Techniques:
• Networks must be able to transfer data from one device to
another with acceptable accuracy.
• For most applications, a system must guarantee that the data
received are identical to the data transmitted.
• Any time data are transmitted from one node to the next, they
can become corrupted in passage. Many factors can alter one or
more bits of a message.
• Some applications require a mechanism for detecting and
correcting errors.
• Some applications can tolerate a small level of error. For example,
random errors in audio or video transmissions may be tolerable,
but when we transfer text, we expect a very high level of accuracy.
 Types of Errors:
• Whenever bits flow from one point to
another, they are subject to unpredictable
changes because of interference. This
interference can change the shape of the
signal.
• In a single-bit error, a 0 is changed to a 1 or a 1
to a 0.
• In a burst error, multiple bits are changed.
 Single-Bit Error:
• The term single-bit error means that only 1 bit
of a given data unit (such as a byte, character,
or packet) is changed from 1 to 0 or from 0 to
1
 Burst Error:
• The term burst error means that 2 or more bits in the data
unit have changed from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1.
• A burst error is more likely to occur than a single-bit error.
• The duration of noise is normally longer than the duration
of 1 bit, which means that when noise affects data, it
affects a set of bits.
• The number of bits affected depends on the data rate and
duration of noise.
 Error Detecting Codes:
• Whenever a message is transmitted, it may get
scrambled by noise or data may get corrupted.
• To avoid this, we use error-detecting codes which are
additional data added to a given digital message to
help us detect if any error has occurred during
transmission of the message.
• Some popular techniques for error detection are:
– Parity
– Checksum
– Cyclic redundancy check
 Parity check
• The most common and least expensive mechanism for error- detection is
the parity check. The parity check is done by adding an extra bit, called
parity bit to the data to make a number of 1s either even in case of even
parity or odd in case of odd parity. While creating a frame, the sender
counts the number of 1s in it and adds the parity bit in the following way:
• In case of even parity: If a number of 1s is even then parity bit value is 0.
If the number of 1s is odd then parity bit value is 1.
• In case of odd parity: If a number of 1s is odd then parity bit value is 0. If
a number of 1s is even then parity bit value is 1.
• On receiving a frame, the receiver counts the number of 1s in it. In case of
even parity check, if the count of 1s is even, the frame is accepted,
otherwise, it is rejected. A similar rule is adopted for odd parity check.
• The parity check is suitable for single bit error detection only.
 Checksum
• In this error detection scheme, the following procedure is
applied:
• Data is divided into fixed sized frames or segments. (k
segments each of m bits)
• The sender adds the segments using 1’s complement
arithmetic to get the sum. It then complements the sum to get
the checksum and sends it along with the data frames.
• The receiver adds the incoming segments along with the
checksum using 1’s complement arithmetic to get the sum and
then complements it.
• If the result is zero, the received frames are accepted;
otherwise, they are discarded.
 Cyclic Redundancy Check:
• A cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is an error-detecting code commonly
used in digital networks and storage devices to detect accidental
changes to raw data.
• Unlike checksum scheme, which is based on addition, CRC is based on
binary division.
• In CRC, a sequence of redundant bits, called cyclic redundancy check
bits, are appended to the end of data unit so that the resulting data unit
becomes exactly divisible by a second, predetermined binary number.
• At the destination, the incoming data unit is divided by the same
number. If at this step there is no remainder, the data unit is assumed
to be correct and is therefore accepted.
• A remainder indicates that the data unit has been damaged in transit
and therefore must be rejected.
• At the sender side, the data unit to be transmitted is divided by a predetermined
divisor (binary number) in order to obtain the remainder. This remainder is called
CRC.
• The CRC has one bit less than the divisor. It means that if CRC is of n bits, divisor is of
n+ 1 bit.
• The sender appends this CRC to the end of data unit such that the resulting data
unit becomes exactly divisible by predetermined divisor i.e., remainder becomes
zero.
• At the destination, the incoming data unit i.e., data + CRC is divided by the same
number (predetermined binary divisor).
• If the remainder after division is zero then there is no error in the data unit &
receiver accepts it.
• If remainder after division is not zero, it indicates that the data unit has been
damaged in transit and therefore it is rejected.
• This technique is more powerful than the parity check and checksum error
detection.
 High Level Data Link Control (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.
Configurations and Transfer Modes
• HDLC provides two common transfer modes that can
be used in different configurations: normal response
mode (NRM) and asynchronous balanced mode (ABM).
• Normal Response Mode
• 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 multiple-point links.
• Asynchronous Balanced Mode
• In asynchronous balanced mode (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 Frame
• 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 bits 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 bits of
control field of U-frame is 11.
 Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP):
• Although HDLC is a general protocol that can be used for both
point-to-point and multipoint configurations, one of the most
common protocols for point-to-point access is the Point-to-Point
Protocol (PPP).
• Today, millions of Internet users who need to connect their home
computers to the server of an Internet service provider use PPP.
• The majority of these users have a traditional modem; they are
connected to the Internet through a telephone line, which
provides the services of the physical layer.
• But to control and manage the transfer of data, there is a need
for a point-to-point protocol at the data link layer. PPP is by far
the most common.
 Channel Allocation Problem:
• When there are more than one user who desire to
access a shared network channel, an algorithm is
deployed for channel allocation among the
competing users.
• The network channel may be a single cable or
optical fiber connecting multiple nodes, or a portion
of the wireless spectrum.
• Channel allocation algorithms allocate the wired
channels and bandwidths to the users, who may be
base stations, access points or terminal equipment.
 Channel Allocation Schemes
• Static Channel Allocation
• Dynamic Channel Allocation
• Static Channel Allocation
• In static channel allocation scheme, a fixed portion of the frequency
channel is allotted to each user.
• For N competing users, the bandwidth is divided into N channels using
frequency division multiplexing (FDM), and each portion is assigned to one
user.
• This scheme is also referred as fixed channel allocation or fixed channel
assignment.
• In this allocation scheme, there is no interference between the users since
each user is assigned a fixed channel.
• However, it is not suitable in case of a large number of users with variable
bandwidth requirement
 Dynamic Channel Allocation
• In dynamic channel allocation scheme, frequency bands
are not permanently assigned to the users.
• Instead, channels are allotted to users dynamically as
needed, from a central pool.
• The allocation is done considering a number of
parameters so that transmission interference is
minimized.
• This allocation scheme optimizes bandwidth usage and
results is faster transmissions.
• Dynamic channel allocation is further divided into
centralized and distributed allocation.
 Multiple Access Protocols
• When nodes or stations are
connected and use a
common link, called a
multipoint or broadcast link,
we need a multiple access
protocol to coordinate
access to the link.
• Many formal protocols have
been devised to handle
access to a shared link. We
categorize them into three
groups.
 Random Access
• In random access or contention methods, no station is
superior to another station and none is assigned the
control over another.
• No station permits or does not permit another station to
send.
• At each instance, a station that has to send uses a
procedure defined by the protocol to make a decision on
whether or not to send.
• This decision depends on the state of the medium (idle
or busy). In other words, each station can transmit when
it desires on testing of the state of the medium.
 ALOHA
• ALOHA is the earliest random-access method
developed for wireless LAN but can be used
on any shared medium.
• In this, multiple stations can transmit data at
the same time and can hence lead to collision.
The data from the two stations collide.
 Pure ALOHA:
• The idea behind this
protocol is that each station
sends a frame whenever it
has a frame to send.
• However, since there is only
one channel to share, there
is possibility of collision
between frames from
different stations.
• Even if one bit of a frame
coexists on the channel with
one bit from another frame,
there is a collision and both
will be destroyed
• The pure ALOHA protocol relies on acknowledgements from the
receiver. When a station sends a frame, it expects the receiver to
send an acknowledgement.
• If the acknowledgement does not arrive after the time out period,
the station assumes that the frame (or the acknowledgement) has
been destroyed and resends the frame.
• A collision involves two or more stations. If all these stations try to
resend their frames after the time out period passes, each station
waits a random amount of time before resending its frame.
• The randomness will help avoid more collisions, called back-off time.
• Since different stations may wait for different amount of time, the
probability of further collision decreases
 Slotted ALOHA:
• In pure ALOHA, there is no rule that defines
when the station can send.
• A station may send soon after another station
has started or soon before another station has
finished. So, still the collision may occur.
• Slotted ALOHA is similar to pure ALOHA, except
that we divide time into slots and sending of
data is allowed only at the beginning of these
slots.
• If a station misses out the allowed time, it must
wait for the next slot. This reduces the
probability of collision.
• Allowing a station to send only at the beginning
of the time slot means that the station sending
in the previous slot has finished sending its
frame already.
• However, there is still possibility of collision if
two stations try to send at the beginning of the
same time slot
 Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA):
• The chance of collision can be reduced if a station senses the medium
before trying to use it.
• Carrier Sense Multiple Access ensures fewer collisions as the station is
required to first sense the medium (for idle or busy) before transmitting
data.
• If it is idle then it sends data, otherwise it waits till the channel becomes
idle. (Listen before talk)
• However, there is still chance of collision in CSMA due to propagation delay.
For example, if station A wants to send data, it will first sense the medium.
• If it finds the channel idle, it will start sending data. However, by the time
the first bit of data is transmitted (delayed due to propagation delay) from
station A, if station B requests to send data and senses the medium it will
also find it idle and will also send data.
• This will result in collision of data from station A and B.
 CSMA access modes-
• 1-persistent: The node senses the channel, if idle it sends the data, otherwise
it continuously keeps on checking the medium for being idle and transmits
unconditionally (with 1 probability) as soon as the channel gets idle.
• Non-Persistent: The node senses the channel, if idle it sends the data,
otherwise it checks the medium after a random amount of time (not
continuously) and transmits when found idle.
• P-persistent: The node senses the medium, if idle it sends the data with p
probability. If the data is not transmitted ((1-p) probability) then it waits for
some time and checks the medium again, now if it is found idle then it sends
with p probability. This repeat continues until the frame is sent. It is used in
Wi-Fi and packet radio systems.
• O-persistent: Superiority of nodes is decided beforehand and transmission
occurs in that order. If the medium is idle, node waits for its time slot to send
data.
 Carrier sense multiple access with collision
detection (CSMA/CD):
• The CSMA method does not specify the procedure following a collision.
• In Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection method, a
station monitors the medium after it sends a frame to see if the
transmission was successful. If so, the transmission is completed.
However, if there is a collision, the frame is sent again.
• The basic idea behind CSMA/CD is that a station needs to be able to
receive while transmitting, to detect a collision. When there is no
collision, the station receives one signal; its own signal. When there is a
collision, the station receives two signals: its own signal and the signal
transmitted by a second station. To distinguish between these two
cases, the received signals in these two cases must be significantly
different. In other words, the signal from the second station needs to
add a significant amount of energy to the one created by the first
station.
Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision
Avoidance (CSMA/CA):
• The process of collision detection involves sender receiving
acknowledgement signals.
• If there is just one signal (its own), then the data is successfully
sent but if there are two signals (its own and the one with which
it has collided), then it means a collision has occurred.
• To distinguish between these two cases, collision must have a lot
of impact on received signal. The second signal adds significant
amount of energy to the first signal.
• However, this applies only to the wired networks since the
received signal has almost the same energy as the sent signal.
• In wireless networks, much of the sent energy is lost in
transmission. The received signal has very little energy.
• Therefore, a collision may add only 5 to 10 percent additional energy. This
is not useful for effective collision detection.
• We need to avoid collisions on wireless networks because they cannot be
detected. Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance
(CSMA/CA) was invented for this network.
• In contrast to the Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detect
(CSMA/CD) protocol, which handles transmissions only after a collision
has taken place, CSMA/CA works to avoid collisions prior to their
occurrence. • Collisions are avoided through the use of CSMA/CA’s three
strategies as shown in figure below.
 Controlled Access:
• In controlled access, the stations consult one another to find which station has the right to send.
A station cannot send unless it has been authorized by other stations.
• We discuss three popular controlled-access methods: Reservation, Polling & Token Passing
• Reservation
• In the reservation method, a station needs to make a reservation before sending data.
• Time is divided into intervals. In each interval, a reservation frame precedes the data frames sent
in that interval.
• If there are N stations in the system, there are exactly N reservation minislots in the reservation
frame. Each minislot belongs to a station.
• When a station needs to send a data frame, it makes a reservation in its own minislot.
• The stations that have made reservations can send their data frames after the reservation frame.
• Figure below shows a situation with five stations and a five-minislot reservation frame.
• In the first interval, only stations 1, 3, and 4 have made reservations. In the second interval, only
station 1 has made a reservation.
 Polling:
• Polling works with topologies in which one device is designated as a primary station
and the other devices are secondary stations.
• All data exchanges must be made through the primary device even when the
ultimate destination is a secondary device.
• The primary device controls the link; the secondary devices follow its instructions. It
is up to the primary device to determine which device is allowed to use the channel
at a given time.
• The primary device, therefore, is always the initiator of a session.
• If the primary wants to receive data, it asks the secondaries if they have anything to
send; this is called poll function.
• If the primary wants to send data, it tells the secondary to get ready to receive; this
is called select function.
 Select
• The select function is used whenever the primary device has
something to send. Remember that the primary controls the link.
• If the primary is neither sending nor receiving data, it knows the
link is available. If it has something to send, the primary device
sends it.
• What it does not know, however, is whether the target device is
prepared to receive. So, the primary must alert the secondary to
the upcoming transmission and wait for an acknowledgment of
the secondary's ready status.
• Before sending data, the primary creates and transmits a select
(SEL) frame, one field of which includes the address of the
intended secondary.
 Token Passing
• In the token-passing method, the stations in a network are organized in a logical ring. In
other words, for each station, there is a predecessor and a successor.
• The predecessor is the station which is logically before the station in the ring; the successor
is the station which is after the station in the ring.
• The current station is the one that is accessing the channel now. The right to this access
has been passed from the predecessor to the current station.
• The right will be passed to the successor when the current station has no more data to
send.
• But how is the right to access the channel passed from one station to another? In this
method, a special packet called a token circulates through the ring.
• The possession of the token gives the station the right to access the channel and send its
data.
• When a station has some data to send, it waits until it receives the token from its
predecessor.
• It then holds the token and sends its data. When the station has no more data to send, it
releases the token, passing it to the next logical station in the ring.
• The station cannot send data until it receives the token again in the next round.
• In this process, when a station receives the token and has no data to send, it just passes
the data to the next station.
 Channelization:
• Channelization is a multiple-access method in
which the available bandwidth of a link is
shared in time, frequency, or through code,
between different stations.
• There are three channelization protocols:
FDMA, TDMA, and CDMA. There are three
channelization protocols: FDMA, TDMA, and
CDMA.
Frequency-Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
• In frequency-division multiple access (FDMA), the available bandwidth is divided
into frequency bands. Each station is allocated a band to send its data.
• In other words, each band is reserved for a specific station, and it belongs to the
station all the time.
• Each station also uses a bandpass filter to confine the transmitter frequencies. To
prevent station interferences, the allocated bands are separated from one
another by small guard bands.
• FDMA specifies a predetermined frequency band for the entire period of
communication. This means that stream data (a continuous flow of data that may
not be packetized) can easily be used with FDMA.
• We need to emphasize that although FDMA and FDM (Frequency Division
Multiplexing) conceptually seem similar, there are differences between them.
• FDM is a physical layer technique that combines the loads from low-bandwidth
channels and transmits them by using a high-bandwidth channel. FDMA, on the
other hand, is an access method in the data link layer.
 Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
• In time-division multiple access (TDMA), the stations share the bandwidth of the
channel in time.
• Each station is allocated a time slot during which it can send data. Each station transmits
its data in is assigned time slot.
• The main problem with TDMA lies in achieving synchronization between the different
stations. Each station needs to know the beginning of its slot and the location of its slot.
• This may be difficult because of propagation delays introduced in the system if the
stations are spread over a large area. To compensate for the delays, we can insert guard
times.
• Synchronization is normally accomplished by having some synchronization bits (normally
referred to as preamble bits) at the beginning of each slot.
• We also need to emphasize that although TDMA and TDM conceptually seem the same,
there are differences between them.
• TDM is a physical layer technique that combines the data from slower channels and
transmits them by using a faster channel.
• The process uses a physical multiplexer that interleaves data units from each channel.
• TDMA, on the other hand, is an access method in the data link layer. The data link layer
in each station tells its physical layer to use the allocated time slot. There is no physical
multiplexer at the physical layer.
 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA):
• Code-division multiple access (CDMA) was conceived several decades ago. Recent
advances in electronic technology have finally made its implementation possible
• CDMA differs from FDMA because only one channel occupies the entire bandwidth of
the link. It differs from TDMA because all stations can send data simultaneously; there is
no timesharing.
• CDMA simply means communication with different codes. For example, in a large room
with many people, two people can talk in English if nobody else understands English.
Another two people can talk in Chinese if they are the only ones who understand
Chinese, and so on. In other words, the common channel, the space of the room in this
case, can easily allow communication between several couples, but in different
languages (codes).
• Let us assume we have four stations 1, 2, 3, and 4 connected to the same channel. The
data from station 1 are d1, from station 2 are d2, and so on. The code assigned to the
first station is c1, to the second is c2, and so on.
• Station 1 multiplies its data by its code to get d1. c1. Station 2 multiplies its data by its
code to get d2.c2 and so on.
• The data that go on the channel are the sum of all these terms, as shown in the box. Any
station that wants to receive data from one of the other three multiplies the data on the
channel by the code of the sender.
• For example, suppose stations 1 and 2 are talking to each other. Station 2 wants to hear
what station 1 is saying. It multiplies the data on the channel by c1 the code of station 1.