Module2

Data Link Layer and Medium Access Control Layer

1. DATA LINK LAYER DESIGN ISSUES 2. Selective Repeat

1. Services Provided to the Network 5. THE MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL
Layer SUBLAYER
2. Framing 1. The Channel Allocation Problem
3. Error Control 2. Traditional Allocation Methods
4. Flow Control 3. Dynamic Channel Allocation
2. ERROR DETECTION AND 4. Multiple Access Protocols
CORRECTION 5. Queueing Theory Calculation
1. Error-Correcting Codes 6. MULTIPLE ACCESS PROTOCOLS,
2. Error-Detecting Codes 1. ALOHA
3. Parity. 2. Carrier Sense Multiple Access
4. Checksums. Protocols
5. Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRCs). 3. CSMA with Collision Detection
6. Hamming codes. (CSMA/CD)
3. ELEMENTARY DATA LINK 4. Collision-Free Protocols
PROTOCOLS 5. A Bit-Map Protocol
1. Utopian Simplex Protocol 6. Token Passing
2. Simplex Stop-and-Wait Protocol 7. Binary Countdown Protocol
3. Error-Free Channel 8. Limited-Contention Protocols
4. Simplex Stop-and-Wait Protocol 9. Adaptive Tree Walk Protocol
5. Noisy Channel 7. WIRELESS LAN PROTOCOLS
4. SLIDING WINDOW PROTOCOLS 1. Hidden Terminal Problem
1. Go-back-N 2. Exposed Terminal Problem

pg. 1
DATA LINK LAYER DESIGN ISSUES
 The data link layer uses the services of the physical layer to send and receive bits over
communication channels. Functions of data link layer include:
o Providing a well-defined service interface to the network layer.
o Dealing with transmission errors.
o Regulating the flow of data so that slow receivers are not swamped by fast senders.
 To accomplish these goals, the data link layer takes the packets it gets from the network layer
and encapsulates them into frames for transmission. Each frame contains a frame header, a
payload field for holding the packet, and a frame trailer, as illustrated in Fig. 3-1. Frame
management forms the heart of what the data link layer does.

1. Services Provided to the Network Layer

The network layer wants to be able to send packets to its neighbors without worrying about the
details of getting it there in one piece.
2. Framing
Group the physical layer bit stream into units called frames. Frames are nothing more than
"packets"
or "messages". By convention, we use the term "frames" when discussing DLL.
3. Error Control
Sender checksums the frame and transmits checksum together with data. Receiver re-computes the
checksum and compares it with the received value.
4. Flow Control
Prevent a fast sender from overwhelming a slower receiver.

Physical Layer delivers bits of information to and from Data Link layer

The functions of Data Link Layer:

1. Provides a well-defined service interface to the NL.

pg. 2
2. Dealing with transmission errors.

3. Regulating the flow of data so that slow receivers are not swamped by fast senders.

SERVICES PROVIDED TO THE NETWORK LAYER

 The principal service is transferring data from the network layer on the source machine to the
network layer on the destination machine.

 @ src m/c is an entity(a process), in the NL that sends bits to the DL for transmission to the
dest.

 The DL offer various services:

1. Unacknowledged connectionless service: No logical connection b/w src & dst, Lost pkt no
recovery.

2. Acknowledged connectionless service(Wifi). No logical connection, Timer, Used in

Unreliable channel.

3. Acknowledged connection-oriented service. Connection setup before transfer-3 phase

pg. 3
FRAMING

Way for a sender to transmit set of bits that are meaningful to receiver.

 DL breaks up the bit stream into discrete frames, computes checksum for each frame, and
include the checksum in the frame when it is transmitted.

 When a frame arrives at the destination, the checksum is recomputed. If computed

checksum is different from the frame contained, the DL knows that an error has occurred and
takes steps to deal with it.

 Farming methods:

a) Byte Count(Character Count)

b) Flag bytes with byte stuffing

c) Flag bits with bit stuffing

d) Physical layer coding violations

Byte count (Character Count):

pg. 4
Flag bytes with byte stuffing (Character Stuffing)
 Each frame start & end with special byte-Flag byte

 If already flag byte occurs in the frame ,stuff extra escape byte(ESC)

pg. 5
Flag bits with bit stuffing

Physical layer coding violations:

 This method used for n/w in which encoding on physical medium contains some redundancy
(no longer needed & not useful).

 LAN Encode: Each bit of data is represented with two bit.

pg. 6
ERROR CONTROL (EC)
 If the sender receives a positive ack, it knows the frame has arrived safely.
 On the other hand, a negative ack means that something has gone wrong and the frame must
be transmitted again.
 But certain frames can go missing due to the introduction of noise in the signal.
 If ack lost, Timer event, Duplication of pkt, Sequence no.

FLOW CONTROL (FC)

 Sender should send the data at the same speed as the receiver is capable of receiving.
Otherwise receiver will loose couple of frames.
 Two approaches are commonly used.
1. Feedback-based FC- To info sender when it should send next frame.
2. Rate-based FC- The protocol has a built-in mechanism that limits the rate at which senders
may transmit data, without using feedback from the receiver

ERROR DETECTION AND CORRECTION

 Two basic strategies for dealing with errors. Both add redundant info to the data that is sent.

1. Forward Error Correction When the receiver detects error in the data received, it executes
error-correcting code, which helps to correct error & auto-recover.

2. Backward Error Correction When the receiver detects an error in the data received, it
requests back the sender to retransmit the data unit.

pg. 7
ERROR DETECTION
1. Parity

2. Checksum

3. Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRCs)

PARITY
 A single parity bit is appended to the data.
 The parity bit is chosen so that the number of bits in the codeword is even or odd.
 Even parity for asynchronous Transmission
 Odd parity for synchronous Transmission (Continuous)

Ex 3. Both agree with EVEN parity

Transmitted data: 10011010 4

Received data : 11011010 5

Now an error will be detected, since the no. of ones received are ODD
pg. 8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ex 4. Transmitted data : 10011010->4

Received data : 01011010 ->4

The received data is wrong even though the no. of ones are EVEN. Since two bits are inverted error
can’t be detected.

CHECKSUM

The structure of encoder and decoder

pg. 9
The structure of encoder and decoder

CYCLIC REDUNDANCY CHECKS (CRCS)

pg. 10
ERROR CORRECTION
 Hamming Distance: The number of differences between the corresponding bits (same size)
of two words, d(x, y).

 It can be found using XOR operation on the two words and counting the number of 1s in the
result.

 Ex: d(000, 011) is 2 because 000 011 is 011 (two 1s).

pg. 11
  Ex: d(10101, 11110) is 3 because 10101 11110 is 01011 (three 1s).

Hamming code:
The Hamming Code method is a network technique designed by R.W. Hamming,
for damage and error detection during data transmission between multiple network
channels. The Hamming Code method is one of the most effective ways to detect
single-data bit errors in the original data at the receiver end.

 Single Bit Error

 Even Parity

pg. 12
ELEMENTARY DATA LINK PROTOCOLS:
 Protocols in DLL perform: framing, error control and flow control.

 Framing is the process of dividing bit - streams from physical layer into data frames(few
hundred to a few thousand bytes).

Unrestricted Simplex Protocol

Following assumptions are made

 Data transmission is simplex i.e. transmitted in one direction only.

 Both transmitting and receiving network layers are ready.

 Processing time is ignored.

 Infinite buffer space is available.

 An error free channel.

 This is an unrealistic protocol, nickname “Utopia(an imagined place)”

Simplex Stop and Wait Protocol

The following assumptions are made

a. Error free channel.

b. Data transmission simplex.

pg. 13
Simplex Protocol for a noisy channel

Distinguish a frame and a duplicate, Sequence no (0 or 1)

pg. 14
Practically data is transmitted in both directions. This can be achieved by full duplex transmission.
‘forward(data) ‘ and ‘reverse(ack)’ channel. In both cases, the reverse channel is almost wasted. To
overcome this problem a technique called piggy backing is used.

pg. 15
Pipelining: increased utilization

We first look at the sliding window protocol. As we know that the sliding window protocol is different from
the stop-and-wait protocol. In the stop-and-wait protocol, the sender can send only one frame at a time and
cannot send the next frame without receiving the acknowledgment of the previously sent frame, whereas, in
the case of sliding window protocol, the multiple frames can be sent at a time.

The variations of sliding window protocol are Go-Back-N ARQ and Selective Repeat ARQ. Let's understand
'what is Go-Back-N ARQ'.

Go-Back-N (GBN): (Reliable transmission)

In Go-Back-N ARQ, N is the sender's window size. Suppose we say that Go-Back-3, which means
that the three frames can be sent at a time before expecting the acknowledgment from the receiver.

It uses the principle of protocol pipelining in which the multiple frames can be sent before receiving
the acknowledgment of the first frame. If we have five frames and the concept is Go-Back-3, which
means that the three frames can be sent, i.e., frame no 1, frame no 2, frame no 3 can be sent before
expecting the acknowledgment of frame no 1.

In Go-Back-N ARQ, the frames are numbered sequentially as Go-Back-N ARQ sends the multiple
frames at a time that requires the numbering approach to distinguish the frame from another frame,
and these numbers are known as the sequential numbers.

pg. 16
Example: Suppose there are a sender and a receiver, and let's assume that there are 11
frames to be sent. These frames are represented as 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, and these are the
sequence numbers of the frames. Mainly, the sequence number is decided by the sender's
window size. But, for the better understanding, we took the running sequence numbers,
i.e., 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Let's consider the window size as 4, which means that the four
frames can be sent at a time before expecting the acknowledgment of the first frame.

pg. 17
Important points related to Go-Back-N ARQ:

o In Go-Back-N, N determines the sender's window size, and the size of the receiver's window
is always 1.
o It does not consider the corrupted frames and simply discards them.
o It does not accept the frames which are out of order and discards them.
o If the sender does not receive the acknowledgment, it leads to the retransmission of all the
current window frames.

Selective repeat:
Selective-repeat Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) is one of the techniques where a data link
layer may deploy to control errors with flow control. In selective-reject ARQ error control, the
only frames retransmitted are those receive at which time out.
There are some requirements for error control mechanisms, and they are as follows −

 Error detection − The sender and receiver, or any must ascertain that there is some error in
the transit.
 Positive ACK − Whenever a receiver receives a correct frame, it should acknowledge it.
 Negative ACK − Whenever the receiver receives a damaged frame or a duplicate frame, it
sends a NACK back to the sender and sender must retransmit the correct frame.

pg. 18
  Retransmission − The sender always maintains a clock and sets a timeout period. If an ACK
of data-frame previously transmitted does not arrive before the timeout, the sender
retransmits the frame, thinking that the frame or it’s ACK is lost in transit.
Selective-repeat Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) is one of the type of Sliding Window
Protocol and used for error detection and control in the data link layer.

 In the selective repeat, the sender sends several frames specified by a window size even
without the need to wait for individual acknowledgement from the receiver as in Go-
Back-N ARQ. In selective repeat protocol, the retransmitted frame is received out of
sequence.
 In Selective Repeat ARQ only the lost or error frames are retransmitted, whereas correct
frames are received and buffered.
 The receiver while keeping track of sequence numbers buffers the frames in memory
and sends NACK for only frames which are missing or damaged. The sender will
send/retransmit a packet for which NACK is received.

Selective repeat: sender, receiver windows

pg. 19
Selective repeat in action

THE MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL SUBLAYER

Network links can be divided into two categories: those using point-to-point connections and those
using broadcast channels.
In any broadcast network, the key issue is how to determine who gets to use
the channel when there is competition for it. To make this point, consider a conference call in which six
people, on six different telephones, are all connected so that each one can hear and talk to all the others. It is
very likely that when one of them stops speaking, two or more will start talking at once, leading to confusion.
In the literature, broadcast channels are sometimes referred to as multiaccess
channels or random access channels.
The protocols used to determine who goes next on a multiaccess channel belong to a
sublayer of the data link layer called the MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayer. The MAC
sublayer is especially important in LANs, particularly wireless ones because wireless is naturally a
broadcast channel.The MAC sub layer is the bottom part of the data link layer, so logically we
should have studied it examining all the point-to-point protocols.

pg. 20
The Channel Allocation Problem

The central theme of this chapter is how to allocate a single broadcast channel among competing
users. The channel might be a portion of the wireless spectrum in a geographic region, or a single
wire or optical fiber to which multiple nodes are connected. It does not matter. In both cases, the
channel connects each user to all other users and any user who makes full use of the channel
interferes with other users who also wish to use the channel.

Traditional Allocation Methods

Static Channel Allocation

The traditional way of allocating a single channel, such as a telephone trunk, among multiple
competing users is to chop up its capacity by using one of the multiplexing schemes. If there are N
users, the bandwidth is divided into N equal-sized portions, with each user being assigned one
portion. Since each user has a private frequency band, there is now no interference among users.
When there is only a small and constant number of users, each of which has a steady stream or a
heavy load of traffic, this division is a simple and efficient allocation mechanism.

A wireless example is FM radio stations. Each station gets a portion of the FM band and uses it most
of the time to broadcast its signal. The poor performance of static FDM can easily be seen with a
simple queueing theory calculation. Let us start by finding the mean time delay, T, to send a frame
onto a channel of capacity C bps. We assume that the frames arrive randomly with an average arrival
rate of λ frames/sec, and that the frames vary in length with an average length of 1/μ bits. With these
parameters, the service rate of the channel is μC frames/sec. A standard queueing theory result is

The mean delay for the divided channel is N times worse than if all the frames
were somehow magically arranged orderly in a big central queue. Since none of the traditional static
channel allocation methods work well at all with bursty traffic, we will now explore dynamic
methods.

pg. 21
Dynamic Channel Allocation

Assumptions for Dynamic Channel Allocation

1. Independent Traffic: The model consists of N independent stations (e.g., computers, telephones),
each with a program or user that generates frames for transmission. The expected number of frames
generated in an interval of length t is λ Δt, where λ is a constant (the arrival rate of new frames).
Once a frame has been generated, the station is blocked and does nothing until the frame has been
successfully transmitted.

2. Single Channel: A single channel is available for all communication. All stations can transmit on
it and all can receive from it. The stations are assumed to be equally capable, though protocols may
assign them different roles (e.g., priorities)

3. Observable Collisions: If two frames are transmitted simultaneously, they overlap in time and the
resulting signal is garbled. This event is called a collision. All stations can detect that a collision has occurred.
A collided frame must be transmitted again later. No errors other than those generated by collisions occur.

4. Continuous or Slotted Time: Time may be assumed continuous, in which case frame
transmission can begin at any instant. Alternatively, time may be slotted or divided into discrete
intervals (called slots). Frame transmissions must then begin at the start of a slot. A slot may contain
0, 1, or more frames, corresponding to an idle slot, a successful transmission, or a collision,
respectively.

5. Carrier Sense or No Carrier Sense: With the carrier sense assumption, stations can tell if the
channel is in use before trying to use it. No station will attempt to use the channel while it is sensed
as busy. If there is no carrier sense, stations cannot sense the channel before trying to use it. They just
go ahead and transmit. Only later can they determine whether the transmission was successful

MULTIPLE ACCESS PROTOCOLS

If there is a dedicated link between the sender and the receiver then data link control layer is
sufficient, however if there is no dedicated link present then multiple stations can access the
channel simultaneously. Hence multiple access protocols are required to decrease collision an d
avoid crosstalk.

Multiple access problems: How to coordinate the access of multiple sending and receiving to a
shared broadcast channel.

pg. 22
The Channel Allocation problem

 Static channel allocation: LAN, MAN

i) FDM

ii) TDM

pg. 23
Assumptions for Dynamic Channel Allocation: Cellular

 Independent Traffic: ‘N’ stations(PC, telephone)

 Single Channel: Single channel for all nodes

 Observable Collisions

 Continuous or Slotted Time

 Carrier Sense or No Carrier Sense

Multiple Access Protocols

i) Pure ALOHA & Slotted ALOHA

ii) CSMA

iii) CSMA/CA

iv) CSMA/CD

ALOHA:
Aloha Rules

1. Any station can transmit data to a channel at any time.

2. It does not require any carrier sensing.
3. Collision and data frames may be lost during the transmission of data through multiple
stations.
4. Acknowledgment of the frames exists in Aloha. Hence, there is no collision detection.
5. It requires retransmission of data after some random amount of time.

Pure ALOHA & Slotted ALOHA

 Advocates of Linux Open-source Hawaii Association: ALOHA
 1970,Norman Abramson- University of Hawaii.
 Idea: Let user transmit whenever they have data to be sent.
 Collision: If two station wants to access channel @same time.
 Used: Wireless LAN
 Types: Pure and Slotted

pg. 24
 Pure ALOHA-Original ALOHA
 Each station Sends a frame whenever it has a frame to send & wait for ack.
 Collision: If two stations wants to send
 Waiting time is random (Back-off time)

Slotted ALOHA: 1972, Robert

 Time is divided into timeslots.
 The slotted Aloha is designed to overcome the pure Aloha's efficiency because pure
Aloha has a very high possibility of frame hitting. In slotted Aloha, the shared channel is
divided into a fixed time interval called slots. So that, if a station wants to send a frame
to a shared channel, the frame can only be sent at the beginning of the slot, and only one
frame is allowed to be sent to each slot. And if the stations are unable to send data to the
beginning of the slot, the station will have to wait until the beginning of the slot for the
next time.
 Sending of data allowed only at the beginning of the slot “discrete”

pg. 25
  Throughput VS offered traffic for ALOHA system

Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA)

It is a carrier sense multiple access based on media access protocol to sense the traffic on a
channel (idle or busy) before transmitting the data. It means that if the channel is idle, the
station can send data to the channel. Otherwise, it must wait until the channel becomes idle.
Hence, it reduces the chances of a collision on a transmission medium.
 Idea: Stations listen for a carrier(Idle or Busy).
 Propagation Delay: It should be less.

pg. 26
1-Persistent: In the 1-Persistent mode of CSMA that defines each node, first sense the shared
channel and if the channel is idle, it immediately sends the data. Else it must wait and keep track of
the status of the channel to be idle and broadcast the frame unconditionally as soon as the channel is
idle.

Non-Persistent: It is the access mode of CSMA that defines before transmitting the data, each node
must sense the channel, and if the channel is inactive, it immediately sends the data. Otherwise, the
station must wait for a random time (not continuously), and when the channel is found to be idle, it
transmits the frames.

P-Persistent: It is the combination of 1-Persistent and Non-persistent modes. The P-Persistent mode
defines that each node senses the channel, and if the channel is inactive, it sends a frame with
a P probability. If the data is not transmitted, it waits for a (q = 1-p probability) random time and
resumes the frame with the next time slot.

Carrier Sense Multiple Access/ Collision Detection (CSMA/ CD)

 Senses channel, if the channel is idle, it transmits a frame to check whether the transmission
was successful.
 If the frame is successfully received, the station sends another frame. If any collision is
detected in the CSMA/CD, the station sends a jam/ stop signal to the shared channel to
terminate data transmission.
 After that, it waits for a random time before sending a frame to a channel.

pg. 27
Collision-Free Protocols
Almost all collisions can be avoided in CSMA/CD but they can still occur during the contention
period. The collision during the contention period adversely affects the system performance, this
happens when the cable is long and length of packet are short.

1. Bit-Map Protocol (Reservation protocols)

2. Token Passing
3. Binary Countdown protocol

Bit-Map Protocol (Reservation Protocol)

 In this protocol each contention period consists of exactly N slots. If station 0 has a frame to
send, it transmits a 1 bit during the slot 0.
 No other station is allowed to transmit during this slot. Regardless of what station 0 does, station
1 gets the opportunity to transmit a 1 bit during slot 1, but only if it has a frame queued.
 Such protocols are called reservation protocols because they reserve channel ownership in
advance and prevent collisions.

Channel Efficiency: low load d/(d+N)

: High load d/(d+1)

Where d represents data bits and N represents number of stations

pg. 28
Token Passing

 It allows stations to transmit frames in a predefined order.

 It circulate a small message(token), among stations, granting permission to send frames.

 The token represents permission to send. If a station has a frame queued for transmission when it
receives the token, it can send that frame before it passes the token to the next station. If it has no
queued frame, it simply passes the token.

 Frames are transmitted in the direction of the token, circulating around the ring.

 After sending a frame, each station must wait for all stations to send the token and frames in one
cycle.

 Token Ring (IEEE 802.5) popular in the 1980s as an alternative to classic Ethernet.
 FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) in the 1990s, a faster token ring, was surpassed by switched
Ethernet.
 RPR (Resilient Packet Ring) defined as IEEE 802.17 in the 2000s for metropolitan area rings used by
ISPs.

pg. 29
Binary Countdown Protocol

 A problem with the basic bit-map protocol, and by extension token passing, is that the overhead is 1
bit per station, so it does not scale well to networks with thousands of stations. We can do better than
that by using binary station addresses with a channel that combines transmissions

 All addresses are assumed to be the same length. The bits in each address position from different
stations are BOOLEAN ORed together by the channel when they are sent at the same time.

 It implicitly assumes that the trans-mission delays are negligible so that all stations see asserted bits
essentially instantaneously.

 To avoid conflicts, an arbitration rule must be applied: as soon as a station sees that a high-order bit
position that is 0 in its address has been overwritten with a 1, it gives up.

 In the below example S10 will be the first station to transmit the data followed by S9,S4 and S2.

 Channel efficiency :

d/(d + log N), where d is the address length and N is the number of stations.

Example:

Limited-Contention Protocols:
 Aim to achieve low delay at low load and improved channel efficiency at high load.
 Proposes combining the advantages of both contention and collision-free protocols.
pg. 30
  Adaptive Tree Walk Protocol

Adaptive Tree Walk Protocol

“Stations are conceptualized as leaves of a binary tree”
 During World War II, the U.S. Army tested soldiers for syphilis using a binary tree approach.
 Blood samples from “N” soldiers were mixed in a test tube, and the testing process recursively
narrowed down the infected soldiers.

Example:

pg. 31
WIRELESS LAN PROTOCOLS (802.11)
 Wireless LAN: communicating via radio waves and operate as broadcast channels, differing
from wired LANs.
 Access Points (APs) : wired networks to the wireless client .
 Provides megabit/sec bandwidths, up to 600 Mbps.
Detection of Collisions in Wireless LANs:
 Ack used post-transmission to identify collisions and other errors.
Challenges in Coverage Regions:
• In practice, coverage regions are irregular due to environmental factors like walls and
obstacles.

pg. 32
 Hidden Terminal Problem

Exposed Terminal Problem

pg. 33
Feature Hidden Terminal Exposed Terminal
A situation where a terminal A situation where a terminal
cannot hear other terminals, can hear other terminals, but
Definition even though they may be within cannot directly communicate
range, leading to potential with each other, potentially
transmission collisions. causing interference.
Common in wireless networks
Common in wireless networks with where terminals are close to each
Scenario
obstacles or signal attenuation. other, causing overlapping
signals.
Can lead to hidden terminal Can lead to exposed terminal
problems, where a terminal problems, where a terminal may
Communication Issues transmits without knowing that refrain from transmitting even
another terminal is already when it could transmit without
transmitting, causing collisions. interference.
- Use of RTS/CTS (Request to Send/ - Adjusting transmission power
Clear to Send) mechanism. levels to reduce interference.
Solutions - Carrier Sense Multiple Access - Implementing Carrier Sense
with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/ Multiple Access with Collision
CA) protocols. Avoidance (CSMA/CA) protocols.

Wi-Fi networks with obstacles or Bluetooth devices in close

Examples
signal interference. proximity.

pg. 34
MACA (Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance)
Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (MACA) is a slotted media access control protocol used in
wireless LAN data transmission to avoid collisions caused by the hidden station problem and to
simplify exposed station problem.
Working:-
The main condition for MACA to work, is that the stations are in sync with frame sizes and data speed.
It includes transmission of two frame called RTS and CTS preceding information transmission. RTS
means Request to Send and CTS means Clear to Send. Stations near to the transmitting station can hear
RTS and remains silent to hear the CTS.

pg. 35