Computer Networks

Frame Relay & ATM

Week 8
BCS 6th Spring 2022
Date: September 19, 21 & 22, 2022
Mahmood Khan (Assistant Professor)
Department of Computer Science SBBU
[email protected]

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Frame Relay

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Packet Switching Approaches
• Packet switching can use two approaches: the
virtual circuit approach and the datagram
approach.
• Frame Relay is a virtual-circuit wide-area network
that was designed in response to demands for a
new type of WAN in the late 1980s and early
1990s.

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 FRAME RELAY
• Frame Relay is a relatively high-speed protocol that
can provide some services not available in other WAN
technologies such as DSL, cable TV, and T lines.
• Frame relay, the outgrowth of the older (1970’s),
slower (64Kbps), more careful, error-correcting X.25,
is packet technology designed to carry variable-length
frames over high-quality connections such as fiber,
which was just coming into its own in the early 1990s.
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Frame Relay..
 Frame Relay is a high-performance WAN protocol that
operates at the physical and data link layers of the OSI
reference model.
 Frame Relay originally was designed for use across
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) interfaces.

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Packet Switching
 Frame Relay is based on packet-switched
technology.
 The following two techniques are used in packet-
switching technology:
◦ Variable-length packets
◦ Statistical multiplexing

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Frame Relay Devices
 Devices attached to a Frame Relay WAN fall into the
following two general categories:
◦ Data terminal equipment (DTE)
◦ Data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE)
 Examples of DTE devices are terminals, personal
computers, routers, and bridges.

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Frame Relay Devices..
 DCEs are carrier-owned internetworking devices.
 The purpose of DCE equipment is to provide
clocking and switching services in a network, which
are the devices that actually transmit data through the
WAN.
 In most cases, these are packet switches

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Frame Relay Devices…

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Frame Relay Virtual Circuits
 Frame Relay provides connection-oriented data link
layer communication.
 This service is implemented by using a Frame Relay
virtual circuit, which is a logical connection created
between two data terminal equipment (DTE) devices
across a Frame Relay packet-switched network
(PSN).

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 Frame Relay Virtual Circuits..
 Virtual circuits provide a bidirectional communication
path from one DTE device to another and are uniquely
identified by a data-link connection identifier (DLCI).
 A number of virtual circuits can be multiplexed into a
single physical circuit for transmission across the
network.

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Frame Relay Virtual Circuits…
 A virtual circuit can pass through any number of
intermediate DCE devices (switches) located within the
Frame Relay Packet Switched Network (PSN).
 Frame Relay virtual circuits fall into two categories:
1. Switched virtual circuits (SVCs)
2. Permanent virtual circuits (PVCs).

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 Switched Virtual Circuits
 Switched virtual circuits (SVCs) are temporary connections used in situations
requiring only interrupted data transfer between DTE devices across the Frame
Relay network.
◦ Call setup—VC between two Frame Relay DTE devices is established.
◦ Data transfer—Data is transmitted between the DTE devices over the
VC.
◦ Idle—The connection between DTE devices is still active, but no data is
transferred. If an SVC remains in an idle state for a defined period of time,
the call can be terminated.
◦ Call termination—The virtual circuit between DTE devices is terminated.

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Switched Virtual Circuits..
 Few manufacturers of Frame Relay DCE equipment
support switched virtual circuit connections. Therefore, their
actual deployment is minimal in today's Frame Relay
networks.
 Previously not widely supported by Frame Relay
equipment, SVCs are now the standard.
 Companies have found that SVCs save money in the end
because the circuit is not open all the time.
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Permanent Virtual Circuits
 Permanent virtual circuits (PVCs) are permanently
established connections that are used for frequent and
consistent data transfers between DTE devices across
the Frame Relay network.
 DTE devices can begin transferring data whenever they
are ready because the circuit is permanently established.

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 Permanent Virtual Circuits..
 Communication across a PVC does not require the call setup and
termination states that are used with SVCs.
 Data transfer—Data is transmitted between the DTE
devices over the virtual circuit.
 Idle—The connection between DTE devices is active, but
no data is transferred. Unlike SVCs, PVCs will not be
terminated under any circumstances when in an idle state.

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Data-Link Connection Identifier
 Frame Relay virtual circuits are identified by data-link
connection identifiers (DLCIs).
 DLCI values typically are assigned by the Frame Relay
service provider (for example, the telephone company).
 Frame Relay DLCIs have local significance, which
means that their values are unique in the LAN, but not
necessarily in the Frame Relay WAN.

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Data-Link Connection Identifier

A Single Frame Relay Virtual Circuit Can Be Assigned Different

DLCIs on Each End of a VC

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Congestion-Control Mechanisms
 Frame Relay reduces network overhead by implementing
simple congestion-notification mechanisms rather than
explicit, per-virtual-circuit flow control.
 Frame Relay implements two congestion-notification
mechanisms:
1. Forward-explicit congestion notification (FECN)
2. Backward-explicit congestion notification (BECN)

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Congestion-Control Mechanisms..
 FECN and BECN each is controlled by a single bit
contained in the Frame Relay frame header.
 The Frame Relay frame header also contains a
Discard Eligibility (DE) bit, which is used to identify
less important traffic that can be dropped during
periods of congestion.

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Congestion-Control Mechanisms…
The FECN bit is part of the Address field in the Frame Relay
frame header.
The FECN mechanism is initiated when a DTE device sends

Frame Relay frames into the network.

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Congestion-Control Mechanisms….

The BECN bit is part of the Address field in the Frame

Relay frame header.
DCE devices set the value of the BECN bit to 1 in
frames traveling in the opposite direction of frames
with their FECN bit set.

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Congestion-Control Mechanisms…..
 This informs the receiving DTE device that a
particular path through the network is congested.
 The DTE device then can relay this information to a
higher-layer protocol for processing.
 Depending on the implementation, flow-control may
be initiated, or the indication may be ignored

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Frame Relay Error Checking
 Frame Relay uses a common error-checking mechanism
known as the cyclic redundancy check (CRC).
 The CRC compares two calculated values to determine
whether errors occurred during the transmission from
source to destination.
 Frame Relay reduces network overhead by
implementing error checking rather than error
correction.
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Frame Relay
Local Management Interface
 The Local Management Interface (LMI) is a set of
enhancements to the basic Frame Relay specification
 The LMI global addressing extension gives Frame
Relay (DLCI) values global rather than local
significance.
 DLCI values become DTE addresses that are unique in
the Frame Relay WAN.
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Frame Relay
Local Management Interface..
 LMI virtual circuit status messages provide
communication and synchronization between Frame
Relay DTE and DCE devices.
 These messages are used to periodically report on the
status of PVCs.

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Frame Relay Network Implementation

 A common private Frame Relay network

implementation is to equip a T1 multiplexer with both
Frame Relay and non-Frame Relay interfaces.
 Frame Relay traffic is forwarded out the Frame Relay
interface and onto the data network.

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Frame Relay Network Implementation..

 Non-Frame Relay traffic is forwarded to the

appropriate application or service, such as a private
branch exchange (PBX) for telephone service or to a
video-teleconferencing application.

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Frame Relay Network Implementation

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 Frame Relay Frame Formats
Fields length in bytes

 Flags indicate the beginning and end of the frame.

 Three primary components make up the Frame Relay frame: the header and
address area, the user-data portion, and the frame check sequence (FCS).
 The address area, which is 2 bytes in length, is comprised of 10 bits
representing the actual circuit identifier and 6 bits of fields related to
congestion management. This identifier commonly is referred to as the data-
link connection identifier (DLCI).
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Frame Relay Frame Formats.

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FRAD

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Frame Relay Frame Formats..
 Flags—Delimits the beginning and end of the frame. The
value of this field is always the same and is represented either
as the hexadecimal number 7E or as the binary number
01111110.
 Address—Contains the following information:

◦DLCI
◦Extended Address (EA)
◦C/R
◦Congestion Control
 (FECN)
 (BECN)
 Discard eligibility (DE)

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 Frame Relay Frame Formats…
 DLCI—The 10-bit DLCI is the core of the Frame Relay
header.
◦ This value represents the virtual connection between the
DTE device and the switch.
◦ Each virtual connection that is multiplexed onto the
physical channel will be represented by a unique DLCI.
◦ The DLCI values have local significance only, which
means that they are unique only to the physical channel
on which they reside. @ Mahmood Khan
Frame Relay Frame Formats….
 Extended Address (EA)—The EA is used to indicate
whether the byte in which the EA value is 1 is the last
addressing field.
◦ If the value is 1, then the current byte is determined to
be the last DLCI octet.
◦ The eighth bit of each byte of the Address field is
used to indicate the EA.

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Frame Relay Frame Formats…..
 C/R—The C/R is the bit that follows the most significant
DLCI byte in the Address field. The C/R bit is not
currently defined.
 Congestion Control—This consists of the 3 bits that
control the Frame Relay congestion-notification
mechanisms.
◦These are the FECN, BECN, and DE bits, which are the
last 3 bits in the Address field.
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Frame Relay Frame Formats……
 Forward-explicit congestion notification (FECN)
◦A single-bit field that can be set to a value of 1 by a switch
to indicate to an end DTE device, such as a router, that
congestion happened in the direction of the frame
transmission from source to destination.
◦The primary benefit of the use of the FECN and BECN
fields is the capability of higher-layer protocols to react
intelligently to these congestion indicators.

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Frame Relay Frame Formats…….
• Backward-explicit congestion notification (BECN)
• Single-bit field that, when set to a value of 1 by a switch, indicates
that congestion happened in the network in the direction opposite of
the frame transmission from source to destination.
• Discard eligibility (DE)
• Set by the DTE device, such as a router, to indicate that the marked
frame is of lesser importance relative to other frames being
transmitted.
• Frames that are marked as "discard eligible" should be discarded
before other frames in a congested network.
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Frame Relay Frame Formats……..
 Data
◦Contains encapsulated upper-layer data.
◦Each frame in this variable-length field includes a user
data or payload field that will vary in length up to 16,000
octets.
◦This field serves to transport the higher-layer protocol
packet (PDU) through a Frame Relay network.
 Frame Check Sequence
◦Ensures the integrity of transmitted data.
◦This value is computed by the source device.
◦Verified by the receiver to ensure integrity of transmission.

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 Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM)

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Asynchronous Transfer Mode
(ATM)
 ATM is a telecommunications standard defined by ANSI ( American National
Standards Institute) and ITU-T (ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector ) for digital
transmission of multiple types of traffic.
 ATM was developed to meet the needs of the Broadband Integrated
Services Digital Network as defined in the late 1980s, and designed to
integrate telecommunication networks. It can handle both traditional
high-throughput data traffic and real-time, low-latency content such
as telephony (voice) and video.

Figure: Multiplexing using different frame sizes

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Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)..
 ATM provides functionality that uses features of circuit
switching and packet switching networks by using asynchronous
time-division multiplexing.
 In the OSI reference model data link layer (layer 2), the basic transfer
units are called frames. In ATM these frames are of a fixed length
(53 octets) called cells.
 The protocol which performs the operation of braking frames into the
cells is known as ATM.
 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.

Figure: Multiplexing using cells

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Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)…
 ATM uses a connection-oriented model in which a virtual circuit must
be established between two endpoints before the data exchange begins.
 These virtual circuits may be either permanent (dedicated connections
that are usually preconfigured by the service provider), or switched (set
up on a per-call basis using signaling and disconnected when the call is
terminated).
 The ATM network reference model approximately maps to the three
lowest layers of the OSI model: physical layer, data link layer, and
network layer.
 ATM is a core protocol used in the synchronous optical network
(SONET) backbone of the public switched telephone network (PSTN)
and in the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) but has largely
been superseded in favor of next-generation networks (NGN) based on
IP technology. Wireless and mobile ATM never established a significant
grip.
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ATM multiplexing

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ATM
 The ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) was
designed with an aim to provide:
1. High speed data rate.
2. Low error rate between two or more switching
centers.
3. Digital voice and videos.
4. Low operating cost.

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Features of ATM
 Flexibility and versatility of voice, videos and images
can be transmitted simultaneously over a single or
integrated corporate network.
 Higher transmission capability.
 It provides support for virtual networks.

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What is Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)?

 Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a connection-oriented,

high-speed, low-delay switching and transmission technology that
uses short and fixed-size packets, called cells, to transport
information.
5 octets 48 octets

Header Information

53 octets
 Using the cell switching technique, ATM combines the benefits of
both circuit switching (low and constant delay, guaranteed
capacity) and packet switching (flexibility, efficiency for bursty
traffic) to support the transmission of multimedia traffic such as
voice, video, image, and data over the same network.
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Architecture of an ATM network
There are two kinds of interfaces in ATM. An interface that connects
two or more networks, called Network to Network Interface (NNI )
and an interface to connect the user to the network, called User to
Network Interface (UNI ) .

Figure: Architecture of an ATM network

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ATM Network
 Figure shows an example of an ATM network.
 Virtual Connection between two endpoints is accomplished
through transmission paths (TPs), virtual paths (VPs), and virtual
circuits (VCs).
 A TP is the physical connection between a user and a switch or
between two switches. It is divided into several VPs, which provide
a connection or a set of connections between two switches. VPs in
turn consist of several VCs that logically connect two points
together.

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ATM Virtual Connections
Virtual Paths

Physical Link

Virtual Channels

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Example of VPs and VCs

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Connection identifiers

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Virtual connection identifiers in UNIs
and NNIs

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ATM Cell

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ATM Cells..
 Small size, may reduce queuing delay of high priority cells
 Fixed size, more efficient switching

UNI NNI
GFC VP identifier VP identifier
VP identifier
5-byte
VC identifier VC identifier
header
PT CLP PL type CLP
Header error control Header error control
53 byte
cell

Info field, Info field,

48 bytes 48 bytes

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ATM Headers

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 UNI Cell Format
GFC (4 bits) VPI (4 bits)
VPI (4 bits) VCI (4 bits)
ATM cell VCI (8 bits)
header CLP
VCI (4 bits) PT (3 bits) (1 bit)

HEC (8 bits)

Payload
(48 bytes)

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ATM Cell Format
 Fixed size cell has a 5-byte header and 48-byte data
field.
– Use of small cells may reduce queuing delay for a
high
- Priority cell (since it waits less if it arrives slightly
behind a lower priority cell that has gained access to
the transmitter).
– Fixed size cells can be switched more efficiently (i.e.
easier to implement switching mechanism in hardware
and build more scalable switches). This is important for
the high data rates of ATM.

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ATM Header Format
 GFC (4-bits): Generic Flow Control to assist the customer in
controlling traffic flow based on QoS. This field is only retained
at the user-network interface (UNI) and not retained at the
network-network interface (NNI) between ATM switches.
 VPI (8-bits at the UNI and 12-bits at the NNI allowing more
VPCs to be represented within the network): Virtual Path
Identifier is a routing field for the network.
 VCI (16-bits): Virtual Channel Identifier is used for routing to
and from an end user.
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ATM Header Format..
 PTI (3-bits): Payload Type indicates type of information in
the information field.
◦ The MSB indicates the type of ATM cell that follows.
This bit set to 0 indicates user data; a bit set to 1 indicates
network management data.
◦ The middle bit indicates whether the cell experienced
congestion in its journey from source to destination. This
bit is also called the Explicit Forward Congestion
Indication (EFCI) bit. This bit is set to 0 by the source; if
an interim switch experiences congestion while routing
the cell, it sets the bit to 1. After it is set to 1, all other
switches in the path leave this bit value at 1.

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ATM Header Format…
 CLP (1-bit): Cell Loss Priority provides guidance to the
network in the event of congestion. CLP = 0 indicates a cell of
high priority which should not be discarded. CLP = 1 indicates
a cell that is subject to discard.
- When the CLP bit is set to 1, the interim switches sometimes
discard the cell in congestion situations.
- An ATM user sets the CLP bit to 1 when a cell is created to
indicate a lower priority cell. The ATM switch can set the CLP
to 1 if the cell exceeds the negotiated traffic parameters of a
VCC (Virtual channel connections). Later if congestion is experienced,
the cell that has been marked with CLP = 1 is subject to discard
in preference to cells that fall within agreed traffic limits.
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ATM Header Format….
 HEC (8-bits):
 The HEC only checks the ATM header and not the
ATM payload. Checking the payload for errors is the
responsibility of upper layer protocols.

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ATM Layers
 ATM reference model comprises of three layers
 Physical Layer − This layer corresponds to physical layer of OSI model.
At this layer, the cells are converted into bit streams and transmitted over
the physical medium. This layer has two sub layers: PMD sub layer
(Physical Medium Dependent) and TC (Transmission Convergence) sub
layer.
 ATM Layer −This layer is comparable to data link layer of OSI model. It
accepts the 48 byte segments from the upper layer, adds a 5 byte header to
each segment and converts into 53 byte cells. This layer is responsible for
routing of each cell, traffic management, multiplexing and switching.
 ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) −This layer corresponds to network layer
of OSI model. It provides facilities to the existing packet switched
networks to connect to ATM network and use its services. It accepts the
data and converts them into fixed sized segments. The transmissions can
be of fixed or variable data rate. This layer has two sub layers −
Convergence sub layer and Segmentation and Reassembly sub layer.
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ATM Layers..
User User
information information

AAL AAL

ATM ATM ATM ATM

PHY PHY PHY PHY

End system Network End system

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ATM Layers…

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ATM Adaptation Layer
 ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) – the protocol for packaging
data into cells is collectively referred to as AAL.
 Must efficiently package higher level data such as voice
samples, video frames and datagram packets into a series of
cells.
 ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) provides facilities for non-
ATM based networks to connect to ATM network and use its
services.

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ATM Adaptation Layer..
 AAL is basically a software layer that accepts user
data, which may be digitized voice, video or
computer data, and makes them suitable for
transmission over an ATM network. The
transmissions can be of fixed or variable data rate.
 AAL accepts higher layer packets and segments them

into fixed sized ATM cells before transmission via

ATM.
 It also reassembles the received segments to the

higher layer packets.

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The following diagram illustrates
the function of AAL

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ATM Adaptation Layer…
 This layer has two sub layers:
- Convergence sub layer (CS)
- Segmentation and Reassembly sub layer (SAR)
 CS: provides functionality to support specific

applications using AAL. Each AAL user attaches to

AAL at a series of service access points (SAP) which
is the address of the application (e.g. like a TCP port
# to uniquely identify the application).
 SAR: packages information received from the CS

into cells for transmission and for unpacking at the

other end.

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ATM Adaptation Layer….
International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication
Standardization Sector (ITU-T) has defined five AAL protocols
to provide the range of services.

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ATM Adaptation Layer…..
 AAL Type 0 − This is the simplest service that provides direct
interface to ATM services without any restrictions. These cells are
called raw cells that contain 48-byte payload field without any
special fields. It lacks guaranteed delivery and interoperability.
 AAL Type 1 − This service provides interface for synchronous,
connection oriented traffic. It supports constant rate bit stream
between the two ends of an ATM link. An AAL 1 cell contains a 4-
bit sequence number, a 4-bit sequence number protection and a
47-byte payload field.
 AAL Type 2 − This service also provides interface for
synchronous, connection oriented traffic. However, this is for
variable rate bit stream between the two ends of an ATM link. It is
used in wireless applications.

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ATM Adaptation Layer……
 AAL Type 3/4 − This includes a range of services for
variable rate data or bit stream. It is suitable for both
connection – oriented, asynchronous traffic as well as
connectionless traffic. These ATM cells contain a 4-
byte header.
 AAL Type 5 − AAL 5 provides the similar services as

AAL 3/4, but with simplified header information. It

was originally named Simple and Efficient Adaptation
Layer (SEAL). It is used in a number of areas like
Internet Protocol (IP) over ATM, Ethernet over ATM
and Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS).

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AAL1

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AAL2

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AAL3/4

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AAL5

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ATM Services
 ATM services generally have four different bit rate choices:
1. Available Bit Rate: Provides a guaranteed minimum
capacity but data can be bursted to higher capacities when
network traffic is minimal.
 When a carrier has allocated the necessary bandwidth on the
links to carry CBR traffic and minimum VBR is guaranteed.
The ABR is the mechanism to share the remaining bandwidth
fairly between the links.

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ATM Services..
2. Constant Bit Rate: Specifies a fixed bit rate so that data is sent
in a steady stream.
 CBR traffic is derived from the source, where the information is
transmitted at a constant rate. Example: Telephonic speech
without silencer.
3. Unspecified Bit Rate: Doesn’t guarantee any throughput level
and is used for applications such as file transfers that can tolerate
delays.
 The control of flow in UBR can be provided from the end device.

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ATM Services…
4. Variable Bit Rate (VBR): Provides a specified
throughput, but data is not sent evenly. This makes it a
popular choice for voice and videoconferencing.
 Variable traffic is derived from a variable source.
Example: Compressed voice or video with silence
suppression.

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 Thanks
 FURTHER DISCUSSION

NEXT WEEK …………….

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