Data Link Layer

Unit - III
Framing in Data Link Layer
• synchronized transmission of bits from the source to the destination.
• packs 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 makes 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
• A frame has the following parts −
• 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
• Fixed-sized Framing
• Here the size of the frame is fixed
• the frame length acts as delimiter of the frame
• does not require additional boundary bits to identify the start and
end of the frame.
• Example − ATM cells.
• Variable – Sized Framing
• the size of each frame to be transmitted may be different
• additional mechanisms are kept to mark the end of one frame and
the beginning of the next frame.
Two ways to define frame delimiters in variable sized framing are −
• Length Field − Here, a length field is used that determines the size of
the frame.
• End Delimiter − Here, a pattern is used as a delimiter to determine
the size of frame.
• If the pattern occurs in the message, then two approaches are used to
avoid the situation −
• Byte – Stuffing − A byte is stuffed in the message to differentiate from the
delimiter. This is also called character-oriented framing.
• Bit – Stuffing − A pattern of bits of arbitrary length is stuffed in the message
to differentiate from the delimiter. This is also called bit – oriented framing.
Error Detection and Correction in Data link Layer

• bit streams of data, are transmitted from the source to the destination with a
certain extent of accuracy.
Errors
• Data may get corrupted due to interference and network problems.
• The corrupted bits leads to spurious data being received by the destination
and are called errors.
• Types of Errors
• Single bit error 
• Multiple bits error 
• Burst error 
Single bit error
• In the received frame, only one bit has been corrupted, i.e. either
changed from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0.

• Multiple bits error − In the received frame, more than one bits are
corrupted.
Burst error
• In the received frame, more than one consecutive bits are corrupted.

Error Control
• Error control can be done in two ways
• Error detection − Error detection involves checking whether any error has occurred or not.
• Error correction − Error correction involves ascertaining the exact number of bits that has
been corrupted and the location of the corrupted bits.
• For both error detection and error correction, the sender needs to send some additional
bits along with the data bits.
• The receiver performs necessary checks based upon the additional redundant bits.
• If it finds that the data is free from errors, it removes the redundant bits before passing the
message to the upper layers.
Error Detection Techniques

• There are three main techniques for detecting errors in frames: Parity Check,
Checksum and Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC).
• Parity Check
• The parity check is done by adding an extra bit, called parity bit to the data
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

• Data is divided into fixed sized frames or segments.

• 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 (CRC)
• Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) involves binary division of the data bits
• the sender performs binary division of the data segment by the divisor.
• It then appends the remainder called CRC bits to the end of the data
segment.
• This makes the resulting data unit exactly divisible by the divisor.
• The receiver divides the incoming data unit by the divisor.
• If there is no remainder, the data unit is assumed to be correct and is
accepted.
• Otherwise, it is understood that the data is corrupted and is therefore
rejected.
Error Correction Techniques

• Backward Error Correction (Retransmission) 

• If the receiver detects an error in the incoming frame, it requests the sender to
retransmit the frame.
• Forward Error Correction
• If the receiver detects some error in the incoming frame, it executes error-correcting
code that generates the actual frame.
The four main error correction codes are
• Hamming Codes
• Binary Convolution Code
• Reed – Solomon Code
• Low-Density Parity-Check Code
Stop-and-Wait Protocol 

• transmission of frames over noiseless channels.

• It provides unidirectional data transmission.
• the receiver has a finite processing speed.
• If data frames arrive at the receiver’s end at a rate which is greater
than its rate of processing, frames be dropped out. 
• the receiver sends an acknowledgement for each frame upon its
arrival.
• he sender sends the next frame only when it has received a positive
acknowledgement from the receiver
• Sender Site: The data link layer in the sender site waits for the
network layer for a data packet. It then checks whether it can send
the frame. If it receives a positive notification from the physical layer,
it makes frames out of the data and sends it. It then waits for an
acknowledgement before sending the next frame.
• Receiver Site: The data link layer in the receiver site waits for a frame
to arrive. When it arrives, the receiver processes it and delivers it to
the network layer. It then sends an acknowledgement back to the
sender.
Flow control
• Flow control is a technique that allows two stations working at
different speeds to communicate with each other. 
Sliding Window Protocol

• multiple frames are sent by sender at a time before needing an

acknowledgment (can be single)
• Sliding window refers to an imaginary boxes that hold the frames on both
sender and receiver side.
•  Frames may be acknowledged by receiver at any point even when
window is not full on receiver side.
• Frames may be transmitted by source even when window is not yet full
on sender side.
• 0 to n-1
Sliding Window on Sender Side

• At the beginning of a transmission, the sender's window contains n-l

frames.
• Let the window size is 7
Sliding Window on Receiver Side

• At the beginning of transmission, the receiver's window

contains n-1 spaces for frame but not the frames.
• As the new frames come in, the size of window shrinks.
• Given a window of size w, if three frames are received without an ACK
being returned, the number of spaces in a window is w-3.
Multiple Access Protocols

• The Data Link Layer is responsible for transmission of data between two nodes.
Its main functions are-
• Data Link Control
• Multiple Access Control
• Data Link control
• reliable transmission of message over transmission channel by using techniques
like framing, error control and flow control
Multiple Access Control
• If there is a dedicated link between the sender and the receiver then data link
control layer is sufficient
• if there is no dedicated link present then multiple stations can access the
channel simultaneously.
• Hence multiple access protocols are required to decrease collision and avoid
crosstalk.
1. Random Access Protocol
•  all stations have same superiority
It has two features
• There is no fixed time for sending data
• There is no fixed sequence of stations sending data
(a) ALOHA – 
• It was designed for wireless LAN but is also applicable for shared
medium.
• multiple stations can transmit data at the same time and can hence
lead to collision and data being garbled.
• Pure Aloha
• Slotted Aloha
• Checksum Example-
•

• Consider the data unit to be transmitted is-

• 10011001111000100010010010000100

• Consider 8 bit checksum is used.

• Step-01:
•

• At sender side,

• The given data unit is divided into segments of 8 bits as-

• Now, all the segments are added and the result is obtained as-

• 10011001 + 11100010 + 00100100 + 10000100 = 1000100011

• Since the result consists of 10 bits, so extra 2 bits are wrapped around.
• 00100011 + 10 = 00100101 (8 bits)
• Now, 1’s complement is taken which is 11011010.
• Thus, checksum value = 11011010
•

• Step-02:
•

• The data along with the checksum value is transmitted to the receiver.
•

• Step-03:
•

• At receiver side,

• The received data unit is divided into segments of 8 bits.

• All the segments along with the checksum value are added.
• Sum of all segments + Checksum value = 00100101 + 11011010 = 11111111
• Complemented value = 00000000
• Since the result is 0, receiver assumes no error occurred in the data and therefore accepts it.