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Frame Relay , ATM
ITE I Chapter 6 © 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 1
Frame Relay
Definition of Frame Relay
Frame Relay is a standardized wide area network
technology that specifies the physical and data link layers
of digital telecommunications channels
using a packet switching methodology
This process is occurred in data link layer and physical
layer .
ITE 1 Chapter 6 © 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 3
Describe the Fundamental Concepts of Frame
Relay Technology
4
Describe the Fundamental Concepts of Frame
Relay Technology
ITE 1 Chapter 6 © 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 5
Frame Relay – Virtual circuits
In frame relay – virtual
circuits are those circuits
which are created
dynamically on call and
then terminated and
always used the available
resources
Permanent Virtual Circuit
PVCs are Frame Relay VC connections that are
permanently established. PVCs are used for frequent
communication between end nodes, such as file sharing,
file transfer,
1. Idle—The connection between end nodes is active
when no data transfer occurring. PVCs are not
terminated or “taken-down” when in an idle state.
2. Data Transfer—Data traffic is being transmitted
between end nodes over the VC.
Switched Virtual Circuits
which are permanently established connections, SVCs
require a call setup process. SVCs are temporary
connections that are traditionally used when
communication between end nodes
1. Call setup—Establishes the VC between Frame
Relay end nodes
2. Data transfer—Data traffic is transmitted between end
nodes.
3. Idle—Like PVCs, when the VC is idle (no data traffic)
the connection between end nodes remains active
and available for communication. SVC will terminate
the connection if it is in an idle state for a configured
time period
4. Call termination—The VC between Frame Relay end
nodes is terminated, or “taken down.
Data Link Communication Network
Data link connection identifier
(DLCI) is a number of a private
or switched virtual circuit in a
Frame Relay network that tells
the Frame Relay how to route
the data. The DLCI field
identifies which logical circuit
the data travels over.
DTE/DCE
Data communications equipment (DCE) refers to
computer hardware devices used to establish, maintain and terminate
communication network sessions between a data source and its destination.
DCE is connected to the data terminal equipment (DTE) and data transmission
circuit (DTC) to convert transmission signals.
Data terminal equipment (DTE) is an end instrument
that converts user information into signals or reconverts received
signals
Bandwidth / CIR
In a Frame Relay network, committed information rate
(CIR) is the bandwidth for a virtual circuit guaranteed by
an internet service provider to work under normal
conditions.
Bandwidth
ISP Provided
Frame Format
Advantages
• the bandwidth is allocated dynamically
• It allows frame size of 9000 bytes which is enough
for LAN types
• It is less expensive compare to traditional WAN
networks
Disadvantages
• Unreliable service
• It allows variable length frames and hence may create
varying delays for different users
• Due to varying delays , it is not suitable to send
sensitive data like real time voice or video.
Asynchronous Transfer
Mode
Definition of ATM
It is a switching technique used by telecommunication
networks that uses asynchronous time-division
multiplexing to encode data into small,
fixed-sized cells 53 bytes.
This is different from Ethernet or internet, which use
variable packet sizes for data or frames.
Time Division Multiplexing
Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is a method of putting
multiple data streams in a single signal by separating the
signal into many segments, each having a very short
duration.
Why 53 Bytes?
• Cells can be switched more, efficiently leading to
high speed data transfer
• Since the cell size is fixed , hardware
implementation is easier
• Queuing delay is reduces
VPI/VCI
a virtual connection is defined by a pair of numbers: the
VPI and the VCI.
A virtual path identifier (VPI) is a data communication
identifier that uniquely identifies a network path for an
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell packet to reach its
destination node. VPIs are eight- to 16-bit numeric headers
in ATM cell packets. ATM cells typically pass through ATM
switches.
A virtual circuit identifier (VCI) is a type of numeric
identifier used to distinguish between different virtual
circuits in a connection-oriented circuit-switched
telecommunication network.
Architecture
AAL layer
AAL layer
In Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks, the
ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) provides facilities for non-
ATM based networks to connect to ATM network and use
its services.
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.
Atm layer
Atm layer adds the address of path from which the data is travelled.
This layer Is responsible for assigned combination of VCI and VPI
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.
ATM Interface
UNI/NNI
User Network Interface : A private UNI connects an ATM
end system to a private ATM switch, while a public UNI
connects an ATM end system or a private switch to a
public ATM switch
Network Network Interface : A private NNI connects two
private ATM switches, while a public NNI connects two public
ATM switches
Advantages
• It can easily interface with the existing network such
as LAN,MAN,WAN
• Faster and Reliable
Disadvantages
• Cost of switching devices is higher.
• Overhead generated by the cell header is more.
