Lecture 7

OSI Data Link Layer

Objectives
Data Link Layer
◦ Logical Link Control (LLC)
◦ Media Access Control (MAC)
Types of media access control
Physical Topology vs. Logical Topology
Logical Link Layer Addressing
◦ Physical address or MAC address
Trailer and Frame Check Sequence (FCS)
Role of OSI Data Link Layer
Prepare network layer packets for
transmission – how to organize data into
frame
◦ Encapsulate packets into frames – the Data
Link lay PDU
Control access to the physical media –
how to transmit frames over a network
◦ Media access control
Data Link Layer
Unlike the upper layer protocols (which
are implemented mostly in software),
Data Link layer processes occur both in
software and hardware
Protocols at this layer are implemented
within the electronic of the network
adapter (e.g., network interface card,
wireless PCMCIA adapter)
Data Link Layer
Logical Link Control (LLC) sublayer
◦ Define the software processes that provide
services to the Network layer protocols
◦ Identify the type of packets
Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer
◦ Define the media access processes performed
by the hardware
◦ Regulate the placement of data frames onto
the media – how the nodes share the media
Physical vs. Logical Topology
Network topologies can be viewed at the
physical level and the logical level
Physical topology is an arrangement of
the nodes and the physical connections
between them
Logical topology is the way a network
transfers frames from one node to the next
Physical Topology
Physical topology is the layout that the
network is physically wired
Physical Bus Topology
Bus
◦ Single cable connecting all network nodes
◦ No intervening connectivity devices
One shared communication channel
Passive topology
◦ Node listens for, accepts data
◦ Use broadcast to send
Terminators
◦ 50-ohm resistors, Stops signal at end of wire
Disadvantage
◦ Does not scale well
◦ Difficult to troubleshoot
◦ Not very fault tolerant
Physical Ring Topology
Node connects to nearest two nodes
Circular network
◦ One direction (unidirectional) around ring
Active topology
◦ Workstation participates in data delivery
Disadvantage
◦ Malfunctioning workstation can disable
network
◦ Not flexible or scalable
Physical Star Topology
Node connects through central device
◦ Single cable connects two devices
Requiremore cabling, configuration
Advantage
◦ Fault tolerance
◦ Scalable
Most popular fundamental layout
◦ Ethernet networks based on star topology
Logical Topology
Logical topology specifies how data
actually flow on the network
◦ Logical bus topology
 Signals travel from one device to all others
 Ethernet

◦ Logical ring topology

 Signals follow circular path
 Token ring

◦ Logical star topology

 Transmission is managed by central device
Logical Topology
Most networks (e.g., Ethernet) use the
physical star topology
However, the logical topology might be a
bus, a ring, or a star
Data Link Layer Addressing
Data Link layer provides addressing used
in transporting the frame across media
◦ Physical address or MAC address – used for
only local delivery
 48-bit arranged into 6 groups separated by dash
 Each group consists of two hexadecimal
 5D-EF-10-27-AB-C8
 MAC address is assigned to NIC from its
manufacturer – also called “hardware address”
Frame Check Sequence (FCS)
Frame Check Sequence (FCS) is used to
determine if errors occurred in the
transmission and reception of the frame
◦ At the source node, Cyclic Redundancy Check
(CRC) value is calculated based on content of
the frame and placed in FCS
◦ At the destination node, CRC value is also
calculated and compared to the CRC value in
FCS