Data Link Layer

• Provides a well-defined service interface to the network layer.

• Determines how the bits of the physical layer are grouped into frames (framing).
• Deals with transmission errors (CRC and ARQ).
• Regulates the flow of frames.(flow control).
• Performs general link layer management.(access control).

Packets Packets
(a)
Data link Data link
A Layer Frames Layer
B
Physical Physical
Layer Layer

(b) 1 1
2 2
1 2 3 2 1 Mediu 1 2 3 2 1
mmm
2
A B 1

1
Physical layer entity 3
Network layer entity
2 Data link layer entity
 End to End
ACK/NAK

1 2 3 4 5

Data Data Data Data

Hop by Hop

Data Data Data Data

1 2 3 4 5
ACK/ ACK/ ACK/ ACK/
NAK NAK NAK NAK

Tanenbaum’s Data Link Treatment

• Concerned with communication between two adjacent nodes in the subnet (IMP
to IMP).
• Assumptions:
– Bits delivered in the order sent
– Rigid interface between the HOST and the node è the communications
policy and the Host protocol (with OS affects) can evolve separately.
– uses a simplified model
 Layer
Layer44
Host Host
A B

Layer 2
Node Node
1 2
frame

Data Link Layer Model

Assume Host has infinite supply of messages.
Node constructs frame from a single packet message.
Checksum is automatically appended in the hardware.
Protocols are developed in increasing complexity to help
Understand the data link layer issues.
 Basic Elements of ARQ
Information Error-free
Packet packet
frames
sequence sequence
Transmitter Receiver

Station A Control Station B

frames

CRC
CRC Header
Heade
Information
r Control frame
packet
Information Frame

packet

network layer buffer

frame

data link layer info ack seq kind

physical layer
Protocol 3 (PAR) Positive ACK with Retransmission [Old Tanenbaum
Version]
#define MAX_SEQ 1
typedef enum {frame_arrival, cksum_err, timeout} event_type;
include “protocol.h”

void sender_par (void)

{
seq_nr next_frame_to_send;
frame s;
packet buffer;
event_type event;
next_frame_to_send = 0;
from_network_layer (&buffer);
while (true)
s.info = buffer;
s.seq = next_frame_to_send;
to_physical_layer (&s);
start_timer (s.seq);
if (event == frame_arrival) {
from_network_layer (&buffer);
inc (next_frame_to_send);
}
}
}

Protocol 3 (PAR) Positive ACK with Retransmission [Old Tanenbaum Version]

void receiver_par (void)

{
seq_nr next_frame_to_send;
frame r, s;
event_type event;
frame_expected = 0;
while (true)
wait_for_event (&event);
if (event == frame_arrival) {
from_physical_layer (&r);
if (r.seq == frame_expected) {
to_network_layer(&r.info);
inc (frame_expected);
}
to_physical_layer (&s);
/* Note – no sequence number on ACK */
}
}
}
 Ambiguities with Stop-and-Wait
[unnumbered frames]
(a) Frame 1 lost Time-out
time
A frame frame frame frame
0 1 1 2
ACK ACK
B

(b) ACK lost Time-out

time
A frame frame frame frame
0 1 1 2
ACK ACK ACK
B

In parts (a) and (b) transmitting station A acts the same way,
but part (b) receiving station B accepts frame 1 twice.
Figure 5.9

PAR [OLD] problem

Ambiguities when ACKs are not numbered

time-out
time
A frame
0 frame frame frame
0 1 2
ACK
ACK
B

Transmitting station A misinterprets duplicate ACKs

 State Machine for Stop-and-Wait
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

Slast Rnext
Timer

Slast
Transmitter Receiver

Station A Rnext Station B

(0,0) Error-free frame 0

(0,1)
arrives at receiver
Global State:
ACK for
(Slast, Rnext) ACK for frame 0
frame 1 arrives at
arrives at transmitter
transmitter Error-free frame 1
arrives at receiver
(1,0) (1,1)
 Sliding Window Protocols
[Tanenbaum]

Must be able to transmit data in both directions.

Choices for utilization of the reverse channel:
mix DATA frames with ACK frames.
Piggyback the ACK
Receiver waits for DATA traffic in the opposite
direction.
Use the ACK field in the frame header to send sequence
number of frame being ACKed.
 better use of the channel capacity.

• ACKs introduce a new issue – how long does

receiver wait before sending ONLY an ACK
frame.
 We need an ACKTimer!!
 sender timeout period needs to set longer.
• The protocol must deal with the premature
timeout problem and be “robust” under
pathological conditions.
Each outbound frame must contain a sequence number. With n bits for the
sequence number field, maxseq = 2**n - 1 and the numbers range from 0 to
maxseq.
Sliding window :: sender has a window of frames and maintains a list of
consecutive sequence numbers for frames that it is permitted to send without
waiting for ACKs.
receiver has a window that is a list of frame sequence numbers it is
permitted to accept.
Note – sending and receiving windows do NOT have to be the same size.
Windows can be fixed size or dynamically growing and shrinking

• Host is oblivious, message order at transport level is maintained.

sender’s window :: frames sent but not yet ACKed.
– new packets from the Host cause the upper edge inside
sender window to be incremented.
– ACKed frames from the receiver cause the lower edge inside
window to be incremented.
• All frames in the sender’s window must be saved for possible
retransmission and we need one timer per frame in the window.

• If the maximum sender window size is B, the sender needs B buffers.

• If the sender window gets full (i.e., reaches its maximum window
size, the protocol must shut off the Host (the network layer) until
buffers become available.
• receiver window
Frames received with sequence numbers outside the receiver window are not
accepted.
receiver window
– Frames received with sequence numbers outside the receiver
window are not accepted.
– The receiver window size is normally static.
The set of acceptable sequence numbers is rotated as “acceptable”
frames arrive.
a receiver window size = 1 è the protocol only accepts frames in order.
There is referred to as Go Back N.

Standard Ways to ACK

ACK sequence number indicates the last

frame successfully received.
ACK sequence number indicates the next
frame the receiver expects to receive.
Both of these can be strictly individual ACKs
or represent cumulative ACKing.
Cumulative ACKing is the most common
technique.
 Go Back N

Go-Back-4: 4 frames are outstanding; so go back 4

fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr time
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A

B
A A A Out-of-sequence frames A A A A A A
C C C C C C C C C
K K K K K K K K K
1 2 3 error 4 5 6 7 8 9

ACKing next frame expected

 Go Back N
with NAK error recovery
Transmitter goes back to frame 1

Go-Back-7:

fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr time
0 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
A 6 7 0

B
A N Out-of-sequence A A A A A A
C A frames C C C C C C
K K K K K K K K
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

error

Selective Repeat
with NAK error recovery

fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr fr time
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 2 7 8 9
A 10 11 12

B
A A N A A A A A A A A A
C C A C C C C C C C C C
K K K K K K K K K K K K
1 2 2 2 2 2 7 8 9 1 1 1
error 0 1 2