Frame

Relay
A virtual circuit technology that provides low-level
(physical and data link layers) service is response to the
following demands:

Higher data rate at lower cost

Bursty data
Less overhead due to improved transmission media

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 Frame Relay versus Pure
Mesh T-Line Network

6-LANs to be connected

Frame relay – originally designed to provide a 1.544 Mbps

- today it can handle up to 44.376MBPS ( = T3 line)

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 Fixed-Rate versus Bursty Data

Frame relay accepts bursty data

A user is granted an average data rate that can be

exceeded during bursty period

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 X.25 Traffic

X.25 provides extensive error checking and flow control

Station-to-station checking: Each station keeps a copy of the original

frame until it receives confirmation from the next station

Source-to-final destination checking (network layer)

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 Frame Relay Traffic

The quality of transmission media has improved,

more reliable and less error prone

Frame relay does not provide error checking or

require acknowledgement in the data link layer

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 Comparison Between X.25 & Frame
Relay
Feature X.25 Frame Relay

Connection At the network layer None

establishment
Hop-by-hop flow At the data link layer None
control & error control
End-to-end flow At the network layer None
control & error control
Data rate Fixed Bursty

Multiplexing At the network layer At the data link layer

Congestion control Not necessary Necessary

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 Advantages of Frame relay over X.25
& T-lines
• Operates at a higher speed
• Operates in just physical and data link
layers
– Can be used as a backbone network to
provide services to protocols that already
have a network protocol. Ex. TCP/IP
• Allows bursty data
• Less expensive

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 Disadvantages

• The data rate is still not high enough for protocols with
even higher data rates ( e.g. B-ISDN)

• Frame relay allows variable-length frames. This may

create varying delays for different users; users of small
frames are punished

• Not suitable for sending delay sensitive data such as

real-time voice or video ( e. g. teleconferencing)

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 Frame Relay Network

DTEs – device that connect users to the network

DCEs – switches that route the frames

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 Virtual Circuit

• Permanent Virtual circuit

– Connection is established between 2 DTEs by
the network provider

• Switched Virtual circuit

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 Data Link Connection Identifier (DLCI)

DLCI have local jurisdiction

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 PVC DLCIs

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 SVC Setup and Release

This job needs

the service of
the network
layer protocol

This makes a
connection
request using
the network
layer addresses
of DTEs

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 SVC DLCIs

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 DLCIs Inside a Network

DLCIs are unique only for a particular interface

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 Frame Relay Switch

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 Frame Relay Layers
Simplified version of HDLC

Any protocol recognized by ANSI

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 Comparing Layers in
Frame Relay and X.25
1.5 layers

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 Frame Relay Frame

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 • C/R – used by upper layer

• EA – 0 means another address byte is to follow

– 1 means that the current byte is the final one

• FECN – set by any switch – traffic is congested in the

direction in which the frame is traveling
– Informs the sender that congestion has occurred

• BECN – congestion problem in the direction opposite to

the one in which the frame is traveling
– Informs the sender that congestion has occurred

• DE – indicates the priority of the frame

– 1 – tells the network not to discard the frame
– Can set by the sender or any switch in the network

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 BECN

2 methods:
1. The switch can use response frames from the receiver, full duplex
mode
2. The switch can use a predefined connection (DLCI=1023) to send
special frames for this specific purpose

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 FECN

Receiver can delay the acknowledgement, forcing the

sender to slow down (communication at a higher layer)

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 Four Cases of Congestion
Congestion may occur if users send data into the
network at a rate greater than that allowed by network
resources (bursty data)

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 Leaky
Bucket

Same situation
occurs in a
Frame Relay
since it does not
use flow control

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 A Switch Controlling the Output Rate

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 Flowchart for Leaky
Bucket Algorithm

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 Example of Leaky Bucket Algorithm

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 Relationship between Traffic
Control Attributes

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 User Rate in Relation to Bc and Bc + Be

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 Three Address Formats

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 FRAD

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