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WHAT IS FRAME RELAY?
As stated in Wikipedia, 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.
PACKET SWITCHING
Packet switching is a digital networking
communications method that groups all
transmitted data into suitably sized blocks,
called packets, which are transmitted via a
medium that may be shared by multiple
simultaneous communication sessions.
Packet
switching
increases
network
efficiency,
robustness
and
enables
technological
convergence
of
many
applications operating on the same network.
FRAME RELAY STRUCTURE
Flag Field. The flag is used to perform high-level
data link synchronization which indicates the
beginning and end of the frame with the unique
pattern 01111110. To ensure that the 01111110
pattern does not appear somewhere inside the
frame, bit stuffing and destuffing procedures
are used.
CONTINUE
Address Field. Each address field may occupy either octet 2 to 3, octet
2 to 4, or octet 2 to 5, depending on the range of the address in use.
Extended Address (EA). Extended Address field signifies up to two
additional bytes in the Frame Relay header, thus greatly expanding the
number of possible addresses.
2.
Command/Response Bit (C/R). Designates whether the frame is a
command or response.
3.
Data Link Connection Identifier Bits (DLCI). 10-bits DLCI serves to identify
the virtual connection so that the receiving end knows which information
connection a frame belongs to.
4.
FECN, BECN, DE bits. These bits report congestion:
a)
FECN= Forward Explicit Congestion Notification bit
b)
BECN= Backward Explicit Congestion Notification bit
c)
DE= Discard Eligibility bit
1.
CONTINUE
Information Field. The Information field
may include other protocols within it,
such as an X.25, IP or SDLC (SNA)
packet.
Frame Check Sequence (FCS) Field.
Aiming to ensure the integrity of the
transmitted
data.
This
value
is
calculated by source device and verified
by the recipient. The error detection
mechanism used in Frame Relay uses
the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) as its
basis.
HOW DOES FRAME RELAY WORKS?
In Frame Relay implementation, the
connection between a DTE (router) device
and a DCE (Frame Relay switch) device
consists of both a physical layer component
and a link layer component:
1. The physical component defines the
mechanical and electrical specifications for
the connection between the devices.
2. The link layer component defines the
protocol that establishes the connection
between the DTE device, such as a router,
and the DCE device, such as a switch.
CONTINUE
When interconnection between LANs are
implemented using frame relay, the LAN Gateway router
(DTE) is connected to the Frame Relay switch (DCE)
through a serial connection such as a T1/E1 leased line,
at the nearest point-of-presence (POP) or WAN edge
Network switches move frames from one DTE across
the network and deliver frames to other DTEs via DCEs.
Other network computing equipment that is not on a
LAN may also send data across a Frame Relay network
by using a Frame Relay Access Device (FRAD) as the
DTE.
The FRAD is sometimes referred to as a Frame Relay
assembler/dissembler and is a dedicated appliance or a
router that is configured to support Frame Relay. It is
located on the customers premises and connects to a
switch port on the service providers network. In turn,
the service provider interconnects the Frame Relay
switches.
1.
The DTE (router) sends frames to the DCE (Frame relay
Switches) on the WAN edge
2.
The frames moves from switch to switch across the WAN to the
destination DCE (frame relay switch) on the WAN edge
3. The destination DCE delivers the frames to the destination DTE
DEVICES
In order for a frame relay WAN to transmit
data, DTE and DCE are required
1. Data Terminal Equipment (DTE), DTEs are
typically located on the customer's premises
and can encompass terminals, routers,
bridges and personal computers.
2. Data Circuit-terminating Equipment (DCE),
DCEs are managed by the carriers and
provide switching and associated services.
ADVANTAGES OF FRAME RELAY
Cost Savings
Higher circuit utilization
Higher network availability
Extended Technology Life Duration
Protocol Independence
High Performance
DISADVANTAGE OF FRAME RELAY
Expensive to implement
The network must be in place for it to be used
properly
Slow rates can occur if too many connections are
using the same station
Allows variable length frames
Create varying delays for different users
Not suitable for sending delay sensitive data such
as real time voice or video or teleconferencing.
SETTING UP THE FRAME RELAY
OUR OPINION ABOUT FRAME RELAY
