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LogicallinkcontrolWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Logicallinkcontrol
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

IntheIEEE802referencemodelofcomputernetworking,thelogicallinkcontrol(LLC)datacommunication
protocollayeristheuppersublayerofthedatalinklayer(layer2)ofthesevenlayerOSImodel.TheLLCsublayer
providesmultiplexingmechanismsthatmakeitpossibleforseveralnetworkprotocols(IP,IPX,Decnetand
Appletalk)tocoexistwithinamultipointnetworkandtobetransportedoverthesamenetworkmedium.Itcanalso
provideflowcontrolandautomaticrepeatrequest(ARQ)errormanagementmechanisms.
TheLLCsublayeractsasaninterfacebetweenthemediaaccesscontrol(MAC)sublayerandthenetworklayer.

Contents
1 Operation
2 Applicationexamples
2.1 X.25andLAPB
2.2 Localareanetwork(LAN)andmetropolitanareanetwork(MAN)protocols
2.2.1 Ethernet
2.2.2 WirelessLAN
2.3 HDLC
2.4 PPPandmodems
2.5 Cellularsystems
2.6 Powerlines
3 Seealso

Operation
TheLLCsublayerisprimarilyconcernedwith:
MultiplexingprotocolstransmittedovertheMAClayer(whentransmitting)anddecodingthem(when
receiving).
Providingnodetonodeflowanderrorcontrol
Intoday'snetworks,flowcontrolanderrormanagementistypicallytakencareofbyatransportlayerprotocol
suchasTCP,orbysomeapplicationlayerprotocol,inanendtoendfashion,i.e.retransmissionisdonefrom
sourcetoenddestination.ThisimpliesthattheneedforLLCsublayerflowcontrolanderrormanagementhas
reduced.LLCisconsequentlyonlyamultiplexingfeatureintoday'slinklayerprotocols.AnLLCheadertellsthe
datalinklayerwhattodowithapacketonceaframeisreceived.Itworkslikethis:Ahostwillreceiveaframeand
lookintheLLCheadertofindouttowhatprotocolstackthepacketisdestinedforexample,theIPprotocolat
thenetworklayerorIPX.However,todaymostnonIPnetworkprotocolsareabandoned.

Applicationexamples
X.25andLAPB

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AnLLCsublayerwasakeycomponentinearlypacketswitchingnetworkssuchasX.25networkswiththeLAPB
datalinklayerprotocol,whereflowcontrolanderrormanagementwerecarriedoutinanodetonodefashion,
meaningthatifanerrorwasdetectedinaframe,theframewasretransmittedfromoneswitchtonextinstead.This
extensivehandshakingbetweenthenodesmadethenetworksslow.

Localareanetwork(LAN)andmetropolitanareanetwork(MAN)protocols
TheIEEE802.2standardspecifiestheLLCsublayerforallIEEE802localareanetworks,suchasIEEE
802.3/Ethernet(iftheEtherTypefieldisnotused),IEEE802.5,andIEEE802.11.IEEE802.2isalsousedinsome
nonIEEE802networkssuchasFDDI.
Ethernet
Sincebiterrorsareveryrareinwirednetworks,Ethernetdoesnotprovideflowcontrolorautomaticrepeatrequest
(ARQ),meaningthatincorrectpacketsaredetectedbutonlycancelled,notretransmitted(exceptincaseof
collisionsdetectedbytheCSMA/CDMAClayerprotocol).Instead,retransmissionsrelyonhigherlayerprotocols.
AstheEtherTypeinanEthernetframeusingEthernetIIframingisusedtomultiplexdifferentprotocolsontopof
theEthernetMACheaderitcanbeseenasanLLCidentifier.However,EthernetframeslackinganEtherTypehave
noLLCidentifierintheEthernetheader,and,instead,useanIEEE802.2LLCheaderaftertheEthernetheaderto
providetheprotocolmultiplexingfunction.
WirelessLAN
Inwirelesscommunications,biterrorsareverycommon.InwirelessnetworkssuchasIEEE802.11,flowcontrol
anderrormanagementispartoftheCSMA/CAMACprotocol,andnotpartoftheLLClayer.TheLLCsublayer
followstheIEEE802.2standard.

HDLC
SomenonIEEE802protocolscanbethoughtofasbeingsplitintoMACandLLClayers.Forexample,while
HDLCspecifiesbothMACfunctions(framingofpackets)andLLCfunctions(protocolmultiplexing,flowcontrol,
detection,anderrorcontrolthrougharetransmissionofdroppedpacketswhenindicated),someprotocolssuchas
CiscoHDLCcanuseHDLClikepacketframingandtheirownLLCprotocol.

PPPandmodems
Overtelephonenetworkmodems,PPPlinklayerprotocolscanbeconsideredasaLLCprotocol,providing
multiplexing,butitdoesnotprovideflowcontrolanderrormanagement.Inatelephonenetwork,biterrorsmight
becommon,meaningthaterrormanagementiscrucial,butthatistodayprovidedbymodernprotocols.Today's
modemprotocolshaveinheritedLLCfeaturesfromtheolderLAPMlinklayerprotocol,madeformodem
communicationinoldX.25networks.

Cellularsystems
TheGPRSLLClayeralsodoescipheringanddecipheringofSNPDU(SNDCP)packets.

Powerlines

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AnotherexampleofadatalinklayerwhichissplitbetweenLLC(forflowanderrorcontrol)andMAC(for
multipleaccess)istheITUTG.hnstandard,whichprovideshighspeedlocalareanetworkingoverexistinghome
wiring(powerlines,phonelinesandcoaxialcables).

Seealso
VirtualCircuitMultiplexing(VCMUX)
SubnetworkAccessProtocol(SNAP)
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