HDLC Frame Types

I-frame S-frame U-frame

I-Frame: Information Frame

Flag Addres Contro Info FCS flag

s l

0 N(S) P/F N(R)

(1- (3-bits) (1- (3-bits)
bit) bit)
Information in I-frame
is the user information or payload coming from upper layers.
Consider the control field of I-frame:

• The first bit is ‘0’ informing the receiver that it is an I-frame

• N(S): Sequence number of frame sent

• P/F bit: Poll/Final bit: P=1 denotes that Primary is active; F=1
denotes that secondary is active. (for details, refer to book)

• N(R): Sequence number of next frame expected

S-Frame: Supervisory Frame

Flag Addres Contro FCS flag

s l

10 Code P/F N(R)

(2-bits) (2-bits) (1-bit) (3-bits)

The first 2 bits (10) show that it is an S-frame.

• Code: Applicable for S and U-frames only. A 2 bit field which

is interpreted as follows:

o 00: RR (Receive Ready)

o 10: RNR (Receive Not Ready)

o 01: REJ (Reject)

o 11 SREJ (Selective Reject)

U-Frame: Unnumbered Frame

Flag Addres Contro Info FCS flag

s l

11 Code P/F Code

(2-bits) (2-bits) (1-bit) (3-bits)

The first 2 bits (11) show that it is a U-frame.

U-frame codes are divided into two sections:

 2 bit prefix before P/F bit

  3 bit suffix after P/F bit

The important combinations are as shown in the table below:

2 bit 3 bit Functional

Code code Description
00 001 SNRM: Set
Normal Response
Mode
11 000 SARM: Set
Asynchronous
Response Mode
11 100 SABM: Set
Asynchronous
balance Mode
10 001 FRMR: Frame
Reject

Information in U-frame is the Management Information which

is required or managing the network.