Fiber distributed data Interface

(FDDI)
 FDDI is a local area network protocol standardized
by ANSI and the ITU-T.
 It supports data rate of 100Mbps and provides a high
speed alternative to Ethernet and Token Ring.
 Copper version of FDDI is known as CDDI.
 Access Method: Token Passing

 Access limited by time.

 Has two data frames:
 Synchronous (S-frames)

 Asynchronous (A-frames)

 Synchronous refer to real time information

 Asynchronous is not real time information.
 Each station which has token has to send S-frames
first and then A-frames.
 Time Registers

 Values of registers are set during initialisation of the ring

and do not change during the operation.
 Synchronous Allocation (SA): indicates the length of
the time allowed for each station for sending
synchronous data. Different for each station.
 Target Token Rotation Time (TTRT): indicates the
average time required for a token to circulate around the
ring exactly once.
 Absolute Maximum Time (AMT): Holds the value
twice the TTRT. A token may not take more than this
time to make a rotation, if it does that means some
station is monopolising the network and ring has to be
reinitialised.
 Timers

 Each station has their own timers to compare with

the values in the time registers.
 These can be set or reset or changed during the
course of operation.
 Token Rotation Timer (TRT): runs continuously
and measures the actual time taken by the token to
complete a cycle. Incrementing type.
 Token Holding Timer (THT): begins running as
soon as the token is received. Shows how much time
is available with the station to send A-frames once
the S-frames are sent. Decrementing type.
 Station Procedure when token arrives

 THT is set to the difference between TTRT and TRT.

(THT=TTRT-TRT)
 TRT is reset to zero. (TRT=0)
 The station send its synchronous data.
 The station send asynchronous data as long as the
value of THT is positive.
Example. Pg.394 Forouzan
 Encoding

 FDDI uses 4B/5B encoding.

 Here every four bit data is encoded into 5 bits and these 5 bits are
encoded using NRZ-I coding scheme.
 To ensure that there is no long sequence of 0’s.
 Five bits don’t have more than 2 consecutive 0’s.
 Encoding

 The remaining five bit codes not used to represent the four
bit data are used to represent the control bit in the frame as
shown in table.
 A “K” always follows a “J”, “H” is never followed by an “R”.
 Implementation

 Uses Dual Ring

 Transmission takes place in the primary ring

 Secondary is used only if the primary ring fails.

 Nodes

 Three types
1. DAS: Dual attachment station
 Has two Media Interface connector (MIC) called MIC A and MIC B
and connects to both the rings.
 Need for complex NIC to connect server etc.
2. SAS: Single attachment station
 Has only one MIC (called MIC S) and connects only to one ring.
 SASs connected to intermediate node DAC and then in-turn
connected to the dual ring
 Needs simple NIC to connect server etc.
3. DAC: Dual attachment concentrator
 Uses MIC M to connect an SAS.