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• Fibre distributed data interface (FDDI) is a token based

Fibre Distributed Data technology using fibre optical links.
Interface (FDDI) • The FDDI specification defines the use of OSI layers 1 and
2 (Physical layer and Data Link layer)
• This is similar to IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.5 in its
relationship to the OSI Model.
• FDDI was developed by the American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) X3T9.5 standards committee in the mid-
1980s

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Some characteristics of FDDI are given in the Table below

Characteristic Information
Network capacity 100Mb/s (or 200 if both rings)
• FDDI's operation is similar to that of token ring. Network configuration dual counter-rotating rings
Maximum length 100Km (or 200KM dual)
• Token-passing networks move a small frame, called a
Maximum distance between stations 2Km
token, around the network Maximum number of stations 1000 (both rings)
• The two networks share a few features, such as MAC method circulating token
topology (ring) and media access technique (token- Physical media Mono-mode or muti-mode fibre
passing). Optical wavelength 1300nm
Bit error rate 10-9
Source coding 4B/5B code
Channel coding NRZI
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• A characteristic of FDDI is its use of optical fiber as a

• FDDI specifies a 100 Mbps, token-passing, dual-ring
LAN that uses a fiber-optic transmission medium.
• FDDI continues to grow as its costs decrease.
• FDDI is frequently used as a backbone technology, and
to connect high-speed computers in a LAN.
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transmission medium. Optical
• Fibre offers several advantages over traditional copper
wiring, including such advantages as:
-Security - Fibre does not emit electrical signals that
can be tapped.
-Reliability - Fibre is immune to electrical interference.
-Speed - Optical fibre has much higher throughput
potential than copper cable.

FDDI Transmission Media

Fibre Optic Cable

-Less signal attenuation. transmission distance is

significantly greater than that of other guided media.
A signal can run for 50 km without requiring
regeneration.
-Resistance to corrosive materials. Glass is more resistant
to corrosive materials than copper.
-Light weight. Fiber-optic cables are much lighter than
copper cables.

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• Optical fiber consists of thin glass fiber that can carry
information at frequencies in the visible light spectrum.
• The typical optical fiber consists of a very narrow strand of
glass called the cladding.
• A typical core diameter is 62.5 microns.
• Typically cladding has a diameter of 125 microns.
• The cladding is a protected with a coating consisting of
plastic, - called the jacket.
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FIGURE. Single-mode and Multi-mode fibers
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Media types
FDDI defines the two specified types of fiber:
1) Single-mode (also mono-mode); and
2) Multi-mode.
• Modes can be thought of as bundles of light rays entering
the fiber at a particular angle.
• Single-mode fiber allows only one mode of light to
propagate through the fiber, while multi-mode fiber allows
multiple modes of light to propagate through the fiber.
• Multiple modes of light propagating through fiber may
travel different distances, depending on their entry
angles.
• This causes them to arrive at the destination at
different times, -a phenomenon called modal
dispersion.
• Single-mode fiber is capable of higher bandwidth, and
greater cable run distances, than multi-mode fiber.
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Network configuration
• FDDI uses a dual-ring architecture with traffic on each
Because of these characteristics ring flowing in opposite directions (called counter-
rotating).
• Single-mode fiber is often used for inter-building
connectivity while • The dual-rings consist of a primary and a secondary
ring.
• Multi-mode fiber is often used for intra-building
connectivity. • Signal travels in opposite directions.
• Multi-mode fiber also uses LEDs as the light-generating • Physically, the rings consist of two or more point-to-
devices, while point connections between adjacent stations.
• Single-mode fiber generally uses lasers.
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• The primary ring is used for data transmission while

• the secondary ring is generally used as a back up

FIGURE: FDDI uses counter-rotating primary and secondary rings

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FDDI Station-Attachment Types
FDDI defines three types of devices:
1) Single-Attachment Station (SAS),
2) Dual-Attachment Station (DAS), and a
3) Concentrator.
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• SASs are attached to the primary ring through a concentrator,
• They provides connections for multiple SASs.
• The concentrator ensures that a failure, or power down, of any
given SAS, does not interrupt the ring.
• This is particularly useful when PCs, or similar devices that
frequently power on and off, connect to the ring.
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1) FDDI DAS ports attach to the primary and secondary rings
2) A concentrator attaches to both the primary and secondary rings
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•Each FDDI DAS has two ports - designated A
and B.
•These ports connect the station to the dual
FDDI ring,
•So, each port provides a connection for both
the primary and the secondary ring.
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• FDDI's dual ring assures that not only are stations
guaranteed their turn to transmit, but if one part of one
ring is damaged or disabled for any reason, the second
ring can be used.
• This makes FDDI very reliable.
• FDDI supports real-time allocation of network
bandwidth, making it ideal for a variety of different
application types.
• It provides this support by defining two types of traffic -
synchronous and asynchronous
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Synchronous
• Synchronous traffic can consume a portion of the 100 Mbps
total bandwidth of an FDDI network, while asynchronous
traffic can consume the rest.
• Synchronous bandwidth is allocated to those stations
requiring continuous transmission capability.
• This is useful for transmitting voice and video information.
The remaining bandwidth is used for asynchronous
transmissions.
• The FDDI Station Management(SMT) specification defines a
distributed bidding scheme to allocate FDDI bandwidth.
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FDDI Specifications
Asynchronous
1. Media Access Control (MAC) - defines how the medium is
• Asynchronous bandwidth is allocated using an eight- accessed, including:
level priority scheme. Each station is assigned an frame format
asynchronous priority level.
token handling
• FDDI also permits extended dialogues, in which
stations may temporarily use all asynchronous addressing mechanism
bandwidth. algorithm for calculating a cyclic redundancy check and
• The FDDI priority mechanism can lock out stations error recovery mechanisms
that cannot use synchronous bandwidth, and that
have too low an asynchronous priority.
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2. Physical Layer Protocol (PHY) - defines data 3. PhysicalLayer Medium (PMD) - defines the characteristics
encoding/decoding procedures, including: of the transmission medium, including:
clocking requirements  fiber optic link
framing  power levels
bit error rates
other functions


 optical components
 connectors

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FORMAT fields of an FDDI frame:

4. Station Management (SMT) - defines the FDDI station

configuration, including:
 ring configuration
 ring control features
 station insertion and removal
 initialization
 fault isolation and recovery
 scheduling
 collection of statistics 27 28

• FDDI Frame Format
• The FDDI frame format is similar to the format of a
Token Ring frame.
• It is one of the areas where FDDI borrows heavily from
earlier LAN technologies, such as Token Ring
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• Destination address - contains a unicast (singular), multicast
(group), or broadcast (every station) address; destination
addresses are 6 bytes (like Ethernet and Token Ring)
• Source address - identifies the single station that sent the
frame; source addresses are 6 bytes (like Ethernet and Token
Ring)
• Data - control information, or information destined for an
upper-layer protocol
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 Preamble - prepares each station for the upcoming
frame
 Start delimiter - indicates the beginning of the frame,
and consists of signaling patterns that differentiate it
from the rest of the frame
 Frame control - indicates the size of the address
fields, whether the frame contains asynchronous or
synchronous data, and other control information
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•Frame check sequence (FCS) - filled by the source station with
a calculated cyclic redundancy check (CRC), value dependent
on the frame contents (as with Token Ring and Ethernet).
-The destination station recalculates the value to determine
whether the frame may have been damaged in transit. If it has
been, the frame is discarded.
 End delimiter - contains non-data symbols that indicate the
end of the frame
•Frame status - allows the source station to determine if an
error occurred and if the frame was recognized and copied by
a receiving station
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