Flow Control in Data Link Layer and Network Layer
- Flow control is an important aspect of data communication, and it is implemented in both the data link layer and network layer of the OSI model.
- In the data link layer, the main goal of flow control is to managing the flow of frames between the transmitter and receiver
- It includes the following techniques such as buffer management, stop-and-wait protocol, and sliding window protocol.
- These flow control techniques in the data link layer helps to regulate the flow of data and prevent buffer overflow.
- In case of network layer, flow control is concerned with controlling the movement of packets inside a network, usually between routers.
- The main purpose is to avoid network congestion and promote equitable resource distribution.
- At the network layer, traffic policing is a flow control technique. It applies a rate limit on incoming or outgoing packets and checks the packet flow to see if it goes above a predetermined limit. In order to avoid network congestion, extra packets can be dropped or marked for lower priority treatment.
- Another flow control technique in this layer is traffic shaping. Traffic shaping regulates the flow of packets by delaying them to ensure they conform to a specific traffic profile.
- This helps prevent congestion and improves overall network performance by smoothing out bursts of traffic.
- in addition, quality of service (QoS) mechanisms, routing protocols, and congestion control algorithms in the network layer contribute to flow control by prioritizing packets, optimizing routing paths, and managing network traffic load.
Why Flow Control is Used in Both Data Link Layer and Network Layer?
OSI model was established in1947 by international standard organization is a multinational body dedicated to worldwide agreement on international standards.ISO standard covers all the aspects of network communications is the Open System Interconnection model.It was introduced in the late 1070s. an open system is a set of protocols that allows any two different systems to communicate regardless of their underlying architecture.The purpose of the OSI model is to show how to facilitate communication between different systems without requiring changes to the logic of the underlying hardware and software.