Glossary
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notification, ordered delivery of frames, and flow control. The IEEE has fur-
ther segmented this layer into the MAC sublayer and the LLC sublayer. Also
known as the link layer. Can be compared somewhat to the data link control
layer of the SNA model. See also: application layer, LLC, MAC, network
layer, physical layer, presentation layer, session layer, and transport layer.
DCC
Data Country Code: Developed by the ATM Forum, one of two ATM
address formats designed for use by private networks. Compare with: ICD.
DCE
data communications equipment (as defined by the EIA) or data cir-
cuit-terminating equipment (as defined by the ITU-T): The mechanisms and
links of a communications network that make up the network portion of the
user-to-network interface, such as modems. The DCE supplies the physical
connection to the network, forwards traffic, and provides a clocking signal
to synchronize data transmission between DTE and DCE devices. Compare
with: DTE.
D channel
1) Data channel: A full-duplex, 16Kbps (BRI) or 64Kbps (PRI)
ISDN channel. Compare with: B channel, E channel, and H channel. 2) In
SNA, anything that provides a connection between the processor and main
storage with any peripherals.
DDP
Datagram Delivery Protocol: Used in the AppleTalk suite of protocols
as a connectionless protocol that is responsible for sending datagrams
through an internetwork.
DDR
dial-on-demand routing: A technique that allows a router to auto-
matically initiate and end a circuit-switched session per the requirements of
the sending station. By mimicking keepalives, the router fools the end station
into treating the session as active. DDR permits routing over ISDN or tele-
phone lines via a modem or external ISDN terminal adapter.
DE
Discard Eligibility: Used in Frame Relay networks to tell a switch that
a frame can be discarded if the switch is too busy. The DE is a field in the
frame that is turned on by transmitting routers if the Committed Informa-
tion Rate (CIR) is oversubscribed or set to 0.
DE bit
The DE bit marks a frame as discard eligible on a Frame Relay net-
work. If a serial link is congested and the Frame Relay network has passed
the Committed Information Rate (CIR), then the DE bit will always be on.
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