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Difference Between HDLC and PPP

HDLC is a bit-oriented protocol used for encapsulating data in WANs, while PPP is a byte-oriented protocol used for encapsulating data transported over point-to-point links, which can be synchronous or asynchronous. Some key differences are that HDLC only supports synchronous media, has no authentication, and is not interoperable between non-Cisco devices, whereas PPP supports both synchronous and asynchronous media, provides authentication, and is interoperable with non-Cisco devices. PPP also allows for dynamic addressing and is the preferred protocol overall due to its greater capabilities and flexibility.

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68 views

Difference Between HDLC and PPP

HDLC is a bit-oriented protocol used for encapsulating data in WANs, while PPP is a byte-oriented protocol used for encapsulating data transported over point-to-point links, which can be synchronous or asynchronous. Some key differences are that HDLC only supports synchronous media, has no authentication, and is not interoperable between non-Cisco devices, whereas PPP supports both synchronous and asynchronous media, provides authentication, and is interoperable with non-Cisco devices. PPP also allows for dynamic addressing and is the preferred protocol overall due to its greater capabilities and flexibility.

Uploaded by

Jonathan Jaeger
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Difference Between HDLC and PPP

techdifferences.com/difference-between-hdlc-and-ppp.html

September 10, 2018

The major difference between HDLC and PPP is that HDLC is the bit oriented protocol,
while PPP is the character-oriented protocol. The HDLC and PPP are the crucial data link
layer protocols used in WAN (wide area network) where the HDLC can also be
implemented with PPP for the efficient results.

HDLC describes the encapsulation technique employed on the data in the synchronous
serial data link. On the other hand, the PPP protocol deals with the encapsulation of the
data transported in the point-to-point links and it could be synchronous or asynchronous.

Content: HDLC Vs PPP

Comparison Chart

Basis for
comparison HDLC PPP

Expands to High-level Data Link Layer Point-to-Point Protocol


Protocol

Type of protocols Bit-oriented protocol Byte oriented protocol

Used in Only synchronous media Synchronous as well as


asynchronous media
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Basis for
comparison HDLC PPP

Authentication No provision of authentication Provides authentication

Dynamic addressing Does not offer dynamic Dynamic addressing is used.


addressing.

Implemented in Point-to-point and multipoint Only point-to-point


configurations. configurations.

Compatibility with Can not be operated with non- Interoperable with non-Cisco
other protocols Cisco devices. devices also.

Definition of HDLC
HDLC (High-level Data Link Control) is a WAN protocol intended to perform the
encapsulation of the data in the data link layer. The encapsulation of the data means to
change the format of the of the data. SDLC is the predecessor of the HDLC which stands for
the Synchronous Data Link Control protocol. Both SDLC and HDLC protocol are
developed by IBM and submitted to the ANSI and ISO for the acceptance as the
international standards.

The HDLC protocol follows the bit-oriented concept and uses bit stuffing for achieving data
transparency. Here bit oriented approach signifies that the single bit is used to present the
control information. The frame structure of HDLC contains the address, control, data,
checksum and flag fields. The default encapsulation protocol in the Cisco devices is the
HDLC. The Cisco proprietary HDLC only works when the devices in both of the ends of the
link are of cisco. Standard HDLC can have different devices in the ends.

Frame format for the bit-oriented protocols

Address field – It is used to describe the terminal.


Control field – The bits in the control field is intended for the sequence number
and acknowledgements.
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Data field – This field is used to hold the information.
Checksum field -In this field, the bits are reserved for the performing the cyclic
redundancy code.

HDLC Commands and Requests


The HDLC uses a group of commands and responses for its working. There are three types
of frames information, supervisory and unnumbered.

Information transfer format (I-Frame) – It transports the numbered frames in a


sequential manner, which contain the information field.
Supervisory format (S-Frame) – The supervisory frames conduct the managerial
functions such as acknowledgement, information transfer status, polling and error
recovery. The commands and requests included in this are RECEIVE READY,
RECEIVE NOT READY, REJECT, etcetera.
Unnumbered format (U-Frame) – It basically extends the data link control
functions. There several commands and requests fall under this category such as
RESET, TEST, FRAME REJECT, REQUEST DISCONNECT, etcetera.

Definition of PPP
PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) is also a WAN protocol, but there are several
enhancements made in the PPP protocol after HDLC. Priorly, the PPP protocol is not
proprietary, which means that it can be used with two different type of devices without
committing changes over the format of the data. All of the links collaboratively treated as
single, independent IP network which is having its own frame format, hardware addressing
method, and data link protocol. A point-to-point connection is obtained without assigning
multiple IP addresses to the tangible wires, and it just needs the IP network number.

There are several features of PPP, which are discussed below.

To clearly identify the start and end of the frame, the framing method is used on the
asynchronous data. It is also beneficial in the detection of the errors.
A link control protocol is used for enabling the network lines, testing them,
terminate them when no longer used. This link control protocol is basically helpful in
handling the synchronous and asynchronous circuits, and byte and bit-oriented
encodings.
It can select the NCP (Network Control Protocol) for each supported network
layer.

Frame format for the PPP

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The PPP frame contains two flag fields, a protocol filed to determine the type of packet
residing in the payload, and a payload field which can variate. However, the rest of the
fields are the same as the HDLC protocol.

Working of the PPP protocol


The User first calls the internet service provider’s router to establish the physical
connection; the request goes through the modem.
After the generation of the reply by the router’s modem, the physical connection is
established.
User device sends a set of LCP packets in the payload field of one or more PPP frames
sequence wise.
The PPP parameters are chosen according to the packets and their responses.
After selecting PPP parameters, the NCP packets are delivered for the configuration
of the network layer.
Then the IP addresses are dynamically assigned with the help of the NCP to the newly
attached devices for the duration of its login by the provider.
Now the device is an internet host and is able to send and receive the IP packets.
At, the NCP ends the network layer connection and spares the IP addresses.

Key Differences Between HDLC and PPP


1. The HDLC is a bit-oriented protocol while PPP is byte-oriented as well as bit oriented
because it can be sent over the dial-up modem lines and also true bit-oriented HDLC.
2. Only synchronous media can be used in HDLC. In contrast, PPP can work with
synchronous and asynchronous media.
3. No link authentication is provided in HDLC, whereas it is provided in PPP.
4. PPP can dynamically assign and frees up the IP address according to the use. As
against, this not the case in HDLC.
5. Interoperability between the non-cisco devices in HDLC is not achievable. However,
this limitation of HDLC is eliminated from the PPP protocol.

Conclusion

4/5
Between HDLC and PPP, the PPP protocol performs better than HDLC because there is no
compulsion of using the Cisco devices in both the ends, which means these are
interoperable. PPP also supports multiple protocols and support authentication.

5/5

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