Cisco Active Network Abstraction Reference Guide, 3.7.2
Frame Relay

Table Of Contents

Frame Relay

Technology Description

Frame Relay

Information Model Objects (IMOs)

Frame Relay Interface

Frame Relay Virtual Connection

Frame Relay Traffic Descriptor

Frame Relay Logical Interface

Frame Relay Trunk Virtual Connection

Vendor-Specific Inventory and IMOs

Service Alarms


Frame Relay


This chapter describes the level of support that Cisco ANA provides for Frame Relay, as follows:

Technology Description

Information Model Objects (IMOs)

Vendor-Specific Inventory and IMOs

Service Alarms

Technology Description

Please see Part 1: Cisco VNEs in this guide for information about which devices support the various technologies.

Frame Relay

Frame Relay is a high-performance data link (Layer 2) WAN protocol that uses variable-length packet switching with statistical multiplexing. Although originally designed for use across ISDN interfaces, today it is used over a variety of additional network interfaces.

Frame Relay networks consist of Frame Relay switches interconnected by point-to-point Frame Relay links or interfaces. Frame Relay is fundamentally connection oriented, which means that a VC must be set up across the Frame Relay network prior to any data transfer.

Information Model Objects (IMOs)

This section describes the following IMOs:

Frame Relay Interface (IFrameRelay/IFrTrunk)

Frame Relay Virtual Connection (IFrVc)

Frame Relay Traffic Descriptor (IFRTrafficDescriptor)

Frame Relay Logical Interface (IFrameRelayLogicalPort/Trunk)

Frame Relay Trunk Virtual Connection (IFrTrunkVc)

Frame Relay Interface

The data link layer Frame Relay Interface object aggregates multiple Frame Relay Virtual Connections, which it is bound to by its VC Table attributes. It is bound by its Containing Termination Points attribute to a physical layer interface. It is accessed primarily by the data link layer VC Multiplexer bound by its Contained Connection Termination Points attribute. It is also accessed by the Virtual Connection Switching Entity.

Table 21-1 Frame Relay Interface (IFrameRelay/IFrTrunk)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Address Format

Frame Relay address format (Unknown, q921, q922March90, q922November90, q922)

Any

Configuration

Maximum Supported VCs

Maximum supported virtual connections

Any

Configuration

Protocol Type

Frame Relay protocol type (Unknown, Frame Relay, FR FUNI, Frame Forward)

Any

Configuration

VC Table

Array of Frame Relay Virtual Connections

Any

Configuration

Cross Connect Table

Array of Virtual Cross Connections

Any

Configuration

IANA Type

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) type of the sublayer

N/A

N/A

Containing Termination Points

Underlying termination points (connection or physical)

Any

N/A

Contained Connection Termination Points

Bound connection termination points

Any

N/A


Frame Relay Virtual Connection

The data link layer Frame Relay Virtual Connection object is bound by its Containing Termination Points attribute to a data link layer Frame Relay Interface object. It is accessed primarily by a Virtual Cross Connection and data link layer VC Encapsulation, but is not bound to them by any of its attributes.

Table 21-2 Frame Relay Virtual Connection (IFrVc) 

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Data Link Connection Identifier

Data Link Connection Identifier (DLCI)

Any

Configuration

Traffic Descriptor

Traffic descriptor (Frame Relay Traffic Descriptor)

Any

Configuration

Discarded and Received Input Data Counters

Discarded and received input octet and packet counters

Any

Configuration

Dropped and Forwarded Output Data Counters

Dropped and forwarded output octet and packet counters

Any

Configuration

Ingress Traffic Descriptor

Ingress traffic descriptor (Frame Relay Traffic Descriptor)

Any

Configuration

Egress Traffic Descriptor

Egress traffic descriptor (Frame Relay Traffic Descriptor)

Any

Configuration

Administrative Status

Administrative status (Unknown, Up, Down)

Any

Status

Operational Status

Operational status (Unknown, Up, Down)

Any

Status

IANA Type

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) type of the sublayer

N/A

N/A

Containing Termination Points

Underlying termination points (connection or physical)

Any

N/A

Contained Connection Termination Points

Bound connection termination points

Any

N/A


Frame Relay Traffic Descriptor

The Frame Relay Traffic Descriptor object describes the traffic of a single Frame Relay Virtual Connection. It is aggregated by a Traffic Descriptor Container object (see Common Components).

Table 21-3 Frame Relay Traffic Descriptor (IFRTrafficDescriptor)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Committed Rate

Committed burst rate

Any

Configuration

Excess Burst Rate

Excess burst rate

Any

Configuration

Name

Traffic descriptor name

Any

Configuration

Index

Traffic descriptor index

Any

Configuration


Frame Relay Logical Interface

The data link layer Frame Relay Logical Interface object aggregates multiple Frame Relay Virtual Connections, which it is bound to by its VC Table attributes. It is bound by its Containing Termination Points attribute to a physical layer interface. It is accessed primarily by the Virtual Connection Switching Entity and data link layer VC Encapsulation bound by its Contained Connection Termination Points attribute.

Table 21-4 Frame Relay Logical Interface (IFrameRelayLogicalPort/Trunk)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Administrative Status

Administrative status (Null, Up, Down, Testing)

Any

Status

Operational Status

Operational status (Null, Up, Down, Testing, Unknown, Dormant, Not Present)

Any

Status

All additional attributes are the same as Frame Relay Interface (IFrameRelay/IFrTrunk)


Frame Relay Trunk Virtual Connection

The data link layer Frame Relay Trunk Virtual Connection object is bound by its Containing Termination Points attribute to a Frame Relay Interface object. It is accessed primarily by a Virtual Cross Connection and data link layer VC Encapsulation, but is not bound to them by any of its attributes.

Table 21-5 Frame Relay Trunk Virtual Connection (IFrTrunkVc)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Destination Description

Destination party description

Any

Configuration

All additional attributes are the same as Frame Relay Virtual Connection (IFrVc)


Vendor-Specific Inventory and IMOs

There are no vendor-specific inventory or IMOs for this technology.

Service Alarms

The following alarms are supported for this technology:

Cloud Problem, page 40-22

Discard Packets, page 40-26

Dropped Packets, page 40-27

Link Down, page 40-42

Port Down, page 40-51

Rx Utilization, page 40-53

Tx Utilization, page 40-57

Note that these alarms, apart from Cloud Problem, are related to the underlying physical interface (see Common Components).