MikroTik RouterOS FrameRelay (PVC) Interfaces

Document revision 16-May-2002
This document applies to MikroTik RouterOS v2.4 and v2.5

Overview

Frame Relay is a multiplexed interface to packet switched network. Frame Relay is a simplified form of Packet Switching similar in principle to X.25 in which synchronous frames of data are routed to different destinations depending on header information. Frame Relay uses the synchronous HDLC frame format.

Topics covered in this manual:

Frame Relay Installation
Frame Relay Configuration
Frame Relay Example with Cyclades Interface
Frame Relay Example with MOXA Interface
Frame Relay Troubleshooting

Frame Relay Installation on the MikroTik RouterOS

Hardware part of Frame Relay installation

To use Frame Relay interface you must have already working synchronous interface. You can read how to set up synchronous boards supported by Mikrotik RouterOS:
Cyclades PC300 PCI Adapters
Moxa C101 Synchronous interface

Software part of Frame Relay installation

The “framerelay-2.5.x.npk”(89 KB) package is required. The package can be downloaded from MikroTik’s web page www.mikrotik.com. To install this package, please upload it to the router with ftp and reboot. You may check to see if the package is installed with the command:

[MikroTik] > system package print
Flags: I - invalid
  #   NAME                  VERSION              BUILD-TIME           UNINSTALL
  0   system                2.5.5                may/16/2002 12:13:14 no
  1   advanced-tools        2.5.5                may/16/2002 12:35:53 no
  2   framerelay            2.5.5                may/16/2002 12:34:18 no
  3   moxa-c101             2.5.5                may/16/2002 12:36:05 no
  4   cyclades              2.5.5                may/16/2002 12:34:06 no
  5   farsync               2.5.5                may/16/2002 12:33:51 no
  6   prism                 2.5.5                may/16/2002 12:14:31 no
  7   routing               2.5.5                may/16/2002 12:17:36 no
[MikroTik] >

Line two shows that required package "framerelay-2.5.5.npk" is installed.

Package enables Frame Relay PVC (Permanent Virtual Circuit) interface, which acts as a logical network interface where endpoints and class of service are defined by network management. This logical interface is using one of supported Moxa or Cyclades synchronous adapters as a physical interface.

Configuring Frame Relay Interface

To configure frame relay, you should first set up the synchronous interface, and then the PVC interface.

Cyclades PC300 interface

[MikroTik] > interface cyclades print
Flags: X - disabled
  0   name="cyclades1" mtu=1500 line-protocol=sync-ppp media-type=V35
      clock-rate=64000 clock-source=external line-code=B8ZS framing-mode=ESF
      line-build-out=0dB rx-sensitivity=short-haul frame-relay-lmi-type=ansi
      frame-relay-dce=no chdlc-keepalive=10s

[MikroTik] >

Argument description:

name - Assigned name of the interface
mtu - Maximum Transfer Unit of an interface
line-protocol - Line protocol (cisco-hdlc / frame-relay / sync-ppp)
media-type - (E1 / T1 / V24 / V35 / X21) The hardware media used for this port
clock-rate - Speed of the clock
clock-source - (external / internal / tx-internal) Source of the clock
line-code - (AMI / B8ZS / HDB3 / NRZ) The line code (For T1/E1 channels only)
framing-mode - (CRC4 / D4 / ESF / Non-CRC4 / Unframed) The frame mode (For T1/E1 channels only)
line-build-out - (0dB / 15dB / 22.5dB / 7.5dB) LBO For T1 channels only
rx-sensitivity - (long-haul / short-haul) The receiver sensitivity (For T1/E1 channels only)
frame-relay-lmi-type - Type of frame relay Local Management Interface (ansi / ccitt)
frame-relay-dce - (yes / no) Parameter to determine if the interface will be a DCE or DTE
chdlc-keepalive - CHDLC keepalive period (in seconds)

MOXA C101 interface

[MikroTik] > interface synchronous print
Flags: X - disabled
  0   name="sync1" mtu=1500 line-protocol=sync-ppp clock-rate=64000
      clock-source=external frame-relay-lmi-type=ansi frame-relay-dce=no
      cisco-hdlc-keepalive-interval=10s ignore-dcd=no

[MikroTik] >

Argument description:

name - Assigned name of the interface
mtu - Maximum Transfer Unit of an interface
line-protocol - (cisco-hdlc / frame-relay / sync-ppp) Type of data transfer protocol
clock-rate - Speed of the clock
clock-source - The clock source (external / internal / tx-from-rx / tx-internal)
frame-relay-lmi-type - (ansi / ccitt) Type of frame relay Local Management Interface
frame-relay-dce - (yes / no) Parameter to determine if the interface will be a DCE or DTE
cisco-hdlc-keepalive-interval - CHLDC keepalive interval (in seconds)
ignore-dcd - (yes / no) Parameter to ignore DCD

Frame Relay PVC interface

To add a PVC interface, use the /interface pvc add command. For example, for a Cyclades interface and DLCI equal to 42, we should use the command:

[MikroTik] interface pvc> add dlci=42 interface=cyclades1
[MikroTik] interface pvc> print
Flags: X - disabled
  #   NAME                 MTU  DLCI INTERFACE
  0   pvc1                 1500 42   cyclades1
[MikroTik] interface pvc>

Argument description:

name - Assigned name of the interface
mtu - Maximum Transfer Unit of an interface
dlci - Data-Link Connection Identifier assigned to the PVC interface
interface - FrameRelay interface

Frame Relay Configuration Example with Cyclades Interface

Let us consider the following network setup with MikroTik Router with Cyclades PC300 interface connected to a leased line with baseband modems and a CISCO router at the other end.

[MikroTik] ip address> add interface=pvc1 address=1.1.1.1 netmask=255.255.255.0
[MikroTik] ip address> print
Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic
  #   ADDRESS            NETWORK         BROADCAST       INTERFACE
  0   1.1.1.1/24         1.1.1.0         1.1.1.255       pvc1
[MikroTik] ip address>

PVC and Cyclades interface configuration

Cyclades

[MikroTik] interface cyclades> print
Flags: X - disabled
  0   name="cyclades1" mtu=1500 line-protocol=frame-relay media-type=V35
      clock-rate=64000 clock-source=external line-code=B8ZS framing-mode=ESF
      line-build-out=0dB rx-sensitivity=short-haul frame-relay-lmi-type=ansi
      frame-relay-dce=no chdlc-keepalive=10s

[MikroTik] interface cyclades>

PVC

[MikroTik] interface pvc> print
Flags: X - disabled
  #   NAME                 MTU  DLCI INTERFACE
  0   pvc1                 1500 42   cyclades1
[MikroTik] interface pvc>

CISCO router setup

CISCO# show running-config

Building configuration...

Current configuration...

...
!
ip subnet-zero
no ip domain-lookup
frame-relay switching
!
interface Ethernet0
 description connected to EthernetLAN
 ip address 10.0.0.254 255.255.255.0
!
interface Serial0
 description connected to Internet
 no ip address
 encapsulation frame-relay IETF
 serial restart-delay 1
 frame-relay lmi-type ansi
 frame-relay intf-type dce
!
interface Serial0.1 point-to-point
 ip address 1.1.1.2 255.255.255.0
 no arp frame-relay
 frame-relay interface-dlci 42
!
...
end.

Send ping to MikroTik router

CISCO#ping 1.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 1.1.1.1, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 28/31/32 ms
CISCO#

Frame Relay Configuration Example with MOXA Interface

Let us consider the following network setup with MikroTik Router with MOXA C101 synchronous interface connected to a leased line with baseband modems and a CISCO router at the other end.

[MikroTik] ip address> add interface=pvc1 address=1.1.1.1 netmask=255.255.255.0
[MikroTik] ip address> print
Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic
  #   ADDRESS            NETWORK         BROADCAST       INTERFACE
  0   1.1.1.1/24         1.1.1.0         1.1.1.255       pvc1
[MikroTik] ip address>

PVC and Moxa interface configuration

Moxa

[MikroTik] interface synchronous> print
Flags: X - disabled
  0   name="sync1" mtu=1500 line-protocol=frame-relay clock-rate=64000
      clock-source=external frame-relay-lmi-type=ansi frame-relay-dce=no
      cisco-hdlc-keepalive-interval=10s ignore-dcd=no

[MikroTik] interface synchronous>

PVC

[MikroTik] interface pvc> print
Flags: X - disabled
  #   NAME                 MTU  DLCI INTERFACE
  0   pvc1                 1500 42   sync1
[MikroTik] interface pvc>

CISCO router setup

CISCO# show running-config

Building configuration...

Current configuration...

...
!
ip subnet-zero
no ip domain-lookup
frame-relay switching
!
interface Ethernet0
 description connected to EthernetLAN
 ip address 10.0.0.254 255.255.255.0
!
interface Serial0
 description connected to Internet
 no ip address
 encapsulation frame-relay IETF
 serial restart-delay 1
 frame-relay lmi-type ansi
 frame-relay intf-type dce
!
interface Serial0.1 point-to-point
 ip address 1.1.1.2 255.255.255.0
 no arp frame-relay
 frame-relay interface-dlci 42
!
...
end.

Send ping to MikroTik router

CISCO#ping 1.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 1.1.1.1, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 28/31/32 ms
CISCO#

Frame Relay Troubleshooting

I cannot ping through the synchronous frame relay interface between MikroTik router and a Cisco router
FrameRelay does not support address resolving and IETF encapsulation should be used. Please check the configuration on the Cisco router.