Sitting above the MAC layer is the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, which is subdivided into three
entities. These entities provide the control parts supporting three modes of operation at layer 2.
The first is the Transparent Mode (TM), which transfers user data; and provides segmentation
and re-assembly of data units. The second is the Unacknowledged Mode (UM), which is similar
to the TM but also checks sequence numbers, and provides ciphering, padding and concatenation
where required. Thirdly, there is the Acknowledged Mode (AM), which supports flow control,
in-sequence delivery of upper-layer PDUs, error correction and duplicate detection.
The RLC also maintains the Quality of Service (QoS) as requested by the upper layers. This is
required to ...