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OSI model
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main page
The Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI model) is a product
Contents
of the Open Systems Interconnection effort at the International Organization OSI model
Featured content
for Standardization. It is a way of sub-dividing a communications system into 7. Application Layer
Current events
smaller parts called layers. A layer is a collection of conceptually similar
Random article NNTP · SIP · SSI · DNS · FTP ·
functions that provide services to the layer above it and receives services from
Gopher · HTTP · NFS · NTP · SMPP
Interaction the layer below it. On each layer an instance provides services to the · SMTP · DHCP · SNMP · Telnet ·
About Wikipedia instances at the layer above and requests service from the layer below. (more)
Community portal For example, a layer that provides error-free communications, across a 6. Presentation Layer
Recent changes network provides the path needed by applications above it, while it calls the
MIME · XDR · TLS · SSL
Contact Wikipedia next lower layer to send and receive packets that make up the contents of the
Donate to Wikipedia path. Conceptually two instances at one layer are connected by a horizontal 5. Session Layer
Help protocol connection on that layer. Named Pipes · NetBIOS · SAP · SIP
Toolbox · L2TP · PPTP
Contents [hide]
4. Transport Layer
Print/export 1 History
2 Description of OSI layers TCP · UDP · SCTP · DCCP
Languages 2.1 Layer 1: Physical Layer 3. Network Layer
Afrikaans 2.2 Layer 2: Data Link Layer
IP · ICMP · IPsec · IGMP · IPX ·
2.2.1 WAN Protocol architecture
Bosanski AppleTalk
2.2.2 IEEE 802 LAN architecture
Brezhoneg 2.3 Layer 3: Network Layer 2. Data Link Layer
Български 2.4 Layer 4: Transport Layer ARP · CSLIP · SLIP · Ethernet ·
Català 2.5 Layer 5: Session Layer Frame relay · ITU-T G.hn DLL · PPP
Česky 2.6 Layer 6: Presentation Layer
1. Physical Layer
Dansk 2.7 Layer 7: Application Layer
Deutsch 3 Interfaces RS-232 · RS-449 · V.35 · V.34 · I.430
Eesti · I.431 · T1 · E1 · POTS ·
4 Examples
Ελληνικά SONET/SDH · OTN · DSL ·
5 Comparison with TCP/IP
Español 802.11a/b/g/n PHY · 802.15.x PHY ·
6 See also
ITU-T G.hn PHY · Ethernet · USB ·
Euskara 7 References
Bluetooth
8 External links
Français This box: view • talk • edit

Galego
History [edit]

In 1978, work on a layered model of network

Hrvatski architecture was started and the International
Bahasa Indonesia Organization for Standardization (ISO) began to
Italiano develop its OSI framework architecture. OSI has
‫עברית‬ two major components: an abstract model of
networking, called the Basic Reference Model or
Latviešu seven-layer model, and a set of specific
Lietuvių protocols.
Magyar
Note: The standard documents that describe the
Македонски
OSI model can be freely downloaded from the
ITU-T as the X.200-series of
Bahasa Melayu
recommendations.[1] A number of the protocol
Nederlands
specifications are also available as part of the Communication in the OSI-Model (Example with layers 3 to 5)
日本語
ITU-T X series. The equivalent ISO and ISO/IEC

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Norsk (bokmål)
standards for the OSI model are available from ISO, but only some of them at no charge. [2]
Norsk (nynorsk)
Polski The concept of a 7 layer model was provided by the work of Charles Bachman, then of Honeywell. Various aspects of
Português OSI design evolved from experiences with the ARPANET, the fledgling Internet, NPLNET, EIN, CYCLADES network and
Română the work in IFIP WG6.1. The new design was documented in ISO 7498 and its various addenda. In this model, a
Русский networking system is divided into layers. Within each layer, one or more entities implement its functionality. Each entity
Simple English interacts directly only with the layer immediately beneath it, and provides facilities for use by the layer above it.
Slovenčina Protocols enable an entity in one host to interact with a corresponding entity at the same layer in another host. Service
Slovenščina definitions abstractly describe the functionality provided to an (N)-layer by an (N-1) layer, where N is one of the seven
Српски / Srpski layers of protocols operating in the local host.
Srpskohrvatski /
Српскохрватски Description of OSI layers [edit]
Suomi
Svenska OSI Model
Data unit Layer Function
Network process to
Türkçe 7. Application
application
Українська
Yorùbá Data

中 representation,encryption
Data and decryption,convert
6. Presentation
Host machine dependent data
layers to machine independent
data

5. Session Interhost communication

End-to-end connections
Segments 4. Transport and reliability,Flow
control

Path determination and

Packet 3. Network
logical addressing
Media
Frame 2. Data Link Physical addressing
layers
Media, signal and binary
Bit 1. Physical
transmission

Lately the OSI model has been taught using a Mnemonic, (such as "All People Seem To Need Data Processing" 7 to 1)
to help in understanding the complex model, such are from layer 1 to 7, and going from layer 7 to 1:

Layer 1: Physical Layer [edit]

The Physical Layer defines the electrical and physical specifications for devices. In particular, it defines the relationship
between a device and a transmission medium, such as a copper or optical cable. This includes the layout of pins,
voltages, cable specifications, hubs, repeaters, network adapters, host bus adapters (HBAs used in storage area
networks) and more.
To understand the function of the Physical Layer, contrast it with the functions of the Data Link Layer. Think of the
Physical Layer as concerned primarily with the interaction of a single device with a medium, whereas the Data Link Layer
is concerned more with the interactions of multiple devices (i.e., at least two) with a shared medium. Standards such as
RS-232 do use physical wires to control access to the medium.
The major functions and services performed by the Physical Layer are:
Establishment and termination of a connection to a communications medium.
Participation in the process whereby the communication resources are effectively shared among multiple users. For
example, contention resolution and flow control.
Modulation, or conversion between the representation of digital data in user equipment and the corresponding signals
transmitted over a communications channel. These are signals operating over the physical cabling (such as copper
and optical fiber) or over a radio link.
Parallel SCSI buses operate in this layer, although it must be remembered that the logical SCSI protocol is a Transport
Layer protocol that runs over this bus. Various Physical Layer Ethernet standards are also in this layer; Ethernet
incorporates both this layer and the Data Link Layer. The same applies to other local-area networks, such as token ring,

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FDDI, ITU-T G.hn and IEEE 802.11, as well as personal area networks such as Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.4.

Layer 2: Data Link Layer [edit]

The Data Link Layer provides the functional and procedural means to transfer data between network entities and to
detect and possibly correct errors that may occur in the Physical Layer. Originally, this layer was intended for point-to-
point and point-to-multipoint media, characteristic of wide area media in the telephone system. Local area network
architecture, which included broadcast-capable multiaccess media, was developed independently of the ISO work in
IEEE Project 802. IEEE work assumed sublayering and management functions not required for WAN use. In modern
practice, only error detection, not flow control using sliding window, is present in data link protocols such as Point-to-
Point Protocol (PPP), and, on local area networks, the IEEE 802.2 LLC layer is not used for most protocols on the
Ethernet, and on other local area networks, its flow control and acknowledgment mechanisms are rarely used. Sliding
window flow control and acknowledgment is used at the Transport Layer by protocols such as TCP, but is still used in
niches where X.25 offers performance advantages.
The ITU-T G.hn standard, which provides high-speed local area networking over existing wires (power lines, phone lines
and coaxial cables), includes a complete Data Link Layer which provides both error correction and flow control by means
of a selective repeat Sliding Window Protocol.
Both WAN and LAN service arrange bits, from the Physical Layer, into logical sequences called frames. Not all Physical
Layer bits necessarily go into frames, as some of these bits are purely intended for Physical Layer functions. For
example, every fifth bit of the FDDI bit stream is not used by the Layer.

WAN Protocol architecture [edit]

Connection-oriented WAN data link protocols, in addition to framing, detect and may correct errors. They are also
capable of controlling the rate of transmission. A WAN Data Link Layer might implement a sliding window flow control
and acknowledgment mechanism to provide reliable delivery of frames; that is the case for SDLC and HDLC, and
derivatives of HDLC such as LAPB and LAPD.

IEEE 802 LAN architecture [edit]

Practical, connectionless LANs began with the pre-IEEE Ethernet specification, which is the ancestor of IEEE 802.3. This
layer manages the interaction of devices with a shared medium, which is the function of a Media Access Control
sublayer. Above this MAC sublayer is the media-independent IEEE 802.2 Logical Link Control (LLC) sublayer, which
deals with addressing and multiplexing on multiaccess media.
While IEEE 802.3 is the dominant wired LAN protocol and IEEE 802.11 the wireless LAN protocol, obsolescent MAC
layers include Token Ring and FDDI. The MAC sublayer detects but does not correct errors.

Layer 3: Network Layer [edit]

The Network Layer provides the functional and procedural means of transferring variable length data sequences from a
source to a destination via one or more networks, while maintaining the quality of service requested by the Transport
Layer. The Network Layer performs network routing functions, and might also perform fragmentation and reassembly, and
report delivery errors. Routers operate at this layer—sending data throughout the extended network and making the
Internet possible. This is a logical addressing scheme – values are chosen by the network engineer. The addressing
scheme is not hierarchical.
Careful analysis of the Network Layer indicated that the Network Layer could have at least 3 sublayers: 1.Subnetwork
Access - that considers protocols that deal with the interface to networks, such as X.25; 2.Subnetwork Dependent
Convergence - when it is necessary to bring the level of a transit network up to the level of networks on either side;
3.Subnetwork Independent Convergence - which handles transfer across multiple networks. The best example of this
latter case is CLNP, or IPv7 ISO 8473. It manages the connectionless transfer of data one hop at a time, from end
system to ingress router, router to router, and from egress router to destination end system. It is not responsible for
reliable delivery to a next hop, but only for the detection of errored packets so they may be discarded. In this scheme,
IPv4 and IPv6 would have to be classed with X.25 as Subnet Access protocols because they carry interface addresses
rather than node addresses.
A number of layer management protocols, a function defined in the Management Annex, ISO 7498/4, belong to the
Network Layer. These include routing protocols, multicast group management, Network Layer information and error, and
Network Layer address assignment. It is the function of the payload that makes these belong to the Network Layer, not
the protocol that carries them.

Layer 4: Transport Layer [edit]

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The Transport Layer provides transparent transfer of data between end users, providing reliable data transfer services to
the upper layers. The Transport Layer controls the reliability of a given link through flow control,
segmentation/desegmentation, and error control. Some protocols are state and connection oriented. This means that the
Transport Layer can keep track of the segments and retransmit those that fail. The Transport layer also provides the
acknowledgement of the successful data transmission and if no error free data was transferred then sends the next data.
Although not developed under the OSI Reference Model and not strictly conforming to the OSI definition of the Transport
Layer, typical examples of Layer 4 are the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
Of the actual OSI protocols, there are five classes of connection-mode transport protocols ranging from class 0 (which is
also known as TP0 and provides the least features) to class 4 (TP4, designed for less reliable networks, similar to the
Internet). Class 0 contains no error recovery, and was designed for use on network layers that provide error-free
connections. Class 4 is closest to TCP, although TCP contains functions, such as the graceful close, which OSI assigns
to the Session Layer. Also, all OSI TP connection-mode protocol classes provide expedited data and preservation of
record boundaries, both of which TCP is incapable. Detailed characteristics of TP0-4 classes are shown in the following
table:[3]

Feature Name TP0 TP1 TP2 TP3 TP4

Connection oriented network Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Connectionless network No No No No Yes
Concatenation and separation No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Segmentation and reassembly Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Error Recovery No Yes No Yes Yes
Reinitiate connection (if an excessive number of PDUs are unacknowledged) No Yes No Yes No
Multiplexing and demultiplexing over a single virtual circuit No No Yes Yes Yes
Explicit flow control No No Yes Yes Yes
Retransmission on timeout No No No No Yes
Reliable Transport Service No Yes No Yes Yes

Perhaps an easy way to visualize the Transport Layer is to compare it with a Post Office, which deals with the dispatch
and classification of mail and parcels sent. Do remember, however, that a post office manages the outer envelope of
mail. Higher layers may have the equivalent of double envelopes, such as cryptographic presentation services that can
be read by the addressee only. Roughly speaking, tunneling protocols operate at the Transport Layer, such as carrying
non-IP protocols such as IBM's SNA or Novell's IPX over an IP network, or end-to-end encryption with IPsec. While
Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) might seem to be a Network Layer protocol, if the encapsulation of the payload
takes place only at endpoint, GRE becomes closer to a transport protocol that uses IP headers but contains complete
frames or packets to deliver to an endpoint. L2TP carries PPP frames inside transport packet.

Layer 5: Session Layer [edit]

The Session Layer controls the dialogues (connections) between computers. It establishes, manages and terminates the
connections between the local and remote application. It provides for full-duplex, half-duplex, or simplex operation, and
establishes checkpointing, adjournment, termination, and restart procedures. The OSI model made this layer responsible
for graceful close of sessions, which is a property of the Transmission Control Protocol, and also for session
checkpointing and recovery, which is not usually used in the Internet Protocol Suite. The Session Layer is commonly
implemented explicitly in application environments that use remote procedure calls.

Layer 6: Presentation Layer [edit]

The presentation layer provides a variety of coding and conversion functions that are applied to application layer data.
These functions ensure that information sent from the application layer of one system would be readable by the
application layer of another system thus the Presentation Layer establishes context between Application Layer entities, in
which the higher-layer entities may use different syntax and semantics if the presentation service provides a mapping
between them. If a mapping is available, presentation service data units are encapsulated into session protocol data
units, and passed down the stack.
This layer provides independence from data representation (e.g., encryption) by translating between application and
network formats. The presentation layer transforms data into the form that the application accepts. This layer formats and
encrypts data to be sent across a network. It is sometimes called the syntax layer.[citation needed]
The original presentation structure used the basic encoding rules of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1), with

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capabilities such as converting an EBCDIC-coded text file to an ASCII-coded file, or serialization of objects and other
data structures from and to XML.

Layer 7: Application Layer [edit]

The Application Layer is the OSI layer closest to the end user, which means that both the OSI application layer and the
user interact directly with the software application. This layer interacts with software applications that implement a
communicating component. Such application programs fall outside the scope of the OSI model. Application layer
functions typically include identifying communication partners, determining resource availability, and synchronizing
communication. When identifying communication partners, the application layer determines the identity and availability of
communication partners for an application with data to transmit. When determining resource availability, the application
layer must decide whether sufficient network or the requested communication exist. In synchronizing communication, all
communication between applications requires cooperation that is managed by the application layer. Some examples of
application layer implementations include Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and X.400 Mail.

Interfaces [edit]

Neither the OSI Reference Model nor OSI protocols specify any programming interfaces, other than as deliberately
abstract service specifications. Protocol specifications precisely define the interfaces between different computers, but
the software interfaces inside computers are implementation-specific.
For example Microsoft Windows' Winsock, and Unix's Berkeley sockets and System V Transport Layer Interface, are
interfaces between applications (Layer 5 and above) and the transport (Layer 4). NDIS and ODI are interfaces between
the media (Layer 2) and the network protocol (Layer 3).
Interface standards, except for the Physical Layer to media, are approximate implementations of OSI Service
Specifications.

Examples [edit]

This section does not cite any references or sources.

Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may
be challenged and removed. (June 2010)

Layer Signaling
OSI TCP/IP Misc.
System AppleTalk IPX SNA UMTS
# Name protocols protocols examples
7[4]
NNTP, SIP,
SSI, DNS,
FTP, Gopher,
FTAM, X.400, HTTP, NFS, INAP,
X.500, DAP, NTP, DHCP, MAP, AFP, ZIP, RIP,
7 Application APPC HL7, Modbus
ROSE, RTSE, SMPP, TCAP, RTMP, NBP SAP
ACSE SMTP, ISUP, TUP
SNMP,
Telnet, RIP,
BGP
ISO/IEC 8823,
TDI, ASCII,
X.226, MIME, SSL,
6 Presentation AFP EBCDIC, MIDI,
ISO/IEC 9576- TLS, XDR
MPEG
1, X.236
Named
pipes,
Sockets.
ISO/IEC 8327, NetBIOS,
Session
X.225, ASP, SAP, half
5 Session establishment NWLink DLC?
ISO/IEC 9548- ADSP, PAP duplex, full
in TCP, SIP,
1, X.235 duplex,
RTP
simplex,
SDP, RPC

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ISO/IEC 8073,
TP0, TP1,
TP2, TP3, TCP, UDP, DDP,
4 Transport NBF
TP4 (X.224), SCTP, DCCP SPX
ISO/IEC 8602,
X.234
RRC (Radio
ISO/IEC 8208, NBF, Q.931,
Resource Control)
X.25 (PLP), IS-IS
ATP Packet Data
ISO/IEC 8878, IP, IPsec,
SCCP, (TokenTalk Convergence
3 Network X.223, ICMP, IGMP, IPX
MTP or Protocol (PDCP) Leaky
ISO/IEC 8473- OSPF
EtherTalk) and BMC bucket, token
1, CLNP
(Broadcast/Multicast bucket
X.233.
Control)
802.3
(Ethernet),
802.11a/b/g/n
MAC/LLC,
802.1Q
(VLAN),
ATM, HDP,
FDDI, Fibre
Channel,
Frame Relay,
ISO/IEC 7666, HDLC, ISL,
IEEE
X.25 (LAPB), LocalTalk, PPP, Q.921,
802.3 LLC (Logical Link
Token Bus, AppleTalk Token Ring,
PPP, SLIP, MTP, framing, Control), MAC
2 Data Link X.222, Remote SDLC CDP, ARP
PPTP, L2TP Q.710 Ethernet (Media Access
ISO/IEC 8802- Access, (maps layer
II Control)
2 LLC Type 1 PPP 3 to layer 2
framing
and 2 address),
ITU-T G.hn
DLL
CRC, Bit
stuffing,
ARQ, Data
Over Cable
Service
Interface
Specification
(DOCSIS)
RS-232, Full
duplex,
RJ45, V.35,
V.34, I.430,
I.431, T1,
E1, 10BASE-
T, 100BASE-
TX, POTS,
SONET,
X.25 (X.21bis,
RS-232, SDH, DSL,
EIA/TIA-232,
MTP, RS-422, UMTS Physical 802.11a/b/g/n
1 Physical EIA/TIA-449, Twinax
Q.710 STP, Layer or L1 PHY, ITU-T
EIA-530,
PhoneNet G.hn PHY,
G.703)
Controller
Area
Network,
Data Over

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Cable
Service
Interface
Specification
(DOCSIS)

Comparison with TCP/IP [edit]

In the TCP/IP model of the Internet, protocols are deliberately not as rigidly designed into strict layers as the OSI
model. [5] RFC 3439 contains a section entitled "Layering considered harmful." However, TCP/IP does recognize four
broad layers of functionality which are derived from the operating scope of their contained protocols, namely the scope of
the software application, the end-to-end transport connection, the internetworking range, and lastly the scope of the
direct links to other nodes on the local network.
Even though the concept is different from the OSI model, these layers are nevertheless often compared with the OSI
layering scheme in the following way: The Internet Application Layer includes the OSI Application Layer, Presentation
Layer, and most of the Session Layer. Its end-to-end Transport Layer includes the graceful close function of the OSI
Session Layer as well as the OSI Transport Layer. The internetworking layer (Internet Layer) is a subset of the OSI
Network Layer (see above), while the Link Layer includes the OSI Data Link and Physical Layers, as well as parts of
OSI's Network Layer. These comparisons are based on the original seven-layer protocol model as defined in ISO 7498,
rather than refinements in such things as the internal organization of the Network Layer document.
The presumably strict peer layering of the OSI model as it is usually described does not present contradictions in
TCP/IP, as it is permissible that protocol usage does not follow the hierarchy implied in a layered model. Such examples
exist in some routing protocols (e.g., OSPF), or in the description of tunneling protocols, which provide a Link Layer for
an application, although the tunnel host protocol may well be a Transport or even an Application Layer protocol in its own
right.

See also [edit]

Cognitive networks
Hierarchical internetworking model
Internet protocol suite
Layer 8
OSI protocol suite
Protocol stack
Service layer
TCP/IP model
X.25 protocol suite
WAP protocol suite
OSI WAP protocol

References [edit]

1. ^ ITU-T X-Series Recommendations .

2. ^ Publicly Available Standards
3. ^ "ITU-T Recommendation X.224 (11/1995) ISO/IEC 8073" .
4. ^ ITU-T Recommendation Q.1400 (03/1993) , Architecture framework for the development of signalling and
OA&M protocols using OSI concepts, pp 4, 7.
5. ^ RFC 3439

External links [edit]

ISO/IEC standard 7498-1:1994 (PDF document inside ZIP archive) (requires HTTP cookies in order to accept
licence agreement)
ITU-T X.200 (the same contents as from ISO)
The ISO OSI Reference Model , Beluga graph of data units and groups of layers
OSI Reference Model — The ISO Model of Architecture for Open Systems Interconnection PDF (776 KB) , Hubert
Zimmermann, IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 28, no. 4, April 1980, pp. 425 – 432.
Internetworking Basics

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Kill the Beast: Why the Seven-Layer Model Must Die

v• d • e ISO Standards [show]

Categories: Network architecture | ISO standards | ITU-T recommendations | OSI protocols | Reference models

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