COMPUTER

NETWORKS
IT 310
ENGR. AWAIS GUL MEMON

Lecture 2: Protocol Suite,

Layered Architecture, and
OSI Model
Topics for Presentation
1. OSI Model 11. Network Security
2. TCP/IP 12. Multiplexing
3. Transmission Media 1. Frequency Division
Multiplexing
4. Signal Encoding Techniques
2. Time Division Multiplexing
5. Error Detection and Correction
3. Synchronous Time Division
6. Ethernet Multiplexing
7. IP Address and Subnetting 4. Statistical Time Division
Multiplexing
8. Switching
13. Data Link Control
1. Circuit Switching
1. Fixed Size Framing
2. Message Switching
2. Variable Size Framing
3. Packet Switching
3. Flow Control
9. Network Protocols and DNS
4. Error Control
10. Local Area Network
Recap

 Network?
 Need of a network?
 Elements of a network?
 Types of network?
 Network models?
 Network topology?
 Local and remote resources?
 Internet?
Protocols

 Communication between two entities:

 All entities must agree on how information will be
presented, for instance,
 Voltages
 Data representation
 Procedures used to initiate and conduct communication
 Format of messages

 Interoperability
 Ability of two entities to communicate and say that if
two entities can communicate without any
misunderstandings, they interoperate correctly.
Protocols (cont.)

 Communication involves multiple entities that must

agree on details ranging from the electrical voltage
used to the format and meaning of messages. To
ensure that entities can interoperate correctly, rules
for all aspects of communication are written down.

 In networking terminology, these details, rules, and

procedures are collectively known as
P R O TO C O L S .
Protocols (cont.)

 A communication protocol specifies the details for one

aspect of computer communication, including actions to

be taken when errors or unexpected situations arise. A

given protocol can specify low-level details, such as the

voltage and signals to be used, or high-level items such

as format of messages that application programs

exchange.
Protocols (cont.)

 Networks rely on many rules to manage information

interchange.

 Computer communication is similar to human

communication:

 People follow a set of rules whenever they talk to on

another.

 People have mechanisms in place to get attention of others,

to let them know someone is talking to them and to
establish when they finish talking.

 They also have methods of verification that the information

passed along was received and understood.
Protocol Suites

 The computer communication is a complex process.

 The process involves multiple tasks.

 Just one set of rules is not sufficient for all the tasks.

 Multiple sets of rules are required to establish an efficient

communication process.

 A set of protocols must be constructed carefully to

ensure that the resulting communication system is both
efficient and complete.

 How can one guarantee that the protocols will work

well together?
Protocol Suites (cont.)

 Overall design plan:

 Protocols are not designed in isolation.

 They are designed as complete cooperative sets known as

S U I T E S or families.

 Each protocol in a suite handles a particular aspect of

communication.

 Together, they cover all aspects of communication.

 The suite is designed to allow the protocols to work

together efficiently.
Layered Architecture

 The fundamental abstraction used to collect protocols

into a unified whole is known as a layering model.
 Imagine a communication process as a puzzle with
different pieces.
 Each piece defines a different function in the process, for
instance,
 Establishing
 Terminating
 Verifying

 Each piece is known as a layer.

 Dividing protocols into layers helps both, designers and
implementors to manage the complexity by allowing them
to concentrate on one aspect of communication at a
given time.
Need for a Layered
Architecture

 The layered architecture allows to divide a big task into

smaller sub-tasks.

 Simplifying design.

 This increases the efficiency of the process.

 Easier troubleshooting.

 Easier implementation.

 Each layer has its own function.

Standard Protocol
Architectures
 Two approaches:
 OSI Reference Model
 Never used widely
 Well-known

 TCP/IP Protocol Suite

 Most widely used
OSI Reference Model

 The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model was first

released in 1984 by International Standards Organization
(ISO). It provides a useful structure for defining and
describing the various processes underlying networking
communications.

 Consists of seven layers

 Reference Model

 Provides general framework for standardization.

 Defines a set of layers and services provided by each layer.

 One or more protocols can be developed for each layer.

Seven Layers of OSI Model

7 Application All

6 Presentation People

5 Session Seem

4 Transport To

3 Network Need

2 Data Link Data

1 Physical Processing
Sending and Receiving Data in
OSI Layers
How Peer OSI Layers
Communicate?
How Peer OSI Layers
Communicate? (cont.)

 Communication between OSI layers is both vertical within the

OSI layers and horizontal between peer layers in another
computer.

 When the information is being passed within the OSI model

on a computer, each protocol layer adds its own information
along with the message being sent.

 This information is called H E A D E R which is added to the

beginning of the original message.
How Peer OSI Layers
Communicate? (cont.)
 The sending of a message always goes down the OSI
stack, and hence, headers are added from top to
bottom.
 At the receiving end, each layers removes the header
from its peer layer.
 The last header added by the sending computer is the
first one stripped off and read by the receiving
computer.
 The information between the layers is passed vertically
while the information between computers is passed
horizontally.
How Peer OSI Layers
Communicate? (cont.)
Type of Information at each
OSI Layer
Application Data

Presentation Data

Session Data

Transport Segments

Network Packets

Data Link Frames

Physical Bits
Physical Layer

 It is concerned with all the all aspects of transmitting

and receiving data on the network or simply,
concerned with moving information between two
machines.
 Not responsible for the material of the cable

 Transmitting and receiving bits

 Characteristics of physical layer include:
 Physical structure of the network (physical topology)

 Mechanical specifications for using the medium

 Interface specifications

 Electrical specifications for using the medium

 Voltage levels for bits
Physical Layer (cont.)
Device operating at Physical
Layer
 Repeaters operate at the physical layer of the OSI model.
 A repeater is a network device that repeats (regenerates) a signal from
one port onto other ports to which it is connected.
 It does not filter or interpret anything.
 Signals become weaker the farther they travel down a transmission
medium.
 The loss of signal strength is known as Attenuation.

 A repeater does not require any information from the upper OSI
layers as it merely regenerates the signal and passes the data even
if the data is corrupt.
 The primary purpose of a repeater is to enable the network to
expand beyond the distance limitations of the transmission medium.
Data Link Layer

 The data link layer receives messages, called frames

from upper layers.

 The primary function of the data link layer is to

disassemble these frames into bits for transmission and
then reconstruct the frames from the bits received.

 The other functions of the data link layer include:

 Addressing

 Error Control

 Flow Control
Data Link Layer (cont.)

 It is further divided into two sub-layers:

 Media Access Control (MAC)

 It controls the means by which multiple devices share the same

media channel for the transmission of information. This includes
contention methods, or how data is transferred from a device,
such as the network card, to the transmission medium. The MAC
layer can also provide addressing information for
communication between network devices.

 Logical Link Control (LLC)

 It establishes and maintains links between communicating

devices.
Hardware Access at Data Link
Layer
 Data Link layer’s MAC sublayer provides an interface to
the network adapter card. The details necessary to
facilitate access to the network through the adapter
card are thus assigned to the Data Link layer. Some of
these details include the access control and the network
topology.

 It also controls the transmission method (for example,

synchronous or asynchronous) used to access the
transmission medium.
Addressing at the Data Link
Layer
 The Data Link layer maintains device addresses that enable
messages to be sent to a particular device. The addresses
are called physical device addresses which are frequently
referred to as MAC addresses. Physical device addresses are
unique addresses associated with the networking hardware
in the computer. In most cases (for example, Ethernet and
Token Ring), the physical device address is burned into the
NIC (network interface card) at the time the card is
manufactured.
 Packets on LANs are typically transmitted so that they are
available to all devices on the network segment. Each device
reads each frame far enough to determine the device
address to which the frame is addressed. If the frame’s
destination address matches the device’s own physical
address, the rest of the frame is received. If the addresses
do not match, the remainder of the packet is ignored. This is
the case for all transmissions except for those sent as
broadcasts. All devices on the network receive these
broadcasts.
Device operating at Data Link
Layer
 Bridges can be used to divide large networks into several
smaller ones. Bridges use physical device addresses to
determine which frames to leave on the current network
segment and which to forward to devices on other network
segments.

 Because they use physical device addresses to manage frame

routing, bridges function at the level of the Data Link layer
and are Data Link layer connectivity devices.

 A bridge filters traffic by tracking and checking the Data Link

layer’s MAC sublayer addresses of incoming frames. The
bridge monitors the source addresses of incoming frames and
builds an address table that shows which nodes are on each
of the segments.
Working of a Bridge
Network Layer

 The Network layer uses logical network addresses to route packets

to specific networks on an internetwork. Logical network addresses
are assigned during configuration of the networks. A network
installer must make sure that each network address is unique on a
given internetwork.

 The Network layer also supports service addresses. The service

addresses are also known as sockets or ports. A service address
specifies a channel to a specific process on the destination PC. The
operating systems on most computers can run several processes at
once. When a packet arrives, you must determine which process on
the computer should receive the data in the packet. You do so by
assigning service addresses, which identify upper-layer processes
and protocols. These service addresses are included with the
physical and logical network addresses in the data frame.
Delivering Packets

 Many internetworks often include redundant data paths

that you can use to route messages. Typically, a packet
passes from the local LAN segment of the source PC
through a series of other LAN segments, until it reaches the
LAN segment of the destination PC. The OSI Network layer
oversees the process of determining paths and delivering
packets across the internetwork.
 For delivering packets (routing), switching techniques are
used.
 Switching techniques are mechanisms for moving data from
one network segment to another. These techniques are as
follows:
 Circuit Switching: establishes a path that remains fixed for the
duration of a connection.
 Message Switching: Message switching treats each message as an
independent entity. Each message carries address information that
describes the message’s destination, and this information is used at
each switch to transfer the message to the next switch in the
route.
 Packet Switching: Messages are divided into smaller pieces called
packets. Each packet includes source and destination address
information so that individual packets can be routed through the
internetwork independently.
Device operating at Network
Layer
 A router is a connectivity device
that operates at the OSI Network
layer.
 The information available at the
Network layer gives a router far
more sophisticated packet-
delivery capabilities than a
bridge provides.
Transport Layer

 The transport layer can implement procedures to ensure

the reliable delivery of messages to their destination
devices. The term “reliable” does not mean that errors
cannot occur; instead, it means that if errors occur,
they are detected. If errors such as lost data are
detected, the Transport layer either requests
retransmission or notifies upper-layer protocols so that
they can take corrective action.

 One of the functions of the Transport layer is to break

large messages into segments suitable for network
delivery.
Transport Layer Connection
Services
 The transport layer provides some of the essential quality control
features. The transport layer’s activities include:

 Repackaging: When large messages are divided into segments for

transport, the Transport layer must repackage the segments when
they are received before reassembling the original message.

 Error Control: When segments are lost during transmission or when

segments have duplicate segment IDs, the Transport layer must
initiate error recovery. The Transport layer also detects corrupted
segments by managing end-to-end error control using techniques
such as checksums.

 End-to-End Flow Control: The Transport layer uses

acknowledgments to manage end-to-end flow control between two
connected devices. Besides negative acknowledgments, some
Transport layer protocols can request the retransmission of the
most recent segments.
Session Layer
 The Session layer, manages dialogs between two
computers by establishing, managing, and terminating
communications.
 A session is a formal dialog between a service requester
and a service provider. Sessions have at least four phases:
 Connection Establishment: In this phase, a service
requester requests initiation of a service. During the setup
process, communication is established, and rules are agreed
upon.
 Data Transfer: With all the rules agreed upon during setup,
each party to the dialog knows what to expect.
Communication is therefore efficient, and errors are easy to
detect.
 Connection Release: When the session is completed, the
dialog is terminated in an orderly fashion.
 Error Connection: It checks for errors in the reassembled
packets received from the Transport layer.
Dialogs in Session Layer
Dialogs in Session Layer
(cont.)
 Simplex dialogs: These dialogs are responsible for one-way
data transfers only. An example is a fire alarm, which sends
an alarm message to the fire station but cannot (and does not
need to) receive messages from the fire station.
 Half-duplex dialogs: These dialogs handle two-way data
transfers in which the data flows in only one direction at a
time. When one device completes a transmission, this device
must “turn over” the medium to the other device so that this
second device has a turn to transmit. In a similar fashion, CB
radio operators converse on the same communication
channel. When one operator finishes transmitting, he must
release his transmit key so that the other operator can send a
response.
 Full-duplex dialogs: This third type of dialog permits two-
way simultaneous data transfers by providing each device
with a separate communication channel. Voice telephones are
full-duplex devices, and either party to a conversation can
talk at any time. Most computer modems can operate in full-
duplex mode.
Presentation Layer

 The Presentation layer deals with the syntax, or

grammatical rules, needed for communication between
two computers. The Presentation layer converts system-
specific data from the Application layer into a common,
machine-independent format that supports a more
standardized design for lower protocol layers.

 It also attends to other details of data formatting, such

as data encryption and data compression.
Presentation Layer (cont.)
 On the receiving end, the Presentation layer converts the
machine independent data from the network into the format
required for the local system. This conversion could include
the following:

 Data Formatting: This is the organization of the data. This topic is

actually broken down into four subtopics:

 Bit-Order Translation

 Byte-Order Translation

 Character Code Translation

 File Syntax Translation

 Encryption: Encryption puts data into a form unreadable by

unauthorized users. Encryption takes on two main forms:

 Public Key

 Private Key
Application Layer

 The Application layer of the OSI reference model is

concerned with providing services on the network,
including file services, print services, application services
such as database services, messaging services, and
directory services among others.

 It provides an interface whereby applications can

communicate with the network. It is this interface that is
often referred to as the Application Programming
Interface (API).

 The Application layer also advertises the available

services that your computer has to the network.
Summary of OSI Layers