Layers in the OSI Model

OSI layers
 Physical Layer
• The physical layer is responsible for
movements of individual bits from one hop
(node) to the next.
 Physical layer-Functions

• Physical characteristics of interfaces and media

• Representations of bits
• Data rate
• Synchronization of bits
• Line configuration (point-to-point or multipoint)
• Physical topology (mesh, star, ring or bus)
• Transmission mode ( simplex, half-duplex or
duplex)
 Physical characteristics of interfaces
and media
• The physical layer defines the characteristics
of the interface between the devices and the
transmission media,
• It also defines the type of transmission media.
 Representations of bits

• The physical layer data consists of a stream of

bits (sequence of 0s and 1s).
• To be transmitted, bits must be encoded into
signals- electrical or optical.
• The physical layer defines the type of
encoding( how 0s and 1s are changed to
signals)
 Data rate
• The transmission rate- the number of bits sent
each second.
 Synchronization of bits

• The sender and the receiver clocks must be

synchronized.
 Line configuration (point-to-point or
multipoint)
• The physical layer is concerned with the
connection of devices to the media.
• Point –to –point configuration – two devices
are connected together through a dedicated
link.
• In a multipoint configuration, a link is shared
between several devices.
 Types of connections: point-to-point and multipoint

1.10
 Physical Topology
• Defines how devices are connected to make a
network.
• Devices can be connected using mesh topology
( every device connected to every other device)
• A star topology (devices are connected through a
central device)
• A ring topology ( each device is connected to the
next, forming a ring)
• A bus topology (every device on a common link)
 Transmission media
• The physical layer defines the direction of
transmission between two devices.(simplex, half-
duplex, full-duplex).
• Simplex mode – only one device can send; the
other device can only receive. ( It a one way
communication)
• Half-duplex mode – two devices can send and
receive, but not at the same time.
• Full-duplex mode( or duplex) – two devices can
send and receive at the same time.
 Data flow (simplex, half-duplex, and full-duplex)

1.13
 Data Link layer
Responsibilities:

• Framing
• Physical addressing
• Flow control
• Error control
• Access control
 Data Link Layer responsibilities
• Framing - The DLL divides the stream of bits
received from the network layer into
manageable data units called frames.
• Physical Addressing – If frames are to be
distributed to different systems on the
network, the data link layer adds a header to
the frame to define the sender and receiver
(next-hop) of the frame.
Data Link Layer responsibilities(cont…)
• Flow Control – If the rate at which the data is
absorbed by the receiver is less than the rate
produced at the sender, the data link layer
imposes a flow control mechanism to prevent
overwhelming the receiver.
• Error control – mechanisms to detect and
retransmit damaged or lost frames.
• It also uses a mechanism to recognize
duplicate frames.
Data Link Layer responsibilities(cont…)
• Access control:
When two or more devices are
connected to the same link, DLL are necessary to
determine which device has control over the link
at any given time.
 Network Layer
• Responsible for source-to-destination delivery
of a packet.
• Other responsibilities:
Logical addressing:

• Logical Addressing – If a packet passes the

network boundary.
• N/W layer adds a header that includes the
logical address of sender and receiver.
 Network Layer(Cont…)
Routing:
Router- To connect independent networks
together to create internetworks(network of
networks) or a larger network.
 Transport Layer
• Responsible for process-to-process delivery of
the entire message.
• [process-an application program running on
the host]
• Other responsibilities:
 port addressing:
( Header includes port address)
 Transport Layer(Cont…)
Segmentation and reassembly
Connection control:- connection-oriented or
connectionless
Flow control: performed in end-to-end.
Whereas in DLL – across a single link
Error Control: performed process-to-process
Whereas in DLL – across a single link
 Session Layer
• Network dialog controller – It establishes,
maintains, and synchronizes the interaction
between communicating systems.
Other responsibilities:
 Dialog Control:
• Allows two systems to enter into a dialog.
• It allows the communication between two
processes to take place in either half-duplex or
full duplex.
 Synchronization:
 Presentation Layer
Concerned with the syntax and semantics of the
information exchanged between two systems.
Other responsibilities:
• Translation:
Sender changes the information from its
sender-dependent format into a common
format.
Receiving machine changes the common
format into its receiver-dependent format.
 Presentation Layer(Cont…)
• Encryption:
• Compression
 reduces the number of bits contained in the
information.
Particularly important in the transmission of
multimedia.
 Application Layer
• Enables the user, whether human or s/w to access the
n/w.
• Provides user interfaces and support for services such
as e-mail, remote file access and transfer etc.
• Other responsibilities:
 Network Virtual terminal:- software version of a
physical terminal that allows a user to logon to a
remote host.
• File transfer, access and management(FTAM):
• E-mail services
 Protocols
• A protocol is a set of rules that governs
communication.
Key elements of a protocol:
• Syntax: - refers structures or format of the
data
• Semantics:- refers to the meaning of each
section of bits.
 Protocols (Cont…)
• Timing:- refers two characteristics:
When data should be sent and how fast it can
be sent.
 Standards
• Essential in creating and maintaining an open and
competitive market for equipment
manufacturers.
• Provide guidelines to manufactures, vendors,
government agencies, and other service
providers.
• Data communication standards fall into 2
categories:
• i) De facto(by fact or by convention)
• Ii) De jure (by law or by regulation)
 Standards
• De facto : - Standards that have not been
approved by an organised body but have
adopted through widespread use.
Eg: MS Office
• De jure:- legislated by an officially recognized
body.
 Standard Organizations
• Standards are developed through the cooperation of
standards creation committees, forums, and government
agencies.
• Standards Creation Committees:
• ISO
• ITU-T
• ANSI
• IEEE
• EIA
• Forums:- Frame relay forum, ATM forum
• Regulatory services: FCC(Federal Communications
Commission)- regulating radio, television and wire/cable
communications.
 Assignment
• Research and find three standards developed
by ISO,ITU-T,ANSI,IEEE,EIA,W3C.
• Use the Internet to find the subject matter of
RFCs 2418 and 1603.
 TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE
• The original TCP/IP protocol suite was
defined as having five layers: Physical, data
link, internet, transport, and application.
• Developed prior to the OSI model.
TCP/IP and OSI model
 TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE
Physical and DLL –
TCP/IP does not define any specific protocol.
It supports all of the standard protocols.
A network in a TCP/IP can be LAN, MAN, WAN.
Network Layer: Or internetwork layer:
TCP/IP supports the internetworking
protocol(IP), in turn, contain four supporting
protocols: ARP, RARP, ICMP, IGMP.
 TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE
• Internetworking protocol (IP): - is an unreliable
and connectionless protocol
• IP transports data in packets called datagrams,
each of which transported separately
• Datagrams can travel along different routes.
• It does not keep track of routes.
• ARP:- used to find the physical address of the
node when its Internet address is known.
• RARP- used to find the IP address of the node
when its Physical address is known.
 TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE
• ICMP:- is a mechanism used by hosts and
routers to send notification of datagram
problems back to the sender.
• ICMP sends query and error reporting
messages.
• IGMP:- used to facilitate the simultaneous
transmission of a message to a group of
recipients.
 TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE
• Transport layer:- TCP and UDP – responsible for
delivery of message form a process to another process.
• The IP is host-to-host protocol- deliverer a packet from
one physical device to another.
• TCP:-
 Connection-oriented, reliable protocol.
 Segmentation and reassembly
UDP:- It is a process-to-process protocol that adds only
port addresses, checksum error control, and the length
information to the data from the upper layer.
Addresses in TCP/IP
Relationship of layers and addresses in TCP/IP
RFCs can be found at
www.faqs.org/rfcs