LAYERS IN THE OSI MODEL

Physical Layer

 The physical layer coordinates the functions required to carry a bit stream over a

physical medium.

 It deals with the mechanical and electrical specifications of the interface and

transmission medium.

 It also defines the procedures and functions that physical devices and interfaces have

to perform for transmission to occur.

 Figure 2.5 shows the position of the physical layer with respect to the transmission

medium and the data link layer.

 The physical layer is also concerned with the following:

 □ Physical characteristics of interfaces and medium. The physical layer defines

the characteristics of the interface between the devices and the transmission medium.

 It also defines the type of transmission medium.

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  □ Representation of bits. The physical layer data consists of a stream of bits

(sequence of Os or Is) with no interpretation.

 To be transmitted, bits must be encoded into signals—electrical or optical. The

physical layer defines the type of encoding (how Os and Is are changed to signals).

 □ Data rate. The transmission rate—the number of bits sent each second—is also

defined by the physical layer.

 In other words, the physical layer defines the duration of a bit, which is how long it

lasts.

 □ Synchronization of bits. The sender and receiver not only must use the same

bit rate but also must be synchronized at the bit level.

 In other words, the sender and the receiver clocks must be synchronized.

 □ Line configuration. The physical layer is concerned with the connection of

devices to the media.

 In a point-to-point configuration, two devices are connected through a dedicated link.

In a multipoint configuration, a link is shared among several devices.

 □ Physical topology. The physical topology defines how devices are connected to

make a network.

 Devices can be connected by using a mesh topology (every device is 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 is on a common link), or a hybrid topology (this is a combination of two

or more topologies).

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  □ Transmission mode. The physical layer also defines the direction of

transmission between two devices: simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex.

 In simplex mode, only one device can send; the other can only receive.

 The simplex mode is a one-way communication.

 In the half-duplex mode, two devices can send and receive, but not at the same time.

 In a full-duplex (or simply duplex) mode, two devices can send and receive at the same

time.

Data Link Layer

 The data link layer transforms the physical layer, a raw transmission facility, to a

reliable link.

 It makes the physical layer appear error-free to the upper layer (network layer).

 Figure 2.6 shows the relationship of the data link layer to the network and physical

layers.

 Other responsibilities of the data link layer include the following:

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  □ Framing. The data link layer 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/or

receiver of the frame.

 If the frame is intended for a system outside the sender’s network, the receiver

address is the address of the device that connects the network to the next one.

 □ Flow control. If the rate at which the data are absorbed by the receiver is less

than the rate at which data are produced in the sender, the data link layer imposes a

flow control mechanism to avoid overwhelming the receiver.

 □ Error control. The data link layer adds reliability to the physical layer by adding

mechanisms to detect and retransmit damaged or lost frames.

 It also uses a mechanism to recognize duplicate frames.

 Error control is normally achieved through a trailer added to the end of the frame.

 □ Access control. When two or more devices are connected to the same link, data link

layer protocols are necessary to determine which device has control over the link at

any given time

 Figure 2.7 illustrates hop-to-hop (node-to-node) delivery by the data link layer.

 As the figure shows, communication at the data link layer occurs between two

adjacent nodes.

 To send data from A to F, three partial deliveries are made. First, the data link layer at

A sends a frame to the data link layer at B (a router).

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  Second, the data link layer at B sends a new frame to the data link layer at E.

 Finally, the data link layer at E sends a new frame to the data link layer at F.

 Note that the frames that are exchanged between the three nodes have different

values in the headers.

 The frame from A to B has B as the destination address and A as the source address.

 The frame from B to E has E as the destination address and B as the source address.

 The frame from E to F has F as the destination address and E as the source address.

 The values of the trailers can also be different if error checking includes the header of

the frame

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 Network Layer

 The network layer is responsible for the source-to-destination delivery of a packet,

possibly across multiple networks (links).

 Whereas the data link layer oversees the delivery of the packet between two systems

on the same network (links), the network layer ensures that each packet gets from its

point of origin to its final destination.

 If two systems are connected to the same link, there is usually no need for a network

layer.

 However, if the two systems are attached to different networks (links) with

connecting devices between the networks (links), there is often a need for the

network layer to accomplish source-to-destination delivery.

 Figure 2.8 shows the relationship of the network layer to the data link and transport

layers.

 Other responsibilities of the network layer include the following:

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  □ Logical addressing. The physical addressing implemented by the data link layer

handles the addressing problem locally.

 If a packet passes the network boundary, we need another addressing system to help

distinguish the source and destination systems.

 The network layer adds a header to the packet coming from the upper layer that,

among other things, includes the logical addresses of the sender and receiver.

 □ Routing. When independent networks or links are connected to create

internetworks (network of networks) or a large network, the connecting devices

(called routers or switches') route or switch the packets to their final destination.

 One of the functions of the network layer is to provide this mechanism.

 Figure 2.9 illustrates end-to-end delivery by the network layer.

 As the figure shows, now we need a source-to-destination delivery.

 The network layer at A sends the packet to the network layer at B.

 When the packet arrives at router B, the router makes a decision based on the final

destination (F) of the packet.

 Router B uses its routing table to find that the next hop is router E.

 The network layer at B, therefore, sends the packet to the network layer at E.

 The network layer at E, in turn, sends the packet to the network layer at F.

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 

Transport Layer

 The transport layer is responsible for process-to-process delivery of the entire

message.

 A process is an application program running on a host.

 Whereas the network layer oversees source-to-destination delivery of individual

packets, it does not recognize any relationship between those packets.

 It treats each one independently, as though each piece belonged to a separate

message, whether or not it does.

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  The transport layer, on the other hand, ensures that the whole message arrives intact

and in order, overseeing both error control and flow control at the source-to-

destination level.

 Figure 2.10 shows the relationship of the transport layer to the network and session

layers.

 Other responsibilities of the transport layer include the following:

 □ Service-point addressing. Computers often run several programs at the same time.

 For this reason, source-to-destination delivery means delivery not only from one

computer to the next but also from a specific process (running program) on one

computer to a specific process (running program) on the other.

 The transport layer header must therefore include a type of address called a service-

point address (or port address).

 The network layer gets each packet to the correct computer; the transport layer gets

the entire message to the correct process on that computer.

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  □ Segmentation and reassembly. A message is divided into transmittable

segments, with each segment containing a sequence number.

 These numbers enable the transport layer to reassemble the message correctly upon

arriving at the destination and to identify and replace packets that were lost in

transmission.

 □ Connection control. The transport layer can be either connectionless or

connection- oriented.

 A connectionless transport layer treats each segment as an independent packet and

delivers it to the transport layer at the destination machine.

 A connection- oriented transport layer makes a connection with the transport layer at

the destination machine first before delivering the packets.

 After all the data are transferred, the connection is terminated.

 □ Flow control. Like the data link layer, the transport layer is responsible for flow

control.

 However, flow control at this layer is performed end to end rather than across a single

link.

 □ Error control. Like the data link layer, the transport layer is responsible for

error control.

 However, error control at this layer is performed process-to- process rather than

across a single link.

 The sending transport layer makes sure that the entire message arrives at the

receiving transport layer without error (damage, loss, or duplication).

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  Error correction is usually achieved through retransmission.

 Figure 2.11 illustrates process-to-process delivery by the transport layer

Session Layer

 The services provided by the first three layers (physical, data link, and network) are

not sufficient for some processes.

 The session layer is the network dialog controller.

 It establishes, maintains, and synchronizes the interaction among communicating

systems.

 Specific responsibilities of the session layer include the following:

 □ Dialog control. The session layer allows two systems to enter into a dialog. It

allows the communication between two processes to take place in either halfduplex

(one way at a time) or full-duplex (two ways at a time) mode.

 □ Synchronization. The session layer allows a process to add checkpoints, or syn-

chronization points, to a stream of data.

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  Figure 2.12 illustrates the relationship of the session layer to the transport and

presentation layers.

Presentation Layer

 The presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information

exchanged between two systems.

 Figure 2.13 shows the relationship between the pre-sentation layer and the

application and session layers.

 Specific responsibilities of the presentation layer include the following:

 □ Translation. The processes (running programs) in two systems are usually

exchanging information in the form of character strings, numbers, and so on.

 The information must be changed to bit streams before being transmitted.

 Because different computers use different encoding systems, the presentation layer is

responsible for interoperability between these different encoding methods.

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  The presentation layer at the sender changes the information from its sender-

dependent format into a common format.

 The presentation layer at the receiving machine changes the common format into its

receiver-dependent format.

 □ Encryption. To carry sensitive information, a system must be able to ensure

privacy.

 Encryption means that the sender transforms the original information to another form

and sends the resulting message out over the network.

 Decryption reverses the original process to transform the message back to its original

form.

 □ Compression. Data compression reduces the number of bits contained in the

information.

 Data compression becomes particularly important in the transmission of multimedia

such as text, audio, and video.

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 Application Layer

 The application layer enables the user, whether human or software, to access the

network.

 It provides user interfaces and support for services such as electronic mail, remote file

access and transfer, shared database management, and other types of distributed

information services.

 Figure 2.14 shows the relationship of the application layer to the user and the pre-

sentation layer.

 Of the many application services available, the figure shows only three: X.400

(message-handling services), X.500 (directory services), and file transfer, access, and

management (FTAM).

 The user in this example employs X.400 to send an e-mail message.

 Specific services provided by the application layer include the following:

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  □ Network virtual terminal. A network virtual terminal is a software version of a

physical terminal, and it allows a user to log on to a remote host.

 To do so, the application creates a software emulation of a terminal at the remote

host.

 The user’s computer talks to the software terminal which, in turn, talks to the host,

and vice versa.

 The remote host believes it is communicating with one of its own terminals and allows

the user to log on.

 □ File transfer, access, and management. This application allows a user to access

files in a remote host (to make changes or read data), to retrieve files from a remote

computer for use in the local computer, and to manage or control files in a remote

computer locally.

 □ Mail services. This application provides the basis for e-mail forwarding and

storage.

 □ Directory services. This application provides distributed database sources and

access for global information about various objects and services

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