OSI model

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OSI model

7. Application Layer

NNTP  · SIP  · SSI  · DNS  · FTP  · Gopher · HTTP  · NF
S  · NTP  · SMPP  · SMTP  ·DHCP  · SNMP  · Telnet  · 
Netconf  ·(more)

6. Presentation Layer

MIME  · XDR  · TLS  · SSL

5. Session Layer

Named Pipes  · NetBIOS  · SAP  · L2TP  ·PPTP

4. Transport Layer

TCP  · UDP  · SCTP  · DCCP

3. Network Layer

IP (IPv4, IPv6)  · ICMP  · IPsec  · IGMP  ·IPX  · AppleTa
lk

2. Data Link Layer

ATM  · SDLC  · HDLC  · ARP  · CSLIP  ·SLIP  · PLIP  · 
IEEE 802.3  · Frame Relay · ITU-T G.hn DLL  · PPP  · X
.25

1. Physical Layer

EIA/TIA-232  · EIA/TIA-449  · ITU-T V-Series  · I.430  · 
I.431  · POTS  · PDH  ·SONET/SDH  · PON  · OTN  · D
SL  ·IEEE 802.3  · IEEE 802.11  · IEEE 802.15 · IEEE 80
2.16  · IEEE 1394  · ITU-T G.hn PHY  · USB  · Bluetooth
 This box: view • talk • edit

The Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI model) is a product of the Open Systems

Interconnection effort at the International Organization for Standardization. It is a way of sub-dividing
a communications system into smaller parts called layers. A layer is a collection of conceptually similar
functions that provide services to the layer above it and receives services from the layer below it. On each
layer an instance provides services to the instances at the layer above and requests service from the layer
below.

For example, a layer that provides error-free communications across a network provides the path needed
by applications above it, while it calls the next lower layer to send and receive packets that make up the
contents of the path. Conceptually two instances at one layer are connected by a horizontal protocol
connection on that layer.

Most network protocols used in the market today are based on TCP/IP stacks.

Communication in the OSI-Model (Example with layers 3 to 5)

Contents
 [hide]

1 History
2 Description of OSI layers
o 2.1 Layer 1: Physical Layer
o 2.2 Layer 2: Data Link Layer

 2.2.1 WAN Protocol
architecture
 2.2.2 IEEE 802 LAN
architecture
o 2.3 Layer 3: Network Layer
o 2.4 Layer 4: Transport Layer
 o 2.5 Layer 5: Session Layer
o 2.6 Layer 6: Presentation Layer
o 2.7 Layer 7: Application Layer

3 Cross Layer Functions

4 Interfaces
5 Examples
6 Comparison with TCP/IP
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit]History

In 1978, work on a layered model of network architecture was started and the International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) began to develop its OSI framework architecture. OSI has two major
components: an abstract model of networking, called the Basic Reference Model or seven-layer model,
and a set of specific protocols.

Note: The standard documents that describe the OSI model can be freely downloaded from the ITU-T as
the X.200-series of recommendations.[1] A number of the protocol specifications are also available as part
of the ITU-T X series. The equivalent ISO and ISO/IEC standards for the OSI model are available from
ISO, but only some of them at no charge.[2]

The concept of a 7 layer model was provided by the work of Charles Bachman, Honeywell Information
Services. Various aspects of OSI design evolved from experiences with the ARPANET, the fledgling
Internet, NPLNET, EIN, CYCLADES network and the work in IFIP WG6.1. The new design was
documented in ISO 7498 and its various addenda. In this model, a networking system is divided into
layers. Within each layer, one or more entities implement its functionality. Each entity interacts directly
only with the layer immediately beneath it, and provides facilities for use by the layer above it.

Protocols enable an entity in one host to interact with a corresponding entity at the same layer in another
host. Service definitions abstractly describe the functionality provided to an (N)-layer by an (N-1) layer,
where N is one of the seven layers of protocols operating in the local host.

[edit]Description of OSI layers

According to recommendation X.200, there are seven layers, each generically known as an N layer. An
N+1 entity requests services from the N entity.

At each level, two entities (N-entity peers) interact by means of the N protocol by transmitting protocol
data units (PDU).

A Service Data Unit (SDU) is a specific unit of data that has been passed down from an OSI layer to a
lower layer, and which the lower layer has not yet encapsulated into a protocol data unit (PDU). An SDU is
a set of data that is sent by a user of the services of a given layer, and is transmitted semantically
unchanged to a peer service user.

The PDU at any given layer, layer 'n', is the SDU of the layer below, layer 'n-1'. In effect the SDU is the
'payload' of a given PDU. That is, the process of changing a SDU to a PDU, consists of an encapsulation
process, performed by the lower layer. All the data contained in the SDU becomes encapsulated within
the PDU. The layer n-1 adds headers or footers, or both, to the SDU, transforming it into a PDU of layer n-
1. The added headers or footers are part of the process used to make it possible to get data from a source
to a destination.
OSI Model

Data
Layer Function
unit

7. Application Network process to application

Data 6. Presentation Data representation, encryption and decryption, convert machine dependent data to machine independent data
Host
layers
5. Session Interhost communication

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

Packet 3. Network Path determination andlogical addressing

Medi
a Frame 2. Data Link Physical addressing
layers
Bit 1. Physical Media, signal and binary transmission

Some orthogonal aspects, such as management and security, involve every layer.

Security services are not related to a specific layer: they can be related by a number of layers, as defined
by ITU-T X.800 Recommendation.[3]

These services are aimed to improve the CIA triad (i.e.confidentiality, integrity, availability) of transmitted

data. Actually the availability of communication service is determined by network design and/or network
management protocols. Appropriate choices for these are needed to protect against denial of service.

[edit]Layer 1: Physical Layer

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

[edit]Layer 2: Data Link Layer

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 asPoint-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.

[edit]WAN Protocol architecture

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.
[edit]IEEE 802 LAN architecture

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.

[edit]Layer 3: Network Layer

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
networkrouting 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 three
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
erroneous 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.

[edit]Layer 4: Transport Layer

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
sends the next data if no errors occurred.

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:[4]

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 Yes Yes Yes

Reinitiate connection (if an excessive number of PDUs are

No Yes No Yes No
unacknowledged)

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.

[edit]Layer 5: Session Layer

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.

[edit]Layer 6: Presentation Layer

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 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.

[edit]Layer 7: Application Layer

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:

 On OSI stack:
 FTAM File Transfer and Access Management Protocol
 X.400 Mail
 Common management information protocol (CMIP)
 On TCP/IP stack:
 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP),
 File Transfer Protocol (FTP),
 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
 Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
[edit]Cross Layer Functions
There are some functions or services that are not tied to a given layer, but they can affect more than one
layer. Examples are

 security service (telecommunication)[5] as defined by ITU-T X.800 Recommendation.

 management functions, i.e functions that permit to configure, instantiate, monitor, terminate the
communications of two or more entities: there is a specific application layer protocol Common
management information protocol (CMIP) and its corresponding service common management
information service (CMIS), they need to interact with every layer in order to deal with their instances.
[edit]Interfaces

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.

[edit]Examples

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 andremoved. (June
2010)

Layer OSI protocols TCP/IP protocols Signalin AppleTa IPX S UMTS Misc. examples
 g System N
# Name lk
7[6] A

NNTP, SIP, SSI,DNS, F
FTAM, X.400,X INAP,M A
TP,Gopher, HTTP,NFS,  AFP, ZI
Applicatio .500, DAP,ROS AP,TCA RIP,S P
7 [7 NTP, DHCP,SMPP, SM P,RTMP HL7, Modbus
n E, RTSE,ACSE P,ISUP,T AP P
] [8] TP,SNMP, Telnet,RIP,  ,NBP
CMIP UP C
BGP

ISO/IEC 8823,
TDI, ASCII, EBC
Presentatio X.226,
6 MIME, SSL, TLS,XDR AFP DIC,MIDI, MPE
n ISO/IEC 9576-1,
G
X.236

Named
ISO/IEC 8327, D pipes, NetBIOS,S
Sockets. Session
X.225, ASP,AD NWLi L AP, half
5 Session establishment
ISO/IEC 9548-1, SP,PAP nk C duplex, full
inTCP, RTP
X.235 ? duplex, simplex, 
RPC

ISO/IEC 8073,
TP0, TP1, TP2,
TP3, TP4 TCP, UDP, SCTP,DCC DDP,S
4 Transport NBF
(X.224), P PX
ISO/IEC 8602,
X.234

RRC (Ra
dio
Resource
Control) NBF, Q.931, IS-
Packet IS
ISO/IEC 8208,X
Data
.25 (PLP), ATP(To
Converge
ISO/IEC 8878,X IP, IPsec, ICMP,IGMP,  SCCP,M kenTalk
3 Network IPX nce
.223, OSPF TP orEtherT
Protocol  Leaky
ISO/IEC 8473-1,  alk)
(PDCP)
CLNPX.233. bucket, token
and BMC
(Broadca bucket
st/Multic
ast
Control)

2 Data Link ISO/IEC 7666,X PPP, SLIP,PPTP, L2TP MTP,Q.7 LocalTal IEEE S LLC (Lo 802.3

.25 (LAPB),Tok 10 k,Apple 802.3f D gical (Ethernet),802.11
en Bus, X.222, Talk raming L Link a/b/g/n
ISO/IEC 8802-2  Remote ,Ether C Control),  MAC/LLC,802.1
LLC Type 1 and Access,P net II MAC(M Q
 (VLAN), ATM,H
DP, FDDI, Fibre
Channel, Frame
Relay,HDLC, IS
L, PPP, Q.921,To
ken
Ring, CDP, ARP(
edia maps layer 3 to
framin
2[9] PP Access layer 2
g
Control) address), ITU-T
G.hn DLL
CRC, Bit
stuffing, ARQ,Da
ta Over Cable
Service Interface
Specification
(DOCSIS)
RS-232, Full
duplex,RJ45, V.3
5, V.34, I.430,I.4
31, T1, E1, 10BA
SE-T, 100BASE-
TX, POTS,SONE
X.25 (X.21bis,EI RS- T, SDH, DSL,80
T UMTS
A/TIA- 232,RS- 2.11a/b/g/n
MTP,Q.7 w Physical
1 Physical 232,EIA/TIA- 422,STP, PHY, ITU-T
10 in Layer or
449,EIA- PhoneNe G.hn
ax L1
530,G.703) [9] t PHY, Controller
Area
Network, Data
Over Cable
Service Interface
Specification
(DOCSIS)