Definition - What does Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

(TCP/IP) mean?
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is the language a computer uses to
access the Internet. It consists of a suite of protocols designed to establish a network of networks
to provide a host with access to the Internet.

TCP/IP is responsible for full-fledged data connectivity and transmitting the data end-to-end by
providing other functions, including addressing, mapping and acknowledgment. TCP/IP contains
four layers, which differ slightly from the OSI model.

The technology is so common that you would rarely refer to somebody use the full name. In
other words, in common usage the acronym is now the term itself.
Nearly all computers today support TCP/IP. TCP/IP is not a single networking protocol - it is a
suite of protocols named after the two most important protocols or layers within it - TCP and IP.

As with any form of communication, two things are needed: a message to transmit and the means
to reliably transmit the message. The TCP layer handles the message part. The message is broken
down into smaller units, called packets, which are then transmitted over the network. The packets
are received by the corresponding TCP layer in the receiver and reassembled into the original
message.

The IP layer is primarily concerned with the transmission portion. This is done by means of a
unique IP address assigned to each and every active recipient on the network.

TCP/IP is considered a stateless protocol suite because each client connection is newly made
without regard to whether a previous connection had been established.

UDP

The User Datagram Protocol (UDP, rfc 768) wraps IP to allow port addressing.

o Otherwise, UDP provides IP service.

Candidate UDP applications might be

o Delay intolerant and loss tolerant; streaming media (Real-Time

o Datagram based; Domain Name Service (DNS, RPC).

Implementing non-trivial session protocols in UDP is hard.

The UDP Packet

The UDP header is simple:

TCP

The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP, rfc 793, rfc 1122) provides a
reliable byte-stream service.

o Reliable means ordered, uncorrupted, unduplicated.

o Still no delay, latency, or throughput guarantees.

TCP connections go from process to process, but is reliable only from

TCP Connections

TCP is connection-oriented; a TCP connection is virtual.

o It exists at the end-points, not in the network.

o Thats mostly the case.

A TCP connection is full-duplex point-to-point.

o Full duplex: two-way, both at once.

o There are multi-point extensions.

The TCP Header

Like UDP, the TCP header works with the IP header in the encapsulated
packet:

Unlike UDP, a TCP packet represents a segment of the input data stream.

o Data boundaries are not respected.

Reliability

The TCP protocol has to manufacture a reliable service using an unreliable

o The protocol has other responsibilities too.

Sequence numbers, timeouts, and retransmissions protect against loss and

o Sequence numbers: loss, reordering, duplication.

o Timeouts: loss.

o Retransmission: loss

Sequence Numbers

A TCP sequence number is a 32-bit unsigned integer.

Sequence numbers identify bytes in the stream.

o Including the SYN and FIN bits.

Initial sequence numbers are (should be) randomly generated.

o Number wrap-around becomes a problem as pipes get fatter.

Acknowledgments

The receiving side acknowledges the next byte it expects to get.

o Implicitly acknowledging bytes received.

This is a positive acknowledgment: this thing did happen.

o As opposed to negative acknowledgment: this thing didn't happen.