Chapter Two

NETWORK PROTOCOLS

● Network Software
● Protocols
● Standard Protocol Architectures
● OSI Reference Model
● TCP/IP Protocol Suite

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Network Software

● Network activity involves sending data from one computer

to another.
● This complex process can be broken into discrete,
sequential tasks. The sending computer MUST:
● Recognize the data.
● Divide the data into manageable chunks.
● Add information to each chunk of data to determine the location
of the data and to identify the receiver.
● Add timing and error-checking information.
● Put the data on the network and send it on its way.
NETWORK
● Pass the data through transmission media SOFTWARE

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Network Software

• Network software is now highly structured

• Most networks are organized as a stack of layers or
levels, each one built upon the one below it.
• Layers differ from network to network
– Name of each layer
– Number of layers
– contents of each layer
– function of each layer
• The interface (between each adjacent layer) defines
which primitive operations and services the lower
layer makes available to the upper one

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 Network Software

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Network Software
◆ Protocols/Network Protocols are defined as a set of rules
that determines how electronic messages should be packed,
addressed and sent through a network for successful data
communication
◆ To accomplish communication b/w computers or networks of different
architectures
◆ If one computer is based on Microsoft Windows and the other one has
MAC OS installed, then how these two computers are going to
communicate with each other?
◆ Suppose one person speaks English and the other person speaks
Amharic; to understand each other, they need a translator

◆ Both sender and receiver should be agreed upon some

protocols so that both the sender and receiver can interpret and
process the data

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Network Software

• The protocols accepted by vendors and

manufacturers are called standards
• A protocol is an agreement between the
communicating parties on how communication is to
proceed on a specific layer.
• A set of layers and protocols is called a network
architecture
• The specification of an architecture must contain
enough information to allow an implementer to write
the program
• A list of protocols used by a certain system, one
protocol per layer, is called a protocol stack

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Network Software

• Design issues for layered architecture

– Addressing is needed in order to specify a
specific destination
– The protocol must also determine how many
logical channels the connection corresponds to
and what their priorities are, for the transfer of
data
– Error control is an important issue because
physical communication circuits are not perfect

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Network Software

• Design issues for layered architecture

– To deal with a possible loss of sequencing, the
protocol must make explicit provision for the receiver
to allow the pieces to be reassembled properly
– An issue that occurs at every level is how to keep a
fast sender from swamping a slow receiver with
data, known as flow control
– Another problem that must be solved at several
levels is the inability of all processes to accept
arbitrarily long messages, MTU

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 Protocols

• Cooperative action is necessary

– computer networking is not only to exchange bytes
– huge system with several utilities and functions.
– Examples:
• error detection
• Encryption
• Routing
• etc.
• For proper communication, entities in different systems
must speak the same language
– there must be mutually acceptable conventions and rules about
the content, timing and underlying mechanisms
• Those conventions and associated rules are referred as
“PROTOCOLS”

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Protocol Architecture

● Architecture of
philosopher-translator-
secretary
● Issues:
○ Peer-to-peer protocols
are independent of
each other
○ for example, secretaries
may change the comm.
medium to email
○ or the translators may
agree on using another
common language
● Each layer adds a header

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 Protocol Architecture

• Task of data transfer is broken up into

some modules
– Why?
– How do these modules interact?
• For example, file transfer could use three
modules
– File transfer application
– Communication service module
– Network access module

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Protocol Architecture
Simplified File Transfer Architecture

File Transfer Application Layer: Application specific commands, passwords and the
actual file(s) – high level data
Communications Service Module: reliable transfer of those data – error detection,
ordered delivery of data packets, etc.
Network Module: actual transfer of data and dealing with the network – if the
network changes, only this module is affected, not the whole system

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 Protocol Architecture

• Generalize the previous example for a generic

application
– we can have different applications (e-mail, file transfer, …)

Network Access Layer

Transport Layer
Application Layer

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 Network Access Layer

• Exchange of data between the computer and the network

• Sending computer provides address of destination
– so that network can route
• Different switching and networking techniques
– Circuit switching
– Packet switching
– LANs
– etc.
• This layer may need specific drivers and interface
equipment depending on type of network used.
• But upper layers do not see these details
– independence property

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 Transport Layer

• Reliable data exchange

– To make sure that all the data packets
arrived in the same order in which they
are sent out
– Packets nor received or received in error
are retransmitted
• Independent of network being used
• Independent of application

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 Application Layer

• Support for
different user
applications
• e.g. e-mail, file
transfer

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 Addressing Requirements

• Two levels of addressing required

• Each computer needs unique network
address
• Each application on a (multi-tasking)
computer needs a unique address within
the computer
– The service access point or SAP
– The port number in TCP/IP protocol stack

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 Addressing Requirements

or ports

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 Protocol Data Units (PDU)

• User data is passed from layer to layer

• Control information is added/removed
to/from user data at each layer
– Header (and sometimes trailer)
– each layer has a different header/trailer
• Data + header + trailer = PDU (Protocol
Data Unit)
– each layer has a different PDU

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 Transport PDU

• Transport layer may fragment user data

• Each fragment has a transport header
added
– Destination port
– Sequence number
• since the transport layer may split application data
into smaller packets
– Error detection code (generally at trailer)

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 Network PDU
• Adds network header
– network address for destination computer
– optional facilities from network (e.g. priority level)

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 Operation of a Protocol Architecture

Transport Transport
Header Header

Network Network
Header Header

(Network PDU)

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Standard Protocol Architectures

• Common set of conventions

• Standard protocols
– If common protocol used, we design only once
• Products from different vendors
interoperate
– If a common standard is not implemented in a
product, then that product’s market is limited;
customers like standard products
– Customers do not stick to a specific vendor

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Standard Protocol Architectures

• Two approaches
(standard)
– OSI Reference model
• never used widely
• but well known
– TCP/IP protocol suite
• Most widely used

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 OSI Reference Model

• OSI = Open Systems Interconnection

• Reference model
– provides a 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
• Developed by the International Organization
for Standardization (ISO)
– also published by ITU-T (International
Telecommunications Union)

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 OSI Reference Model

• A layered model
– Seven layers – seven has been presented as
the optimal number of layer
• Delivered too late (published in 1984)!
– by that time TCP/IP started to become the de
facto standard
• Although no OSI-based protocol survived,
the model is still valid (in the textbooks)

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 OSI - The Layer Model

• Each layer performs a subset of the

required communication functions
• Each layer relies on the next lower layer to
perform more primitive functions
• Each layer provides services to the next
higher layer
• Changes in one layer should not require
changes in other layers

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 OSI as Framework for Standardization

layer functionalities are

described by ISO; different
standards can be
developed based on these
functionalities

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 Layer Specific Standards

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 Elements of Standardization

• Protocol specification
– Operates between the same layer on two systems
• May involve different platforms
– Protocol specification must be precise
• Format of data units
• Semantics of all fields
• Service definition
– Functional description of what is provided to the
next upper layer
• Addressing
– Referenced by SERVICE ADDRESSING PROTOCOLS

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 The OSI Environment

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 Physical Layer
•Physical interface
between devices
•Characteristics
● Mechanical - interface
specs
● Electrical - voltage levels
for bits, transmission rate
● Physical layer devices
● NIC

● Repeaters

● Hubs

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 Transmission mode

• The physical
layer also
defines the
direction of
transmission
between two
devices:
• simplex,
• Half-duplex,
• full-duplex.

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 Data Link Layer
• Link-to-link (point-to-point) communication
• Basic services: error detection and control, flow control
• Higher layers may assume error free transmission
• Later a sublayer is added to Data Link Layer
•MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayer to deal with broadcast networks
◆ The Data Link layer negotiates:
• frame sizes and
•speed at which they are sent
◆ The timing of frame transmission is called flow control.
◆ Both ends acknowledge packets as they are exchanged.
•sender retransmits the packet if no acknowledgement is received
within a given time interval.

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 Data Link Layer

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 Data Link Layer

◆ Responsibilities of Data Link

•Moves frames from one hop to the next
•Make the physical layer appear error-free to network layer
•Framing: divides the stream of bits received from network layer into
manageable data units called frames
•Physical addressing: adds a header to the frame to define the sender
and receiver (MAC)
•If destination is outside the network, frame is sent to router
(gateway).
◆ Has to sublayers:
•Media Access Control (MAC)
•Logical Link Control (LLC)
◆ Devices: Switches, Bridges and NICs

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 Network Layer
◆ Defines end-to-end (host-to-host) delivery of packets
◆ Defines logical addressing (IP) so that any endpoint can be identified
◆ Defines how routing works and how routes are learned so that
packets can be delivered
◆ Defines how to fragment a packet into smaller packets to
accommodate different media

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 Network Layer

•Transfer of information through comm. Network

• Network nodes (relays/routers) should perform
switching and routing functions
• QoS (Quality of Service) and congestion control are
also addressed in this layer
• Several other internetworking issues
– e.g. differences in addressing, max. data length, etc.
• Higher layers do not need to know about underlying
networking technology
• Not needed on direct links
•Devices: Routers, Brouters, Layer3 switches

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 Transport Layer
• End-to-end (process-to-process) exchange of
data
• In sequence, no losses, no duplicates
• If needed, upper layer data are split into smaller
units
• Handles message delivery from a specific
process (running program) on one computer to
a specific process on another computer.
• Has an addressing mechanism:
Service-Addressing Point

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 Transport Layer
• SERVICES:
• Segmentation and reassembly
• Connection control: connectionless and connection-oriented
• Flow control
• Error control

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 Session Layer
• Establishes, manages, and terminates sessions between
applications.
• Control of dialogues
• whose turn to talk?
• Dialogue discipline (full-duplex, half-duplex)
• Synchronization
• Check-pointing and recovery

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 Presentation Layer

•Data formats (encode-decode):

– ensures that the information that the application layer of one
system sends out is readable by the application layer of another
system
– the presentation layer is responsible for interoperability between
different encoding methods
– e.g. EBCDIC-to-ASCII
•Data compression:
– reduces the number of bits in a message
– Used in transmission of media files like audio and video
– e.g. mp3, mp4, jpg
•Encryption/Decryption:
– Carry sensitive information
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 Application Layer
● Supplies meaningful information and services to users at one end
of the communication and interfaces with system resources
(programs and data files) at the other end of the communication.
● All that applications need to do is to send messages to the
Presentation layer, and the lower layers take care of the hard
part.
● It differs from the other layers in that it does not provide services
to any other OSI layer, but rather, to users and applications
outside the OSI model.
● The application layer establishes the availability of intended
communication partners, synchronizes and establishes
agreement on procedures for error recovery and control of data
integrity.
● e.g. email, chat programs, browsers, remote terminals, etc...

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 TCP/IP Protocol Suite

• Most widely used interoperable network protocol

architecture
• Specified and extensively used before OSI
– OSI was slow to take place in the market
• Funded by the US Defense Advanced Research
Project Agency (DARPA) for its packet switched
network (ARPANET)
– DoD automatically created an enormous market for
TCP/IP
• Used by the Internet and WWW

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 TCP/IP Protocol Suite
• TCP/IP does not have an official layer structure
• But protocols imply one
– Application layer
– Transport (host to host) layer
– Internet layer
– Network access layer
– Physical layer
• Actually TCP/IP reference model has been built on its protocols
– That is why that reference model is only for TCP/IP protocol
suite
– and this is why it is not so important to assign roles to each
layer in TCP/IP; understanding TCP, IP and the application
protocols would be enough

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Standard Protocol Architectures

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 OSI vs. TCP/IP

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 Network Access and Physical Layers

• TCP/IP reference model does not

discuss these layers too much
– the node should connect to the network
with a protocol such that it can send IP
packets
– this protocol is not defined by TCP/IP
– mostly in hardware
– a well known example is Ethernet

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 Internet Layer

• Connectionless, point to point internetworking

protocol (uses the datagram approach)
– takes care of routing across multiple networks
– each packet travels in the network independently of each
other
• they may not arrive (if there is a problem in the network)
• they may arrive out of order
– a design decision enforced by DoD to make the system
more flexible and responsive to loss of some subnet
devices
• Implemented in end systems and routers as the
Internet Protocol (IP)

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 Transport Layer

• End-to-end data transfer

• Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
– connection oriented
– reliable delivery of data
– ordering of delivery
• User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
– connectionless service
– delivery is not guaranteed

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 Application Layer
• Support for user applications
• A separate module for each different
application
– e.g. HTTP,
– SMTP, telnet

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 Operation of TCP and IP

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 Encapsulation and Decapsulation

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End.

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