NETWORK MODELS

The goal of a network is to transmit data from one terminal to other. This cannot be achieved by using the
hardware alone. We need to have structured software for this. The network software is structured using 2 models:
1. OSI Reference Model
2. TCP/IP Reference Model

1. OSI Reference Model

OSI is short form for Open System Interconnection. It has total 7 layers and helps in understanding and building a network
architecture which is interoperable, flexible and robust. This model is based on a proposal developed by International
Standards Organization (ISO). It is names as ISO-OSI reference model because it is designed to deal with open system.
Layered Architecture
The OSI model is composed of seven ordered layers: physical (layer 1),
data link (layer 2), network (layer 3), transport (layer 4), session (layer
5), presentation (layer 6) and application (layer 7). As shown in figure
1.1.
Within a single machine, each layer calls upon the services of the layer
just below
it. Layer 3, for example, uses the services provided by layer 2 and
provides services for layer 4.
Each layer is supposed to handle message or data from the layer which
is immediately above or below it.

OSI Layers
Function of different layers:
1. The 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 media.
The physical layer is also concerned with the following:
▪ The physical layer defines the characteristics of the interface between the devices and the transmission media.
▪ The physical layer defines the type of encoding.
▪ The transmission rate - the number of bits sent each second - is also defined by the physical layer.
▪ The physical layer is concerned with the connection of devices to the media i.e. line configuration the link between
two device point-to-point configuration and multipoint configuration.
▪ The physical layer defines the physical topology i.e. (bus, star, ring etc) how devices are connected to make a
network.

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▪ The physical layer also defines the direction of transmission between two devices: simplex, half-duplex, or full-
duplex.
▪ Physical layer does not perform detection or correction of error. It also doesn’t decide the medium or modulation.
▪ It deals with the synchronization of the transmitter and receiver.
▪ It deals with the media bandwidth i.e. baseband and broadband transmission.

Devices: Hub and repeater.

2. The Data Link Layer:

The data link layer transforms the physical layer, a raw transmission facility, to a reliable link. This layer is responsible for
error free transmission of frame from 1 hop to next. This layer divides the data into frame and provides identification to
each frame. It is node-to-node delivery of data. This is divided into 2 sub-layers:
a. Logical link control (LLC) used to establish and maintain link between communicating device.
b. Media Access Control (MAC) used to control the way multiple devices share the same communication channel.

Other responsibilities of the data link layer include the following:

▪ Framing, 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 connecting device that connects the network to the
next one, it is mainly done to identify the sender and receiver.
▪ Flow control. This mechanism maintains the synchronization (buffering of extra data) between a fast sender and a
slow receiver so that the receiver receives the data error free.
▪ 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. The DDL also offers a mechanism to share the channel between multiple machines.
Devices: Bridges and Switches.

3. The Network Layer:

The network layer is responsible for the source-to-destination (end-to-end) delivery of a packet, possibly across several
communication subnets. 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 with connecting devices between the networks, there is
often a need for the network layer to accomplish source-to-destination delivery.
Other responsibilities of the network layer include the following:
▪ 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. The logical address determines the network to
which the machine belongs and then delivers the data at that address.
▪ Routing. It helps to decide the route to travel packets over subnet by implementing routing algorithms between
sender and receiver.
▪ Congestion Control. Allows smooth transmission of data over communication subnet. Since data travels through a
transmission subnet, so congestion control is must.

Devices: Routers.

4. The Transport Layer:

The transport layer is responsible for process-to-process delivery of the entire message. The transport layer, ensure that
the whole message arrives intact and in order, overseeing both error control and flow control at the source-to-destination
level.

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Other responsibilities of the transport layer include the following:
▪ Service-point addressing/ Port 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 on one computer to a specific process 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.
▪ 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 when it reaches
destination.
▪ Connection control. The transport layer can be either connectionless or connection oriented.
▪ Flow control. Provides end to end flow control mechanism.
▪ Error control. Error control is performed process-to-process in this layer. The sending transport layer makes sure that
the entire message arrives at the receiving transport layer without error (damage, loss, or duplication). Error
correction is usually achieved through retransmission.

Devices: Gateway.

5. The Session Layer:

The services provided by the first four layers are not sufficient for some processes. Provides services like dialog control,
token management, synchronization, check point mechanism etc.
Specific responsibilities of the session layer include the following:
▪ Dialog control. Layer allows entities half-duplex (one way at a time) or full-duplex (two ways at a time)
communication. Synchronization. The session layer allows a process to add checkpoints. These are used in the event
of crash and disconnection.

6. The Presentation Layer:

The presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information exchanged between two systems.
This defines the format of data to be exchange between applications.
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 should 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. The layer translates data from the application format to standard
format which can be transmitted on the network.
▪ Encryption. This ensures secrecy of the sensitive information. 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. Large data is compressed and transmitted so that the bandwidth utilization is reduced. Data
compression becomes particularly important in the transmission of multimedia such as text, audio, and video.

7. The Application Layer:

The application layer enables the user application to access the network. It allows application of one computer to
communicate with applications on other computer.
Specific services provided by the application layer include the following:
▪ Network virtual terminal. A network virtual terminal is a software version of a physical terminal and 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 you to log on.
▪ File transfer, access, and management (FTAM). This application allows a user to access files in a remote machine, to
retrieve files from a remote machine.
▪ E-mail services. This application allows user to create, send and receive e-mails.
▪ Directory services. This application provides distributed database sources and access for global information about
various objects and services.

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Merits of OSI Reference Model:
It supports connection less and connection oriented services.
It clearly distinguishes between services, interface and protocol.
It is truly a general model.

Demerits of OSI Reference Model:

Session and Presentation layer are not of much use.
This device was designed before the protocols were invented so it in real life problems it is sometime difficult to fix the
problems using those protocols.

2. TCP/IP Reference Model

TCP /IP is a short form of transmission control protocol and internet
protocol.
Goals achieved by TCP/IP model:
1. Is to have the ability to connect to multiple networks together in
a seamless way.
2. Another goal was that the network should be able to survive loss
of subnet hardware with the existing conversation not being
broken.
3. A flexible architecture was needed to deal successfully with the
divergent requirements of various applications.
TCP/IP are two protocols, that describes the movement of data
between host computer on Internet.
In the TCP/IP protocol suit there are various layers, each layer
responsible for different aspects of communication.
The Internet protocol (IP) and Transmission control protocol (TCP/IP) are together known as TCP/IP protocol.

TCP/IP was developed by the Department of Defense’s Project Research Agency (DARPA) under its project on network
communication.
Description of TCP/IP Model:
It consists of 4 layers as show in the figure (TCP/IP Protocol Suite).
1. Host-to-network Layer i.e. Physical Layer and Data link Layer:
▪ This is the lowest layer in TCP/IP model.
▪ TCP/IP does not define any specific protocol for the physical layer. It supports all of the standard and proprietary
protocols.
▪ TCP/IP does not define any specific protocol for the data link layer either. It supports all of the standard and
proprietary protocols
▪ Node to node communication.
2. Network Layer/Internet Layer:
▪ At the network layer (or, more accurately, the internetwork layer), TCP/IP supports the Internet Protocol (IP).
▪ IP transports data in packets called datagrams, each of which is transported separately.
▪ Datagrams can travel along different routes and can arrive out of sequence or be duplicated.
▪ Datagrams travels independently to the destination.
▪ Since the packets can arrive out of sequence to the destination it is the responsibility of the higher layer to arrange
them in proper order.
▪ Routing of packets/datagrams and congestion are important issues related to this layer.
▪ IP does not keep track of the routes and has no facility for reordering datagrams once they arrive at their destination.
▪ End to end communication.
▪ The unit of communication at the network layer is a datagram.

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3. Transport Layer:
▪ The transport layer is responsible for delivering the whole message, which is called a segment, a user
datagram/packet.
▪ This is the layer above Network/Internet layer.
▪ Its functions are same as those of a transport layer in OSI model.
▪ The end to end protocols used here are TCP and UDP (User Datagram protocol).
▪ TCP is reliable connection oriented protocol. It allows byte stream transmitted from one machine to other without
introducing any error. TCP handles flow control.
▪ UDP is unreliable connectionless protocol and used for the applications which do not wants the TCP’s sequencing and
flow control.
▪ UDP is preferred over TCP in those applications where prompt delivery is more important than accurate delivery.
▪ A new protocol called Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) has been introduced in the last few years.

4. Application Layer:
▪ The application layer in TCP/IP is equivalent to the combined session, presentation, and application layers in the OSI
model.
▪ Many protocols are defined at this layer to provide services such as electronic mail, file transfer, accessing the World
Wide Web, and so on.
▪ The unit of communication at the application layer is a message.
Layers Protocols
Application Layer TELNET,FTP,SMTP,DNS,HTTP,NNTP
Transport Layer TCP,UDP
Internet Layer/Network Layer IP
Host-to-network Layer ARPNET, SATNET LAN, packet radio.

Comparison between OSI and TCP/IP model:

Sr.no OSI
1 Has 7 layers
2 Transport layer guarantees delivery of packets
3 Horizontal approach
4 Separate session layer
5 Separate presentation layer
6 Network layer provides both connection oriented
and connectionless services
7 Defines the services, interface and protocols very
clearly & makes a clear distinction between them
8 The protocols are better hidden and can be easily
replaced as the technology changes.
9 Is truly a general model
10 It has problem of protocol fitting into a model.
TCP/IP
Has 4 layers
Transport layer doesn’t guarantees delivery of packets
Vertical approach
No session layer, characteristic are provide by transport
layer
No presentation layer, characteristic are provide by
transport layer
Network layer provides only connectionless services
It doesn’t clearly distinguish between service, interface
and protocols.
It is not easy to replace the protocols.
Cannot be used for any other application
Model does not fit any other protocol stack.

Introduction to IP (Internetworking Protocol)

▪ TCP/IP protocols use IP transmission mechanism.
▪ IP is a connectionless and unreliable protocol; it is best effort delivery of packets.
▪ It doesn’t provide error checking and tracking mechanism.
▪ IP sends data in form of packets called as datagram, each packet is transmitted separately.
▪ Datagrams travels through different route and reaches the destination; IP can reach out of sequence or in duplicate
form.
▪ In IP there is no facility of recording datagrams when they reach at their destination and it does not keep track of
routes.

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▪ Limited functionality is drawback of IP/
▪ “BEST EFFORT SERVICE”

Introduction to UDP (User Datagram Protocol)

▪ UDP is very simple, unreliable and connectionless protocol.
▪ Is process to process protocol.
▪ Mainly used in client-server or request-reply application.
▪ It adds port address, checksum and error control and length information to the data from upper layers.
▪ Since connectionless it requires less overheads.

Introduction to TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)

▪ Reliable and connection oriented protocol.
▪ Ensures end-to-end error free delivery of packets.
▪ Also handle reassembling of packets and flow control.
▪ TCP divides data stream into smallest unit called segments and it also encapsulate them with IP packets and transmit.
▪ This streams of IP packet is reassembled at destination and then handed over to application layer.

Addressing:
Four levels of addresses are used in an internet employing the TCP/IP protocols: physical address, logical address, port
address, and application-specific address.

1. Physical Addressing (MAC Address):

▪ Hosts and routers are recognized by their MAC Address.
▪ It is a local address and is unique locally but not universally.
▪ The physical address, also known as the link address, is the address of a node as defined by its LAN or WAN.
▪ It is included in the frame used by the data link layer.
▪ It is the lowest-level address.
▪ The physical addresses have authority over the link (LAN or WAN).
▪ The size and format of these addresses vary depending on the network. For example, Ethernet uses a 6-byte (48-bit)
physical address that is imprinted on the network interface card (NIC).
▪ Physical addresses can be either unicast (one single recipient), multicast (a group of recipients), or broadcast (to be
received by all systems in the network). Some networks support all three addresses.
▪ IP address and physical address are two different identifiers and both of them are needed, because physical layers
have 2 different protocols at the network layer at the same time.
▪ So, to deliver a packet to host or a router we need 2 levels of addressing namely IP addressing and MAC/Physical
addressing.
▪ Most importantly we should be able to map the IP address into the corresponding MAC address.

2. Logical Addressing (IP Address):

▪ Logical addresses are necessary for universal communications that are independent of underlying physical networks.
▪ Physical addresses are not adequate in an internetwork environment where different networks can have different
address formats.
▪ A universal addressing system is needed in which each host can be identified uniquely, regardless of the underlying
physical network. This is the main purpose of IP address.

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▪ IP address is an internetwork address, it is universally unique address.
▪ A logical address in the Internet is currently a 32-bit address that can uniquely define a host connected to the
Internet. No two publicly addressed and visible hosts on the Internet can have the same IP address.

The physical addresses will change from hop to hop, but the logical addresses remain the same.

3. Port Addressing:
▪ The modern computers are designed to run multiple processes on it simultaneously.
▪ The main objective of internet is process to process communication. For this purpose it is necessary to label or name
the processes.
▪ The label assigned to a process is called as port address.

4. Specific Addresses:
▪ Some applications have user-friendly addresses that are designed for that specific application.
▪ Examples include the e-mail address (for example, forouzan@fhda.edu) and the Universal Resource Locator (URL) (for
example, www.mhhe.com).

Socket Address is a combination of IP address and Port address.