Unit 01.02.

02
CS 5220:
COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS

OSI Unified View of Protocols and Services

XIAOBO ZHOU, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Computer Science
OSI Unified View: layers
 A layer is a set of related communication
functions managed and grouped together
 Layer n in one machine interacts with layer n
in another machine to provide a service to its
upper layer n +1
 The entities comprising the corresponding
layers on different machines are called peer
processes.
 The processes at layer n are referred to as
layer n entities.
OSI Unified View: Protocols
 The machines at the same layer use a set of precise and
unambiguous rules called the layer-n protocol.
 Layer-n peer processes communicate by exchanging Protocol
Data Units (PDUs)
n-PDUs

n n
Entity Entity

Layer n peer protocol

OSI Unified View: Services
 Communication between peer processes is virtual and actually
indirect
 Layer n+1 transfers information by invoking the services
provided by layer n
 Services are available at Service Access Points (SAP’s)
 Each layer passes data & control information to the layer below it
until the physical layer is reached and transfer occurs
 The data passed to the layer below is called a Service Data Unit
(SDU); SDU’s are encapsulated in PDU’s
Layers, Services & Protocols

n+1 n+1
entity entity

n-SDU n-SDU
n-SAP n-SAP

n-SDU H
n entity n-PDU n entity
H n-SDU
Encapsulation

Layer n SDU

Payload

Layer n+1 header SDU Trailer

PDU at layer n+1

Headers & Trailers
 Each protocol uses a header that carries addresses, sequence
#...
Application APP DATA Application

Application Application
AH APP DATA
Layer Layer
Transport Transport
Layer TH AH APP DATA Layer

Network Network
Layer NH TH AH APP DATA Layer

Data Link Data Link

Layer DH NH TH AH APP DATA CRC Layer

Physical Physical
Layer bits Layer
Bandwidth Utilization

Application APP DATA Application

… …
Data Link Data Link
Layer DH NH TH AH APP DATA CRC Layer

APP DATA
Utilization =
APP DATA + HEADERS + CRC
Encapsulation in TCP/IP
HTTP Request

TCP Header contains

source & destination
port numbers TCP
header HTTP Request
IP Header contains
source and destination
IP addresses;
IP TCP
transport protocol type header header HTTP Request

Ethernet Header contains

source & destination MAC
addresses; Ethernet IP TCP
header header header HTTP Request FCS
network protocol type
Segmentation & Reassembly
 A layer may impose a limit on the size (a) Segmentation
of a data block that it can transfer n-SDU
 Thus a layer-n SDU may be too large
to be handled as a single unit by layer-
n-PDU n-PDU n-PDU
(n-1)
 Sender side: SDU is segmented into (b) Reassembly
multiple PDUs
n-SDU
 Receiver side: SDU is reassembled
from sequence of PDUs
n-PDU n-PDU n-PDU
Connectionless & Connection-
Oriented Services

 Connection-Oriented  Connectionless
 Three-phases:  Immediate SDU
transfer
1. Connection setup
between two SAPs to  No connection setup
initialize state  E.g. UDP, IP
information
2. SDU transfer
3. Connection release
 E.g. TCP, ATM
Why Internetworking?
 To build a “network of networks” or Internet
 operating over multiple, coexisting, different network technologies
 providing ubiquitous connectivity through IP packet transfer
H

Connection-oriented Reliable Stream Service

H
Net53
Net
Net51
Net G
G
G
G
Net55
Net
H G G
Net52
Net Net54
Net
H
Connectionless User Datagram Service
Internet Protocol (IP) Approach
 IP packets transfer information across Internet
Host A IP → router→ router…→ router→ Host B IP
Host Router Host B
Router
A Internet Transport
Transport
Layer Layer Internet Layer
Layer
Network Internet
Internet
Interface
Net51
Net Network
Layer Layer
Router Interface
Network Network
Interface Internet Interface
Layer
Net54
Net
Net52 Network Net53
Net
Net Interface
Lesson Summary
 The unified view enables a common understanding of the
protocols and services found in different layers.