OPEN SYSTEMS INTERCONNECT (OSI)

REFERENCE MODEL
 The International Standards Organization (ISO) developed the
OSI model in 1983. This model connects systems that are
open to communicate with each other regardless of the
protocols that each system uses.

 The OSI model is represented in seven layers that define the

entire process of communication between two computers on
a network.
FIGURE : PROCESS OF DATA TRANSFER IN THE OSI MODEL
 PHYSICAL LAYER
 The physical layer is the first layer in the OSI model.
 This layer transmits data in the form of raw bits using physical
media such as coaxial cables, twisted-pair cables, or fiber optic
cables.
 During transmission, the data is converted into an electrical/
optical signal before it is sent to the receiving device.
 The receiving device converts the signal into data.
 The physical layer views the type of connection: Ethernet, Token
Ring, or Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) established
between the devices on a network.

 The physical layer:

Identifies the medium used to establish a connection between
two computers on a network.
Transfers bits between devices in the form of electrical/
optical signals.
 DATA LINK LAYER

 The data link layer receives the data from the network layer,
packages it into frames, and then sends it bit-by-bit on to the
physical layer.

 The data link layer ensures that the data transmitted along the
physical medium is error free. In other words, the data link layer
does error detection and data framing.

 To make the data error free, the data link layer breaks the data
into frames. The frames are then transmitted sequentially from
the sender system.
 The data link layer on the receiver system acknowledges the
frame that has successfully arrived.
 Adds a header to the frame if the frame is to be sent to
another computer on the same network.

 What is frame?
 A frame is a unit of data that can be transmitted across
networks. The structure and the size of each frame depend on
the hard ware protocols, for example Ethernet, token ring or
FDDI
 NETWORK LAYER
 This layer is responsible for the delivery of data from the
source to the destination computer.

 This can be achieved by arranging the data into data packets

and adding a header to it. This data packet is also referred to
as datagram.

 The header contains the source and destination addresses of

the data packet.

 To deliver the data packet, this layer follows two processes

routing and forwarding.
 Routing is the process of finding the path through which the
data packet can be delivered.
 Forwarding is the process of using the path provided by
routing and forwarding it to the destination computer.
 This layer in no way is concerned with the reliable and
ordered delivery of packets from the source to the
destination.
 TRANSPORT LAYER
 This layer is responsible for ensuring error-free end-to-end data
transfer to the destination computer.

 The transport layer:

Acknowledges the successful transmission of data packets.
Retransmits the data packets if they are not error free.
Manages the flow of data packets between computers across
multiple networks.
 The data packet is transmitted from the sender computer
only when it receives an acknowledgement from the
destination computer.
 When the connection is established between the two
computers it uses the connection-oriented or
connectionless protocols.
 In case of connection-oriented protocol, the data packet
carries the path of destination along with it. It guarantees the
delivery of data packet at the destination computer. The
connection is terminated after all the data packets are
delivered. Therefore, the connection-oriented protocols are
considered more reliable as compared to connectionless
protocols. (TCP)
 In case of connectionless protocol, the delivery of data
packets to the destination computer is not guaranteed. (UDP)
 When data is transferred from the source computer to the
destination computer, the transport layer adds Error Correction
Code (ECC) to each packet and forms a package.


 The ECC is typically a Cyclic Redundancy Checksum (CRC),

which is an error-detecting scheme. On the receiver system, the
error in transmission is identified when the CRC at the
destination computer does not match with the CRC placed in
the data packet. As a result, data is transmitted area.
 SESSION LAYER
 The session layer helps in establishing interaction between
two computers on a network.
The session layer provides the following services:
 Dialogue control: The session layer manages data traffic on a
network. Usually, the data traffic flows in both directions on a
network, but with a session, the flow of data is only in one
direction at a time, ensuring an orderly exchange of data.

There are two dialogue control methods:

Half-duplex: In this method, each device can either send or
receive data.
Duplex: In this method, each device can receive and transmit
data simultaneously.
DATA TRANSMISSION MODES

 Simplex
 Half-Duplex

 Full-Duplex
SIMPLEX
HALF-DUPLEX
FULL-DUPLEX
 PRESENTATION LAYER
 The presentation layer specifies how the information is
presented to the application layer and is concerned with the
syntax of the transferred data. Not every computer uses the
same data- encoding scheme. The presentation layer encodes
the data in a standard format to solve this problem.

 The data can be encoded by the following two methods:

 Direct translation
 Indirect translation
1. Direct translation: In this method, the American Standard
Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) code from the
source computer is translated into Extended Binary Coded
Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) on the destination
computer.

2. Indirect translation: In this method, the ASCII code is

translated into standard format at the source computer and
then translated to EBCDIC on the destination computer. This
method is recommended by OSI and is called the Abstract
Syntax Notation I (ASN.I) model.
The presentation layer performs the following functions:
1. Encryption and decryption: The probability of the data being
intercepted by unauthorized users is high when the data is
transferred through various wireless media such as
microwave or satellite. The data needs to be encrypted at the
sender’s end and decrypted at the receiver's end. The
encryption and decryption of data is implemented at the
presentation layer.

2. Data compression: Data compression is essential on a

network when the amount of data being transferred is very
large. Before transmission, the data is compressed, and on
being received, the data is decompressed. Ensuring speedy
delivery of data, this technique is used mostly for transmitting
audio and video files.
APPLICATION LAYER

 The application layer is closest to the end user.

 The application layer does not include any user
applications, but it provides network services such as
file transfer and e-mail to the end users or to the
computer application.
The computer applications can be divided as follows:
 Network applications: These applications are programs
designed to work on a network. For example, you can
access a remote computer using the Telnet program.

 Standalone applications: These applications are programs

designed for individual access, for example, the Solitaire
game available with Windows.

 Embedded applications: These applications consist of

other network applications that are built in with the
application. For example, MSWord allows you to activate
e-mail or a Web site reference from the MSWord
document itself.
TCP/IP REFERENCE MODEL

 The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network

(ARPANET) uses this model. The research on the TCP/
IP reference model was sponsored by the Department
of Defense (DoD) in United States.
 Suppose you want to transfer some data from computer A
to computer B. According to the TCP/IP reference model,
the data is sent to the application layer in the form of a
packet. The packet is then sent to the lower layers of the
TCP/IP model, which are the transport layer, the Internet
layer, and the network access layer. Each layer adds a bit
of information along with the data in the form of a header
or footer and attaches the header or footer to the packet.
Finally, the packet reaches the physical layer, and using
cables, the packet is transferred to computer B. The
packet now moves upwards through different layers. Each
layer reads the packet and removes the header or footer
that was attached by its counterpart on computer A. This
continues until the packet reaches the application layer of
computer B.
 APPLICATION LAYER

 The application layer is the topmost layer in the TCP/IP

reference model. This layer provides services that help the
user application to communicate with the network. All the
high-level protocols, which ·help to deliver data over the
network, reside within this layer. The protocols that are
available with the application layer are as follows:
 FTP: Used to transfer files from one computer to another on
a network.
 Telnet: Used to access and operate a remote computer on a
network.
 SMTP: Used to transfer e-mails between mail servers on a
network. The e-mail messages can be retrieved by the e-mail
client by using Post Office Protocol (POP) or Internet Mail
Access Protocol (IMAP) services.
 HTTP: Used to exchange text, audio, video, and image files
over the World Wide Web (WWW).
TRANSPORT LAYER

 The transport layer is responsible for reliable transfer of

data from the source computer to the destination
computer.
 The transport layer interacts with the layers above and
below the transport layer using two core protocols, TCP
and UDP.
 TCP is a connection-oriented protocol that confirms the
delivery of packets over the network. TCP transmits the
data from the source computer to the destination
computer as a stream of characters. The destination
computer rearranges the data when it receives the data.
 UDP is a connectionless protocol and does not confirm
the delivery of packets over the network.
 INTERNET LAYER

 The Internet layer is below the transport layer. This layer

manages the connections across networks to ensure that
the transfer of data between the source and destination
computers is successful.
 The Internet layer accepts the data from the transport
layer and passes it to the network layer.
 This layer is also responsible for locating the shortest
route for sending the data if multiple routes are available.
 A route is a path taken by the packet to reach the
destination computer.
 The protocols available with the Internet layer are Internet
Protocol (IP) and Internet Control Message Protocol
(ICMP). This layer is not concerned with the reliability of
the data transfer.
NETWORK ACCESS LAYER

 The network layer is the lowest layer in the TCP/IP

reference model.
 In this layer, the source computer connects with the
destination computer using protocols such as Ethernet
and Token.
 This layer also contains the network devices that are
attached to the network.
 Every data packet moves through this layer before it
goes out through the transmission medium to the
destination computer.
 The network layer of the TCP/IP model maps to the
physical and the data link layer of the OSI.