Communications Protocol
Communications Protocol
Contents:
1 Protocol suites
2 Protocol development
3 Common types of protocols
4 Protocol testing
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Protocol suites
The protocols in human communication are rules about appearance, speaking, listening
and understanding. These rules, also called protocols of conversation, represent different layers
of communication. They work together to help people communicate successfully. The need for
protocols also applies to computing systems. Network engineers have written rules for
communication that must be strictly followed for successful host-to-host communication. These
rules apply to different layers of sophistication such as which physical connections to use, how
hosts listen, how to interrupt, how to terminate communications, which language to use and
many others. These rules, or protocols, that work together to ensure successful communication
are grouped into what is known as a protocol suite.
The widespread use and expansion of communications protocols has been a prerequisite
for the development of the Internet. The Internet Protocol (IP) and the Transmission Control
Protocol (TCP) are the most important of these, and the term Internet Protocol Suite, or TCP/IP,
refers to a collection of its most used protocols. Most of the communication protocols in use on
the Internet are described in the Request for Comments (RFC) documents of the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF).
Object-oriented programming has extended the use of the term to include the
programming protocols available for connections and communication between objects. Protocols
fall into many levels of processes and complexity.
Generally, only the simplest protocols are used alone. Most protocols, especially in the
context of communications or networking, are layered together into protocol stacks where a
variety of tasks are divided among different protocols in the stack.
Whereas the protocol stack denotes a specific combination of protocols that work
together, a reference model is a software architecture that defines each layer and the services
each should offer. A prominent reference model is the seven-layer OSI model, which is used for
conceptualizing protocol stacks and peer entities. This reference model also provides an
opportunity to teach more general software engineering concepts such as hiding, modularity, and
delegation of tasks. This model has endured in spite of the demise of many of its protocols (and
protocol stacks) originally sanctioned by the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO). Despite its success as a teaching tool, the design process and the architecture of the
Internet do not specifically adhere to the principles of the OSI model, but a general analogy is
commonly recognized. Instead, Internet design is based on the Internet Protocol Suite.
Protocol development
Many communication protocols are also designed by commercial entities, such as small
and large corporations in the software and data communications industries. Xerox Corporation
(Xerox PARC), Microsoft, Intel, and many others have developed communications protocols that
are in wide-spread use. Some were developed initially in proprietary fashion, but were published
and were accepted later by the broader public. Some remain in proprietary status.
Many services are based on protocols that use the TCP protocol, like:
Protocol testing
The captured information is decoded from raw digital form into a human-readable format
that permits users of the protocol tester to easily review the exchanged information. Protocol
testers vary in their abilities to display data in multiple views, automatically detect errors,
determine the root causes of errors, generate timing diagrams, etc.
Some protocol testers can also generate traffic and thus act as the reference device. Such
testers generate protocol-correct traffic for functional testing, and may also have the ability to
deliberately introduce errors to test for the DUT's ability to deal with error conditions.
See also