TCP/IP-

Lecture 2
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How TCP/IP Works

• The four-layer model is a common model for describing TCP/IP

networking, but it isn’t the only model.
• The ARPAnet model, for instance, as described in RFC 871,
describes three layers: the Network Interface layer, the Host-to-
Host layer, and the Process-Level/Applications layer.
• Other descriptions of TCP/IP call for a five-layer model, with
Physical and Data Link layers in place of the Network Access
layer (to match OSI). Still other models might exclude either the
Network Access or the Application layer, which are less uniform
and harder to define than the intermediate layers.
• The names of the layers also vary. The ARPAnet layer names still
appear in some discussions of TCP/IP, and the Internet layer is
sometimes called the Internetwork layer or the Network layer.

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 TCP/IP Model
• Network Access layer: Provides an interface with the physical network. Formats the data for
the transmission medium and addresses data for the subnet based on physical hardware
addresses. Provides error control for data delivered on the physical network.

• Internet layer: Provides logical, hardware-independent addressing so that data can pass
among subnets with different physical architectures. Provides routing to reduce traffic and
support delivery across the internetwork. (The term internetwork refers to an
interconnected, greater network of local area networks (LANs), such as what you find in a
large company or on the Internet.) Relates physical addresses (used at the Network Access
layer) to logical addresses.

• Transport layer: Provides flow-control, error-control, and acknowledgment services for the
internetwork. Serves as an interface for network applications.

• Application layer: Provides applications for network troubleshooting, file transfer, remote
control, and Internet activities. Also supports the network application programming
interfaces (APIs) that enable programs written for a particular operating environment to
access the network.
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 When the TCP/IP protocol software prepares a piece of data for
transmission across the network, each layer on the sending
machine adds a layer of information to the data that is
relevant to the corresponding layer on the receiving machine.

The Internet layer of the computer sending the data adds a

header with some information that is significant to the Internet
layer of the computer receiving the message.

TCP/IP Model This process is sometimes referred to as encapsulation.

At the receiving end these headers are removed as the data is

passed up the protocol stack.

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TCP/IP and the OSI Model
• The networking industry has a standard seven-layer model for network protocol
architecture called the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The OSI model
represents an effort by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), an
international standards organization, to standardize the design of network
protocol systems to promote interconnectivity and open access to protocol
standards for soft- ware developers.
• TCP/IP was already on the path of development when the OSI standard
architecture appeared and, strictly speaking,
• TCP/IP does not conform to the OSI model.
• The two models did have similar goals, and enough interaction occurred among
the designers of these standards that they emerged with a certain compatibility.
• The OSI model has been very influential in the growth and development of
protocol implementations, and it is quite common to see the OSI terminology
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 • The seven layers of the OSI model are as follows:
• Physical layer: Converts the data into the
stream of electric or analog pulses that will
actually cross the transmission medium and
oversees the trans- mission of the data
• Data Link layer: Provides an interface with the
network adapter; maintains logical links for the
subnet
• Network layer: Supports logical addressing
and routing
OSI Model • Transport layer: Provides error control and
flow control for the internetwork
• Session layer: Establishes sessions between
communicating applications on the
communicating computers
• Presentation layer: Translates data to a
standard format; manages encryption and data
compression
• Application layer: Provides a network interface
for applications; supports network applications
for file transfer, communications, and so forth
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• Note that the OSI model divides the duties of
the Application layer into three layers:
Application, Presentation, and Session.
• OSI splits the activities of the Network Access
layer into a Data Link layer and a Physical
layer. This increased subdivision adds some
complexity, but it also adds flexibility for
developers by targeting the protocol layers to
more specific services.
• In particular, the division at the lower level
into the Data Link and Physical layers
separates the functions related to organizing
communication from the functions related to
accessing the communication medium.
• The three upper OSI layers offer a greater
variety of alternatives for an application to
interface with the protocol stack.

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 The important thing to remember about the TCP/IP protocol
stack is that each layer plays a role in the overall
communication process.

Each layer invokes services that are necessary for that layer to
perform its role. As an outgoing transmission passes down
through the stack, each layer includes a bundle of relevant
Data Packages information called a header along with the actual data.

The little data package containing the header and the data
then becomes the data that is repackaged at the next lower
level with the next lower layer’s header.

The reverse process occurs when data is received on the

destination computer. As the data moves up through the
stack, each layer unpacks the corresponding header and uses
the information.

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 As the data moves down through the stack, the effect is a little
like the nested Russian wooden dolls you might have seen; the
innermost doll is enclosed in another doll, which is then enclosed
in another doll, and so on.
At the receiving end, the data packages are unpacked, one by one,
as the data climbs back up the protocol stack.

The Internet layer on the receiving machine uses the information

in the Internet layer header.

Data Packages The Transport layer uses the information in the Transport layer
header.

At each layer, the package of data takes a form that provides the
necessary information to the corresponding layer on the
receiving machine.

Because each layer is responsible for different functions, the form of

the basic data package is very different at each layer.

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Data Packages
• The data packet looks different at each layer, and at each layer it goes by a different name.
The names for the data packages created at each layer are as follows:
• The data package created at the Application layer is called a message.
• The data package created at the Transport layer, which encapsulates the Application
layer message, is called a segment if it comes from the Transport layer’s TCP protocol. If
the data package comes from the Transport layer’s User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
protocol, it is called a datagram.
• The data package at the Internet layer, which encapsulates the Transport layer segment,
is called a datagram.
• The data package at the Network Access layer, which encapsulates and may subdivide
the datagram, is called a frame. This frame is then turned into a bitstream at the lowest
sublayer of the Network Access layer.

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TCP/IP Networking

The basic scenario is as follows:

• Data passes from a protocol, network service, or application programming
interface (API) operating at the Application layer through a TCP or UDP port to
either of the two Transport layer protocols (TCP or UDP). Programs can access the
network through either TCP or UDP, depending on the pro- gram’s requirements:
• TCP is a connection-oriented protocol. TCP goes to great effort to guarantee
the delivery of the data. TCP is more reliable than UDP, but the additional
error checking and flow control mean that TCP is slower than UDP.
• UDP is a connectionless protocol. It is faster than TCP, but it is not as reliable.
UDP offloads more of the error control responsibilities to the application.

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TCP/IP Networking
• The data segment passes to the Internet level, where the IP protocol provides
logical-addressing information and encloses the data into a datagram.
• The IP datagram enters the Network Access layer, where it passes to software
components designed to interface with the physical network.
• The Network Access layer creates one or more data frames designed for entry
onto the physical network. In the case of a LAN system such as ethernet, the
frame may contain physical address information obtained from lookup tables
maintained using the Internet layer ARP protocol. (ARP, Address Resolution
Protocol, translates IP addresses to physical addresses.)

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 TCP/IP
Networking

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Q&A
• Q. What are the principal advantages of TCP/IP’s modular design?
• A. Because of TCP/IP’s modular design, the TCP/IP protocol stack can adapt easily to specific
hardware and operating environments. Breaking the networking software into specific, well
designed components also makes it easier to write programs that interact with the protocol
system.

• Q. What functions are provided at the Network Access layer?

• A. The Network Access layer provides services related to the specific physical net- work. These
services include preparing, transmitting, and receiving the frame over a particular transmission
medium, such as an ethernet cable.

• Q. Which OSI layer corresponds to the TCP/IP Internet layer?

• A. TCP/IP’s Internet layer corresponds to the OSI Network layer.

• Q. Why is header information enclosed at each layer of the TCP/IP protocol stack?
• A. Because each protocol layer on the receiving machine needs different informa- tion to process
the incoming data, each layer on the sending machine encloses header information.

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 What two OSI layers map into the TCP/IP
Network Access layer?

What TCP/IP layer is responsible for routing

data from one computer to another?

Quiz What are the advantages and

disadvantages of UDP as compared to TCP?

Which layer deals with frames?

What does it mean to say that a layer

encapsulates data?

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 List the functions performed by each layer
List in the TCP/IP stack.

List List the layer(s) that deal with datagrams.

Exercises
Explain how TCP/IP would have to change
Explain to use a newly invented type of network.

Explain what it means to say that TCP is a

Explain reliable protocol.

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 • Address Resolution Protocol (ARP): A protocol that resolves logical IP addresses to physical addresses.
• Application layer: The layer of the TCP/IP stack that supports network applications and provides an
interface to the local operating environment.
• Datagram: The data package passed from the Internet layer to the Network Access layer, or a data
package passed from UDP at the Transport layer to the Internet layer.
• Frame: The data package created at the Network Access layer.
• Header: A bundle of protocol information attached to the data at each layer of the protocol stack.
• Internet layer: The layer of the TCP/IP stack that provides logical addressing and routing.
• IP (Internet Protocol): The Internet layer protocol that provides logical addressing and routing
capabilities.
Key Terms

• Message: In TCP/IP networking, a message is the data package passed from the Application layer to the
Transport layer. The term is also used generically to describe a message from one entity to another on
the net- work. The term doesn’t always refer to an Application layer data package.
• Network Access layer: The layer of the TCP/IP stack that provides an interface with the physical
network.
• Segment: The data package passed from TCP at the Transport layer to the Internet layer.
• TCP (Transmission Control Protocol): A reliable, connection-oriented protocol of the Transport layer.
• Transport layer: The layer of the TCP/IP stack that provides error control and acknowledgment and
serves as an interface for network applications.
• UDP (User Datagram Protocol): An unreliable, connectionless protocol of the Transport layer.