TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE

• TCP/IP is a protocol-suite used in the Internet today.

• Protocol-suite refers a set of protocols organized in different layers.
• It is a hierarchical protocol made up of interactive modules, each of which provides
a specific functionality.
• The term hierarchical means that each upper level protocol is supported by the services
provided by one or more lower level protocols.
Description of Each Layer

Physical Layer

• The physical layer is responsible for movements of individual bits from one node to
another node.

• Transmission media is another hidden layer under the physical layer.

• Two devices are connected by a transmission medium (cable or air).

• The transmission medium does not carry bits; it carries electrical or optical signals.

• The physical layer:

 receives bits from the data-link layer &

 Sends through the transmission media.
Data Link Layer

• Data-link-layer (DLL) is responsible for moving frames from one node to another
node over a link.

• The link can be wired LAN/WAN or wireless LAN/WAN.

• The data-link layer

 gets the datagram from network layer

 Encapsulates the datagram in a packet called a frame.
 Sends the frame to physical layer.
• TCP/IP model does not define any specific protocol.
 • DLL supports all the standard and proprietary protocols.

• Each protocol may provide a different service.

• Some protocols provide complete error detection and correction; some protocols
provide only error correction.

Internet Layer

• The internet layer is responsible for source-to-destination transmission of data.

• The internet layer is also responsible for routing the packet.

• The routers choose the best route for each packet.

• Why we need the separate intenet layer?

1) The separation of different tasks between different layers.

2) The routers do not need the application and transport layers.

• TCP/IP model defines the following protocols:

IP (Internetworking Protocol)

ARP (Address Resolution Protocol)

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol)

IGMP (Internet Group Message Protocol)

1) IP

 IP is the main protocol of the network layer.

 IP defines the format and the structure of addresses.

 IP is also responsible for routing a packet from its source to its destination.

 It is a connection-less & unreliable protocol.

i) Connection-less means there is no connection setup b/w the sender and the
receiver.
 ii) Unreliable protocol means

 IP does not make any guarantee about delivery of the data.

 Packets may get dropped during transmission.
 It provides a best-effort delivery service.

 Best effort means IP does its best to get the packet to its destination, but with no
guarantees.

 IP does not provide following services

 flow control
 error control
 Congestion control services.
 If an application requires above services, the application should rely only on the
transport- layer protocol.

2) ARP

 ARP is used to find the physical-address of the node when its Internet-address is
known.

 Physical address is the 48-bit address that is imprinted on the NIC or LAN card.

 Internet address (IP address) is used to uniquely & universally identify a device in
the internet.

3) ICMP

 ICMP is used to inform the sender about datagram-problems that occur during
transit.

4) IGMP

 IGMP is used to send the same message to a group of recipients.

Transport Layer

• TL protocols are responsible for delivery of a message from a process to another

process.

• The transport layer

 gets the message from the application layer

 encapsulates the message in a packet called a segment and
 Sends the segment to network layer.
• TCP/IP model defines 3 protocols:

 TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)

 UDP (User Datagram Protocol) &
 SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol)
1) TCP

 TCP is a reliable connection-oriented protocol.

 A connection is established b/w the sender and receiver before the data can be
transmitted.

 TCP provides

 flow control
 error control and
 congestion control
2) UDP

 UDP is the simplest of the 3 transport protocols.

 It is an unreliable, connectionless protocol.

 It does not provide flow, error, or congestion control.

 Each datagram is transported separately & independently.

 It is suitable for application program that

  needs to send short messages &
 Cannot afford the retransmission.
3) SCTP

 SCTP provides support for newer applications such as voice over the Internet.

 It combines the best features of UDP and TCP.

Application Layer

• The two application layers exchange messages between each other.

• Communication at the application layer is between two processes (two programs

running at this layer).

• To communicate, a process sends a request to the other process and receives a

response.

• Process-to-process communication is the duty of the application layer.

• TCP/IP model defines following protocols:

1) SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is used to transport email between a source
and destination.

2) TELNET (Terminal Network) is used for accessing a site remotely.

3) FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used for transferring files from one host to another.

4) DNS (Domain Name System) is used to find the IP address of a computer.

5) SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is used to manage the Internet at

global and local levels.

6) HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is used for accessing the World Wide Web
(WWW)