INTRODUCTION

Transport layers are contained in both the TCP/IP model(RFC 1122)which is the foundation of the Internet, and the Open Systems Interconnection(OSI) model of general networking. In computer networking, the transport layer or layer 4 provides end-to-end communication services for applications[1] within a layered architecture of network components and protocols. The transport layer provides convenient services such as connection-oriented data stream support, reliability, flow control, and multiplexing. Transport layers are contained in both the TCP/IP model (RFC 1122),[2] which is the foundation of the Internet, and the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model of general networking. The definitions of the transport layer are slightly different in these two models. This article primarily refers to the TCP/IP model, in which TCP is largely for a convenient application programming interface to internet hosts, as opposed to the OSI-model definition of the transport layer. The most well-known transport protocol is the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). It lent its name to the title of the entire Internet Protocol Suite, TCP/IP. It is used for connection-oriented transmissions, whereas the connectionless User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is used for simpler messaging transmissions. TCP is the more complex protocol, due to its stateful design incorporating reliable transmission and data stream services. Other prominent protocols in this group are the Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP) and the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP). Connection Oriented Connection-Oriented means that when devices communicate, they perform handshaking to set up an end-to-end connection. The handshaking process may be as simple as syncrhonization such as in the transport layer protocol TCP, or as complex as negotiating communications parameters as with a modem. Connection-Oriented systems can only work in bi-directional communications environments. To negotiate a connection, both sides must be able to communicate with each other. This will not work in a unidirectional environment. Connectionless Connectionless means that no effort is made to set up a dedicated end-toend connection.

Connectionless communication is usually achieved by transmitting information in one direction, from source to destination without checking to see if the destination is still there, or if it is prepared to receive the information. When there is little interferance, and plenty of speed available, these systems work fine. In environments where there is difficulty transmitting to the destination, information may have to be re-transmitted several times before the complete message is received. Walkie-talkies, or Citizens Band radios are a good examples of connectionless communication. You speak into the mike, and the radio transmitter sends out your signal. If the person receiving you doesn't understand you, there's nothing his radio can do to correct things, the receiver must send you a message back to repeat your last message.
IP, UDP, ICMP, DNS, TFTP and SNMP are examples of connectionless protocols

in use on the Internet. Connection-oriented (CO-mode[1]) communication is a data communication mode in telecommunications whereby the devices at the end points use a protocol to establish an end-to-end logical or physical connection before any data may be sent. In case of digital transmission, in-order delivery of a bit stream or byte stream is provided. Connection-oriented protocol services are often but not always reliable network services, that provide acknowledgment after successful delivery, and automatic repeat request functions in case of missing data or detected bit-errors. Circuit mode communication, for example the public switched telephone network, ISDN, SONET/SDH and optical mesh networks, are examples of connection-oriented communication. Circuit mode communication provides guarantees that data will arrive with constant bandwidth and at constant delay. Packet mode communication may also be connection-oriented, which is called virtual circuit mode communication. Due to the packet switching, the communication may suffer from variable bit rate and delay, due to varying traffic load and packet queue lengths. A connection-oriented transport layer protocol, such as TCP, may be based on a connectionless network layer protocol (such as IP), but still achieve in-order delivery of a byte-stream, by means of segment numbering on the sender side and data packet reordering on the receiver side. In a connection-oriented packet switched data link layer or network layer protocol, all data is sent over the same path during a communication session. The protocol does not have to provide each packet with routing information (complete source and destination address), but only with a channel/data stream number, often denoted virtual circuit identifier (VCI).

Routing information may be provided to the network nodes during the connection establishment phase, where the VCI is defined in tables in each node. Thus, the actual packet switching and data transfer can be taken care of by fast hardware, as opposed to slow software based routing. The alternative to connection-oriented transmission is connectionless communication, also known as datagram communication, in which data is sent in form of packets from one end point to another without prior arrangement or signaling. This mode operates without guarantees of delivery according to a best-effort policy. Each data packet must contain complete address information, since packets are routed individually and independently of each other, possibly transmitted along different network paths. Connectionless protocols are usually described as stateless because the end points have no protocol-defined way to remember where they are in a "conversation" of message exchanges. Because they can keep track of a conversation, connection-oriented protocols are sometimes described as stateful. Examples of connection-oriented packet mode communication, i.e. virtual circuit mode communication: The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a connection-oriented reliable protocol that is based on a datagram protocol (the IP protocol). X.25 is a connection-oriented reliable network protocol. Frame relay is a connection-oriented unreliable data link layer protocol. GPRS Asynchronous Transfer Mode Multiprotocol Label Switching