Scribd
Upload
48 views7 pages

Topic-2 ProtocolArchitecture

The document discusses protocol architecture and the need for a layered approach. It explains that complex communication tasks can be broken down into modular layers, with each layer performing a specific subset of functions and relying on the layer below. This layered approach reduces development workload and makes protocols more flexible. It provides the TCP/IP protocol stack as an example, which organizes communication tasks into five layers - application, transport, internet, network access, and physical - with different protocols implementing each layer. The benefits of layering include providing reliable data transfer services to applications despite unreliable networks.

Uploaded by

efford goma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
48 views7 pages

Topic-2 ProtocolArchitecture

The document discusses protocol architecture and the need for a layered approach. It explains that complex communication tasks can be broken down into modular layers, with each layer performing a specific subset of functions and relying on the layer below. This layered approach reduces development workload and makes protocols more flexible. It provides the TCP/IP protocol stack as an example, which organizes communication tasks into five layers - application, transport, internet, network access, and physical - with different protocols implementing each layer. The benefits of layering include providing reliable data transfer services to applications despite unreliable networks.

Uploaded by

efford goma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 7

Topic 2

Protocol Architecture

1
Protocol

To perform a task, the involved parties usually follow a
common protocol designed for this task
 The protocol is just a set of rules or conventions
 Different tasks use different protocols


Some key features of a protocol
 Syntax

Concerns the format of the data blocks
 Semantics

Includes control information for coordination and error handling
 Timing

Includes speed matching and sequencing

2
Need For Protocol Architecture

There are lots of network applications

Building each application from scratch is very time-
consuming and challenging
 What commands should be supported?
 How to respond to each command?
 How to identify the two peer applications?

Each computer may run multiple applications!
 How to identify the two computers?
 How to convert the data into bit stream?
 How to convert the bit stream into signals?
 How to detect and handle data loss and data error?

The network is not perfect!
 Etc. 3

A complex task is broken into subtasks: modular design
 Each subtask is implemented separately as a layer, arranged in a
vertical stack

Each layer performs a related subset of the functions
required to communicate with another system.
 It relies on the next lower layer to perform more primitive functions
and to conceal the details of those functions.
 It provides services to the next higher layer.
 Layers should be defined so that changes in one layer do not
require changes in other layers.

So, instead of using a single complex protocol, it’s more
flexible to implement a stack of protocols!
 Reduce the design and development workload significantly!
4
Protocol Architecture

Tasks of communications are broken up into modules
 Each module (or layer) can have its own protocol

In very general terms, communications can be said to
involve three components: applications, computers, and
networks.

For example, file transfer could use three modules (or
layers)
 File transfer application
 Communications service module
 Network access module

The stack of protocols is called “Protocol Stack”
 Or Protocol Architecture

5
TCP/IP Protocol Architecture

Developed by the US Defense Advanced Research Project
Agency (DARPA) for its packet switched network (ARPANET)

Used by the global Internet

It consists of a large collection of protocols that have been issued
as Internet standard by the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).
 Check http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2026.txt

The TCP/IP protocol architecture organizes the communication
task into five relatively independent layers:
 Layer 5: Application layer
 Layer 4: Transport layer, or Host to host (TCP belongs to this layer)
 Layer 3: Internet layer, or Network layer (IP belongs to this layer)
 Layer 2: Network access layer, or Link layer
 Layer 1: Physical layer

Remark: Each layer can have lots of different protocols!

6
Benefit of layering

The most challenging problem: how to provide a reliable
data transfer service on top of an unreliable data
network?
 This problem is so important that today’s Operating
Systems all provide such reliable service.

The burden of network application developers has been
reduced significantly!
 Hence the application developers can simply focus
on the application layer issues.
 We can easily develop thousands of network
applications.

You might also like