Chapter 2

Physical Layer

1.1 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
 Network Models

2.2
 2-1 LAYERED TASKS
We use the concept of layers in our daily life. As
an example, let us consider two friends who
communicate through postal mail. The process of
sending a letter to a friend would be complex if
there were no services available from the post
office.

Topics discussed in this section:

Sender, Receiver, and Carrier
Hierarchy

2.3
1 Tasks involved in sending a letter

2.4
 2-2 THE OSI MODEL

Established in 1947, the International Standards

Organization (ISO) is a multinational body
dedicated to worldwide agreement on
international standards. An ISO standard that
covers all aspects of network communications is
the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. It
was first introduced in the late 1970s.

Topics discussed in this section:

Layered Architecture
Peer-to-Peer Processes
Encapsulation

2.5
 Note

ISO is the organization.

OSI is the model.

2.6
 Figure 2.2 Seven layers of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection)
model

2.7
Figure 2.3 The interaction between layers in the OSI model

2.8
Figure 2.4 An exchange using the OSI model

2.9
 2-3 LAYERS IN THE OSI MODEL

In this section we briefly describe the functions

of each layer in the OSI model.

Topics discussed in this section:

Physical Layer
Data Link Layer
Network Layer
Transport Layer
Session Layer
Presentation Layer
Application Layer

2.10
 Figure 2.5 Physical layer

2.11
 PHYSICAL LAYER

• Responsible for movements of individual bits from one hop (node) to the
next.

Physical Characteristics of Interfaces and medium –

• The physical layer defines the characteristics of the interface between the
devices and the transmission medium.
• It also defines the type of transmission medium.

Representation of bits
• The physical layer data consists of a stream of bits (sequence of 0s or 1s)
with no interpretation.
• To be transmitted, bits must be encoded into signals, electrical or optical.
• The physical layer defines the type of encoding (how 0’s and 1’s are
changed to signals).

2.12
 PHYSICAL LAYER

Synchronization of bits
•The sender and receiver not only must use the same bit rate but also must be
synchronized at the bit level.
•In other words, the sender and the receiver clocks must be synchronized

Line configuration
•The physical layer is concerned with the connection of devices to the media.
•In a point-to-point configuration, two devices are connected through a dedicated
link.
•In a multipoint configuration, a link is shared among several devices.

Data rate
•The transmission rate- the number of bits sent each second is also defined by
the physical layer.
•In other words, the physical layer defines the duration of a bit, which is how long
it lasts

2.13
 PHYSICAL LAYER

Physical topology
•defines how devices are connected to make a network.
•Devices can be connected by using a
•mesh topology (every device is connected to every other device),
•star topology (devices are connected through a central device),
•ring topology (each device is connected to the next, forming a ring),
•bus topology (every device is on a common link), or
•hybrid topology (this is a combination of two or more topologies).

Transmission mode
•defines the direction of transmission between two devices: simplex, half-duplex,
or full-duplex.
•In simplex mode, only one device can send; the other can only receive. The
simplex mode is a one-way communication.
•In half-duplex mode, two devices can send and receive, but not at the same
time.
•In full-duplex (or simply duplex) mode, two devices can send and receive at the
same time.

2.14
 Note

The physical layer is responsible for movements of

individual bits from one hop (node) to the next.

2.15
 Figure 2.6 Data link layer

2.16
 DATA LINK LAYER

• Responsible for moving frames from one hop (node) to the next

• Framing- The data link layer divides the stream of bits received from the network
layer into manageable data units called frames

• Physical addressing - If frames are to be distributed to different systems on the

network, the data link layer adds a header to the frame to define the sender and/or
receiver of the frame.
• If the frame is intended for a system outside the sender’s network, the receiver
address is the address of the device that connects the network to the next one.

2.17
 DATA LINK LAYER

• Flow control - If the rate at which the data are absorbed by the receiver is less than
the rate at which data are produced in the sender, the data link layer imposes a flow
control mechanism to avoid overwhelming the receiver.

• Error control - The data link layer adds reliability to the physical layer by adding
mechanisms to detect and retransmit damaged or lost frames. It also uses a mechanism
to recognize duplicate frames. Error control is normally achieved through a
trailer added to the end of the frame.

• Access control - When two or more devices are connected to the same link, data
link layer protocols are necessary to determine which device has control over the
link at any given time.

2.18
Figure 2.7 Hop-to-hop delivery

2.19
 Note

The data link layer is responsible for moving

frames from one hop (node) to the next.

2.20
 Figure 2.8 Network layer

2.21
 NETWORK LAYER

Responsible for delivery of individual packets from source host to the destination
host

Logical addressing
•The physical addressing implemented by the data link layer handles the
addressing problem locally.
•If a packet passes the network boundary, we need another addressing system
to help distinguish the source and destination systems.
•The network layer adds a header to the packet coming from the upper layer
that, among other things, includes the logical addresses of the sender and
receiver

Routing
•When independent networks or links are connected to create internetworks
(network of networks) or a large network, the connecting devices (called routers

2.22
Figure 2.9 Source-to-destination delivery

2.23
 Note

The network layer is responsible for the

delivery of individual packets from
the source host to the destination host.

2.24
 Questions

1) The physical layers involve ________.

a)Optical, electrical and mechanical properties
b)Voltage levels, timing and frequency
c)Physical connections
d)All of the above

2) Who developed standards for OSI reference model?

a)ANSI - American National Standards Institute
b)ISO - International Standards Organization
c)IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
d)ACM - Association for Computing Machinery

3) Which is the layer of OSI model that employs error detection?

a)Session
b)Network
c)Physical
d)Data Link

2.25
Figure 2.10 Transport layer

2.26
 TRANSPORT LAYER
Responsible for delivery of message from one process to another

Service-point addressing (Port address)

•Computers often run several programs at the same time. So, source-to-
destination delivery means delivery not only from one computer to the next but
also from a specific process (running program) on one computer to a specific
process (running program) on the other.
•The transport layer header must therefore include a type of address called a
service-point address (or port address).
•The network layer gets each packet to the correct computer; the transport layer
gets the entire message to the correct process on that computer.

Segmentation and reassembly

•A message is divided into transmittable segments, with each segment
containing a sequence number.
•These numbers enable the transport layer to reassemble the message correctly
upon arriving at the destination and to identify and replace packets that were lost
in transmission

2.27
 TRANSPORT LAYER
Connection control
•The transport layer can be either connectionless or connection-oriented.
•A connectionless transport layer treats each segment as an independent
packet and delivers it to the transport layer at the destination machine.
•A connection oriented transport layer makes a connection with the transport
layer at the destination machine first before delivering the packets.
•After all the data are transferred, the connection is terminated.

Flow control
•Like the data link layer, the transport layer is responsible for flow control.
•However, flow control at this layer is performed end to end rather than across a
single link.

Error control
•Like data link layer, transport layer is responsible for error control. However,
error control at this layer is performed process-to-process rather than across a
single link.
•The sending transport layer makes sure that the entire message arrives at the
receiving transport layer without error (damage, loss, or duplication).
•Error correction is usually achieved through retransmission.
2.28
Figure 2.11 Reliable process-to-process delivery of a message

2.29
 Note

The transport layer is responsible for the delivery

of a message from one process to another.

2.30
Figure 2.12 Session layer

2.31
 SESSION LAYER

Responsible for dialog control and synchronization

Dialog Control
•The session layer allows two systems to enter into a dialog.
•It allows the communication between two processes to take place in either half
duplex or full-duplex mode

Synchronization
•The session layer allows a process to add checkpoints, or synchronization
points, to a stream of data.
•For example, if a system is sending a file of 2000 pages, it is advisable to insert
checkpoints after every 100 pages to ensure that each 100-page unit is received
and acknowledged independently.
•In this case, if a crash happens during the transmission of page 523, the only
pages that need to be resent after system recovery are pages 501 to 523. Pages
previous to 501 need not be resent.

2.32
 Note

The session layer is responsible for dialog

control and synchronization.

2.33
Figure 2.13 Presentation layer

2.34
 PRESENTATION LAYER

It is concerned with syntax and semantics of information exchanged between two

systems.
It is responsible for translation, compression, and encryption

Translation
•Processes (running programs) in two systems are usually exchanging information in
the form of character strings, numbers, and so on.
•Information must be changed to bit streams before being transmitted. Because
different computers use different encoding systems, presentation layer is responsible
for interoperability between these different encoding methods.
•Presentation layer at the sender changes the information from its sender-dependent
format into a common format.
•Presentation layer at the receiving machine changes the common format into its
receiver-dependent format.

2.35
 PRESENTATION LAYER

Encryption
•To carry sensitive information, a system must be able to ensure privacy.
•Encryption means that the sender transforms the original information to another
form and sends the resulting message out over the network.
•Decryption reverses the original process to transform the message back to its
original form

Compression
•Data compression reduces the number of bits contained in the information.
•Data compression becomes particularly important in the transmission of multimedia
such as text, audio, and video

2.36
 Note

The presentation layer is responsible for translation,

compression, and encryption.

2.37
 APPLICATION LAYER

Responsible for providing services to the user

•Of the many application services available, the figure 2.14 shows only three:
•XAOO (message-handling services),
•X.500 (directory services), and
•File transfer, access, and management (FTAM).
•The user in this example employs XAOO to send an e-mail message

Network virtual terminal

•A network virtual terminal is a software version of a physical terminal
•It allows a user to log on to a remote host.
•To do so, the application creates a software emulation of a terminal at the remote
host. The user's computer talks to the software terminal which, in turn, talks to the
host and vice versa.
•The remote host believes it is communicating with one of its own terminals and
allows the user to log on.

2.38
 APPLICATION LAYER

File transfer, access, and management

•This application allows a user
•to access files in a remote host (to make changes or read data),
•to retrieve files from a remote computer for use in the local computer, and
•to manage or control files in a remote computer locally.

Mail services
•This application provides the basis for e-mail forwarding and storage.

Directory services.
•This application provides distributed database sources and access for global
information about various objects and services

2.39
Figure 2.14 Application layer

2.40
 Note

The application layer is responsible for

providing services to the user.

2.41
Figure 2.15 Summary of layers

2.42