OSI Model
• 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.
• OSI is a set of protocols that allows any two systems to
communicate regardless of their architecture
• The OSI is not a protocol but it is a model for understanding and
designing of flexible and robust network.
Physical Layer / Layer 1
• Physical layer is responsible for carrying bit stream over physical
medium.
Functions of Physical Layer:
• Bit representation – encodes the stream of bits into electrical or
optical signals and also defines how bits are encoded into signals
• Transmission rate – The number of bits sent each second
• Physical characteristics of transmission media such as type of
medium
• Synchronization of bits: the sender and receiver clocks must be
synchronized at the bit level
Physical Layer / Layer 1
• Transmission mode – physical layer defines the mode of
transmission i.e. simplex, half-duplex, full duplex
• Physical Topology – physical layer defines how devices are
connected – ring, star, mesh, bus topology
• Line Configuration – physical layer is concerned with the
connection of devices to media which can be either point to point
or multipoint.
Data Link Layer/ Layer 2
• It transforms raw bits into reliable link and make it appear error
free to network layer.
• Main functions of this layer are:
• Framing – divides the stream of bits received from network layer
into manageable data units called frames.
• Physical Addressing – Add a header to the frame to define the
physical address of the source and the destination machines.
• Flow control – Impose a flow control –control rate at which data is
transmitted so as not to flood the receiver reducing or increasing
data flow
Data Link Layer/ Layer 2
• Error Control – Adds mechanisms to detect and retransmit
damaged or lost frames. This is achieved by adding a trailer to the
end of a frame
• Access Control – checks whether the node has authority to access
the requested data or not
Network Layer / Layer 3
Main functions of this layer are:
• Logical Addressing– when the packet has to cross the boundary of
network logical addressing is required. For this purpose network
layer adds a header to packets containing IP address of the sender
and receiver.
• Routing – Provide mechanisms to transmit data over independent
networks that are linked together.by providing the best path for
transmission
Transport Layer / Layer 4
• Main functions of this layer are:
• Responsible for source-to destination delivery of the entire
message
• Segmentation and reassembly –divide message into smaller
segments, number them and transmit. Reassemble these
messages at the receiving end.
• Error control – make sure that the entire message arrives without
errors – else retransmit.
Transport Layer / Layer 4
• Connection Control – transport layer can be either connection
oriented or connection less
• Connection oriented – connection oriented makes the connection with the
transport layer first before sending the data packets.
• Connectionless – it treats the segment as independent packet and send it
to destination machine.
Session Layer/Layer 5
• Session Layer is the network dialog controller. It establishes and
maintains interaction among computers.
• Dialog control – it creates a session and allows two systems to
enter into a dialog with each other.
• Synchronization – adds check points into stream of data.
Presentation Layer/ Layer 6
• Translation – it converts the data into a stream of bits before
sending so that the destination computer can understand.
• Compression – reduce number of bits to be transmitted. This
makes the transmission efficient
• Encryption – transform the original data into another format at the
sending end for data security
• Decryption – reverses the encryption process and converts it back
into original data.
Application Layer/Layer 7
• Contains protocols that allow the users to access the network (FTP,
HTTP, SMTP, etc)
• Does not include application programs such as email, browsers,
word processing applications, etc.
• Protocols contain utilities and network-based services that support
email via SMTP, Internet access via HTTP, file transfer via FTP, etc
OSI Layers with Protocols
