CHAPTER 2

PROTOCOL AND ARCHITECTURES

2.1. Protocol
A Protocol is one of the components of a data communications system. Without protocol,
communication cannot occur. The sending device cannot just send the data and expect the
receiving device to receive and further interpret it correctly. When the sender sends a
message, it may consist of text, number, images, etc. which are converted into bits and
grouped into blocks to be transmitted and often certain additional information called
control information is also added to help the receiver interpret the data.
2.1.1. Characteristics of Protocol
When computers, terminals, devices exchange data, different procedures are involved.
When the transfers of a file between two computers takes place then there must be a data
path exist between the two computers directly or a communication network.
Tasks to be performed are as follows:
1. The source system must activate the direct path or inform the identity of the desired
destination system.
2. The source system acknowledges that the destination system is ready to receive the data.
3. The file transfer application acknowledges the destination system is prepared to accept
and store the file.
4. If the file formats are different, and system should perform format translation function.
Network protocol is defined as the rules and the conventions for communication and data
transfer between network devices. Implementation of a protocol can be done via hardware,
software or combination of both.
There are different computer networking protocols are available, each designed for a
particular purpose environment.
Major characteristics of computer networking protocols include:
1. Network protocols provide means for devices to identify and make physical connections
(wired or wireless) with each other.
2. They also provide formatting rules that specify how data is packages into messages, sent
and received.
3. Message acknowledgement and data compression features are also incorporated for
reliable and high-performance network communication.
 Some other characteristics commonly associated with network protocols comprise:
1. Handshaking
2. Negotiation of various connection characteristics.
3. Termination of the session and/or connection.
4. Error correction i.e. rectifying corrupted and improperly formatted messages.
5. Detection of unexpected loss of connection.
2.1.2. Implementation of protocols
High level computer networking protocols are implemented by means of application like
web browsers that include software libraries for supporting protocols. However, in case of
lower level TCP/IP and routing protocols, support is implemented directly in hardware for
better performance.
There are three key elements of a protocol:
A. Syntax
 It means the structure or format and arrangement of the data.
B. Semantics
 It tells the meaning of each section of bits and indicates the interpretation of each
section.
 It also tells what action/decision is to be taken based on the interpretation.
C. Timing
 It tells the sender about the readiness of the receiver to receive the data.
 It tells the sender at what rate the data should be sent to the receiver to avoid
overwhelming the receiver.

List of Protocols: Following are the widely used protocols:

 FDDI Fiber Distributed Data Interface

SLIP Serial line Interface Protocol

PPP Point-to-Point Protocol

IP Internet Protocol

ARP Address Resolution Protocol

UDP User Datagram Protocol

TCP Transmission Control Protocol

DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol

FTP File Transfer Protocol

SMTP Simple Mail Transfer protocol

IMAP Internet Message Access Protocol

SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol

2.2. Protocol Architecture

A protocol architecture is the layered structure of hardware and software that supports the
exchange of data between systems and supports distributed applications, such as electronic
mail and file transfer. When computers, terminals, and/or other data processing devices
exchange data, the procedures involved can be quite complex. At each layer of a protocol
architecture, one or more common protocols are implemented in communicating systems.
Each protocol provides a set of rules for the exchange of data between systems
Consider, for example, the transfer of a file between two computers. There must be a data
path between the two computers, either directly or via a communication network. But
more is needed.
There are two types of protocol architectures or network models on computer network.
These are:

 TCP/IP protocol architectures

 OSI protocol architectures

2.2.1. OSI MODEL

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model was developed by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1984. OSI model is used to define and understand how
data is transferred from one computer to another in a computer network. The OSI model consists
of seven layers:

I. Physical Layer

 Physical layer in the OSI model plays the role of interacting with actual hardware and
signaling mechanism. Data units in the Physical layer are called BITS.
 It is responsible for the actual physical connection between the devices
 On the sender side, the physical layer receives the data from Data Link Layer and
encodes it into signals to be transmitted onto the medium. On the receiver side, the
physical layer receives the signals from the transmission medium decodes it back into
data and sends it to the Data Link Layer.
 Figure 2.2. Physical Layer
Functions of Physical Layer
❖ Convert bits to signals - involves a stream of bits (sequence of 0's and 1's) without any
interpretation.
❖ Bit synchronization - It is necessary to have synchronization between sender and
receiver at the bit level that is the clocks of the sender and the receiver must be
synchronized.
❖ Physical characteristics of interfaces and media - define the characteristics of the
interface between the devices and the transmission medium. It also defines the type of
transmission medium.
❖ Bit rate control- also defines the transmission rate (Data Rate) i.e. the number of bits
sent per second
❖ Line configuration - 1. Point-to-point 2. Multipoint

❖ Physical topology – Mesh, star, bus, and ring

❖ Transmission mode - simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex

❖ Multiplexing – Different analog and Digital stream of transmission are simultaneously

processed over a share link.
II. Data Link Layer
 This layer provides the transfer of information across the physical layer. It sends in
blocks (frames) with the necessary synchronization, error control and flow control.
Data units in the Data link layer are called FRAME.
 On the sender side, the Data Link layer receives the data from Network Layer and
divides the stream of bits into fixed size manageable units called as Frames and sends
it to the physical layer. On the receiver side, the data link layer receives the stream of
bits from the physical layer and regroups them into frames and sends them to the
Network layer.
 There are 2 kinds of addressing
 Logical Addressing: is done at network layer in terms of data packets where
sender’s and receiver’s IP addresses are assigned to each segment to form a data
packet.
 Physical Addressing: is done at data link layer where MAC address of sender and
Receiver are assigned to each data packet to form a frame. MAC Address is a 12
digit alpha-numeric number embedded in Network Interface Card (NIC) of a
computer but your computer manufacturer.

Figure 2.3. Datalink Layer

Functions of Data link Layer

 Framing- divides the stream of bits received from the network layer into frames.
 Physical addressing- appends a header to the frame coming from network layer.
 Flow control- ensures that source sends the data at a speed at which destination can
receive it. If there is an overflow at the receiver-side the data will be lost.
 Error control- is process of identification or correction of error occurred in the
transmitted data Uses mechanisms to:
 Detect damaged-frames
 Retransmit lost frames
 Recognize duplicate frames
Normally, error control information is present in the trailer of the frame.
 Access control- determines which device has the right to send the data in a multipoint
connection.

III. Network Layer

 Network layer is a layer that provides upper layers with independence from the data
transmission and switching technologies used to connect systems. Data units in the
network layer are called PACKETS.
 The network layer at the sending side accepts data from the transport layer, divides it
into packets, adds addressing information in the header and passes it to the data link
layer. At the receiving end the network layer receives the frames sent by data link layer,
converts them back into packets, verifies the physical address (verifies if the receiver
address matches with its own address) and the send the packets to the transport layer.
Functions of Network layer
❖ It is responsible for the source to destination delivery of a packets across multiple
networks.
❖ Routing: Provide mechanism to transmit data over independent networks that are
linked together.
❖ Responsible for establishing, maintaining, and terminating connections.

❖ Logical addressing: Adds Logical addresses of sender and Receiver. IP addressing (IPV4
& IPV6) done in network layer are included here.
 Figure 2.4. Network Layer
 Path determination: choosing the possible path for the data delivery from source to
destination. The following protocols used to determine best possible path for data
delivery:
 OSTF- Open Shortest Path First
 BGP- Border Gateway Protocol
 IS-IS – Intermediate System To Intermediate System
IV. Transport Layer
 Transport layer is responsible for source process to destination process delivery of entire
message. It provides end-to-end error recovery and flow control.
 At the sending side, the transport layer receives data from the session layer, divides it
into units called segments and sends it to the network layer. At the receiving side, the
transport layer receives packets from the network layer, converts and arranges into
proper sequence of segments and sends it to the session layer.
 It provides two types of services:
1. Connection Oriented Transmission: In this type of transmission the receiving device
sends an acknowledgement back to the source after a packet or group of packet is received.
Eg: TCP protocol
2. Connectionless Transmission: In this type of transmission the receiver does not
acknowledge receipt of a packet. Eg: UDP protocol
 Figure 2.5. Transport Layer

Functions of transport layer

❖Segmentation and Reassembly: Divide the message received from Session layer into
Segments and number them to make a sequence for reassembly at the receiving side.
❖ Service point addressing: Transport layer makes sure that the message is delivered to
the correct process on destination machine.
❖ Error Control: Make sure that the entire message arrives without errors else retransmit.
If some data does not arrive at the destination, this layer uses Automatic Repeat Request
scheme to retransmit the lost or corrupted data. A group of bits called ‘Checksum’ are
added to each segment by the transport layer to find out received corrupt segments.
❖ Flow Control: flow control at this layer is performed end to end rather than across a
single link.

V. Session Layer
 The session layer at the sending side accepts data from the presentation layer adds
checkpoints to it called sync bits and passes the data to the transport layer. At the
receiving end the session layer receives data from the transport layer removes the
checkpoints inserted previously and passes the data to the presentation layer.
 It is responsible for beginning, maintaining & ending the communication between two
devices, which is called session.
 Figure 2.6. Session Layer

Functions of Session Layer

❖ Helps in setting up and managing the connections, enabling sending and receiving the
data followed by terminations of connections or sessions.
❖ Sends SYN packet – establish request

❖ Receives ACK & SYN- established

❖ Dialog Control: establishes a session between the communicating devices.

❖ Synchronization: Allows a process to add checkpoints to a stream of data.

Your web browsers performs all the functions of session, presentation and application
layers.
VI. Presentation layer
 The presentation layer at sending side receives the data from the application layer adds
header which contains information related to encryption and compression and sends it
to the session layer. At the receiving side, the presentation layer receives data from the
session layer decompresses and decrypts the data as required and translates it back as
per the encoding scheme used at the receiver.
 This layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information exchanged
between two systems.
 Figure 2.7. Presentation Layer

Functions of Presentation Layer

❖ Data Translation: Encoding and Decoding Sender to Common format on Sending side
Common to receiving format on Receiver side
❖ Data Encryption: transforming the original message to change its meaning before
sending it. It uses for security and privacy purpose.
❖ Data Compression: reduces the number of bits contained in the information and
ensures faster data transfer. The data compressed at sender has to be decompressed at the
receiving end, but both performed by the Presentation layer.
VII. Application Layer
 It Provides User interfaces and support for Services, like e- mail, file transfer.
 It is used by Network Applications. Network application means the computer
application that uses internet like Google Chrome, Firefox, Outlook, Skype etc.
Functions of Application Layer
 Network Virtual terminal: It allows a user to log on to a remote host.
 File Transfer Access, and Management: This application allows a user to access files
in a remote host.
 Mail Services: This application provides various e-mail services.
 Directory Services: This application provides the distributed database
 Sources and access for global information about various objects and services.
 Figure 2.8. Application Layer

I. X500 is a directory service used to provide information and access to distributed

objects.
II. X400 is services that provides basis for mail storage and forwarding
III. FTAM (File transfer, access and management) provides access to files stored on
remote computers and mechanism for transfer and manage them locally.

Summary of layers
2.3. TCP/IP Model (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)
A protocol suite is a large number of related protocols that work together to allow
networked computers to communicate. TCP/IP protocol architecture is a packet switching
network which is developed by ARPANET and funded by the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA).
TCP/IP organize the communication task into five relatively independent layers.
• Physical layer
• Network access layer
• Internet layer
• Host-to-host, or transport layer
• Application layer

Comparison of OSI and TCP/IP model

The physical layer covers the physical interface between a data transmission device (e.g.,
workstation, computer) and a transmission medium or network. This layer is concerned
with specifying the characteristics of the transmission medium, the nature of the signals,
the data rate, and related matters.

The network access layer is concerned with the exchange of data between an end system
(server, workstation, etc.) and the network to which it is attached. The sending computer
must provide the network with the address of the destination computer, so that the
network may route the data to the appropriate destination. The sending computer may
wish to invoke certain services, such as priority, that might be provided by the network.
The specific software used at this layer depends on the type of network to be used; different
standards have been developed for circuit switching, packet switching (e.g., frame relay),
LANs (e.g., Ethernet), and others. Thus it makes sense to separate those functions having
to do with network access into a separate layer. By doing this, the remainder of the
communications software, above the network access layer, need not be concerned about
the specifics of the network to be used. The same higher-layer software should function
properly regardless of the particular network to which the computer is attached.
The network access layer is concerned with access to and routing data across a network for
two end systems attached to the same network. In those cases where two devices are
attached to different networks, procedures are needed to allow data to traverse multiple
interconnected networks. This is the function of the internet layer. The Internet Protocol
(IP) is used at this layer to provide the routing function across multiple networks. This
protocol is implemented not only in the end systems but also in routers. A router is a
processor that connects two networks and whose primary function is to relay data from
one network to the other on its route from the source to the destination end system.
Regardless of the nature of the applications that are exchanging data, there is usually a
requirement that data be exchanged reliably. That is, we would like to be assured that all
of the data arrive at the destination application and that the data arrive in the same order
in which they were sent. As we shall see, the mechanisms for providing reliability are
essentially independent of the nature of the applications. Thus, it makes sense to collect
those mechanisms in a common layer shared by all applications; this is referred to as the
host-to-host layer, or transport layer. The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is the
most commonly used protocol to provide this functionality.
Finally, the application layer contains the logic needed to support the various user
applications. For each different type of application, such as file transfer, a separate module
is needed that is peculiar to that application.

TCP/IP Layers and Protocols