ETU801

Computer Network and

Communications
OSI MODEL
BY
NEHA G. PARDESHI
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING,
GOVERNMENT COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, AMRAVATI.
Protocol and Protocol Architecture
 There are much broader concerns, when actual data communication takes place
 Suppose if file is transferred between two computers, apart from data path there must
be high degree of co-operation between the two systems
 While discussing computer communications, two terms are of great importance,
─ Protocols
─ Protocol Architecture
 Protocol is used for communication between entities in different systems
 For successful communication, both the entities must “speak the same language”
 What is communicated, how it is communicated, and when it is communicated must
follow to some mutually acceptable conventions between the entities involved, called
as protocols
 Defined as a set of rules governing the exchange of data between two entities
 There are three key elements of protocol viz.,
• Syntax – data format or signal levels
• Semantics – control information for coordination and error handling
• Timing – speed matching and sequencing
 Data communication Information exchange between source and
destination
 Network = Hardware + Software
 Task of communication has to be broken into subtasks for proper functioning
 The task of communication is a layered process
 The layered structure is common at the sender’s and receiver’s end
 It is important to understand the working of the layered architecture involved in data
communication
 The next slide highlights a simple example of ‘Postal Communication between two
parties’
 Sender Receiver
Letter is written, put Letter is received,
in envelope, dropped Higher layers removed from envelope,
in mail box and read

Letter is carried from Letter is carried from

Middle layers
mail box to Post office post office by postman

Letter is delivered Letter is received at

from source post office Lower layers destination post office

Fig. 2.1 Example of layered process in communication

 Computer 1 Computer 2

File transfer File and file transfer commands

File transfer
application application

Communication related messages

Communication Communication
service module service module
Lower layers

Network access Communication networks Network access

module module

Fig. 2.2 Simplified architecture for file transfer

OSI Model
 The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a model for computer
communication architecture and as a framework for developing protocol standards
 Developed by International Organization for Standardization
 It consists of seven layers, where each layer performs unique function
 It is a reference model to describe, how information from a software application in
one computer moves through a physical medium to the software application in another
computer
 OSI model divides the whole task into seven smaller and manageable tasks and each
layer is assigned a particular task
 Each layer is self-contained, so that task assigned to each layer can be performed
independently
 It was the first adopted standard model for network communications
 The modern Internet is not based on OSI, but on the simpler TCP/IP model
 The figure 2.3 shows the 7-layered OSI model

Provides service to the user

Responsible for translation, compression and encryption

Used to establish, manage and terminate the sessions

Provides reliable message delivery from process to process

Responsible for moving the packets from source to destination

Used for error free transfer of data frames

Provides physical medium through which bits are transmitted

Fig. 2.3 OSI Model

Physical Layer
 The lowest layer of the OSI model, responsible for transmission of bits from one node
to another node

Fig. 2.4 Physical layer

 The functions of the physical layer are as mentioned below;
• physical characteristics of interfaces and media
─ defines type of medium and their electrical and mechanical characteristics
• representation of bits
─ defines type of encoding required for data to be converted into electrical signal
• data rate
─ defines the number of bits sent per second
• synchronization of bits
─ takes care of the sender and receiver clock synchronization
• line configuration
─ defines the type of connection
• physical topology
─ defines the type of connection needed to make network
• transmission mode
─ defines the direction of data flow
Data Link Layer
 This layer transforms the raw transmission facility i.e., physical layer into reliable link
responsible for node to node delivery

Fig. 2.5 Data link layer

 The responsibilities of the data link layer are as mentioned below;
• framing
─ divides stream of bits into packets or frames
• physical addressing
─ adds appropriate headers to the packet to define physical address of destination
• flow control
─ imposes a flow control mechanism in case of speed mismatch between sender and
receiver
• error control
─ retransmission of damaged or lost frames and prevents duplication of frames
• access control
─ helps determine which device has control over the link, in case of multiple devices
sharing same link
Network Layer
 This layer is responsible for the source to destination delivery of a packet possibly
across multiple networks / links

Fig. 2.6 Network layer

 The network layer handles the following responsibilities;
• logical addressing
─ adds the source and destination address to the header of the frame used to identify
the device on the internet
• routing
─ routing is the major component of the network layer, and it determines the best
optimal path out of the multiple paths from source to the destination
• internetworking
─ provides a logical connection between different devices
Transport Layer
 This layer is responsible for the source to destination delivery of entire message

Fig. 2.7 Transport layer

 The responsibilities of the transport layer are as mentioned below;
• service point addressing
─ gets the entire message to the correct process or port on the destination device
• segmentation and reassembly
─ responsible for dividing message into segments to be transmitted and reassembly
• connection control
─ manages the connection establishment before packet transmission and terminates
after all packets have been transmitted
• error control
─ performs end to end error control
• flow control
─ performs end to end flow control rather than across single link
Session Layer
 This layer is the network dialog controller which establishes, maintains and
synchronizes the interaction between communicating systems

Fig. 2.8 Session layer

 The responsibilities of the session layer are as mentioned below;
• dialog control
─ allows two systems to enter into dialog
• synchronization
─ inserts checkpoints into stream of data, for synchronization
Presentation Layer
 This layer is the concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information
exchanged between two systems

Fig. 2.9 Presentation layer

 The responsibilities of the presentation layer are as mentioned below;
• translation
─ converts the data from sender-dependent format into a common format and
changes the common format into receiver-dependent format at the receiving end
• encryption
─ encryption is needed to maintain privacy
─ is a process of converting the sender-transmitted information into another form and
sends the resulting message over the network
• compression
─ data compression is a process of compressing the data, i.e., it reduces the number of
bits to be transmitted
─ data compression is very important in multimedia such as text, audio, video
Application Layer
 This layer enables the user to access the network, provides user interface and support
for services such as email etc

Fig. 2.10 Application layer

 The responsibilities of the application layer are as mentioned below;
• Network virtual terminal
─ is a software version of physical terminal, which allows user to log on to remote host
• file transfer, access and management (FTAM)
─ allows a user to access, retrieve and control files in a remote computer
• mail services
─ provides basis for email forwarding and storage
• directory services
─ provides distributed database sources and access for global information about
various objects and services
Switching
 Multiple devices have to be connected over long distances for communication
 In such situations, the topologies are not useful, and therefore switching mechanism is
applied
 A switched network is made up of a number of interlinked nodes called Switches
 A switch is a hardware (and software) device that allows a connection to be
established between two or more devices
─ which are linked to it
─ but not connected to each other
 In large networks, there can be multiple paths from sender to receiver, the switching
technique will decide the best route for data transmission
 Switching technique is used to connect the systems for making one-to-one
communication
 The fig. 2.11, shows a switched network, where devices are connected through various
switches
 There are three types of switching methods viz.,

Switching

Circuit Packet Message

switching switching switching

Space Time Virtual

Datagram
Division Division Circuit
Approach Fig. 2.11 Switched Network
switches switches Approach

Fig. 2.12 Classification of Switching techniques

 Circuit Switching
 It is a switching technique that establishes a dedicated path between sender and
receiver
 Here, once a connection is established then the dedicated path will remain to exist until
the connection is terminated
 Circuit switching in a network operates in a similar way as the telephone works, where
a complete end-to-end path must exist before the communication takes place
 In this technique, when any user wants to send the data, voice, video,
─ a request signal is sent to the receiver
─ then the receiver sends back the acknowledgment to ensure the availability of the
dedicated path
─ on reception of acknowledgment, dedicated path transfers the data
 Circuit switching is used in public telephone network for voice transmission
 Fixed data can be transferred at a time in circuit switching technology
 The communication through circuit switching undergoes three stages
─ circuit establishment
─ data transfer
─ circuit disconnect
 Switching can be implemented either by using Space Division Switches or Time Division
Switches
 Space Division Switching is a circuit switching technology in which a single
transmission path is accomplished in a switch by using a physically separate set of
cross-points
 Space Division Switching has high speed, high capacity, and non-blocking switches
 The advantages of circuit switching are dedicated communication channel and fixed
bandwidth
 It takes time to establish connection and is costly mechanism as a dedicated path is to
be established
 Also due to dedicated connection no data can be communicated even if channel is free
Fig. 2.13 Circuit Switching
 Packet Switching
 The packet switching is a switching technique in which the message is sent in one go,
but it is divided into smaller pieces, and they are sent individually
 The message splits into smaller pieces known as packets and packets are given a
unique number to identify their order at the receiving end
 Every packet contains some information in its headers such as source address,
destination address and sequence number
 Packets will travel across the network, taking the shortest path as possible
 All the packets are reassembled at the receiving end in correct order
 If any packet is missing or corrupted, then the message will be sent to resend the
message
 If the correct order of the packets is reached, then the acknowledgment message will be
sent
 There are two approaches of packet switching, Datagram approach and Virtual circuit
approach
Fig. 2.14 Packet Switching
 Datagram Packet switching
 In this method the message is split into small units i.e. packets
 A packet is known as a datagram, is considered as an independent entity
 Each packet contains the information about the destination and switch uses this
information to forward the packet to the correct destination
 The packets are reassembled at the receiving
end in correct order
 In Datagram Packet Switching technique,
the path is not fixed
 Intermediate nodes take the routing decisions
to forward the packets
 Datagram Packet Switching is also known
as connectionless switching
Fig. 2.15 Datagram Approach
 Virtual Circuit Approach
 Virtual Circuit Switching is also known as connection-oriented switching
 In the case of Virtual circuit switching, a preplanned route is established before the
messages are sent
 Call request and call accept packets are used to establish the connection between
sender and receiver
 In this case, the path is fixed for the duration of a logical connection
 More efficient in terms of bandwidth
 Reliable as destination can detect the missing packet
 Fault tolerant as packets follow different path
 Cost effective and comparatively cheaper to implement
 Packets received are out of order
 Complexity increases as multiple paths are available
 Transmission delay is more because of Rerouting Fig. 2.16 Virtual Circuit Approach
 Message Switching
 It is a switching technique in which a message is transferred as a complete unit and
routed through intermediate nodes at which it is stored and forwarded
 In Message Switching technique, there is no establishment of a dedicated path between
the sender and receiver
 The destination address is appended to the message
 Message Switching provides a dynamic routing as the message is routed through the
intermediate nodes based on the information available in the message
 Message switches are programmed in such a way so that they can provide the most
efficient routes
 Each and every node stores the entire message and then forward it to the next node
 This type of network is known as store and forward network
 Message switching treats each message as an independent entity
Fig. 2.17 Message Switching
 Data channels are shared among the communicating devices that improve the efficiency
of using available bandwidth
 Traffic congestion can be reduced because the message is temporarily stored in the
nodes
 Message priority can be used to manage the network
 The size of the message which is sent over the network can be varied. Therefore, it
supports the data of unlimited size
 The message switches must be equipped with sufficient storage to enable them to store
the messages until the message is forwarded
 The Long delay can occur due to the storing and forwarding facility provided by the
message switching technique
THANK YOU…!!!