What is a protocol ?

• A protocol is a set of rules that govern all aspects of communication between

two or more partners, called peers
• These rules are human-made; not like chemistry or physics!
• The purpose of a protocol is to provide a specific communication service.

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Architectural structure of a protocol
layer
user of protocol user of protocol

service interface service interface

service offered
protocol entity by the protocol entity
protocol

message encoding Protocol message encoding

service interfaces of lower layer

communication service used by the protocol
(offered by the lower layer)
 Link Layer protocol

user of protocol user of protocol

Link layer
service interface send/receive user data block (reliably)

protocol entity protocol entity

message encoding Protocol message encoding

Physical layer
service interface data blocks containing SEL, Poll, datablock, ack, nack
communication service of physical layer
send/receive a block of data
Protocols
• What aspects must be defined for assuring compatibility
between the communicating partners?
• Who makes protocols?
• Standardization committees
• Designers of a new distributed application

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 Service specification
• The specification of a communication service has two parts:
• specification of an abstract service interface through which the service can be
locally obtained (sometimes called service access point)
• e.g. in the case of TCP: local interactions for establishing a connection and for
closing it; sending a flow of data over an established connection (with flow control,
no notion of "end of service unit")
• It is an abstract interface, the interaction primitives may be considered a kind of
abstract message (initiated by one side, received by the other side of the interface;
some interactions are initiated by the user, others are initiated by the service). The
specification of an abstract service interface is like the specification of the dynamic
behavior of an object class. It includes
• Static aspects
• list of interaction primitives, also called service primitives (like messages exchange;
not like method calls that have the initiating party blocked until the method
returns)
• for each primitive, which sides initiates the message, and its parameters and their
type
• Dynamic aspects
• sequencing rules which define in which order the primitives may be executed
• rules concerning the allowed parameter values for particular execution sequences
• specification of the end-to-end behavior of the (distributed) system component
that provides the service
• e.g. in the case of TCP: the establishment of a connection involves local exchanges
at both end-points of the connection concerning the connection establishment;
data received at one end-point must have been sent at the other end-point (with
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 Protocol specification
• Protocol specification = definition of the behavior of a protocol entity as visible at the upper and lower (abstract)
service interfaces
• This includes
• reference to the specification of the upper (abstract) service interface (normally defined by the corresponding
service specification)
• reference to the specification of the lower (abstract) service interface (normally defined by the service
specification of the underlying service used by the protocol)
• dynamic behavior of the protocol entity, that is,
• sequencing rules concerning interactions at the upper and lower interfaces.
• Note (a): Certain protocols developed by certain groups, e.g. IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), do not refer to any service specification. In
this case only the ordering of interactions at the lower interface are defined.
• Note (b): In the simplest case (if the protocol does not use any connections, or if it can be assumed that appropriate connec tions are already
established) the interactions at the lower interface only include the sending and receiving of protocol messages (so -called PDU's).
• Rules concerning the allowed interaction parameters
• e.g sequence numbering in TCP, sending acknowledgements, etc.
• Encoding rules
• (a) concerning how interaction parameters received at the upper interface are coded and sent as so -called "user data" in one of the data fields
of the primitives at the lower interface (and inversely the decoding of user data to obtain the corresponding value for the upper interaction parameter).
• e.g. in the case of the IP protocol: how is the address "local host" coded in the destination address field of an IP packet ?
• (b) concerning the coding of protocol control information managed by the protocol entity
• e.g. in the case of the TCP protocol: where in the "user data" of the lower layer primitive (which in the case of TCP is the data field of
an IP packet) is the TCP sequence number placed and how are the integer values coded ?

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 Relevant Standards Bodies
• ISO (www.iso.org)
• An agency of the United Nations.
• Collaborates standards development for information technology.
• ITU (www.itu.int)
• UN treaty agency that sets telecommunications standards.
• ITU-T (Telecommunications section)
• ANSI (www.ansi.org)
• American National Standards Institute: the US national standards body.
• Coordinates and accredits standards development across the US.
• IEEE (www.ieee.org)
• US based international professional organization.
• Among other things, develops standards.
• IETF / IRTF
• Internet Engineering Task Force (www.ietf.org)
• Internet Research Task Force (www.irtf.org)
• EIA (www.eia.org)
• Electronic Industries Alliance
• E.g.; standards for wiring and interconnection

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 OSI Model

• Open System
Interconnection.
• An ISO standard
• Why open?

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OSI Reference Model

Application

Presentation

Session

Transport

Network

Link

Physical

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Protocol Data Unit (PDU)

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 TCP/IP Protocol Architecture
• No official model but a working one.
• Has 5 layers (OSI has 7 layers)
• Was the result of research conducted on
ARPANET, funded by DARPA (USA).
• Initially developed as a US military research
effort funded by the Department of Defense
• It has dominated.
• It is the “heart” of Internet.
 TCP/IP Protocol Architecture
Contains the logic needed to support user applications
Application
(ftp, telnet, http etc.) Each application requires different
Layer
module.

Host-to-Host Concerned with the reliability of transmission/reception

(error control, sequencing, flow control)
or Transport
Layer
Internet Layer Provides routing functions across multiple networks. It is
implemented in end-systems and routers

Network Access Concerned with the exchange of data between end

Layer system and network (destination address, priority etc.)
Depends on net. type
Covers the physical interface between device (computer
Physical Layer and transmission medium or network - medium, signals,
data rates..)
 TCP/IP Protocol Architecture
Application Application
Layer Layer

Host-to-Host Host-to-Host
or Transport Layer or Transport
Layer
Internet Layer Internet Layer

Network Access Network Access

Layer Layer
Network

Physical Layer Physical Layer

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 Some TCP/IP Protocols

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 IEEE Project 802 - LAN

Network access service interface

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 Connection Devices

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 Connecting Devices and the OSI Model

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 Repeater

A Repeater

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 Function of Repeater

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 Bridge

A Bridge

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 Function of Bridge

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 Multiport Bridge

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 Router

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 Routers in an Internet

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 Gateway

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