7 Layers of OSI Model

By: Group 2
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model

7
The Software/Upper Layers:
It deals with application issues and mostly
implemented only in software. It is closest to the
6
end system user. In this layer, communication
from one end-user to another begins by using
5
the interaction between the application layer. It
will process all the way to end-user.
4

3
The Hardware/Lower Layers:
2 These layers handle activities related to data
transport. The physical layer and datalink layers
1 also implemented in software and hardware.
Layer 1: Physical Layer

• Physical layer is the first or the bottom most layer of the

OSI model where all the physical connectivity of devices
takes place in a network.
• It also defines the electrical and mechanical specifications
like cables, connectors and signaling options of the
medium.
• Networking Hub, Repeater, Modem, Cables, Network
Adapters, Ethernet are Physical Layer devices
• It can include specifications such as voltages, pin layout,
cabling, and radio frequencies.
Layer 1: Physical Layer

• It is responsible for the actual physical connection

between the devices.
• The physical layer contains information in the form of bits.
• It is responsible for transmitting individual bits from one
node to the next. When receiving data, this layer will get
the signal received and convert it into 0s and 1s and send
them to the Data Link layer, which will put the frame back
together.
Layer 1: Physical Layer

The functions of the physical layer are :

• Bit synchronization: The physical layer provides the synchronization of the bits by providing a clock.
This clock controls both sender and receiver thus providing synchronization at bit level.
• Bit rate control: The Physical layer also defines the transmission rate i.e. the number of bits sent per
second.
• Physical topologies: Physical layer specifies the way in which the different, devices/nodes are
arranged in a network i.e. bus, star or mesh topology.
• Transmission mode: Physical layer also defines the way in which the data flows between the two
connected devices. The various transmission modes possible are: Simplex, half-duplex and full-duplex.
Layer 2: Data Link Layer (DDL)

• The data link layer is responsible for the node to node

delivery of the message.
• The main function of this layer is to make sure data
transfer is error-free from one node to another, over the
physical layer.
• When a packet arrives in a network, it is the responsibility
of DLL to transmit it to the Host using its MAC address.
• It is mainly responsible for the unique identification of
each device that resides on a local network.
• Switch & Bridge are Data Link Layer devices.
Layer 2: Data Link Layer (DDL)

Data Link Layer is divided into two sub layers :

• Media Access Control layer (MAC) - It is responsible for controlling how device in a network gain
access to medium and permits to transmit data using MAC addresses. The MAC sub-layer handles the
assignment of a hardware identification number, called a MAC address, that uniquely identifies each
device on a network. No two devices should have the same MAC address which is assigned at the
point of manufacturing.
• Logical link control layer (LLC)- This layer identifies network protocols, performs error checking and
synchronizes frames. The LLC sub-layer handles framing addressing and flow control. The speed
depends on the link between nodes, for example Ethernet or Wifi.
Layer 2: Data Link Layer (DDL)

• The data unit on Layer 2 is a frame.

• Each frame contains a frame header, body, and a frame
trailer:
• Header: typically includes MAC addresses for the
source and destination nodes.
• Body: consists of the bits being transmitted.
• Trailer: includes error detection information. When
errors are detected, and depending on the
implementation or configuration of a network or
protocol, frames may be discarded or the error may be
reported up to higher layers for further error correction.
Layer 2: Data Link Layer (DDL)
The functions of the data Link layer are :
• Framing: Framing is a function of the data link layer. It provides a way for a sender to transmit a set of
bits that are meaningful to the receiver. This can be accomplished by attaching special bit patterns to
the beginning and end of the frame.
• Physical addressing: After creating frames, Data link layer adds physical addresses (MAC address) of
sender and/or receiver in the header of each frame.
• Error control: Data link layer provides the mechanism of error control in which it detects and
retransmits damaged or lost frames.
• Flow Control: The data rate must be constant on both sides else the data may get corrupted thus , flow
control coordinates that amount of data that can be sent before receiving acknowledgement.
• Access control: When a single communication channel is shared by multiple devices, MAC sub-layer of
data link layer helps to determine which device has control over the channel at a given time.
Layer 3: Network Layer

• Network layer works for the transmission of data from one

host to the other located in different networks.
• The network layer is responsible for receiving frames from
the data link layer, and delivering them to their intended
destinations among based on the addresses contained
inside the frame.
• The data unit on Layer 3 is the data packet. Typically, each
data packet contains a frame plus an IP address
information wrapper.
• Network layer is implemented by networking devices such
as routers.
Layer 3: Network Layer

The functions of the Network layer are :

• Routing: The network layer protocols determine which route is suitable from source to destination
like selection of the shortest path to transmit the packet, from the number of routes available.
• Logical Addressing: In order to identify each device on internetwork uniquely, network layer defines
an addressing scheme. The sender & receiver’s IP address are placed in the header by network layer.
Such an address distinguishes each device uniquely and universally.
Layer 4: Transport Layer

• It convert the packets received from network layer into

segments and then transfer it to the upper layer.
• The data in the transport layer is referred to as Segments.
• It is responsible for the End to End Delivery of the
complete message.
• The transport layer also provides the acknowledgement of
the successful data transmission and re-transmits the data
if an error is found.
• Transport layer is operated by the Operating System.
• Transport Layer is called as Heart of OSI model.
Layer 4: Transport Layer
The two protocols used in this layer are:
• User Datagram Protocol (UDP):
• Transmission Control Protocol (TCP):
• a connectionless protocol, prioritizes
• a connection-oriented protocol, prioritizes data
speed over data quality.
quality over speed.
• UDP does not require a handshake.
• It explicitly establishes a connection with the
• it can send data at a faster rate, but
destination node and requires a handshake between
not all of the data may be
the source and destination nodes when data is
successfully transmitted.
transmitted. The handshake confirms that data was
• does not ensure that packets are
received. If the destination node does not receive all
reassembled in the correct order.
of the data, TCP will ask for a retry.
• TCP also ensures that packets are delivered or
reassembled in the correct order.
Layer 4: Transport Layer

The functions of the transport layer are :

• Segmentation and Reassembly: This layer accepts the message from the (session) layer , breaks the
message into smaller units . Each of the segment produced has a header associated with it. The
transport layer at the destination station reassembles the message.
• Service Point Addressing: In order to deliver the message to correct process, transport layer header
includes a type of address called service point address or port address. Thus by specifying this
address, transport layer makes sure that the message is delivered to the correct process.
Layer 5: Session Layer

• A session is a connection that is established between two

specific end-user applications.
• This layer is responsible for establishment of connection,
maintenance of sessions, authentication and also ensures
security.
• Implementation of these 3 layers (Session, Presentation,
Application layer) is done by the network
application/software itself.
Layer 5: Session Layer

The functions of the session layer are :

• Session establishment, maintenance and termination: The layer allows the two processes to
establish, use and terminate a connection.
• Synchronization: This layer allows a process to add checkpoints which are considered as
synchronization points into the data. These synchronization point help to identify the error so that
the data is re-synchronized properly, and ends of the messages are not cut prematurely and data
loss is avoided.
• Dialog Controller : The session layer allows two systems to start communication with each other in
half-duplex or full-duplex.
Layer 6: Presentation Layer

• This layer deals with syntax and semantics of the data

exchanged between two devices.
• It encrypt data to protect from unauthorized access and
also compress to reduce the size of data.
• Also called the Translation or Syntax layer.
• This layer is a part of the operating system that converts
the data from one presentation format to another format.
Layer 6: Presentation Layer

The functions of the presentation layer are :

• Translation : For example, ASCII to EBCDIC.
• Encryption/ Decryption : It is needed to maintain privacy. Data encryption translates the data into
another form or code and sends the resulting message over the network. The encrypted data is
known as the cipher text and the decrypted data is known as plain text.
• Compression: Reduces the number of bits that need to be transmitted on the network.
Layer 7: Application Layer

• It provides a means for the user to access information on

the network and for displaying the received information to
the user using an application.
• also called as Desktop Layer.
• Ultimately responsible for supporting services used by
end-user applications.
• It handles issues such as network transparency, resource
allocation, etc.
• Applications include software programs that are installed
on the operating system, like Internet browsers or word
processing programs.
Layer 7: Application Layer

The functions of the Application layer are :

• File transfer access and management (FTAM) - An application layer allows a user to access the
files in a remote computer, to retrieve the files from a computer and to manage the files in a remote
computer.
• Mail Services - An application layer provides the facility for email forwarding and storage.
• Directory Services - An application layer provides the distributed database sources and is used to
provide that global information about various objects.
Presentation End