Open systems, Standards and Protocols

 

The seven layers of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)  Reference Model.

The Application Layer

The application layer is the end-user interface to the OSI system. It is where the applications, such as electronic mail, USENET news readers, or database display modules, reside. The application layer's task is to display received information and send the user's new data to the lower layers.

In distributed applications, such as client/server systems, the application layer is where the client application resides. It communicates through the lower layers to the server.
The Presentation Layer

The presentation layer's task is to isolate the lower layers from the application's data format. It converts the data from the application into a common format, often called the canonical representation. The presentation layer processes machine-dependent data from the application layer into a machine-independent format for the lower layers.

The presentation layer is where file formats and even character formats (ASCII and EBCDIC, for example) are lost. The conversion from the application data format takes place through a "common network programming language" (as it is called in the OSI Reference Model documents) that has a structured format.

The presentation layer does the reverse for incoming data. It is converted from the common format into application-specific formats, based on the type of application the machine has instructions for. If the data comes in without reformatting instructions, the information might not be assembled in the correct manner for the user's application.
The Session Layer

The session layer organizes and synchronizes the exchange of data between application processes. It works with the application layer to provide simple data sets called synchronization points that let an application know how the transmission and reception of data are progressing. In simplified terms, the session layer can be thought of as a timing and flow control layer.

The session layer is involved in coordinating communications between different applications, letting each know the status of the other. An error in one application (whether on the same machine or across the country) is handled by the session layer to let the receiving application know that the error has occurred. The session layer can resynchronize applications that are currently connected to each other. This can be necessary when communications are temporarily interrupted, or when an error has occurred that results in loss of data.
The Transport Layer

The transport layer, as its name suggests, is designed to provide the "transparent transfer of data from a source end open system to a destination end open system," according to the OSI Reference Model. The transport layer establishes, maintains, and terminates communications between two machines.

The transport layer is responsible for ensuring that data sent matches the data received. This verification role is important in ensuring that data is correctly sent, with a resend if an error was detected. The transport layer manages the sending of data, determining its order and its priority.
The Network Layer

The network layer provides the physical routing of the data, determining the path between the machines. The network layer handles all these routing issues, relieving the higher layers from this issue.

The network layer examines the network topology to determine the best route to send a message, as well as figuring out relay systems. It is the only network layer that sends a message from source to target machine, managing other chunks of data that pass through the system on their way to another machine.
The Data Link Layer  

The data link layer, according to the OSI reference paper, "provides for the control of the physical layer, and detects and possibly corrects errors that can occur." In practicality, the data link layer is responsible for correcting transmission errors induced during transmission (as opposed to errors in the application data itself, which are handled in the transport layer).

The data link layer is usually concerned with signal interference on the physical transmission media, whether through copper wire, fiber optic cable, or microwave. Interference is common, resulting from many sources, including cosmic rays and stray magnetic interference from other sources.
The Physical Layer 

The physical layer is the lowest layer of the OSI model and deals with the "mechanical, electrical, functional, and procedural means" required for transmission of data, according to the OSI definition. This is really the wiring or other transmission form.

When the OSI model was being developed, a lot of concern dealt with the lower two layers, because they are, in most cases, inseparable. The real world treats the data link layer and the physical layer as one combined layer, but the formal OSI definition stipulates different purposes for each. (TCP/IP includes the data link and physical layers as one layer, recognizing that the division is more academic than practical.)

 

Terminologies and Notations

Packets

To transfer data effectively, many experiments have shown that creating a uniform chunk of data is better than sending characters singly or in widely varying sized groups. Usually these chunks of data have some information ahead of them (the header) and sometimes an indicator at the end (the trailer). These chunks of data are called packets in most synchronous communications systems.

The amount of data in a packet and the composition of the header can change depending on the communications protocol as well as some system limitations, but the concept of a packet always refers to the entire set (including header and trailer). The term packet is used often in the computer industry, sometimes when it shouldn't be.

You often see the word packet used as a generic reference to any group of data packaged for transmission. As an application's data passes through the layers of the architecture, each adds more information. The term packet is frequently used at each stage. Treat the term packet as a generalization for any data with additional information, instead of the specific result of only one layer's addition of header and trailer. This goes against the efforts of both OSI and the TCP governing bodies, but it helps keep your sanity intact!

Subsystems

A subsystem is the collective of a particular layer across a network. For example, if 10 machines are connected together, each running the seven-layer OSI model, all 10 application layers are the application subsystem, all 10 data link layers are the data link subsystem, and so on. As you might have already deduced, with the OSI Reference Model there are seven subsystems.

It is entirely possible (and even likely) that all the individual components in a subsystem will not be active at one time. Using the 10-machine example again, only three might have the data link layer actually active at any moment in time, but the cumulative of all the machines makes up the subsystem.
Entities

A layer can have more than one part to it. For example, the transport layer can have routines that verify checksums as well as routines that handle resending packets that didn't transfer correctly. Not all these routines are active at once, because they might not be required at any moment. The active routines, though, are called entities. The word entity was adopted in order to find a single term that could not be confused with another computer term such as module, process, or task.
N Notation

The notations N, N+1, N+2, and so on are used to identify a layer and the layers that are related to it. Referring to Figure 1.7, if the transport layer is layer N, the physical layer is N–3 and the presentation layer is N+2. With OSI, N always has a value of 1 through 7 inclusive.

One reason this notation was adopted was to enable writers to refer to other layers without having to write out their names every time. It also makes flow charts and diagrams of interactions a little easier to draw. The terms N+1 and N–1 are commonly used in both OSI and TCP for the layers above and below the current layer, respectively, as you will see.

To make things even more confusing, many OSI standards refer to a layer by the first letter of its name. This can lead to a real mess for the casual reader, because "S-entity," "5-entity," and "layer 5" all refer to the session layer.

N-Functions

Each layer performs N-functions. The functions are the different things the layer does. Therefore, the functions of the transport layer are the different tasks that the layer provides. For most purposes in this book, functions and entities mean the same thing.
N-Facilities 

This uses the hierarchical layer structure to express the idea that one layer provides a set of facilities to the next higher layer. This is sensible, because the application layer expects the presentation layer to provide a robust, well-defined set of facilities to it. In OSI-speak, the (N+1)-entities assume a defined set of N-facilities from the N-entity.
Services 

The entire set of N-facilities provided to the (N+1)-entities is called the N-service. In other words, the service is the entire set of N-functions provided to the next higher layer. Services might seem like functions, but there is a formal difference between the two. The OSI documents go to great lengths to provide detailed descriptions of services, with a "service definition standard" for each layer. This was necessary during the development of the OSI standard so that the different tasks involved in the communications protocol could be assigned to different layers, and so that the functions of each layer are both well-defined and isolated from other layers.

The service definitions are formally developed from the bottom layer (physical) upward to the top layer. The advantage of this approach is that the design of the N+1 layer can be based on the functions performed in the N layer, avoiding two functions that accomplish the same task in two adjacent layers.

An entire set of variations on the service name has been developed to apply these definitions, some of which are in regular use:

An N-service user is a user of a service provided by the N layer to the next higher (N+1) layer.

An N-service provider is the set of N-entities that are involved in providing the N layer service.

An N-service access point (often abbreviated to N-SAP) is where an N-service is provided to an (N+1)-entity by the N-service provider.

N-service data is the packet of data exchanged at an N-SAP.

N-service data units (N-SDUs) are the individual units of data exchanged at an N-SAP (so that N-service data is made up of N-SDUs).

 

It is necessary to introduce a few more terms commonly used in OSI and TCP/IP, but luckily they are readily understood because of their real-world connotations. These terms are necessary because data doesn't usually exist in manageable chunks. The data might have to be broken down into smaller sections, or several small sections can be combined into a large section for more efficient transfer. The basic terms are as follows:

Segmentation is the process of breaking an N-service data unit (N-SDU) into several N-protocol data units (N-PDUs).

Reassembly is the process of combining several N-PDUs into an N-SDU (the reverse of segmentation).

Blocking is the combination of several SDUs (which might be from different services) into a larger PDU within the layer in which the SDUs originated.

Unblocking is the breaking up of a PDU into several SDUs in the same layer.

Concatenation is the process of one layer combining several N-PDUs from the next higher layer into one SDU (like blocking except occurring across a layer boundary).

Separation is the reverse of concatenation, so that a layer breaks a single SDU into several PDUs for the next layer higher (like unblocking except across a layer boundary).

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Segmentation, reassembly, blocking, unblocking, concatenation, and separation.

Finally, here is one last set of definitions that deal with connections:

Multiplexing is when several connections are supported by a single connection in the next lower layer (so three presentation service connections could be multiplexed into a single session connection).

Demultiplexing is the reverse of multiplexing, in which one connection is split into several connections for the layer above it.

Splitting is when a single connection is supported by several connections in the layer below (so the data link layer might have three connections to support one network layer connection).

Recombining is the reverse of splitting, so that several connections are combined into a single one for the layer above

Protocol Headers