TCP/IP Illustrated Episode 5

Design and Implementation

Although a protocol architecture may suggest a certain approach to implementation, it usually does not include a mandate. Consequently, we make a distinction between the protocol architecture and the implementation architecture, which defines how the concepts in a protocol architecture may be rendered into existence, usually in the form of software.

Layering

With layering, each layer is responsible for a different facet of the communications. Layers are beneficial because a layered design allows developers to evolve different portions of the system separately, often by different people with somewhat different areas of expertise. The most frequently mentioned concept of protocol layering is based on a standard called the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model [Z80] as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Figure 1-2 shows the standard OSI layers, including their names, numbers, and a few examples. The Internet’s layering model is somewhat simpler, as we shall see in Section 1.3.

Although the OSI model suggests that seven logical layers may be desirable for modularity of a protocol architecture implementation, the TCP/IP architecture is normally considered to consist of five. There was much debate about the relative benefits and deficiencies of the OSI model, and the ARPANET model that preceded it, during the early 1970s. Although it may be fair to say that TCP/IP ultimately “won,” a number of ideas and even entire protocols from the ISO protocol suite (protocols standardized by ISO that follow the OSI model) have been adopted for use with TCP/IP (e.g., IS-IS [RFC3787]).

Multiplexing, Demultiplexing, and Encapsulation in Layered Implementations

One of the major benefits of a layered architecture is its natural ability to perform protocol multiplexing. This form of multiplexing allows multiple different protocols to coexist on the same infrastructure. It also allows multiple instantiations of the same protocol object (e.g., connections) to be used simultaneously without being confused.

Multiplexing can occur at different layers, and at each layer a different sort of identifier is used for determining which protocol or stream of information belongs together. For example, at the link layer, most link technologies (such as Ethernet and Wi-Fi) include a protocol identifier field value in each packet to indicate which protocol is being carried in the link-layer frame (IP is one such protocol). When an object (packet, message, etc.), called a protocol data unit (PDU), at one layer is carried by a lower layer, it is said to be encapsulated (as opaque data) by the next layer down. Thus, multiple objects at layer N can be multiplexed together using encapsulation in layer N - 1. Figure 1-3 shows how this works. The identifier at layer N - 1 is used to determine the correct receiving protocol or program at layer N during demultiplexing.

The Architecture and Protocols of the TCP/IP Suite

So far we have discussed architecture, protocols, protocol suites, and implementation techniques in the abstract. In this section, we discuss the architecture and particular protocols that constitute the TCP/IP suite. Although this has become the established term for the protocols used on the Internet, there are many protocols beyond TCP and IP in the collection or family of protocols used with the Internet. We begin by noting how the ARPANET reference model of layering, which ultimately formed the basis for the Internet’s protocol layering, differs somewhat from the OSI layering discussed earlier.

The ARPANET Reference Model

Figure 1-5 depicts the layering inspired by the ARPANET reference model, which was ultimately adopted by the TCP/IP suite. The structure is simpler than the OSI model, but real implementations include a few specialized protocols that do not fit cleanly into the conventional layers.