Basic of computer Network 6: Define Protocol and Network Standards with examples

Define Protocol and Network Standards with example that linked with OSI 7 Layer (14 examples)

The communication network is consisted of a number of interconnected nodes. So, it needs rules to guide all the nodes in the network to work in an orderly manner. These rules are established for the exchange of data are called Protocol. The purpose is let all the nodes follow these rules to transmit data successfully, it corresponds to the Top five and half of the Data link layers of the OSI reference model.

The feature of Protocol

1. everyone in the protocol must understand the protocol and know in advance all the steps to be completed
2. everyone in the protocol must agree and follow it.
3. the protocol must be clear, each step clearly defined and without misunderstanding.
   The set of rules used in a computer network to specify the format of information and how it is sent and received is called protocol.

IEEE stand for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a famous and professional organization in the world that publishes a large number of technical magazines and holds many conferences each year. IEEE 802 is a unit of the IEEE computer committee, sets standards for electronic engineering and computing, which is known as Network Standard.
IEEE 802, also known as the LMSC (LAN /MAN Standards Committee), is dedicated to the study of the physical and MAC layer specifications for LAN and MAN, corresponding to the lowest and half of the Data Link layers of the OSI reference model.
Protocol and Network Standard can be used in OSI 7 layer. Each layer has its own protocol or/and Network standard that allows the data to transfer on that layer with different purpose.

7. On Application Layer, it has SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), POP3(Post Office Protocol version 3) and IMAP (Internal Mail Access Protocol). They are the protocol that used by Email Service.

SMTP is the protocol use for sending Email (only text) with the port number 25. POP3 (port number 110) and IMAP (port number 143) are the protocol use to receive email. The main difference between POP3 and IMAP is the operation on the email in local device through IMAP can simultaneously change the email on Email Server, while POP3 not.

6. On Presentation Layer, it has Protocol MIDI, MIME, etc.
   MIDI
   It stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface that assist in music creation by connecting electronic synthesizer, electronic rhythm machine (electronic drum machine) and other electronic audio sources with sequencer, it can simulate the magnificent and varied sound effect, and also store the data of various keys in the performance, greatly improving the ability and conditions of music performance.

MIME
It stands for multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions. As its name display, it is an extension protocol for Mail protocol. Because of SMTP only allow to transfer text, the extension protocol MIME allows user to add image, voice, video and even application into email that make it more convenient.

5. On Session Layer, it has protocol RPC, PPTP, etc.
   RPC
   It stands for Remote Procedure Call. It is a protocol that requests a service over a network from a remote computer program without knowing the underlying network technology. The RPC protocol assumes the existence of some transport protocol, such as TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) or UDP (User Datagram Protocol), to carry information data between communicating programs. RPC makes it easier to develop applications that include network-distributed multiprogramming.
   By the way, RPC is in client/server mode.

PPTP
It stands for Point-to-Point Tunnelling Protocol. The protocol is a VPN tunnelling technology based on PPP Point to Point Protocol which enhanced the security. It allows remote users to access the enterprise network securely by dialling into an ISP, and connect directly to the Internet, or by other networks.
PPTP implementation needs to complete two actions: negotiate the PPTP/GRE (Generic Routing Encapsulation) tunnel and negotiate the establishment of PPTP virtual link. PPTP and FTP are similar, is a multi-channel protocol. Specifically, PPTP has control channel and data channel. The control channel is built between the PPTP client (which use the dynamic assigned TCP port number) and the server (which use the retained TCP port number 1723).

4. On Transport Layer, it has protocol TCP, UDP, etc.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) are complementary protocol that both belong to the transport layer. Among them, TCP provides reliable data transmission in IP environment, and its services include data transmission, reliability, effective flow control, full duplex operation and multiplexing. TCP is a connection-oriented protocol that like when you call someone, you have to wait until someone pick up the phone, then you can talk. Which means TCP will establish the connection channel first, and then data sent.

While UDP is disconnection-oriented protocol which means you don’t have to establish a connection with the other party before the formal communication, and you send it directly regardless of the status of the other party. It’s very similar to a text message: when you send a text message, just type in the person’s phone number. So UDP provides a way for applications to send encapsulated IP datagrams without establishing a connection.
TCP corresponds to applications with high reliability requirements, while UDP corresponds to applications with low reliability requirements and low transmission economy. The application protocols supported by TCP are: Telnet, FTP, SMTP, etc. The application layer protocols supported by UDP mainly include NFS (network file system), SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), DNS (Domain Name System), TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol), etc.

3. On Network Layer, it has protocol IP, ICMP, etc.
   IP
   It stands for Internet Protocol that is the core protocol of TCP/IP protocol. All TCP, UDP, ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol), and IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) are all use IP datagram format to transfer data. The IP protocol provides unreliable, connectionless datagram delivery services. Unreliability means that it does not guarantee that the IP packet will reach its destination successfully, IP only provides the best possible service. Connectionless means that IP does not maintain any state information about subsequent datagrams, and each datagram is handled independently of the other.
   The current IP versions are IPv4 and IPv6. The most common used for business is IPv4, which has a decimal and a binary representation. Respectively is:
   Dot-decimal notation, which consists of four octets of the address expressed individually in decimal numbers and separated by periods. Each group ranges from [0 to 255], for example: 255.255.255.255
   The binary. For example: 11111111 11111111 11111111
   IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long, consists of eight blocks (or eight fields), each containing four hexadecimal Numbers, each separated by a colon.
   ICMP
   It stands for Internet Control Message Protocol. ICMP belongs to the TCP/IP protocol family. It works in the network layer (layer 3) and is used to transfer control messages between IP hosts and routers.
   Control message refers to the message of the network itself, such as network impassability, host accessibility, route availability, etc. Although these control messages do not transmit user data, they play an important role in the transmission of user data.
   A typical application of ICMP is Ping. Ping is a common tool for detecting network connectivity and collecting other relevant information. The user can specify different parameters in the Ping command, such as the length of ICMP message, the number of ICMP messages sent, the timeout time for waiting for reply, etc. The device constructs and sends ICMP messages according to the configured parameters for Ping test.

4. On Data Link Layer, it has protocol ARP, network standard IEEE 802.3, etc.
   ARP
   It stands for address resolution protocol that used to convert a computer’s network address (IP address 32 bits) to a physical address (MAC address 48 bits) [RFC826]. The ARP protocol is a link-layer protocol in which data frames in Ethernet travel from one host to another host in the network based on a 48-bit Ethernet address (hardware address) rather than a 32-bit IP address. The kernel (such as the driver) must know the destination hardware address to send data. Of course, point-to-point connections do not require the ARP protocol.
   In environment of IP network to Ethernet, where layer 3 is IP network and layer 2 is Ethernet network, the implementation of ARP is called broadcast +cache. For example, the user have an IP address of 255.255.255.255, but doesn’t have its physical address (Ethernet address), so broadcast it over the Internet through the ARP protocol: which machine is 255.255.255.255, all the machines hear the broadcast, but only the 255.255.255.255 machine responds and gives the address of its network card. In this way, the source host can obtain a binding relationship through broadcasting and obtain the binding relationship between the IP address of the target host and the network card address. This binding address is not only used once, but put in the Cache, so that the next time no broadcast needed, as long as you look up the table in memory. By the method of broadcast +Cache, the layer 3 IP address is transformed to the layer 2 MAC address.

IEEE 802.3
It is the Network Standard for Ethernet. Each computer on the Ethernet can run independently, without a central controller. All workstations connected to Ethernet are connected to a Shared signalling system, also known as media. To send data, the workstation needs to listen to the channel first, and if the channel is idle, the data can be transmitted in Ethernet frame or packet format. After each frame is transmitted, each workstation must fairly fight for the next frame. Access to the Shared channel depends on the media access control mechanism embedded in the Ethernet interface of each workstation. This mechanism is based on CSMA/CD (Carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection).
When an Ethernet frame is sent to a Shared channel, all Ethernet interfaces view its destination address. If the frame target address matches the interface address, the frame can be read in full and sent to the network software on that computer. If the frame target addresses do not match their own addresses, the frame read operation is stopped
It also defines Ethernet prototypes of 10Mbps, 100Mbps, 1Gbps, and even 10Gbps, and defines the fifth class of shielded twisted pair and fiber optic cables as valid cable types.
IEEE802.3 produced many extended standards, such as IEEE 802.3u (100 Base T) for fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.3z (1000 BASE SX/LX) and IEEE 802.3ab (1000 BASE T) for gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.3ae (10G Base S/L/E) for 10G Ethernet. At present, Ethernet based on IEEE802.3 standard is the most widely used in LAN.

1. On Physical Layer, it has network standard IEEE 802.5, IEEE 802.11, etc.
   IEEE 802.5
   Token ring network is also a Local Area Network, in which all the computers are connected in a ring topology. To avoid data conflicts, it uses a token which is a special frame of 3 bytes. Only when the user holds a free (Status) token that the machine can send data into token ring. Token-ring protocol is second only to Ethernet in the area of LAN. The IBM token ring protocol is specified as the standard version and as IEEE802.5. IEEE802.5 token ring technology can support data transfer rates of 4Mb/s or 16Mb/s.
   The process of Token-Ring:
   A token is passed around the network in a clockwise direction.
   When a computer wants to send a message:
   If the status of token is free: Change the status of token from free to busy which means change the tag bit in the frame from 0 to 1. Then, attach message with the destination ID and send it to next DTE.
   The next DTE will get a copy of the message and check the destination ID, If the message is belong to “The next DTE”, it removes the message and set the status into free which means change the tag bit in the frame from 1 to 0. If not, just pass onto the following DTE.
   If the status of token is busy, the computer needs to wait until the status become free.

IEEE 802.11
It is a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi). It is mainly used to solve the wireless access between users and user terminals in office LAN and campus network. The service is mainly limited to data access, and the rate can only reach 2Mbps. Because 802.11 cannot meet people’s needs in speed and transmission distance, therefore, the IEEE group has launched 802.11b and 802.11a two new standards. The main technical difference between the MAC sublayer and the physical layer.
Normally, the standard used most is 802.11n, which works in 2.4ghz frequency band and can reach 600Mbps (theoretical value). The latest standard under discussion is 802.11aD which is 5G Wi-Fi.

Reference:
Siteground, Email protocols- POP3, SMTP and IMAP Tutorial, Available from: https://www.siteground.com/tutorials/email/protocols-pop3-smtp-imap/ [27/02/20]
Techopedia, OSI Protocol, 30 August 2019, Available from https://www.techopedia.com/definition/24961/osi-protocols [27/02/20]
Tomas Nath, What is MIDI? (Everything you need to know), 29 December 2019, available from: https://www.musicianonamission.com/what-is-midi/ [27/02/20]
Margaret Rouse, TechTarget, MIME(Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extension), September 2005, available from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/MIME-Multi-Purpose-Internet-Mail-Extensions [27/02/20]
Margaret Rouse, TechTarget, Remote Procedure Call (RPC), OCT 2016, available form https://searchapparchitecture.techtarget.com/definition/Remote-Procedure-Call-RPC [27/02/20]
Tech Term, PPTP, available from https://techterms.com/definition/pptp [27/02/20]
Diffen, TCP vs UDP, available from https://www.diffen.com/difference/TCP_vs_UDP [27/02/20]
CloudFlare, What is the Internet protocol? Available form https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/internet-protocol/ [28/02/20]
CloudFlare, What is the ICMP? Available form https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/internet-control-message-protocol-icmp/ [28/02/20]
GeekUniversity, Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), available from https://geek-university.com/ccna/address-resolution-protocol-arp/ [28/02/20]
George John, Tutorialspoint, IEEE 802.3 AND Ethernet, 28 May 2019, available from https://www.tutorialspoint.com/ieee-802-3-and-ethernet [28/02/20]