Unit 01.02.
02
CS 5220:
COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS
OSI Unified View of Protocols and Services
XIAOBO ZHOU, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Computer Science
OSI Unified View: layers
A layer is a set of related communication
functions managed and grouped together
Layer n in one machine interacts with layer n
in another machine to provide a service to its
upper layer n +1
The entities comprising the corresponding
layers on different machines are called peer
processes.
The processes at layer n are referred to as
layer n entities.
OSI Unified View: Protocols
The machines at the same layer use a set of precise and
unambiguous rules called the layer-n protocol.
Layer-n peer processes communicate by exchanging Protocol
Data Units (PDUs)
n-PDUs
n n
Entity Entity
Layer n peer protocol
OSI Unified View: Services
Communication between peer processes is virtual and actually
indirect
Layer n+1 transfers information by invoking the services
provided by layer n
Services are available at Service Access Points (SAP’s)
Each layer passes data & control information to the layer below it
until the physical layer is reached and transfer occurs
The data passed to the layer below is called a Service Data Unit
(SDU); SDU’s are encapsulated in PDU’s
Layers, Services & Protocols
n+1 n+1
entity entity
n-SDU n-SDU
n-SAP n-SAP
n-SDU H
n entity n-PDU n entity
H n-SDU
Encapsulation
Layer n SDU
Payload
Layer n+1 header SDU Trailer
PDU at layer n+1
Headers & Trailers
Each protocol uses a header that carries addresses, sequence
#...
Application APP DATA Application
Application Application
AH APP DATA
Layer Layer
Transport Transport
Layer TH AH APP DATA Layer
Network Network
Layer NH TH AH APP DATA Layer
Data Link Data Link
Layer DH NH TH AH APP DATA CRC Layer
Physical Physical
Layer bits Layer
Bandwidth Utilization
Application APP DATA Application
… …
Data Link Data Link
Layer DH NH TH AH APP DATA CRC Layer
APP DATA
Utilization =
APP DATA + HEADERS + CRC
Encapsulation in TCP/IP
HTTP Request
TCP Header contains
source & destination
port numbers TCP
header HTTP Request
IP Header contains
source and destination
IP addresses;
IP TCP
transport protocol type header header HTTP Request
Ethernet Header contains
source & destination MAC
addresses; Ethernet IP TCP
header header header HTTP Request FCS
network protocol type
Segmentation & Reassembly
A layer may impose a limit on the size (a) Segmentation
of a data block that it can transfer n-SDU
Thus a layer-n SDU may be too large
to be handled as a single unit by layer-
n-PDU n-PDU n-PDU
(n-1)
Sender side: SDU is segmented into (b) Reassembly
multiple PDUs
n-SDU
Receiver side: SDU is reassembled
from sequence of PDUs
n-PDU n-PDU n-PDU
Connectionless & Connection-
Oriented Services
Connection-Oriented Connectionless
Three-phases: Immediate SDU
transfer
1. Connection setup
between two SAPs to No connection setup
initialize state E.g. UDP, IP
information
2. SDU transfer
3. Connection release
E.g. TCP, ATM
Why Internetworking?
To build a “network of networks” or Internet
operating over multiple, coexisting, different network technologies
providing ubiquitous connectivity through IP packet transfer
H
Connection-oriented Reliable Stream Service
H
Net53
Net
Net51
Net G
G
G
G
Net55
Net
H G G
Net52
Net Net54
Net
H
Connectionless User Datagram Service
Internet Protocol (IP) Approach
IP packets transfer information across Internet
Host A IP → router→ router…→ router→ Host B IP
Host Router Host B
Router
A Internet Transport
Transport
Layer Layer Internet Layer
Layer
Network Internet
Internet
Interface
Net51
Net Network
Layer Layer
Router Interface
Network Network
Interface Internet Interface
Layer
Net54
Net
Net52 Network Net53
Net
Net Interface
Lesson Summary
The unified view enables a common understanding of the
protocols and services found in different layers.
