OSI REFERENCE MODEL

OSI REFERENCE MODEL

1. History of OSI reference model

In the late 1970s, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) conducted a
program to develop general standards and methods of networking. A similar process evolved
at the Consultative Committee Of International Telegraph and telephone (CCITT). Both
bodies developed documents that defined similar networking models

The OSI model was first defined in raw form in Washington DC in February 1978 by Hubert
Zimmermann of France and the refined standard was published by the ISO in 1984.

In 1983, these two documents were merged to form a standard called The Basic Reference
Model for Open Systems Interconnection. The standard is usually referred to as Open
Systems Interconnection Reference Model, OSI Reference Model, or simply OSI model. It
was published in 1984 by both the ISO, as standard ISO 7498, and the renamed CCITT (now
called the Telecommunications Standardization Sector of the International
Telecommunication Union or ITU-T) as standard X.200.

OSI had two major components, an abstract model of networking, called the Basic Reference
Model or seven-layer model, and a set of specific protocols. The OSI reference model was a
major advance in the teaching of network concepts. It promoted the idea of a consistent
model of protocol layers, defining interoperability between network devices and software.

The concept of a seven-layer model was provided by the work of Charles

Bachman at Honeywell Information Systems. Various aspects of OSI design evolved from
experiences with the ARPANET, NPLNET, EIN, CYCLADES network and the work in IFIP
WG6.1. The new design was documented in ISO 7498 and its various addenda. In this model,
a networking system was divided into layers. Within each layer, one or more entities
implement its functionality. Each entity interacted directly only with the layer immediately
beneath it, and provided facilities for use by the layer above it.

The model is a product of the Open Systems Interconnection project at the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Communication protocols enable an entity in one host to interact with a corresponding entity
at the same layer in another host. Service definitions, like the OSI Model, abstractly describe

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the functionality provided to an (N)-layer by an (N-1) layer, where N is one of the seven
layers of protocols operating in the local host.

2. DEFINITION OF OSI REFERENCE MODEL

The Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI model) is a conceptual model that
characterizes and standardizes the communication functions of a telecommunication or
computing system without regard to its underlying internal structure and technology. Its goal
is the interoperability of diverse communication systems with standard communication
protocols. The model partitions a communication system into abstraction layers. The original
version of the model had seven layers.

A layer serves the layer above it and is served by the layer below it. For example, a layer that
provides error-free communications across a network provides the path needed by
applications above it, while it calls the next lower layer to send and receive packets that
constitute the contents of that path. Two instances at the same layer are visualized as
connected by a horizontal connection in that layer.

The model is a product of the Open Systems Interconnection project at the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Standards documents

The OSI model was defined in ISO/IEC 7498 which consists of the following parts:

 ISO/IEC 7498-1 The Basic Model

 ISO 7498-2 Security Architecture
 ISO/IEC 7498-3 Naming and addressing
 ISO/IEC 7498-4 Management framework.

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3. The 7 Layers of the OSI

In the OSI model, control is passed from one layer to the next, starting at the application layer
(Layer 7) in one station, and proceeding to the bottom layer, over the channel to the next
station and back up the hierarchy. The OSI model takes the task of inter-networking and
divides that up into what is
referred to as a vertical
stack that consists of the
following 7 layers.
There are seven layers in
OSI reference model they
are:

1. Physical layer

2. Data link layer

3. Network layer

4. Transport layer

5. Session layer

6. Presentation layer

7. Application layer

1. Physical layer

The physical layer is the first layer of the Open System Interconnection Model (OSI
Model). The physical layer deals with bit-level transmission between different devices
and supports electrical or mechanical interfaces connecting to the physical medium
for synchronized communication.

This layer plays with most of the network’s physical connections - wireless
transmission, cabling, cabling standards and types, connectors and types, network

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interface cards, and more - as per network requirements. However, the physical layer
does not deal with the actual physical medium (like copper, fibre).

The physical layer sometimes plays an important role in the effective sharing of
available communication resources, and helps avoid contention among multiple users.
It also handles the transmission rate to improve the flow of data between a sender and
receiver.

Functions of Physical Layer

Following are the various functions performed by the Physical layer of the OSI model.

 Representation of Bits: Data in this layer consists of stream of bits. The bits must be
encoded into signals for transmission. It defines the type of encoding i.e. how 0's and
1's are changed to signal.
 Data Rate: This layer defines the rate of transmission which is the number of bits per
second.
 Synchronization: It deals with the synchronization of the transmitter and receiver. The
sender and receiver are synchronized at bit level.
 Interface: The physical layer defines the transmission interface between devices and
transmission medium.
 Line Configuration: This layer connects devices with the medium: Point to Point
configuration and Multipoint configuration.
 Topologies: Devices must be connected using the following topologies: Mesh, Star,
Ring and Bus.
 Transmission Modes: Physical Layer defines the direction of transmission between
two devices: Simplex, Half Duplex, Full Duplex.
 Deals with baseband and broadband transmission.

Design Issues with Physical Layer

 The Physical Layer is concerned with transmitting raw bits over a communication
channel.
 The design issue has to do with making sure that when one side sends a 1 bit, it is
received by the other side as a 1 bit and not as a 0 bit.

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 The design issues here largely deal with mechanical, electrical and timing interfaces,
and the physical transmission medium, which lies below the physical layer.

Protocols that are used in physical layers include:

 Digital Subscriber Line

 Integrated Services Digital Network
 Infrared Data Association
 Universal Serial Bus
 Bluetooth
 Controller Area Network
 Ethernet

The physical layer provides the following services:

 Modulates the process of converting a signal from one form to another so that it can
be physically transmitted over a communication channel.
 Bit-by-bit delivery.
 Line coding, which allows data to be sent by hardware devices that are optimized for
digital communications that may have discreet timing on the transmission link.
 Bit synchronization for synchronous serial communications.
 Start-stop signalling and flow control in asynchronous serial communication.
 Circuit switching and multiplexing hardware control of multiplexed digital signals.
 Carrier sensing and collision detection, whereby the physical layer detects carrier
availability and avoids the congestion problems caused by undeliverable packets.
 Signal equalization to ensure reliable connections and facilitate multiplexing.
 Forward error correction/channel coding such as error correction code.
 Auto-negotiation.
 Transmission mode control.

2. Data link layer

The data layer is the second layer of the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking.
This layer is the protocol layer that transfers data between adjacent network nodes in
a wide area network (WAN) or between nodes on the same local area

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network (LAN) segment. The data link layer provides the functional and procedural
means to transfer data between network entities and might provide the means to detect
and possibly correct errors that may occur in the physical layer.

The data link layer is concerned with local delivery of frames between nodes on the same
level of the network. Data-link frames, as these protocol data units are called, do not cross
the boundaries of a local area network. Inter-network routing and global addressing are
higher-layer functions, allowing data-link protocols to focus on local delivery, addressing,
and media arbitration. In this way, the data link layer is analogous to a neighbourhood
traffic cop; it endeavours to arbitrate between parties contending for access to a medium,
without concern for their ultimate destination. When devices attempt to use a medium
simultaneously, frame collisions occur. Data-link protocols specify how devices detect
and recover from such collisions, and may provide mechanisms to reduce or prevent
them.

The data link layer ensures that all packets of information are passed on free of errors. It
makes sure the appropriate physical protocol is assigned to the data. The data link layer is
the second layer in the OSI Model. The three main functions of the data link layer are to
deal with transmission errors, regulate the flow of data, and provide a well-defined
interface to the network layer. When it transfers the data to the network layer, it uses
timers and sequence numbers to check for errors to ensure that all data is successfully
received. The data link layer has different services and protocols to complete its tasks.
The protocols are the rules required to pass data successfully to the next layer.

Functions of Data Link Layer

 Framing: Frames are the streams of bits received from the network layer into
manageable data units. This division of stream of bits is done by Data Link Layer.
 Physical Addressing: The Data Link layer adds a header to the frame in order to
define physical address of the sender or receiver of the frame, if the frames are to be
distributed to different systems on the network.
 Flow Control: A flow control mechanism to avoid a fast transmitter from running a
slow receiver by buffering the extra bit is provided by flow control. This prevents
traffic jam at the receiver side.

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 Error Control: Error control is achieved by adding a trailer at the end of the frame.
Duplication of frames are also prevented by using this mechanism. Data Link Layers
adds mechanism to prevent duplication of frames.
 Access Control: Protocols of this layer determine which of the devices has control
over the link at any given time, when two or more devices are connected to the same
link.

Design Issues with Data Link Layer

 The issue that arises in the data link layer(and most of the higher layers as well) is
how to keep a fast transmitter from drowning a slow receiver in data. Some traffic
regulation mechanism is often needed to let the transmitter know how much buffer
space the receiver has at the moment. Frequently, the flow regulation and the error
handling are integrated.
 Broadcast networks have an additional issue in the data link layer: How to control
access to the shared channel. A special sub-layer of the data link layer, the Medium
Access Control(MAC) sub-layer, deals with this problem.

Examples of data link protocols are :

 Ethernet for local area networks (multi-node).

 Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP).
 HDLC and ADCCP for point-to-point (dual-node) connections.
 Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP).

3. Network layer
The network layer is considered the backbone of the OSI Model. It selects and
manages the best logical path for data transfer between nodes. This layer contains
hardware devices such as routers, bridges, firewalls and switches, but it actually
creates a logical image of the most efficient communication route and implements it
with a physical medium.

Network layer protocols exist in every host or router. The router examines the header
fields of all the IP packets that pass through it.

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In the OSI model, the network layer responds to requests from the layer above it
(transport layer).
The network Layer controls the operation of the subnet. The main aim of this layer is
to deliver packets from source to destination across multiple links (networks). If two
computers (system) are connected on the same link, then there is no need for a
network layer. It routes the signal through different channels to the other end and acts
as a network controller.
It also divides the outgoing messages into packets and to assemble incoming packets
into messages for higher levels.
In broadcast networks, the routing problem is simple, so the network layer is often
thin or even non-existent.

Functions of Network Layer

 It translates logical network address into physical address. Concerned with circuit,
message or packet switching.
 Routers and gateways operate in the network layer. Mechanism is provided by
Network Layer for routing the packets to final destination.
 Connection services are provided including network layer flow control, network layer
error control and packet sequence control.
 Breaks larger packets into small packets.

Design Issues with Network Layer

 A key design issue is determining how packets are routed from source to destination.
Routes can be based on static tables that are wired into the network and rarely
changed. They can also be highly dynamic, being determined anew for each packet, to
reflect the current network load.
 If too many packets are present in the subnet at the same time, they will get into one
another's way, forming bottlenecks. The control of such congestion also belongs to
the network layer.
 Moreover, the quality of service provided (delay, transmit time, jitter, etc) is also a
network layer issue.

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 When a packet has to travel from one network to another to get to its destination,
many problems can arise such as:
o The addressing used by the second network may be different from the first
one.
o The second one may not accept the packet at all because it is too large.
o The protocols may differ, and so on.
 It is up to the network layer to overcome all these problems to allow heterogeneous
networks to be interconnected.

4. Transport layer

The transport layer is the fourth layer of OSI model. The basic function of the Transport layer
is to accept data from the layer above, split it up into smaller units, pass these data units to the
Network layer, and ensure that all the pieces arrive correctly at the other end.

Furthermore, all this must be done efficiently and in a way that isolates the upper layers from
the inevitable changes in the hardware technology.

The Transport layer also determines what type of service to provide to the Session layer, and,
ultimately, to the users of the network. The most popular type of transport connection is
an error-free point-to-point channel that delivers messages or bytes in the order in which they
were sent.

Functions of Transport Layer

 Service Point Addressing: Transport Layer header includes service point address
which is port address. This layer gets the message to the correct process on the
computer unlike Network Layer, which gets each packet to the correct computer.
 Segmentation and Reassembling: A message is divided into segments; each segment
contains sequence number, which enables this layer in reassembling the message.
Message is reassembled correctly upon arrival at the destination and replaces packets
which were lost in transmission.
 Connection Control: It includes 2 types:
1. Connectionless Transport Layer : Each segment is considered as an
independent packet and delivered to the transport layer at the destination
machine.

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2. Connection Oriented Transport Layer : Before delivering packets, connection

is made with transport layer at the destination machine.
 Flow Control: In this layer, flow control is performed end to end.
 Error Control: Error Control is performed end to end in this layer to ensure that the
complete message arrives at the receiving transport layer without any error. Error
Correction is done through retransmission.

Design Issues with Transport Layer

 Accepting data from Session layer, split it into segments and send to the network
layer.
 Ensure correct delivery of data with efficiency.
 Isolate upper layers from the technological changes.
 Error control and flow control.\

The Transport layer is a true end-to-end layer, all the way from the source to the
destination. In other words, a program on the source machine carries on a
conversation with a similar program on the destination machine, using the message
headers and control messages

5. Session layer
Session layer is the 5th layer of the OSI reference model.

The Session Layer allows users on different machines to establish active

communication sessions between them.

It's main aim is to establish, maintain and synchronize the interaction between
communicating systems. Session layer manages and synchronize the conversation
between two different applications. In Session layer, streams of data are marked and
are resynchronized properly, so that the ends of the messages are not cut prematurely
and data loss is avoided.

As its name suggests, the session layer is responsible for managing a session which
includes opening, closing and managing a session between end-user application
processes. You can think of session layer as the main layer which handles the requests
and responses between the two applications.

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For example, if you are downloading some pictures from Face book, a network path is
defined by the network layer but the requests for the photos and responses by Face
book to you is handled by the session layer.

Functions of Session Layer

 Dialog Control: This layer allows two systems to start communication with each other
in half-duplex or full-duplex.
 Token Management: This layer prevents two parties from attempting the same critical
operation at the same time.
 Synchronization: This layer allows a process to add checkpoints which are considered
as synchronization points into stream of data. Example: If a system is sending a file of
800 pages, adding checkpoints after every 50 pages is recommended. This ensures
that 50 page unit is successfully received and acknowledged. This is beneficial at the
time of crash as if a crash happens at page number 110; there is no need to retransmit
1 to100 pages.

Design Issues with Session Layer

 To allow machines to establish sessions between them in a seamless fashion.

 Provide enhanced services to the users.
 To manage dialog control.
 To provide services such as Token management and Synchronization.


6. Presentation layer

The sixth layer of OSI model is the Presentation layer. Applications running in local system
may or may not understand the format that is used to transmit the data across the network.
The presentation layer works as the translator in OSI model. When receiving data from
application layer, it converts that data in such a format that can be sent over the network.
When receiving data from session layer, it reconverts that data in such a format that the
application which will use the incoming data can understand.

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Convert, compress and encrypt are the main functions which presentation layer performs in
sending computer while in receiving computer there are reconvert, decompress and decrypt.
ASCII, BMP, GIF, JPEG, WAV, AVI, and MPEG are the few examples of standards and
protocols which work in this layer.

The primary goal of this layer is to take care of the syntax and semantics of the information
exchanged between two communicating systems. Presentation layer takes care that the data is
sent in such a way that the receiver will understand the information (data) and will be able to
use the data.

Functions of Presentation Layer

 Translation: Before being transmitted, information in the form of characters and

numbers should be changed to bit streams. The presentation layer is responsible for
interoperability between encoding methods as different computers use different
encoding methods. It translates data between the formats the network requires and the
format the computer.
 Encryption: It carries out encryption at the transmitter and decryption at the receiver.
 Compression: It carries out data compression to reduce the bandwidth of the data to
be transmitted. The primary role of Data compression is to reduce the number of bits
to be 0transmitted. It is important in transmitting multimedia such as audio, video,
text etc.

Design Issues with Presentation Layer

 To manage and maintain the Syntax and Semantics of the information transmitted.
 Encoding data in a standard agreed upon way. Eg: String, double, date, etc.
 Perform Standard Encoding on wire.

7. Application layer

This is the last and the topmost layer of the OSI model. This layer provides an
interface between application programs running in system and network. If any
application needs to access any resource that is available in remote system, it interacts

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with this layer. Then this layer encompasses the protocols and services that the
application will employ to access that resources.

There are two types of application programs; network-aware and network-unaware.

An application program is considered as network-aware when it can make any sort of
network request. If an application program can’t make any kind of network request, it
is considered as network-unaware program.

Top layer of OSI model is application layer. It provides the protocols and services
that are required by the network-aware applications to connect with the network.
FTP, TFTP, POP3, SMTP and HTTP are the few examples of standards and protocols
used in this layer.

Functions of Physical Layer

Following are the various functions performed by the Physical layer of the OSI model.

1. Representation of Bits: Data in this layer consists of stream of bits. The bits must be
encoded into signals for transmission. It defines the type of encoding i.e. how 0's and
1's are changed to signal.
2. Data Rate: This layer defines the rate of transmission which is the number of bits per
second.
3. Synchronization: It deals with the synchronization of the transmitter and receiver. The
sender and receiver are synchronized at bit level.
4. Interface: The physical layer defines the transmission interface between devices and
transmission medium.
5. Line Configuration: This layer connects devices with the medium: Point to Point
configuration and Multipoint configuration.
6. Topologies: Devices must be connected using the following topologies: Mesh, Star,
Ring and Bus.
7. Transmission Modes: Physical Layer defines the direction of transmission between
two devices: Simplex, Half Duplex, Full Duplex.
8. Deals with baseband and broadband transmission.

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Design Issues with Physical Layer

 The Physical Layer is concerned with transmitting raw bits over a communication
channel.
 The design issue has to do with making sure that when one side sends a 1 bit, it is
received by the other side as a 1 bit and not as a 0 bit.

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