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UNIT NO 1
INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL LAYER

1.2 PROTOCOL LAYERING

III V

CS8591
COMPUTER NETWORKS
(Common to CSE & IT)
 CS8591
COMPUTER NETWORKS(Common to CSE & IT)

1.2 Protocol Layering

● To simplify networking designs by dividing them into functional layers, and

assigning protocols to perform each layer's task
● A network that provides many services needs many protocols
● Turns out that some services are independent
Protocol A may use protocol B as a step in its execution

◆ for example, packet transfer is one step in the execution of the

example reliable file transfer protocol.
This form of dependency is called layering
◆ reliable file transfer is layered above packet transfer protocol
like a subroutine
 CS8591
COMPUTER NETWORKS(Common to CSE & IT)

Protocol Stack

• A set of protocol layers .

• Each layer uses the layer below and provides a service to the layer above
Key idea
❑ once we define a service provided by a layer, we need know nothing
more about the details of how the layer actually implements the service
❑ information hiding
❑ decouples changes
 1

CS8591
COMPUTER NETWORKS(Common to CSE & IT)

The Importance Of Being Layered

●Breaks up a complex problem into smaller manageable pieces

○ can compose simple service to provide complex ones
○ for example, WWW (HTTP) is Java layered over TCP over IP (and uses
DNS, ARP, DHCP, RIP, OSPF, BGP, PPP, ICMP)

●Abstraction of implementation details

○ separation of implementation and specification
○ can change implementation as long as service interface is maintained

● Can reuse functionality

■ upper layers can share lower layer functionality
■ example: WinSock on Microsoft Windows
 CS8591
COMPUTER NETWORKS(Common to CSE & IT)

Problems With Layering

Layering hides information

◆ if it didn’t then changes to one layer could require changes
everywhere
layering violation
But sometimes hidden information can be used to improve performance
For example, flow control protocol may think packet loss is
always because of network congestion
◆ Due to a lossy link, the flow control breaks this is because we hide
information about reason of packet loss from flow control protocol
 CS8591
COMPUTER NETWORKS(Common to CSE & IT)

Principles Of Protocol Layering

First Principle
•Dictates that for a bidirectional communication, each layer should be able to
perform two opposite tasks, one in each direction.
● The first layer needs to send and receive mail.
● The second layer needs to be able to encrypt and decrypt
● Third layer task is to listen (in one direction) and talk (in the other direction).
Second Principle
•The second principle is that the two objects under each layer at both sites
should be identical.
● The object under layer 3 at both sites should be a plaintext letter
● The object under layer 2 at both sites should be a ciphertext letter
● The object under layer 1 at both sites should be a piece of mail.
 CS8591
COMPUTER NETWORKS(Common to CSE & IT)

Principles Of Protocol Layering

Logical Connections
The logical connection between each layer is shown below, ie a
layer-to-layer communication
 CS8591
COMPUTER NETWORKS(Common to CSE & IT)