Chapter 3

we will discover this chapter :

• State the lower layers of the OSI reference model

• Define the basic purpose of the OSI physical layer
• Describe the methods associated with OSI physical layer topic
• State the connection types used in computer ne

by AHMED HASSAN
INTRODUCTION
OSI model is the reference model for computer networking; it contains seven layers in all. The OSI
layers are broadly categorized into upper layers and lower layers. The upper layers of the OSI model
are:
Application
Presentation
Session
The information technology organizations who are involved in designing and developing network
operating systems and services to applications are mainly concerned with the protocols defined at
OSI upper layers. For example, Microsoft and Novell who developed network services and related
applications are mostly concerned with protocols defined at the application, presentation, and
session layers of the OSI model.
7. The application layer

This is the only layer that directly interacts with data from the user. Software applications like web
browsers and email clients rely on the application layer to initiate communications. But it should be
made clear that client software applications are not part of the application layer; rather the
application layer is responsible for the protocols and data manipulation that the software relies on to
present meaningful data to the user.
Application layer protocols include HTTP as well as SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is one of the
protocols that enables email communications).
6. The presentation layer

This layer is primarily responsible for preparing data so that it can be used by the application layer;
in other words, layer 6 makes the data presentable for applications to consume. The presentation
layer is responsible for translation, encryption, and compression of data.
Two communicating devices communicating may be using different encoding methods, so layer 6 is
responsible for translating incoming data into a syntax that the application layer of the receiving
device can understand.
If the devices are communicating over an encrypted connection, layer 6 is responsible for adding the
encryption on the sender’s end as well as decoding the encryption on the receiver's end so that it
can present the application layer with unencrypted, readable data.
Finally the presentation layer is also responsible for compressing data it receives from the
application layer before delivering it to layer 5. This helps improve the speed and efficiency of
communication by minimizing the amount of data that will be transferred.
5. The session layer

This is the layer responsible for opening and closing communication between the two devices. The
time between when the communication is opened and closed is known as the session. The session
layer ensures that the session stays open long enough to transfer all the data being exchanged, and
then promptly closes the session in order to avoid wasting resources.

The session layer also synchronizes data transfer with checkpoints. For example, if a 100 megabyte
file is being transferred, the session layer could set a checkpoint every 5 megabytes. In the case of
a disconnect or a crash after 52 megabytes have been transferred, the session could be resumed
from the last checkpoint, meaning only 50 more megabytes of data need to be transferred. Without
the checkpoints, the entire transfer would have to begin again from scratch.
 4. Transport layer

Layer 4 is responsible for end-to-end communication between the two devices. This includes taking
data from the session layer and breaking it up into chunks called segments before sending it to
layer 3. The transport layer on the receiving device is responsible for reassembling the segments
into data the session layer can consume.
The transport layer is also responsible for flow control and error control. Flow control determines an
optimal speed of transmission to ensure that a sender with a fast connection does not overwhelm a
receiver with a slow connection. The transport layer performs error control on the receiving end by
ensuring that the data received is complete, and requesting a retransmission if it isn’t.

Transport layer protocols include the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the User Datagram Protocol (UD)
 3. The network layer

The network layer is responsible for facilitating data transfer between two different networks. If the
two devices communicating are on the same network, then the network layer is unnecessary. The
network layer breaks up segments from the transport layer into smaller units, called packets, on the
sender’s device, and reassembling these packets on the receiving device. The network layer also
finds the best physical path for the data to reach its destination; this is known as routing.

Network layer protocols include IP, the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), the Internet Group
Message Protocol (IGMP), and the IPsec suite.
2. The data link layer

The data link layer is very similar to the network layer, except the data link layer facilitates data
transfer between two devices on the same network. The data link layer takes packets from the
network layer and breaks them into smaller pieces called frames. Like the network layer, the data
link layer is also responsible for flow control and error control in intra-network communication (The
transport layer only does flow control and error control for inter-network communications).
 1. The physical layer

This layer includes the physical equipment involved in the data transfer, such as the cables and
switches. This is also the layer where the data gets converted into a bit stream, which is a string of
1s and 0s. The physical layer of both devices must also agree on a signal convention so that the 1s
can be distinguished from the 0s on both devices.
How data flows through the OSI Model.

In order for human-readable information to be transferred over a network from one device to
another, the data must travel down the seven layers of the OSI Model on the sending device and
then travel up the seven layers on the receiving end.

For example: Mr. Waled wants to send Ms. Mawleed an email. Mr. waled composes his message in
an email application on his laptop and then hits ‘send’. His email application will pass his email
message over to the application layer, which will pick a protocol (SMTP) and pass the data along to
the presentation layer. The presentation layer will then compress the data and then it will hit the
session layer, which will initialize the communication session.

The data will then hit the sender’s transportation layer where it will be segmented, then those
segments will be broken up into packets at the network layer, which will be broken down even
further into frames at the data link layer. The data link layer will then deliver those frames to the
physical layer, which will convert the data into a bitstream of 1s and 0s and send it through a
physical medium, such as a cable.
Once Ms. Mawleed computer receives the bit stream through a physical medium (such as her wifi),
the data will flow through the same series of layers on her device, but in the opposite order. First
the physical layer will convert the bitstream from 1s and 0s into frames that get passed to the data
link layer. The data link layer will then reassemble the frames into packets for the network layer.
The network layer will then make segments out of the packets for the transport layer, which will
reassemble the segments into one piece of data.
The data will then flow into the receiver's session layer, which will pass the data along to the
presentation layer and then end the communication session. The presentation layer will then
remove the compression and pass the raw data up to the application layer. The application layer will
then feed the human-readable data along to Ms. Mawleed email software, which will allow her to
read Mr. Waleed email on her laptop screen.