The Internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols used for the Internet and similar networks, and generally the most popular protocol stack for wide area networks. It is commonly known as TCP/IP, because of its most important protocols: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), which were the first networking protocols defined in this standard. It is occasionally known as the DoD model due to the foundational influence of the ARPANET in the 1970s (operated by DARPA, an agency of the United States Department of Defense).

TCP/IP provides end-to-end connectivity specifying how data should be formatted, addressed, transmitted, routed and received at the destination. It has four abstraction layers, each with its own protocols. From lowest to highest, the layers are:

• The link layer (commonly Ethernet) contains communication technologies for a local network.
• The internet layer (IP) connects local networks, thus establishing internetworking.
• The transport layer (TCP) handles host-to-host communication.
• The application layer (for example HTTP) contains all protocols for specific data communications services on a process-to-process level (for example how a web browser communicates with a web server).

RFC 1122, entitled Host Requirements, is structured in paragraphs referring to layers, but the document refers to many other architectural principles not emphasizing layering. It loosely defines a four-layer model, with the layers having names, not numbers, as follows:

• Application layer (process-to-process): This is the scope within which applications create user data and communicate this data to other processes or applications on another or the same host. The communications partners are often called peers. This is where the "higher level" protocols such as SMTP, FTP, SSH, HTTP, etc. operate.
• Transport layer (host-to-host): The transport layer constitutes the networking regime between two network hosts, either on the local network or on remote networks separated by routers. The transport layer provides a uniform networking interface that hides the actual topology (layout) of the underlying network connections. This is where flow-control, error-correction, and connection protocols exist, such as TCP. This layer deals with opening and maintaining connections between Internet hosts.
• Internet layer (internetworking): The internet layer has the task of exchanging datagrams across network boundaries. It is therefore also referred to as the layer that establishes internetworking, indeed, it defines and establishes the Internet. This layer defines the addressing and routing structures used for the TCP/IP protocol suite. The primary protocol in this scope is the Internet Protocol, which defines IP addresses. Its function in routing is to transport datagrams to the next IP router that has the connectivity to a network closer to the final data destination.
• Link layer: This layer defines the networking methods within the scope of the local network link on which hosts communicate without intervening routers. This layer describes the protocols used to describe the local network topology and the interfaces needed to affect transmission of Internet layer datagrams to next-neighbor hosts. (cf. the OSI data link layer).

Network Access Layer
The Network Access Layer is the lowest layer of the TCP/IP protocol hierarchy. The protocols in this layer provide the means for the system to deliver data to the other devices on a directly attached network. It defines how to use the network to transmit an IP datagram. Unlike higher-level protocols, Network Access Layer protocols must know the details of the underlying network (its packet structure, addressing, etc.) to correctly format the data being transmitted to comply with the network constraints. The TCP/IP Network Access Layer can encompass the functions of all three lower layers of the OSI reference Model (Network, Data Link, and Physical).

The Network Access Layer is often ignored by users. The design of TCP/IP hides the function of the lower layers, and the better known protocols (IP, TCP, UDP, etc.) are all higher-level protocols. As new hardware technologies appear, new Network Access protocols must be developed so that TCP/IP networks can use the new hardware. Consequently, there are many access protocols - one for each physical network standard.

Functions performed at this level include encapsulation of IP datagrams into the frames transmitted by the network, and mapping of IP addresses to the physical addresses used by the network. One of TCP/IP's strengths is its universal addressing scheme. The IP address must be converted into an address that is appropriate for the physical network over which the datagram is transmitted.

Internet Layer

The internet layer or IP layer is a group of internetworking methods, protocols, and specifications in the Internet protocol suite that are used to transport datagrams (packets) from the originating host across network boundaries, if necessary, to the destination host specified by a network address (IP address) which is defined for this purpose by the Internet Protocol (IP). The internet layer derives its name from its function of forming an internet (uncapitalized), or facilitating internetworking, which is the concept of connecting multiple networks with each other through gateways.

Internet-layer protocols use IP-based packets. The internet layer does not include the protocols that define communication between local (on-link) network nodes which fulfill the purpose of maintaining link states between the local nodes, such as the local network topology, and that usually use protocols that are based on the framing of packets specific to the link types. Such protocols belong to the link layer.

The internet layer has three basic functions: For outgoing packets, select the next-hop host (gateway) and transmit the packet to this host by passing it to the appropriate link layer implementation; for incoming packets, capture packets and pass the packet payload up to the appropriate transport-layer protocol, if appropriate. In addition it provides error detection and diagnostic capability.

In Version 4 of the Internet Protocol (IPv4), during both transmit and receive operations, IP is capable of automatic or intentional fragmentation or defragmentation of packets, based, for example, on the maximum transmission unit (MTU) of link elements. However, this feature has been dropped in IPv6, as the communications end points, the hosts, now have to perform path MTU discovery and assure that end-to-end transmissions don't exceed the maximum discovered.

In its operation, the internet layer is not responsible for reliable transmission. It provides only an unreliable service, and "best effort" delivery. This means that the network makes no guarantees about packets' proper arrival (see also Internet Protocol#Reliability). This was an important design principle and change from the previous protocols used on the early ARPANET. Since packet delivery across diverse networks is inherently an unreliable and failure-prone operation, the burden of providing reliability was placed with the end points of a communication path, i.e., the hosts, rather than on the network. This is one of the reasons of the resiliency of the Internet against individual link failures and its proven scalability.

The function of providing reliability of service is the duty of higher level protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) in the transport layer.

In IPv4 (not IPv6), a checksum is used to protect the header of each datagram. The checksum ensures that the information in a received header is accurate, however, IP does not attempt to detect errors that may have occurred to the data in each packet.

Transport Layer

The transport layer or layer 4 provides end-to-end communication services for applications within a layered architecture of network components and protocols. The transport layer provides convenient services such as connection-oriented data stream support, reliability, flow control, and multiplexing.

Transport layers are contained in both the TCP/IP model (RFC 1122), which is the foundation of the Internet, and the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model of general networking. The definitions of the transport layer are slightly different in these two models. This article primarily refers to the TCP/IP model, in which TCP is largely for a convenient application programming interface to internet hosts, as opposed to the OSI-model definition of the transport layer.

The most well-known transport protocol is the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). It lent its name to the title of the entire Internet Protocol Suite, TCP/IP. It is used for connection-oriented transmissions, whereas the connectionless User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is used for simpler messaging transmissions. TCP is the more complex protocol, due to its stateful design incorporating reliable transmission and data stream services. Other prominent protocols in this group are the Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP) and the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP).


There are many services that can be optionally provided by a transport-layer protocol, and different protocols may or may not implement them.

• Connection-oriented communication: Interpreting the connection as a data stream can provide many benefits to applications. It is normally easier to deal with than the underlying connection-less models, such as the Transmission Control Protocol's underlying Internet Protocol model of datagrams.
• Byte orientation: Rather than processing the messages in the underlying communication system format, it is often easier for an application to process the data stream as a sequence of bytes. This simplification helps applications work with various underlying message formats.
• Same order delivery: The network layer doesn't generally guarantee that packets of data will arrive in the same order that they were sent, but often this is a desirable feature. This is usually done through the use of segment numbering, with the receiver passing them to the application in order. This can cause head-of-line blocking.
• Reliability: Packets may be lost during transport due to network congestion and errors. By means of an error detection code, such as a checksum, the transport protocol may check that the data is not corrupted, and verify correct receipt by sending an ACK or NACK message to the sender. Automatic repeat request schemes may be used to retransmit lost or corrupted data.
• flow control: The rate of data transmission between two nodes must sometimes be managed to prevent a fast sender from transmitting more data than can be supported by the receiving data buffer, causing a buffer overrun. This can also be used to improve efficiency by reducing buffer underrun.
• Congestion avoidance: Congestion control can control traffic entry into a telecommunications network, so as to avoid congestive collapse by attempting to avoid oversubscription of any of the processing or link capabilities of the intermediate nodes and networks and taking resource reducing steps, such as reducing the rate of sending packets. For example, automatic repeat requests may keep the network in a congested state; this situation can be avoided by adding congestion avoidance to the flow control, including slow-start. This keeps the bandwidth consumption at a low level in the beginning of the transmission, or after packet retransmission.
• Multiplexing: Ports can provide multiple endpoints on a single node. For example, the name on a postal address is a kind of multiplexing, and distinguishes between different recipients of the same location. Computer applications will each listen for information on their own ports, which enables the use of more than one network service at the same time. It is part of the transport layer in the TCP/IP model, but of the session layer in the OSI model.

Application Layer

In TCP/IP, the application layer contains all protocols and methods that fall into the realm of process-to-process communications across an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Application layer methods use the underlying transport layer protocols to establish host-to-host connections.

The Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) and the Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI model) of computer networking each specify a group of protocols and methods identified by the name application layer.

In the OSI model, the definition of its application layer is narrower in scope, explicitly distinguishing additional functionality above the transport layer at two additional levels, the session layer and the presentation layer. OSI specifies strict modular separation of functionality at these layers and provides protocol implementations for each layer.

The following protocols are explicitly mentioned in RFC 1123 (1989), describing the application layer of the Internet protocol suite.

• Remote login - Telnet
• File transfer - FTP, TFTP
• Electronic mail - SMTP,IMAP, POP
• Support services - DNS, RARP, BOOTP, SNMP

 

 

An image of encapsulation of application data descending through the layers

 

An image of two Internet hosts connected via two routers and the corresponding layers used at each hop. The application on each host executes read and write operations as if the processes were directly connected to each other by some kind of data pipe. Every other detail of the communication is hidden from each process. The underlying mechanisms that transmit data between the host computers are located in the lower protocol layers.