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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:56
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The `Datalink layer` builds on the service provided by the underlying physical layer. The `Datalink layer` allows two hosts that are directly connected through the physical layer to exchange information. The unit of information exchanged between two entities in the `Datalink layer` is a frame. A frame is a finite sequence of bits. Some `Datalink layers` use variable-length frames while others only use fixed-length frames. Some `Datalink layers` provide a connection-oriented service while others provide a connectionless service. Some `Datalink layers` provide reliable delivery while others do not guarantee the correct delivery of the information.
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:58
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An important point to note about the `Datalink layer` is that although the figure below indicates that two entities of the `Datalink layer` exchange frames directly, in reality this is slightly different. When the `Datalink layer` entity on the left needs to transmit a frame, it issues as many `Data.request` primitives to the underlying `physical layer` as there are bits in the frame. The physical layer will then convert the sequence of bits in an electromagnetic or optical signal that will be sent over the physical medium. The `physical layer` on the right hand side of the figure will decode the received signal, recover the bits and issue the corresponding `Data.indication` primitives to its `Datalink layer` entity. If there are no transmission errors, this entity will receive the frame sent earlier.
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:69
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The Network layer
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:73
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The `Datalink layer` allows directly connected hosts to exchange information, but it is often necessary to exchange information between hosts that are not attached to the same physical medium. This is the task of the `network layer`. The `network layer` is built above the `datalink layer`. Network layer entities exchange `packets`. A `packet` is a finite sequence of bytes that is transported by the datalink layer inside one or more frames. A packet usually contains information about its origin and its destination, and usually passes through several intermediate devices called routers on its way from its origin to its destination.
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:85
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The Transport layer
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:99 • ../../principles/referencemodels.rst:109
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The Application layer
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:103
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The upper layer of our architecture is the `Application layer`. This layer includes all the mechanisms and data structures that are necessary for the applications. We will use Application Data Unit (ADU) or the generic Service Data Unit (SDU) term to indicate the data exchanged between two entities of the Application layer.
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:114
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In the remaining chapters of this text, we will often refer to the information exchanged between entities located in different layers. To avoid any confusion, we will stick to the terminology defined earlier, i.e. :
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:116
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physical layer entities exchange bits
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:117
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datalink layer entities exchange *frames*
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:118
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network layer entities exchange *packets*
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:119
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transport layer entities exchange *segments*
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:120
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application layer entities exchange *SDUs*
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:125
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Reference models
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:128
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Two reference models have been successful in the networking community : the OSI reference model and the TCP/IP reference model. We discuss them briefly in this section.
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:132
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The TCP/IP reference model
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:136
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the Application layer
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:137
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the Transport layer
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:138
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the Internet layer which is equivalent to the network layer of our reference model
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../../principles/referencemodels.rst:139
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the Link layer which combines the functions of the physical and datalink layers of our five-layer reference model
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