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Communications protocol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main page
For other senses of this word, see protocol.
Contents
In computing and telecommunications, a protocol or communications protocol is a formal
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description of message formats and the rules for exchanging those messages. Protocols may include
Current events
signaling, authentication and error detection and correction capabilities. In its simplest form, a protocol
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can be defined as the rules governing the syntax, semantics, and synchronization of communication.
Interaction Protocols may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of the two. At the lowest
About Wikipedia level, a protocol defines the behaviour of a hardware connection.
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Recent changes Contents [hide]
Contact Wikipedia 1 Importance
Donate to Wikipedia 2 Standards organizations
Help 3 Common types of protocols
4 Protocol testing
Toolbox
5 See also
Print/export 6 References
7 External links
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Afrikaans
Importance [edit]

Brezhoneg The protocols in human communication are separate rules about appearance, speaking, listening and
Български understanding. All these rules, also called protocols of conversation, represent different layers of
Català communication. They work together to help people successfully communicate. The need for protocols
Česky also applies to network devices. Computers have no way of learning protocols, so network engineers
Dansk have written rules for communication that must be strictly followed for successful host-to-host
Deutsch communication. These rules apply to different layers of sophistication such as which physical
Ελληνικά connections to use, how hosts listen, how to interrupt, how to say good-bye, and in short how to
Español communicate, what language to use and many others. These rules, or protocols, that work together to
Esperanto ensure successful communication are grouped into what is known as a protocol suite.
Français
The widespread use and expansion of communications protocols is both a prerequisite for the
Internet, and a major contributor to its power and success. The pair of Internet Protocol (or IP) and
Bahasa Indonesia
Transmission Control Protocol (or TCP) are the most important of these, and the term TCP/IP refers
Italiano
to a collection (a "protocol suite") of its most used protocols. Most of the Internet's communication
‫עברית‬
protocols are described in the RFC documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (or IETF).
Lëtzebuergesch
Magyar Object-oriented programming has extended the use of the term to include the programming protocols
available for connections and communication between objects. Protocols fall into many levels of
Македонски processes and complexity.
Bahasa Melayu Generally, only the simplest protocols are used alone. Most protocols, especially in the context of
日本語 communications or networking, are layered together into protocol stacks where the various tasks
Norsk (nynorsk) listed above are divided among different protocols in the stack.
Polski
Whereas the protocol stack denotes a specific combination of protocols that work together, a

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_protocol[8/31/2010 12:10:58 PM]

Communications protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Português
reference model is a software architecture that lists each layer and the services each should offer.
Русский
The classic seven-layer reference model is the OSI model, which is used for conceptualizing protocol
Simple English
stacks and peer entities. This reference model also provides an opportunity to teach more general
Slovenčina
software engineering concepts like hiding, modularity, and delegation of tasks. This model has
Slovenščina
endured in spite of the demise of many of its protocols (and protocol stacks) originally sanctioned by
Српски / Srpski
the ISO.
Svenska

Standards organizations [edit]

Tiếng Việt
Türkçe Most recent protocols are assigned by the IETF for Internet communications, and the IEEE, or the
Українська ISO for other types. The ITU-T handles telecommunications protocols and formats for the public
switched telephone network (PSTN). The ITU-R handles protocols and formats for radio
communications. For marine electronics the NMEA standards are used.

Common types of protocols [edit]

Main article: List of network protocols

Internet Protocol (IP)
The IP protocol is the basis for more commonly used protocols:
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
Many services are based on protocols that use the TCP protocol, like:
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
Post Office Protocol (POP3)
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
A larger list of protocols can be found at the link section.

Protocol testing [edit]

In general, protocol testers or protocol analyzers work by capturing the information exchanged
between a device under test (DUT) and a reference device known to operate properly. In the
example of a manufacturer producing a new keyboard for a personal computer, the DUT would be
the keyboard and the reference device, the PC. The information exchanged between the two devices
is governed by rules set out in a technical specification called a "communication protocol". Both the
nature of the communication and the actual data exchanged are defined by the specification. Since
communication protocols are state-dependent (what should happen next depends on what previously
happened), specifications are complex and the documents describing them can be hundreds of
pages.
The captured information is decoded from raw digital form into a human-readable format that permits
users of the protocol tester to easily review the exchanged information. Protocol testers vary in their
abilities to display data in multiple views, automatically detect errors, determine the root causes of
errors, generate timing diagrams, etc.
Some protocol testers can also generate traffic and thus act as the reference device. Such testers
generate protocol-correct traffic for functional testing, and may also have the ability to deliberately
introduce errors to test for the DUT's ability to deal with error conditions.
Protocol testing is an essential step towards commercialization of standards-based products. It helps
to ensure that products from different manufacturers will operate together properly ("interoperate") and
so satisfy customer expectations.

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Communications protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See also [edit]

Application programming interface

Calling convention
Connection-oriented protocol
Connectionless protocol
Digital radio
Internet Protocol Suite
Tunneling protocol

References [edit]

Radia Perlman: Interconnections: Bridges, Routers, Switches, and Internetworking Protocols. 2nd
Edition. Addison-Wesley 1999, ISBN 0-201-63448-1. In particular Ch. 18 on "network design
folklore", which is also available online at http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=20482
Gerard J. Holzmann: Design and Validation of Computer Protocols. Prentice Hall, 1991, ISBN 0-
13-539925-4. Also available online at http://spinroot.com/spin/Doc/Book91.html

External links [edit]

Javvin's Protocol Dictionary

Network Protocol Index
Overview of protocols in telecontrol field with OSI Reference Model
List of Data Communication Protocols
PDF-Chart showing the Protocols and the OSI reference layer [[[zh:网 ]]]

Categories: Network protocols | Data transmission

This page was last modified on 25 August 2010 at 14:01.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_protocol[8/31/2010 12:10:58 PM]