Transport Layer Unit

INTRODUCTION 2
The layer above the internet layer in the TCP/IP model is usually called the transport layer. It is
designed to allow peer entities on the source and destination hosts to carry on a
conversation, just as in the OSI transport layer. The transport layer is essentially responsible for
delivering data to the appropriate application on the host computer. It receives requests from the
application layer protocols and passes them down to the Internet/Network layer. A transport layer
provides end-to-end or host-to-host communication services for applications within a layered
architecture of network components and protocols. The transport layer provides services such as
connection-oriented data stream support, reliability, flow control, and multiplexing. The popular
transport protocol is the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). It is used for connection- oriented
transmissions. And a connectionless User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is used for simpler messaging
transmissions. Other well-known protocols in this group are the Datagram Congestion Control
Protocol (DCCP) and the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP).

Timeframe

We expect that this unit will take maximum 4 hours to complete.

How long ?

Unit Structure
Lesson- 1 : Transport Layer Function
Lesson- 2 :
Lesson- 3 :
Lesson- 4 :
Lesson -1 Transport Layer Functions
Learning Outcomes

Outcomes
Upon completion of this lesson you will be able to

 Study Transport Layer Functions

 Define Flow Control

Keywords Multiplexing, Demultiplexing, Segmentation

The Function of Transport Layer

Segmentation of message into packet and reassemble of packets into message: The basic function of
transport layer is to accept data from upper layer it and spilt it into smaller unit called packet such that
each unit contain a specific sequence number. At the destination, these packets are then reassembled into
original message using the sequence numbers. These sequence numbers also help in identifying and
replacing the packets that are last in the transmission.

Multiplexing and Demultiplexing: Transport layer protocols on a sending device multiplex the
data received from many application programs for transport, combining them into a single stream
of data to be sent. The same protocols receive data and then demultiplex it from the incoming
stream of datagrams, and direct each package of data to the appropriate recipient application
processes.
Connection Establishment, Management and Termination: Transport layer connection-
oriented protocols are responsible for the series of communications required to establish a
connection, maintain it as data is sent over it, and then terminate the connection when it is no
longer required. Transport layer provides two types services; connection oriented and connectionless.
Therefore transport manages this connection establishment, data transfer and connection termination.
Flow Control: Transport layer performs flow control. Transport layer makes sure that the senders and
receiver communicate at a rate they both can handle. Therefore flow control prevents the source from
sending data packets faster that the destination can handle. Here flow control is performed end-to-end
rather than across a link.
Error Control: Transport layer also performs error control. The Transmission Control Protocol is
designed to provide reliable data transfer between a pair of devices on an IP internetwork. Much of the
effort required to ensure reliable delivery of data segments is of necessity focused on the problem of
ensuring that data is not lost in transit

The basic function of transport layer is to accept data from upper layer it and
spilt it into smaller unit called packet
Flow control:

Flow control is the process of managing the rate at which data is transmitted. Using flow control,
a computer receiving data can signal that it is not ready to receive data. TCP provides a flow
control mechanism using acknowledgements of TCP sequence numbers. Flow Control basically
means that TCP will ensure that a sender is not uncontrollable a receiver by sending packets
faster than it can consume. The idea is that a node receiving data will send some kind of
feedback to the node sending the data to let it know about its current condition.

TCP implements a flow control mechanism that controls the amount of data send by the sender.
This is achieved by using a sliding window mechanism. The receiver TCP module sends back to
the sender an acknowledgment that indicates a range of acceptable sequence numbers beyond the
last successfully received segment. This range of acceptable sequence numbers is called a
window. The window size reflects the amount of buffer space available for new data at the
receiver. If this buffer space size shrinks because the receiver is being overrun, the receiver will
send back a smaller window size. In the extreme case the windows size will decrease to very
small or one octet. This is referred to as the silly window syndrome. Most TCP implementations
take special measure to avoid it.
 MCQ Question:
Activity
1. Which layer links the network support layers and user support layers

a) session layer

b) data link layer

c) transport layer

d) network layer

2. Which layer is responsible for process to process delivery?

a) network layer

b) transport layer

c) session layer

d) data link layer

3. User datagram protocol is called connectionless because

a) all UDP packets are treated independently by transport layer

b) it sends data as a stream of related packets

c) both (a) and (b)

d) none of the mentioned

4. Transmission control protocol is

a) connection oriented protocol

b) uses a three way handshake to establish a connection

c) recievs data from application as a single stream

d) all of the mentioned

5. Which of the following services use TCP?

 a) DHCP

b) SMTP

c) HTTP

d) FTP

6. Flow Control is the mechanism to regulate the flow of information, so that a

fast host cannot overrun a slow a one. This is the function of which TCP/IP

layer

a) Application Layer

b) Network Layer

c) Physical Layer

d) Transport Layer
Lesson-2 Session establishment, maintenance, and
termination Overview
Learning Outcomes

Outcomes
Upon completion of this lesson you will be able to

 Define Session.
 Session maintenance
 Session termination
Session
Keywords

Session Establishment:
Establishing a connection seems very easy, but it is actually surprisingly tricky. At first glance, it would
seem sufficient for one transport entity to just send a CONNECTION REAUEST TPDU to the destination
and wait for a CONNECTION ACCEPTED reply. The problem occurs when the network can lose, store,
and duplicate packets.

Study
skills

Packet lifetime can be restricted to a known maximum using one (or more) of the following techniques:
i) Restricted subnet design.
ii) Putting a hop counter in each packet.
iii) Timestamping each packet.

The first method includes any method that prevents packets from looping, combined with some way of
bounding congestion delay over the longest possible path.
The second method consists of having the hop count initialized to some appropriate value and
decremented each time the packet is forwarded. The network protocol simply discards any packet whose
hop counter becomes zero.
The third method required each packet to bear the time it was created with the routers agreeing to discard
any packet older than some agreed upon time. This latter method requires the router clocks to be
synchronized, which itself is a non-trivial task unless synchronization is achieved external to the network,
for example by using GPS for some radio station that broadcasts the precise time periodically.

Connection Release:
Releasing a connection is easier than establishing one. Nevertheless there are more pitfalls than one might
expect. There are two styles of terminating a connection: asymmetric release and symmetric release.
Asymmetric release is the way the telephone system works: When one party hangs up the connection is
broken. Symmetric release treats the connection as two separately. Asymmetric release is abrupt and may
result in data loss. Symmetric release does the job when each process has a fixed amount of data to send
and clearly knows when it has sent it. In other situations, determining that all the work has been done and
the connection should be terminated is not so obvious.

If your program attempts to use a variable that hasn't been declared, the
compiler generates an error message.
Lesson-3
Learning Outcomes

Outcomes
Upon completion of this lesson you will be able to

Keywords