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To: Tim McCormick who wrote (2679)	2/8/1998 2:27:00 AM
From: SteveG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9236

<..significant layer 2 through 6 integration and interoperation "challenges"..> This was the first time I had heard discussion of interoperation/tx protocol concerns on higher stack layers with ADSL. It was brought up by Broadcom's CTO (in panel on "multi-megabit access") and discussed by briefly by @Home's CTO (VERY bright guy from NASA), Steenburgen and the systems director for Motorola Cable division. Fwiw, the OSI layers: Physical - Layer 1 The physical layer is responsible for passing bits onto and receiving them from the connecting medium. This layer has no understanding of the meaning of the bits, but deals with the electrical and mechanical characteristics of the signals and signalling methods. For example, it comprises the RTS and CTS signals in an RS-232 environment, as well as TDM and FDM techniques for multiplexing data on a line. Data Link - Layer 2 The data link is responsible for node to node validity and integrity of the transmission. The transmitted bits are divided into frames; for example, an Ethernet, Token Ring or FDDI frame in local area networks (LANs). Layers 1 and 2 are required for every type of communications. Network - Layer 3 The network layer establishes the route between the sending and receiving stations. The node to node function of the data link layer (layer 2) is extended across the entire internetwork, because a routable protocol contains a network address in addition to a station addresses. This layer is the switching function of the dial-up telephone system as well as the functions performed by routable protocols such as IP, IPX, SNA and AppleTalk. If all stations are contained within a single network segment, then the routing capability in this layer is not required. Transport - Layer 4 The transport layer is responsible for overall end to end validity and integrity of the transmission. The lower data link layer (layer 2) is only responsible for delivering packets from one node to another. Thus, if a packet gets lost in a router somewhere in the enterprise internet, the transport layer will detect that. It ensures that if a 12MB file is sent, the full 12MB is received. "OSI transport services" include layers 1 through 4, collectively responsible for delivering a complete message or file from sending to receiving station without error. Session - Layer 5 Provides coordination of the communications in an orderly manner. It determines one-way or two-way communications and manages the dialogue between both parties; for example, making sure that the previous request has been fulfilled before the next one is sent. It also marks significant parts of the transmitted data with checkpoints to allow for fast recovery in the event of a connection failure. In practice, this layer is often not used or services within this layer are sometimes incorporated into the transport layer. Presentation - Layer 6 When data is transmitted between different types of computer systems, the presentation layer negotiates and manages the way data is represented and encoded. For example, it provides a common denominator between ASCII and EBCDIC machines as well as between different floating point and binary formats. Sun's XDR and OSI's ASN.1 are two protocols used for this purpose. This layer is also used for encryption and decryption. Application - Layer 7 This top layer defines the language and syntax that programs use to communicate with other programs. The application layer represents the purpose of communicating in the first place. For example, a program in a client workstation uses commands to request data from a program in the server. Common functions at this layer are opening, closing, reading and writing files, transferring files and e-mail messages, executing remote jobs and obtaining directory information about network resouces.