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Table Of Contents  The TCP/IP Guide
 9  The Open System Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model
      9  OSI Reference Model Layers

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Physical Layer (Layer 1)
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Network Layer (Layer 3)
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Data Link Layer (Layer 2)
(Page 2 of 2)

Physical Layer Requirements Definition and Network Interconnection Device Layers

As I mentioned in the topic discussing the physical layer, that layer and the data link layer are very closely related. The requirements for the physical layer of a network are often part of the data link layer definition of a particular technology. Certain physical layer hardware and encoding aspects are specified by the DLL technology being used. The best example of this is the Ethernet standard, IEEE 802.3, which specifies not just how Ethernet works at the data link layer, but also its various physical layers.

Since the data link layer and physical layer are so closely related, many types of hardware are associated with the data link layer. Network interface cards (NICs) typically implement a specific data link layer technology, so they are often called “Ethernet cards”, “Token Ring cards”, and so on. There are also a number of network interconnection devices that are said to “operate at layer 2”, in whole or in part, because they make decisions about what to do with data they receive by looking at data link layer frames. These devices include most bridges, switches and barters, though the latter two also encompass functions performed by layer three.

Some of the most popular technologies and protocols generally associated with layer 2 are Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI (plus CDDI), HomePNA, IEEE 802.11, ATM, and TCP/IP's Serial Link Interface Protocol (SLIP) and Point-To-Point Protocol (PPP).

Key Concept: The second OSI Reference Model layer is the data link layer. This is the place where most LAN and wireless LAN technologies are defined. Layer two is responsible for logical link control, media access control, hardware addressing, error detection and handling, and defining physical layer standards. It is often divided into the logical link control (LLC) and media access control (MAC) sublayers, based on the IEEE 802 Project that uses that architecture.



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Physical Layer (Layer 1)
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Network Layer (Layer 3)
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