TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL

INTRODUCTION:
The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is one of the core protocols of the Internet
protocol suite (IP), and is so common that the entire suite is often calledTCP/IP. TCP
provides reliable, ordered and error-checked delivery of a stream of octets between programs
running on computers connected to a local area network, intranet or the public Internet. It
resides at the transport layer.
Web browsers use TCP when they connect to servers on the World Wide Web, and it is used
to

deliver email and

transfer

files

from

one

another. HTTP,HTTPS, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, SSH, FTP, Telnet and

location
variety

of

to
other

protocols are typically encapsulated in TCP.

Applications that do not require the reliability of a TCP connection may instead use
the connectionless User Datagram Protocol (UDP), which emphasizes low-overhead

TCP/IP

Services

and

Client/Server

Operation:

TCP/IP is most often studied in terms of its layer-based architecture and the protocols that it
provides at those different layers. And we're certainly going to do that, don't worry. These
protocols, however, represent the technical details of how TCP/IP works. They are of interest
to us as students of technology, but are normally hidden from users who do not need to see
the guts of how TCP/IP works to know that it works. Before proceeding to these details, I
think it might be instructive to take a bigger picture look at what TCP/IP does.
TCP/IP Services

Services Provided to Other Protocols:

The first group of services consists of the core functions implemented by the main TCP/IP
protocols such as IP, TCP and UDP. These services are designed to actually accomplish the
internetworking functions of the protocol suite. For example, at the network layer, IP
provides functions such as addressing, delivery, and datagram packaging, fragmentation and
reassembly. At the transport layer, TCP and UDP are concerned with encapsulating user data
and managing connections between devices. Other protocols provide routing and
management functionality. Higher-layer protocols use these services, allowing them to
concentrate on what they are intended to accomplish.

End-User Services:
TCP is a subset of the Internet protocol suite, which is often called TCP/IP, although the
acronym TCP/IP refers to only two of the many protocols in the Internet protocol suite. Still,
most people refer to the Internet protocols as TCP/IP and that style is retained here. For a
description of the entire suite, refer to "Internet Protocol Suite."
The Internet Protocol suite consists of a set of protocols that provide a variety of networking
services as shown in Figure T-1. TCP and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) are transport layer
components that provide the connection point through which applications access network
services. TCP and UDP use IP, which is a lower-layer best effort delivery service. IP
encapsulates TCP and UDP information in datagrams and delivers the information across
router-connected internetworks. See "IP (Internet Protocol)" and "UDP (User Datagram
Protocol)."
TCP is a connection-oriented protocol that provides the flow controls and reliable data
delivery services listed next. These services run in the host computers at either end of a
connection, not in the network itself.

Connections

Two computers set up a connection to exchange data. The systems

synchronize with one another to manage packet flows and adapt to congestion in the
network.

Full-duplex operation

A TCP connection is a pair of virtual circuits (one in each

direction). Only the two end systems can use the connection.

Error checking

A checksum technique is used to verify that packets are not

corrupted.

Sequencing

Packets are numbered so that the destination can reorder packets and

determine if a packet is missing.

Acknowledgements

Upon receipt of one or more packets, the receiver returns an

acknowledgement (called an "ACK") to the sender indicating that it received the

packets. If packets are not ACKed, the sender may retransmit the packets (or
terminate the connection if it thinks the receiver has crashed).

Flow control

If the sender is overflowing the receiver by transmitting too quickly,

the receiver drops packets. Failed ACKs alert the sender to slow down or stop
sending.

Packet recovery services

The receiver can request retransmission of a packet. Also,

if packet receipt is not ACKed, the sender will resend the packets.
Reliable data delivery services are critical for applications such as file transfers, database
services, transaction processing, and other mission-critical applications in which every packet
must be delivered-guaranteed. See "Reliable Data Delivery Services" for a general overview
of reliable services.

The topic "Reliable Data Delivery Services" has a subsection called "Partial Reliable
Services" that describes several Internet protocols that provide some but not all of TCP's
reliable services but more than what UDP provides. An example is RTP (Real-time Transport
Protocol), a multimedia delivery protocol that provides what is called a "partial ordered
service." RTP sequentially numbers packets and adds timing information for services that
might need to reconstruct the original packet sequence.

TCP FEATURES:
An end-to-end connection actually extends up through the TCP layer to the application that is
using the network services. Note the ports in Figure T-1. The most common applications such
as HTTP (Web services) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) use ports that are "well known," so
clients can connect to them to access a particular service without having to query on what
port that service is running. For example, Web browsers automatically connect with port 80,
FTP uses port 21, and Gopher use port 70.

TCP Segment Properties:

A TCP segment is the packet of information that TCP uses to exchange data with its peers
(TCP running on other hosts). The segment is what gets encapsulated into an IP datagram and
transmitted across the network. See "Network Architecture" for a description of how
information is exchanged between protocol layers.

Source and Destination Ports

Contains the port numbers of the sockets at the

source and destination sides of the connection.

Sequence Number

This field contains a sequential number for the receiver, which

is a sequential number that identifies the data in the segment and where it belongs in
the stream of data that has already been sent. The receiver can use the sequence
number to reorder packets that have arrived out of order or to determine that a
segment is missing. This field is used by the sliding-window algorithm.
TCP Header Length

Specifies the length of the header.

ACK (acknowledgment)

If ACK is set to 1, it indicates that the segment is part of

an ongoing conversation and the number in the Acknowledgment Number field is

valid. If this flag is set to 0 and SYN is set to 1, the segment is a request to establish a
connection.

PSH (push)

A bit set by the sender to request that the receiver send data directly to

the application and not buffer it.

RST (reset)

When set, the connection is invalid for a number of reasons and must

be reset.

SYN (synchronize)

Used in conjunction with ACK to request a connection or

accept a connection. SYN=1 and ACK=0 indicates a connection request. SYN=1 and
ACK=1 indicates a connection accepted. SYN=0 and ACK=1 is an acknowledgment
of the acknowledgment.

FIN (finish) When set, this bit indicates that the connection should be terminated.

Sliding Window Size

Indicates how much space is available in the receiver's

buffers. The field is used by the receiver to inform the sender that it needs to speed up
or slow down its transmissions. If the receiver wants the sender to stop transmitting
altogether, it can return a segment with 0 in this field.

Checksum

Provides an error-checking value to ensure the integrity of the segment.

Urgent Pointer

This field can be used by the sender to indicate a location in the

data where some urgent data is located.

Options A variable set aside for special options.

Data A variable-length field that holds the messages or data from applications.

CONCLUSION:
These many different fields are used to set up and control connections, as well as to provide
the reliability services that guarantee data delivery. The next section provides some insight
into how these features are used.

REFERENCES:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmission_Control_Protocol
www.fwbuilder.org/4.0/docs/users_guide5/tcp-service.shtml
www.windowsnetworking.com Articles & Tutorials Windows

ASSIGNMENT-I

NAME

: SARANYA.S

ROLL NO : 1326KB39
CLASS

: II B.SC[CT] B

SUBJECT : TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL AND

INTERNET PROTOCOL
DATE
TOPIC

: 31.12.14
: TCP SERVICES

FACULTY NAME : MS.S.SUKIRTHA

SIGNATURE