Definition of a Protocol

What is a protocol?

Protocol is the abstract objects that make up the layers of a network system are called protocols. That is, a protocol provides a communication service that higher-level objects (such as application processes, or perhaps higher-level protocols) use to exchange messages.

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Each protocol defines two different interfaces. First, it defines a service interface to the other objects on the same computer that want to use its communication services. This service interface defines the operations that local objects can perform on the protocol. For example, a request/reply protocol would support operations by which an application can send and receive messages. An implementation of the HTTP protocol could support an operation to fetch a page of hypertext from a remote server. An application such as a web browser would invoke such an operation whenever the browser needs to obtain a new page (e.g., when the user clicks on a link in the currently displayed page).

Second, a protocol defines a peer interface to its counterpart (peer) on another machine. This second interface defines the form and meaning of messages exchanged between protocol peers to implement the communication service. This would determine the way in which a request/reply protocol on one machine communicates with its peer on another machine. In the case of HTTP, for example, the protocol specification defines in detail how a GET command is formatted, what arguments can be used with the command, and how a web server should respond when it receives such a command.

IP is the core

Of these three attributes of the Internet architecture, the hourglass design philosophy is important enough to bear repeating. The hourglass’s narrow waist represents a minimal and carefully chosen set of global capabilities that allows both higher-level applications and lower-level communication technologies to coexist, share capabilities, and evolve rapidly. The narrow-waisted model is critical to the Internet’s ability to adapt to new user demands and changing technologies.