Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) – The Core of Internet Protocol (IP) Suite

TCP is an acronym for Transmission Protocol Suite. This protocol is an important component of the worldwide Internet Protocol (IP) suite. The Internet Protocol suite along with the Transmission Protocol suite is often referred to as TCP/IP.  

TCP is mainly used by web browsers at the time of connection with the servers on WWW (World Wide Web). It is a network communication protocol that serves the purpose of sending and receiving data packets over the internet. We can find TCP in the Transport Layer of the famous OSI Model. TCP guarantees end-to-end delivery of data between nodes or devices located at different locations. TCP works in conjunction with the Internet Protocol. The task of the Internet Protocol is to label the logical location of the remote node. On the other hand, TCP performs the task of correct delivery of data i.e. delivering the data to the right location. This is why, TCP is also known as connection - oriented protocol.

Structure of TCP: -

 

The TCP/IP protocol makes use of four crucial layers that ensure 100% end-to-end delivery of data. These four layers include: -

1. Application Layer
2. Transport Layer
3. Internet Layer
4. Link Layer

APPLICATION LAYER: -

The Application Layer is totally responsible for the format and type in which the data is sent. This layer makes sure that the data is sent in such a proper format so that it can be easily interpreted and understood by the recipient.

Some the protocols that are the part of Application Layer are HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

  

 

TRANSPORT LAYER: -

 

The ultimate data that is to be sent is being observed and maintained by the Transport Layer. Transport layer divides or splits these data into chunks so that they can easily fit in the data packets.


INTERNET LAYER: -

The Internet Layer is also known as the Network Layer. Its job is to attach the IP address of the relevant sender so that the receiver may come to know that by whom the data was sent. This task of Network layer also ensures that the data packet does not get lost in any possible way. 

 
LINK LAYER: -

 

 

The Link Layer is responsible for attaching the MAC address of the sender and the receiver.

Thus, TCP/IP is a crucial protocol that is very important for sending and retrieval of data.