computer network A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are ...

ing, encapsulation is a method of designing modular

communication protocols A communication protocol is a system of rules that allows two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information via any kind of variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax, semantics and synchron ...

in which logically separate functions in the network are abstracted from their underlying structures by inclusion or

information hiding In computer science, information hiding is the principle of segregation of the ''design decisions'' in a computer program that are most likely to change, thus protecting other parts of the program from extensive modification if the design decisio ...

within higher-level objects. In other words, encapsulation "takes information from a higher layer and adds a header to it, treating the higher layer information as data". The

physical layer In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, the physical layer or layer 1 is the first and lowest layer; The layer most closely associated with the physical connection between devices. This layer may be implemented by a PHY chip. The ...

is responsible for physical transmission of the data, link encapsulation allows

local area network A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network (WAN) not only covers a large ...

ing, IP provides global addressing of individual computers, and TCP selects the process or application (i.e., the TCP or UDP port) that specifies the service such as a

Web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

TFTP Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is a simple lockstep File Transfer Protocol which allows a client to get a file from or put a file onto a remote host. One of its primary uses is in the early stages of nodes booting from a local area netwo ...

server. During encapsulation, each layer builds a

protocol data unit In telecommunications, a protocol data unit (PDU) is a single unit of information transmitted among peer entities of a computer network. It is composed of protocol-specific control information and user data. In the layered architectures of ...

(PDU) by adding a header and optionally a trailer, both of which contain control information to the PDU from the layer above. For example, in the IP suite, the contents of a web page are encapsulated with an

HTTP header The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, w ...

, then by a TCP header, an IP header, and, finally, by a frame header and trailer. The frame is forwarded to the destination node as a

stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...

bit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represente ...

s, where it is decapsulated (or de-encapsulated) into the respective PDUs and interpreted at each layer by the receiving node. The result of encapsulation is that each lower-layer provides a service to the layer or layers above it, while at the same time each layer communicates with its corresponding layer on the receiving node. These are known as adjacent-layer interaction and same-layer interaction, respectively. In discussions of encapsulation, the more abstract layer is often called the upper-layer protocol while the more specific layer is called the lower-layer protocol. Sometimes, however, the terms upper-layer protocols and lower-layer protocols are used to describe the layers above and below IP. Encapsulation is a characteristic feature of most networking models, including both the

OSI model The Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI model) is a conceptual model that 'provides a common basis for the coordination of SOstandards development for the purpose of systems interconnection'. In the OSI reference model, the communications ...

and TCP/IP suite of protocols. Nevertheless, encapsulation is also usedRaman, D., Sutter, B. D., Coppens, B., Volckaert, S., Bosschere, K. D., Danhieux, P., & Buggenhout, E. V. (2012, November). DNS tunneling for network penetration. In International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology (pp. 65-77). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. for malicious purposes, such as tunneling.

References

{{Reflist Network protocols Data transmission Packets (information technology)

See also

References