Skip to content

OSI model

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a reference model developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that "provides a common basis for the coordination of standards development for the purpose of systems interconnection.".

Version
v1 · 2026-09-28 · History
Domain-specific #
11155
Domain group
Applied Sciences & Engineering
Origin domain
Computer Science & Software Engineering
Subdomains
Computer Networking, Network Architecture → Computer Science & Software Engineering

Core Idea

OSI model is treated here as the recurring computerscienceandinformation identity summarized by this source-grounded definition: The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a reference model developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that "provides a common basis for the coordination of standards development for the purpose of systems interconnection.". The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a reference model developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that "provides a common basis for the coordination of standards development for the purpose of systems interconnection.".

Scope of Application

  • History. The development of the OSI model started in the late 1970s to support the emergence of the diverse computer networking methods that were competing for application in the large national networking.

  • Layer architecture. The transport layer provides the functional and procedural means of transferring variable-length data sequences from a source host to a destination host from one application to another across a network while.

  • Layer architecture. Protocols like UDP, for example, are used in applications that are willing to accept some packet loss, reordering, errors or duplication.

  • Layer architecture. Such application programs fall outside the scope of the OSI model unless they are directly integrated into the application layer through the functions of communication, as is the case with applications.

  • Layer architecture. Application-layer functions typically include file sharing, message handling, and database access, through the most common protocols at the application layer, known as HTTP, FTP, SMB/CIFS, TFTP, and SMTP.

Clarity

A clear use of OSI model names the carrier, the operative relation, and the conditions under which the source treats the identity as present. The minimal definition is The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a reference model developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that "provides a common basis for the coordination of standards development for the purpose of systems interconnection.".

Manages Complexity

OSI model compresses multiple computerscienceandinformation details into a stable diagnostic relation. The source shows both the central mechanism—a network is a medium to which many nodes can be connected, on which every node has an address and which permits nodes connected to it to transfer messages to other nodes connected to it by merely providing the content of a message and the address of the destination node and letting.

Abstract Reasoning

  1. Type the carrier. Identify the computerscienceandinformation entities to which the claim applies.
  2. State the relation. Use the source-grounded identity: The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a reference model developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that "provides a common basis for the coordination of standards development for the purpose of systems interconnection.".
  3. Check operation and conditions.

Knowledge Transfer

Within the home domain. Knowledge about OSI model transfers literally when a new case preserves the same carrier type, relation, and recognition test. The development of the OSI model started in the late 1970s to support the emergence of the diverse computer networking methods that were competing for application in the large national networking efforts in the world (see OSI protocols and Protocol Wars). The transport layer provides the functional and procedural means of transferring variable-length data sequences from a source host to a destination host from one application to another across.

Relationships to Other Abstractions

Local relationship map for OSI modelParents appear above the current abstraction, mutual partners to the right, and children below. Node labels state whether each abstraction is prime or domain-specific; colors identify relation types.OSI modelDOMAINPrime abstraction: Layering — is a decomposition ofLayeringPRIMEDomain-specific abstraction: Presentation layer — presupposesPresentationlayerDOMAIN

Current abstraction OSI model Domain-specific

Parents (1) — more general patterns this builds on

  • OSI model is a decomposition of Layering Prime

    Removing the OSI institutional and protocol vocabulary leaves the portable operation of segmenting communication functions into ordered layers with bounded responsibilities.

Children (1) — more specific cases that build on this

  • Presentation layer Domain-specific presupposes OSI model

    Presentation layer is defined specifically as layer 6 of the seven-layer OSI model and loses that identity outside that architecture.

Hierarchy path (1) — routes to 1 parentless root

Neighborhood in Abstraction Space

OSI model sits in a moderately populated region (49th percentile for distinctiveness): it has near-neighbors but no dense thicket of look-alikes.

Family — Unclustered & Miscellaneous (2551 abstractions)

Nearest neighbors

Computed from structural-signature embeddings · 2026-10-08