ISO/IEC 8348:2002

Overview

ISO/IEC 8348:2002 - Information technology - Open Systems Interconnection - Network service definition specifies the abstract service that the OSI Network Layer provides to the Transport Layer. The standard defines the Network service in terms of primitives, parameters and valid sequences so Transport-layer protocol designers and Network-layer protocol designers can develop interoperable, subnetwork‑independent implementations. ISO/IEC 8348:2002 is identical to ITU‑T Recommendation X.213 and complements the OSI Reference Model (ISO/IEC 7498‑1).

Key Topics

• Network service model: formal description of the Network Layer service offered to the Transport Layer, independent of any particular subnetwork.
• Connection-mode and connectionless-mode services: features, models and behaviours for both service types are defined in separate sections.
• Primitives and sequences: definitions of primitive actions/events, associated parameters, and valid sequences for establishment, release and data transfer.
• Quality of Service (QoS): framework for determining and specifying QoS parameters for both connectioned and connectionless services.
• Network addressing: Annex A provides principles, formats and conventions for OSI Network addressing to support routing and global concatenation of subnetworks.
• Service characteristics and facilities: Annex C (informative) describes additional mechanisms for conveying service characteristics in connectionless mode.
• Scope and objectives: encourages convergence of subnetwork capabilities, supports concatenation of heterogeneous subnetworks, and provides basis for transport/network protocol design.

Applications

• Designing and specifying Transport Layer protocols that rely on a stable, abstract Network service.
• Defining Network Layer protocols and their required service capabilities, including QoS and addressing.
• Enabling interoperability across multiple subnetworks and vendors by specifying a subnetwork‑independent service model.
• Supporting global communication architectures where concatenation of different subnetworks (circuit-switched, packet-switched) is required.
• Informing standards, test specifications and conformance documentation for network and transport implementations.

Who should use this standard

• Protocol designers and implementers (Network and Transport layers)
• Network architects and system integrators working on multi‑subnetwork interconnection
• Standards developers and test labs
• Vendors building interoperable network stacks and addressing schemes

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 7498‑1 - OSI Reference Model (context and layering)
• ITU‑T X.213 - identical text to ISO/IEC 8348
• ITU‑T/ITU Recommendations referenced for subnetworks (e.g., X.25, X.21) - for subnetwork-specific properties

Keywords: ISO/IEC 8348:2002, Network service definition, OSI, Network Layer, Transport Layer, QoS, connection-mode, connectionless-mode, network addressing.