OSI physical layer

E58114

OSI model layer networking concept

The OSI physical layer is the lowest layer of the OSI model, responsible for transmitting raw bits over a physical medium through electrical, optical, or radio signals and defining the hardware specifications for network connections.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Ethernet physical layer (PHY)	1
OSI Layer 1	1

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	OSI model layer ⓘ networking concept ⓘ
abstractionLevel	hardware-oriented ⓘ
closelyRelatedTo	data link layer ⓘ
concerns	physical media such as copper cables ⓘ physical media such as fiber optic cables ⓘ physical media such as wireless channels ⓘ
dataUnit	bit ⓘ
defines	bit timing ⓘ cable types ⓘ connector types ⓘ data rate (bandwidth) on the medium ⓘ electrical characteristics of signals ⓘ line coding schemes ⓘ maximum cable lengths ⓘ mechanical characteristics of interfaces ⓘ modulation schemes ⓘ optical characteristics of signals ⓘ physical media specifications ⓘ physical topology aspects ⓘ pin layouts ⓘ procedural characteristics for physical connection ⓘ radio frequency characteristics of signals ⓘ signal voltage levels ⓘ
doesNotHandle	application-level data formats ⓘ encryption ⓘ error recovery ⓘ flow control ⓘ routing ⓘ
examplesInclude	DSL physical layer standards ⓘ Ethernet physical layer standards ⓘ Wi‑Fi radio interface ⓘ fiber optic physical standards ⓘ
goal	reliable transmission of raw bitstream over physical medium ⓘ
handles	bit-level transmission ⓘ
layerNumber	1 ⓘ
partOf	OSI protocol suite ⓘ surface form: OSI model
positionInModel	lowest layer ⓘ
primaryFunction	transmission of raw bits over a physical medium ⓘ
providesServiceTo	data link layer ⓘ
responsibleFor	activating physical connections ⓘ bit synchronization ⓘ deactivating physical connections ⓘ maintaining physical connections ⓘ physical layer encoding ⓘ transmission of bits as electrical signals ⓘ transmission of bits as optical signals ⓘ transmission of bits as radio signals ⓘ
standardizedBy	International Organization for Standardization ⓘ surface form: ISO ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector ⓘ surface form: ITU-T

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

100BASE‑TX → layer → OSI physical layer ⓘ

IEEE 802.3bz 2.5G/5GBASE‑T Ethernet standard → layer → OSI physical layer ⓘ

Fast Ethernet → operatesAtLayer → OSI physical layer ⓘ

this entity surface form: OSI Layer 1

IEEE 802.3 Clause 28 → relatedTo → OSI physical layer ⓘ

this entity surface form: Ethernet physical layer (PHY)