Whenever a new Internet application is developed, a port number must be assigned to it. The transport layer converts the application layer messages it receives from a sending application process into transport layer packets, known as transport layer segments. In this conversion, application messages may need to be broken into smaller chunks.
In terms of OSI layers, the transport layer lies between the Network and Session layers. However, in terms of TCP/IP, the transport layer lies between the application layer and the network layers, as shown in 3.1. In this chapter, we will discuss Transport layer protocols in TCP/IP protocol suite. 2. Introduction
The transport layer attaches a header to each chunk, which typically contains information such as, the sending and receiving application ports. A socket is a software interface between the transport layer and the application layer. The transport layer offers a set of services to the application layer.