Open systems standards

As described in the last issue, the new family of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) standards is in an advanced state of maturity with the majority of key aspects either fully approved or near final approval. The family of OSI standards is made up of several components. The Basic Reference Model of OSI, as provided by the International Organization for Standardization in International Standard 7498, specifies the architecture, functions, and dynamic mechanisms of the environment for distributed information systems. In association with each of the seven layers of the OSI Basic Reference Model, there is a service definition that describes the semantics of the layer´s functions. In addition, there is one or more protocol specifications that detail the layer´s operations and support communications among systems in the OSI environment.