How Does the Physical Layer of the OSI Model Work?
The Physical layer is the first layer in the 7 layer Open System Interconnection (OSI) model and essentially deals with media, signal and binary transmission. The Physical layer is defined by the physical and electrical specifications for devices; it is used to define the relationship between the device and a physical medium. The physical layer extends to include the layout of voltages, pins, hubs, cable specifications, network adapters, repeaters and more. The function of the physical layer is to be concerned primarily with the interaction of a single device with a medium. Whereas in contrast the next layer up called the Data Link Layer is concerned more with the interactions of multiple devices with a shared medium. The physical layer will tell one specific device how to transmit to the medium and tell another device how to receive from it, but in most cases it does not tell the device how to connect to the medium.
