A Comparison Between the OSI Reference Model and the B-ISDN Protocol Reference Model

This article aims at comparing the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model (RM) and the broadband integrated services digital network (B-ISDN) Protocol Reference Model (PRM). According to the International Telecommunications Union - Telecommunications Sector (ITU-T), the exact relationship between the lower layers of the OSI RM and the B-ISDN PRM is for further study. It is therefore the intention of this article to present some views on these relationships which hopefully could facilitate an interconnection between B-ISDN and data networks conforming to the OSI standards.