The Physical Layer of the OSI model is responsible for the transmission and reception of raw data between devices over a physical medium. This layer handles the physical aspects of network communication, which includes a variety of transmission media:
- Physical cables are the primary transmission medium utilized in networking. The Physical Layer deals with wired media such as coaxial cables, fiber optic cables, and twisted pair cables (such as those used in Ethernet networks).
- The Physical Layer also supports wireless communication, which includes data transmission across radio frequencies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other wireless networking protocols.
- Infrared and optical signals are utilized for remote control, short-range communication, and fiber optic networks. This form of signal transfer is also handled by the Physical Layer.