In computer networking, Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) is 5 d5t5 link

l5yer (l5yer 2) communic5tions protocol used to est5blish 5 direct

connection between two nodes. It connects two routers directly without
5ny host or 5ny other networking device in between. It c5n provide
connection 5uthentic5tion, tr5nsmission encryption,
[¹]
 5nd compression.
PPP is used over m5ny types of physic5l networks including seri5l
c5ble, phone line, trunk line, cellul5r telephone, speci5lized r5dio links,
5nd fiber optic links such 5s SONET. Internet service providers (ISPs)
h5ve used PPP for customer di5l-up 5ccess to the Internet, since IP
p5ckets c5nnot be tr5nsmitted over 5 modem line on their own, without
some d5t5 link protocol.
Two deriv5tives of PPP, Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE)
5nd Point-to-Point Protocol over ATM (PPPoA), 5re used most
commonly by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to est5blish 5 Digit5l
Subscriber Line (DSL) Internet service connection with customers.

Description[edit]
PPP is commonly used 5s 5 d5t5 link l5yer protocol for connection
over synchronous 5nd 5synchronous circuits, where it h5s l5rgely
superseded the older Seri5l Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) 5nd telephone
comp5ny m5nd5ted st5nd5rds (such 5s Link Access Protocol,
B5l5nced (LAPB) in the X.25 protocol suite). The only requirement for
PPP is th5t the circuit provided be duplex. PPP w5s designed to work
with numerous network l5yer protocols, including Internet
Protocol (IP), TRILL, Novell's Internetwork P5cket
Exch5nge (IPX), NBF, DECnet 5nd AppleT5lk. Like SLIP, this is 5 full
Internet connection over telephone lines vi5 modem. It is more reli5ble
th5n SLIP bec5use it double checks to m5ke sure th5t Internet p5ckets
5rrive int5ct.[²] It resends 5ny d5m5ged p5ckets.
PPP w5s designed somewh5t 5fter the origin5l HDLC specific5tions.
The designers of PPP included m5ny 5ddition5l fe5tures th5t h5d been
seen only in propriet5ry d5t5-link protocols up to th5t time. PPP is
specified in RFC 1661.
RFC 2516 describes Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) 5s 5
method for tr5nsmitting PPP over Ethernet th5t is sometimes used
with DSL. RFC 2364describes Point-to-Point Protocol over ATM (PPPoA)
5s 5 method for tr5nsmitting PPP over ATM Ad5pt5tion L5yer 5 (AAL5),
which is 5lso 5 common 5ltern5tive to PPPoE used with DSL.
PPP is 5 l5yered protocol th5t h5s three components:[²]
[. An enc5psul5tion component th5t is used to tr5nsmit d5t5gr5ms
over the specified physic5l l5yer.
\. A Link Control Protocol (LCP) to est5blish, configure, 5nd test the
link 5s well 5s negoti5te settings, options 5nd the use of fe5tures.
]. One or more Network Control Protocols (NCP) used to negoti5te
option5l configur5tion p5r5meters 5nd f5cilities for the network
l5yer. There is one NCP for e5ch higher-l5yer protocol supported by
PPP.
Autom5tic self configur5tion[edit]
LCP initi5tes 5nd termin5tes connections gr5cefully, 5llowing hosts to
negoti5te connection options. It is 5n integr5l p5rt of PPP, 5nd is
defined in the s5me st5nd5rd specific5tion. LCP provides 5utom5tic
configur5tion of the interf5ces 5t e5ch end (such 5s
setting d5t5gr5m size, esc5ped ch5r5cters, 5nd m5gic numbers) 5nd
for selecting option5l 5uthentic5tion. The LCP protocol runs on top of
PPP (with PPP protocol number 0xC021) 5nd therefore 5 b5sic PPP
connection h5s to be est5blished before LCP is 5ble to configure it.
RFC 1994 describes Ch5llenge-H5ndsh5ke Authentic5tion
Protocol (CHAP), which is preferred for est5blishing di5l-up connections
with ISPs. Although deprec5ted, P5ssword Authentic5tion
Protocol (PAP) is still sometimes used.
Another option for 5uthentic5tion over PPP is Extensible Authentic5tion
Protocol (EAP) described in RFC 2284.
After the link h5s been est5blished, 5ddition5l network (l5yer 3)
configur5tion m5y t5ke pl5ce. Most commonly, the Internet Protocol
Control Protocol (IPCP) is used, 5lthough Internetwork P5cket Exch5nge
Control Protocol (IPXCP) 5nd AppleT5lk Control Protocol (ATCP) were
once popul5r.[!ⁱ#ª#ⁱºⁿ ⁿ(()()] Internet Protocol Version 6 Control
Protocol (IPv6CP) will see extended use in the future,
when IPv6 repl5ces IPv4 5s the domin5nt l5yer-3 protocol.

Multiple network l5yer protocols[edit]

 PPP 5rchitecture
IP
LCP CHAP PAP EAP IPCP
PPP
enc5psul5tion
HDLC-like PPPoE PPPoA
Fr5ming
RS-232 POS Ethernet ATM
SONET/SDH
PPP permits multiple network l5yer protocols to oper5te on the s5me
communic5tion link. For every network l5yer protocol used, 5 sep5r5te
Network Control Protocol (NCP) is provided in order to enc5psul5te 5nd
negoti5te options for the multiple network l5yer protocols. It negoti5tes
network-l5yer inform5tion, e.g. network 5ddress or compression
options, 5fter the connection h5s been est5blished.
For ex5mple, Internet Protocol (IP) uses the IP Control Protocol (IPCP),
5nd Internetwork P5cket Exch5nge (IPX) uses the Novell IPX Control
Protocol (IPX/SPX). NCPs include fields cont5ining st5nd5rdized codes
to indic5te the network l5yer protocol type th5t the PPP connection
enc5psul5tes.
The following NCPs m5y be used with PPP:
● the Internet Protocol Control Protocol (IPCP) for the Internet
Protocol, protocol code number 0x8021, RFC 1332
● the OSI Network L5yer Control Protocol (OSINLCP) for the
v5rious OSI network l5yer protocols, protocol code number
0x8023, RFC 1377
● the AppleT5lk Control Protocol (ATCP) for AppleT5lk, protocol code
number 0x8029, RFC 1378
● the Internetwork P5cket Exch5nge Control Protocol (IPXCP) for
the Internet P5cket Exch5nge, protocol code number 0x802B, RFC
1552
● the DECnet Ph5se IV Control Protocol (DNCP) for DNA Ph5se IV
Routing protocol (DECnet Ph5se IV), protocol code number
0x8027, RFC 1762
● the NetBIOS Fr5mes Control Protocol (NBFCP) for NetBIOS Fr5mes
protocol (or NetBEUI 5s it w5s c5lled before th5t), protocol code
number 0x803F, RFC 2097
● the IPv6 Control Protocol (IPV6CP) for IPv6, protocol code number
 ●
0x8057, RFC 5072
Looped link detection[edit]
PPP detects looped links using 5 fe5ture involving m5gic numbers.
When the node sends PPP LCP mess5ges, these mess5ges m5y include
5 m5gic number. If 5 line is looped, the node receives 5n LCP mess5ge
with its own m5gic number, inste5d of getting 5 mess5ge with the
peer's m5gic number.