Which type of addressing is used at the Physical Layer?

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Accepted Answer

No addressing - The Physical Layer in the OSI model does not use any type of addressing. It is responsible only for transmitting raw bits (0s and 1s) over the physical medium, such as cables or wireless signals.

This layer deals with electrical, optical, or radio signals and the physical connections between devices. It does not recognize devices, packets, or any kind of address.

Key points about addressing at the Physical Layer:

No IP addresses or MAC addresses are used
No port numbers are involved
This layer only moves signals across physical media
It defines hardware standards like connectors, cables, voltage levels


Addressing starts from the Data Link Layer (which uses MAC addresses), while the Network Layer uses IP addresses. The Physical Layer only cares about how bits are sent physically from one point to another.

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