Describe any four characteristics of 'internet protocol'.

Major characteristics of Internet Protocol are given as under: The IP protocol resides in the Internet layer. The IP protocol is the protocol in the TCP/IP stack that is responsible for letting the machine, routers, switches and etcetera, know where a specific packet is going. This protocol is the very heart of the whole TCP/IP stack, and makes up the very foundation of very thing in the Internet. The IP protocol encapsulates the Transport layer packet with information about which Transport layer protocol it came from, what host it is going to, and where it came from, and a little bit of other useful information. All of this is precisely standardized, down to every single bit. The IP protocol has a couple of basic functionalities that it must be able to handle. It must be able to define the datagram, which is the next building block created by the transport layer. The IP protocol also defines the Internet addressing system. It means that the IP protocol is what defines how to reach between hosts, and this also affects how one is able to route packets. IP must also be able to decapsulate and encapsulate the IP datagram and send or receive the datagram from either the Network access layer, or the transport layer. IP protocol is responsible for routing packets from one host to another, as well as packets that we may receive from one host destined for another. The IP protocol is also a connectionless protocol, which in turn means that IP does not "negotiate" a connection. A connection-oriented protocol on the other hand negotiates a "connection" and then when all data has been sent, tears it down. TCP is an example of this kind of protocol; however, it is implemented on top of the IP protocol.