The term contrasts with lower layer protocol which refers to a more specific protocol.

The upper layer protocols of the Internet protocol suite are responsible for resolving reliability issues.

Some of this responsibility lies also in the upper layer protocols.

IP can carry data for a variety of different upper layer protocols.

Any retransmissions must be carried out by higher layer protocols.

The mechanisms in L1.5 guarantee the following to upper layer protocols:

The various L2 mechanisms provide a number of guarantees to higher layer protocols:

It therefore guarantees a number of properties to higher layer protocols:

The mechanisms in L4 provide a number of guarantees to upper layer protocols:

They can use a variety of physical layer protocols, though Ethernet is currently the preferred system.