Step 1: Analyzing the Internet Protocol Suite:
The Transport Layer of the TCP/IP model is primarily governed by two major protocols that sit on top of the Network Layer (IP): Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
Step 2: Comparing TCP and UDP Overheads:
Let's analyze the characteristics of both transport protocols:
- TCP (Transmission Control Protocol): A connection-oriented, reliable transport protocol. It requires a three-way handshake to establish a connection, tracks packets, performs error correction, and guarantees delivery. This introduces a large header overhead ($20\text{--}60$ bytes) and latency.
- UDP (User Datagram Protocol): A connectionless, unreliable transport protocol. It sends packets directly to the destination without establishing a connection or waiting for acknowledgments. It features an extremely small header size (only $8$ bytes) and minimal processing overhead.
Step 3: Conclusion:
Due to its simple, connectionless nature and negligible transmission overhead,
UDP is classified as the standard
lightweight data transport protocol on top of IP, making option (C) correct.