DICOM PS3.7 2024e - Message Exchange

6.2 The DICOM Application Layer Structure

A DICOM Application Entity and the Service Elements it includes are shown in Figure 6.2-1.

Note

Annexes of this Part define certain aspects of the DICOM Application Entity.

The heart of any DICOM Application Entity is specified by the following parts of the DICOM Standard:

The DICOM Application Entity uses the Association and Presentation data services of the OSI Upper Layer Service defined in PS3.8. The Association Control Service Element (ACSE) augments the Presentation Layer Service with Association establishment and termination services. In the case of TCP/IP, the full equivalent of ACSE is provided by the DICOM Upper Layer Service. For the DICOM point-to-point stack, a minimum subset of ACSE is provided by the Session/Transport/Network Service.

The DICOM Application Entity uses the services provided by the DICOM Message Service Element. The DICOM Message Service Element specifies two sets of services.

DICOM Application Layer Structure

Figure 6.2-1. DICOM Application Layer Structure


The DIMSE-C and DIMSE-N services are supported by a single DIMSE protocol that uses the DICOM-specific Message formatting and encoding.

DICOM PS3.7 2024e - Message Exchange