Explanation
The time-to-live (TTL) field is the mechanism for ending loops at Layer 3, which is the network layer of the OSI model. The TTL field is an 8-bit field that indicates the maximum time or number of hops that an IP packet can travel before it is discarded. Every time an IP packet passes through a router, the router decrements the TTL value by one. If the TTL value reaches zero, the router drops the packet and sends an ICMP message back to the source, informing that the packet has expired. This way, the TTL field prevents an IP packet from looping endlessly in a network with routing errors or cycles123.
The other options are not mechanisms for ending loops at Layer 3. The checksum field is a 16-bit field that is used to verify the integrity of the IP header. The checksum field is calculated by adding all the 16-bit words in the header and taking the one's complement of the result. If the checksum field does not match the calculated value, the IP packet is considered corrupted and discarded12. The type field, also known as the type of service (TOS) or differentiated services code point (DSCP) field, is an 8-bit field that is used to specify the quality of service (QoS) or priority of the IP packet. The type field can indicate how the packet should be handled in terms of delay, throughput, reliability, or cost12. The protocol field is an 8-bit field that is used to identify the transport layer protocol that is encapsulated in the IP packet. The protocol field can indicate whether the payload is a TCP segment, a UDP datagram, an ICMP message, or another protocol12.