> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cardano-wiki.gitbook.io/cardano/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cardano-wiki.gitbook.io/cardano/how-does-cardano-work/table-of-contents/three-layers/network-layer.md).

# Network Layer

This layer maintains the connections between all the distributed nodes in the Cardano network, obtains new blocks from the network as they are produced by block producing nodes, builds newly minted transactions into blocks, and transmits blocks between nodes.