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Packet switching allows delivery of variable bit rate data streams, realized as sequences of short messages in fixed format, i.e. packets, over a computer network which allocates transmission resources as needed using statistical multiplexing or dynamic bandwidth allocation techniques.
Since a forwarding decision must be made for every packet handled by a node, the total time required for this can become a major limiting factor in overall network performance. Much of the design effort of high-speed routers and switches has been focused on making rapid forwarding decisions for large numbers of packets.
In packet switching networks, routing is the higher-level decision making that directs network packets from their source toward their destination through intermediate network nodes by specific packet forwarding mechanisms. Packet forwarding is the transit of network packets from one network interface to another.
A data unit at layer 2, the data link layer, is a frame. In layer 4, the transport layer, the data units are segments and datagrams. Thus, in the example of TCP/IP communication over Ethernet, a TCP segment is carried in one or more IP packets, which are each carried in one or more Ethernet frames.
A packet-switched network transmits data that is divided into units called packets.A packet comprises a header (which describes the packet) and a payload (the data). The Internet is a packet-switched network, and most of the protocols in this list are designed for its protocol stack, the IP protocol suite.
Terminal Node Controller 2400 baud packet radio modem. In digital radio, packet radio is the application of packet switching techniques to digital radio communications. Packet radio uses a packet switching protocol as opposed to circuit switching or message switching protocols to transmit digital data via a radio communication link.
The concept of packet switching was introduced to create a communications network that would continue to function in spite of equipment failures throughout the network. In this paradigm shift, networks are viewed as collections of systems that transmit data in small packets that work their way from origin to destination by any number of routes.
Packet switching divides the data to be transmitted into packets transmitted through the network independently. Instead of being dedicated to one communication session at a time, network links are shared by packets from multiple competing communication sessions, resulting in the loss of the quality of service guarantees that are provided by ...