Packet Switching |
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A key characteristic of circuit-switching networks is that resources within the network are dedicated to a particular call. In packet switching data are transmitted in short packets. A small text message would be sent in a single package but a larger file would need to be split into a series of packets. Each packet would contain a portion of the users file plus some control data. The control data usually being the sender and receiver IP address etc. At each node en route, the packet is received, stored and briefly and passed on to the next node.
Consider again a packet is sent from A to E. The packet will include control information that indicates the intended destination is E. The packet is sent from A to 5 where it is stored, it decides the next leg of the route and sends it to node 6 which waits for a link and then forwards to node E. | ||
