Packet Switching
Bursty data traffic does not make efficient use of circuit switched
transmission. Hence in 1960’s there was developed a new
data communication approach called packet switching.
In packet switching variable length data units (from 40 to 4000
octets) are stored and forwarded in each network node.
Each packet contains additional information (in the packet header
part) for routing, error correction, flow control etc.
Each packet is transferred to its destination independently.
In packet switching, network resources are used only
when there is real information that is transferred.