Packet switching
principle · 1964 · Digital age
Data is split into packets that travel across the network independently.
Principles and materials it uses
- Bit and information theory — uses. Packets are sequences of bits.
Where it is used
- ARPANET — is used in. ARPANET was the first large packet-switched network.
- Internet — is used in. Data is sent in packets.
- Ethernet — is used in. Data frames.
- Router — is used in. It forwards packets.
- Wi-Fi — is used in. Packet transmission.
- VoIP — is used in. Voice in packets.
Things built in a similar way
- Electrical telegraph — works like. An analogy: telegraph messages were passed from station to station with intermediate storage — a “store and forward” principle similar to packet transmission.