Packet switching

Uncommon card · No. 172158

In telecommunications, packet switching is a method of grouping data into short messages in fixed format, i.e., packets, that are transmitted over a telecommunications network. Packets consist of a header and a payload. The header directs the packet to its destination, where the payload is extracted and used by an operating system, application software, or higher-layer protocols. Packet switching is the primary basis for data communications in computer networks worldwide. During the early 1960s, American engineer Paul Baran developed a concept he called distributed adaptive message block switching as part of a research program at the RAND Corporation, funded by the United States Department of Defense. His proposal was to provide a fault-tolerant, efficient method for communication of voice messages using low-cost hardware to route the message blocks across a distributed network. His ideas contradicted then-established principles of pre-allocation of network bandwidth, exemplified by the...

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