Chapter 1. Packet-Switched Networks


Computer and communication networks to provide a wide range of services, from simple networks of computers to remote-file access, digital libraries, videoconferencing, and networking billions of users and devices. Before exploring the world of computer and communication networks, we need to study the fundamentals of packet-switched networks as the first step. Packet-switched networks are the backbone of the data communication infrastructure. Therefore, our focus in this chapter is on the big picture and the conceptual aspects of this backbone:

  • Basic definitions in data networks

  • Types of packet-switched networks

  • Packet size and optimizations

We start with the basic definitions and fundamental concepts, such as messages , packets , and frames , and packet switching versus circuit switching . We learn what the Internet is and how Internet service providers (ISPs) are formed . We then proceed to types of packet-switched networks and how a message can be handled by either connection-oriented networks or connectionless networks . Because readers must get a good understanding of packets as data units, packet size and optimizations are also discussed.



Computer and Communication Networks
Computer and Communication Networks (paperback)
ISBN: 0131389106
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 211
Authors: Nader F. Mir

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