Types of Switching in Computer Network
Switching Techniques in Computer Networks:
A computer network consists of many switching devices. A switching network is made up of a series of interconnected nodes called switches. In Computer Networks, there are mainly three types of switching, these are:
Types of Switching Techniques:
- Circuit Switching
- Packet Switching
- Message Switching
Circuit Switching:
Circuit Switching is a dedicated path established between two communicating nodes before actual data transfer begins. The path means that connected sequence of physical links in which a logical channel is dedicated to the connection.
Example: Telephonic Communication.
Features of Circuit Switching:
i. Circuit establishment requires some time and if a dedicated path isn’t established end-to-end no data can be transferred.
ii. Once the circuit establishes the channel becomes transparent and data flow instantly without any delay.
iii. Circuit switching is efficient as data transfers only for a small fraction of the whole time channel was dedicated to the end parties. In the case of voice communication, the efficiency is still higher but it can never reach 100%.
Packet Switching:
In Packet Switching, the sender breaks the whole message into several packets of suitable length consisting of sequential packet numbers. No dedicated path establishes between the two end parties before data communication. The sender sends packets to the next node sequentially. Each node after receiving a packet decides the next route for the packet, the routing decision is done by a node in the path before sending every packet.
Message Switching:
Message Switching is a combination of circuit switching and packet switching. Like circuit switching, the message is not broken into packets rather it is sent to the next node as a whole. Like packet switching, no dedicated path establishes between the two end parties before data communication. The routing decision is done at each node for the whole message.
