Circuit switching Vs Packet switching

Circuit switching
1. Circuit switching is where there is a dedicated, physical path between two points. Data is broken up but it is transmitted down a dedicated pathway.
2. An example of this is telephones: data is transmitted in real time. The data packets is sent in a continuous stream of bits.
3. There is no interference between any other paths, as this path is dedicated to this transmission.
Packet switching
1. Packet switching is transmitting broken pieces of the data independently over many networks to get to its destination. It gets assembled once it has reached its destination.
2. There is no dedicated path-the packets can take any pathway as long as they get to their destination.
3. The router works out the fastest way to reach the destination. The packet will travel through many routers.
  1. This is very efficient because if one path is broken or busy, the packet will take another route.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Circuit switching
1. Advantages
  1. Sending data down a circuit switching network is more reliable because there is one dedicated path to send the data down. This means that there is a continuous stream of data.
  2. Once the circuit is established, data is transmitted without any delay as there is no waiting time at each switch.
  3. The data is received in the same order it was sent in.
  4. No loss of data because the data is sent down on dedicated pathway
2. Disadvantages
  1. The connection is not instantaneous. This means that there is no communication until a connection has been established
  2. Dedicated channels require more bandwidth. This means that traffic will be created, as there is an idle connection.
  3. Connection refused when resources are not sufficient
  4. As there is only one path, if it gets broken, then you cannot communicate with the other person.
Advantages and disadvantages of Packet switching
1. Advantages
  1. Packet switching is more reliable because it can reroute the data onto another path if one of the paths of broken or damaged. This ensures that all the data will reach the destination
  2. Many users can share the same channel simultaneously. Hence packet switching makes use of available bandwidth efficiently.
  3. Packet-switching allows each packet to find its own path to the destination, with no dedicated connection needed. This means that multiple users can use the network.
2. Disadvantages
  1. If the network becomes overloaded, packets are delayed or discarded or dropped. This leads to retransmission of lost packets by the sender. This often leads to loss of critical information if errors are not recovered.
  2. Packet switching network can not be used in applications requiring very little delay and higher quality of service e.g. reliable voice calls.
Ethernet frame contains: source address, destination address, data and a checksum
1. Ethernet-layer 2 protocol
  1. Layer 2= mac address-machine address having an id in a machine-unique id
2. Frames are used to package data in a network, allowing it to be sent from A to B. Frames use MAC addesses

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Circuit switching Vs Packet switching

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	Created by Jaya Sharma over 6 years ago