Switching and Types of Switching Techniques
A network is a set of connected devices. Whenever we have multiple devices, we have the problem of how to connect them to make one-to-one communication possible. One solution is to make a point-to-point connection between each pair of devices (a mesh topology) or between a central device and every other device (a star topology). These methods, however, are impractical and wasteful when applied to very large networks.
A better solution is switching. A switched network consists of a series of interlinked nodes, called switches. Switches are devices capable of creating temporary connections between two or more devices linked to the switch. In a switched network, some of these nodes are connected to the end systems (computers or telephones, for example). Others are used only for routing. The following Figure shows a switched network.
The end systems (communicating devices) are labeled A, B, C, D, and so on, and the switches are labeled I, II, III, IV, and V. Each switch is connected to multiple links.
There are three methods of switching have been important:
Circuit Switching,
Packet Switching,
and Message Switching.
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