Meaning – The term packet switching, refers to the process of routing and transferring data by means of addressed packets so that a channel is occupied only during transmission of a packet. On completion of the transmission, the channel is made available for the transfer of other packets.
Packet switching is a digital network transmission process in which data is broken into suitably sized pieces or blocks for fast and efficient transfer via different network devices. When a computer attempts to send a file to another computer, the file is broken into packets so that it can be sent across the network in the most efficient way. These packets are then routed by network devices to the destination.
Example of usage – “Packet switching allows delivery of variable bit rate data streams, realized as sequences of packets, over a computer network which allocates transmission resources as needed using statistical multiplexing or dynamic bandwidth allocation techniques.”
