Packet & Circuit Switching (OCR A-Level Computer Science): Flashcards

Dedicated communication path for entire connection duration

Developed for analogue telephone networks

Fixed amount of bandwidth guaranteed

Low latency and predictable timing

Inefficient - dedicated path unused when no data being sent

More expensive to maintain due to continuous resource reservation

Limited - less flexible and challenging to scale

Data broken into smaller, independent packets routed individually

Each packet can take a different route to destination

Efficient - bandwidth used effectively as paths are shared

Packets can be rerouted if path is down or congested

Higher latency - less ideal for real-time applications

Highly scalable - ideal for large-scale networks like Internet

Circuit switching - provides stable, continuous connection

Packet switching - efficient use of network resources