Network + Set

Front 1

Circuit switching

Back 1

The most common example of a circuit switching network is the telephone system: the sender and the receiver establish a dedicated physical path for the entire duration of the call. All of the transmitted information follows the same route and the circuit is available only to the nodes that established it. PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), covered in the Internet Connections TechNotes, and ISDN, covered below, both use the circuit switching technology.

Front 2

Packet switching

Back 2

In packet switching networks, data is segmented into packets that each take a route independently based on the addressing information their header. In theory, the route can be different for each packet, but also one and the same. The packet is sent from hop to hop whereby each hop (e.g. a router) determines the best next part of the route. Other nodes can send packets, seemingly simultaneously, over the same dynamic route. Most large WANs are largely made up of packet switching networks, the Internet being the most common example.

Front 3

ISDN

Back 3

Integrated Services Digital Network

-circuit-switching network
-plain copper telephone lines
-Fast to set up a call

Front 4

What are the two types of
ISDN?

Back 4

BRI(Basic-Rate Interface)

-Two 64Kb B-channels & One 16Kb D-Channel
-Can be combined using "Multilink" for max BW of 128Kb.

PRI (Primary-Rate Interface)
-23 26Kb B-Channels & One 64Kb D-Channel.
-Total Throughput 1.5Mb