In a
packet switched network, burst switching is a capability in which each
network switch
A network switch (also called switching hub, bridging hub, Ethernet switch, and, by the IEEE, MAC bridge) is networking hardware that connects devices on a computer network by using packet switching to receive and forward data to the destinat ...
extracts
routing
Routing is the process of selecting a path for traffic in a Network theory, network or between or across multiple networks. Broadly, routing is performed in many types of networks, including circuit-switched networks, such as the public switched ...
instructions from an incoming
packet header to establish and maintain the appropriate switch
connection for the duration of the packet, following which the connection is automatically released.
In concept, burst switching is similar to
connectionless mode transmission, but differs in that burst switching implies an intent to establish the switch connection in
near real time, so that only minimum buffering is required at the
node
In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex).
Node may refer to:
In mathematics
* Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph
*Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines ...
switch.
A variant of burst switching used in
optical networks is
optical burst switching Optical burst switching (OBS) is an optical telecommunication, optical networking technique that allows dynamic sub-wavelength switching of data. OBS is viewed as a compromise between the yet unfeasible full optical packet switching (OPS) and the mo ...
.
Applications
Examples of technology using burst switching include:
*
EtherLoop, used after the late-1990s to facilitate
telephone company
A telecommunications company is a kind of electronic communications service provider, more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many t ...
offerings to compete with the high-speed local data access that was then beginning to be offered by
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...
providers as an internet service offering.
* Intra-vehicle communication:
Tesla Cybertruck in 2023 began using a gigabit Ethernet loop with burst switching for
near real-time, redundant control of all motor vehicle subsystems, including
steer-by-wire, motor controls, all vehicle controllers, plus
vehicle audio with
active road-noise cancellation.
References
*Source: from
Federal Standard 1037C
Federal Standard 1037C, titled Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms, is a United States Federal Standard issued by the General Services Administration pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, ...
.
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Computer networks engineering