3.3.14

How do Packets get Routed?

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How do Packets get Routed?

Packet switching is the process of breaking data down into packets, sending them across the Internet to another computer, and then re-assembling the data.

Illustrative background for Sender's local area networkIllustrative background for Sender's local area network ?? "content

Sender's local area network

  • The sender will generate data in an application on their computer.
    • This happens at the application layer.
  • The data is split into packets of data.
    • This happens at the transport layer.
  • Internet Protocol adds IP addresses to each packet.
    • This happens at the Internet layer.
  • Packets are grouped into frames and sent to the router on the LAN.
    • This happens at the Network layer.
Illustrative background for Over the InternetIllustrative background for Over the Internet ?? "content

Over the Internet

  • The sender's router inspects the packet to determine if the destination IP is on the current LAN.
    • If it is not then it will send the packet onto the Internet (or other wide area network).
    • This happens at the Internet layer.
  • Each packet is sent from the sender's router to the destination router via connected routers.
    • The path of each packet can be different, which maximises efficient use of the network by avoiding bottlenecks.
Illustrative background for Recipient's local area networkIllustrative background for Recipient's local area network ?? "content

Recipient's local area network

  • Because they have taken different paths, the packets at the destination will be in the wrong order.
    • These packets are unpackaged and reassembled into the correct order using the sequence number of each packet.

Jump to other topics

1Components of a Computer

2Software & Software Development

3Exchanging Data

4Data Types, Data Structures & Algorithms

5Legal, Moral, Cultural & Ethical Issues

6Elements of Computational Thinking

6.1Thinking Abstractly

6.2Thinking Ahead

6.3Thinking Procedurally

6.4Thinking Logically

6.5Thinking Concurrently

7Problem Solving & Programming

8Algorithms

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