ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the topic of packet switched technology which is now in common use on wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs) and metropolitan area networks (MANs). The most intensive use of packet transmission at the present time (1994) is on local area networks and a substantial portion of the chapter is devoted to this topic. Packet switching was, however, initially developed for connecting computers separated by long distances and some consideration of WANs will also be given. Recent years have seen the development of WANs, LANs and MANs to carry integrated digital services including data, voice and video traffic.
