
17
Optical and electronic technologies
for packet switching
Rodney S. Tucker
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
University of Melbourne, Australia
17.1 INTRODUCTION
Packet switches are arguably the most important items of equipment in any Internet
Protocol (IP) network. Packet switches provide an efficient mechanism for routing
IP packets through the network, from source to destination. Each packet switch
inspects the incoming IP packets, determines the appropriate next hop for the
packets, provides buffering for the packets while they wait for an available output
port, and schedules the orderly departure of outgoing packets taking into ...