In nature, evolution occurs in various different things. Evolution also occurs in technology. For instance, the ATM was an evolution of frame relay, and frame relay was an evolution of packet switching.
Evolution happens everywhere, but in technology, it happens all the time. Packet switching technology breaks down messages into fixed-length pieces called packets and sends them through a network individually. In packet switching, messages are segmented into packets of a predetermined size before they are sent. This process is called packetizing.
The packets are normally 1000 bytes long. There is a lot of error protection in the packet. Packet switching networks run several alternative high-speed paths from one node to another. For instance, if a node from San Francisco is trying to send a message to Los Angeles and the connection is busy or down, it will redirect its message to Denver then to Los Angeles as an alternative route.
Frame Relay is the next of kin to packet switching. It evolved from packet switching and sends frames instead of packets. A frame consists of a one-byte header, two addressing and control bytes, a variable-length data field (1-64000 bytes), a 16-bit cyclic redundancy check, and a termination byte. – Tcom book.
In frame relay, there is hardware on both ends of the connection that builds and breaks down frames. They do this through all kinds of data streams, LAN packets, digital voice, and asynchronous terminal input, and the hardware writes the frames serially. The reason frame relay is more popular and better evolved than packet switching is that it uses commonly available circuits, which provide good throughput, low latency, and are easy to configure. Packet switching is only good for data transferring and is sent through one type of line. Frame relay sends more information faster and through multiple forms of connections. This makes packet switching not a suitable choice for ISPs.
Thus, leaving packet switching out of the picture in that field of business. Many ISPs use frame relay as a customer access technology for port aggregation and local traffic switching. This is the fastest-growing segment of the frame relay market, leaving packet switching in the dust. However, frame relay is not the top dog in data transfers.
Another form of transferring has evolved from frame relay, which is ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode). It is also known as cell relay. This form was created to solve the problem of delays in transferring. Its cells use fixed packets of 53 bytes.
These cells can also be built and broken down like Frame Relay, but in a faster time. All forms of data, such as voice, video, and data, can be sent through a single ATM line at the same time, like a T3 line. A large amount of bandwidth is required to use ATM. However, Frame Relay may be the more efficient way to go due to the fact that it costs more for ATM lines than it does for Frame Relay.
Right now, frame relay is an efficient source of data transfer. However, as multimedia features grow, the need for ATM will also increase. Having the best isn’t always better, as it may cost more than what you want to spend. From packet switching to frame relay to ATM, they have all evolved from each other, taking existing technology and improving it for the time it is needed.
