Preview
IB DP Computer Science — A2 Networks — Data transmission | SL | A2.3.3
📋 What You Will Learn
- Describe how data is segmented into packets, each with a routing header
- Explain how packets are transmitted independently and reassembled at the destination
- Explain how control information (sequence numbers, acknowledgements, error checks) makes this reliable
- Distinguish the roles of switches and routers in moving packets
- Trace a simple reassembly algorithm that restores packet order
✉️ Why This Matters Imagine mailing a book as a stack of numbered postcards. Each postcard travels on its own — some by different routes, arriving out of order, one perhaps lost and re-sent — yet the numbering lets the reader rebuild the book perfectly. That is packet switching, and it is how every message, stream and download crosses the internet.
Packets and Segmentation
📖 Definition — Packet and packet switching A