virtual circuit
MEANS OF TRANSPORTING DATA OVER A PACKET-SWITCHED NETWORK SO AS TO EMULATE A DEDICATED PHYSICAL LINK BETWEEN NODES
Permanent virtual circuit; Virtual call capability; Virtual circuit capability; Virtual call facility; Switched virtual circuit; Private virtual circuit; Virtual circuits; Virtual circuit switching; Virtual connection; WAN Virtual Circuits; Switched virtual circuits; Permanent virtual circuits; Virtual Circuit; Virtual channel (computer networking)
<
networking> A
connection-oriented network service which
is implemented on top of a network which may be either
connection-oriented or
connectionless (
packet switching).
The term "switched
virtual circuit" was coined needlessly to
distinguish an ordinary
virtual circuit from a {permanent
virtual circuit}. (One of the perpetrators of this confusion
appears to be [
"Networking Essentials", 1996, Microsoft Press,
ISBN 1-55615-806-8], a book aimed at people preparing for the
MCSE exam on
LANs and
WANs).
Not to be confused with
switched virtual connection.
(2001-10-26)