Network nodes in the context of Telecommunication network

Circuit switching is a method of implementing a telecommunications network in which two network nodes establish a dedicated communications channel (circuit) through the network before the nodes may communicate. The circuit guarantees the full bandwidth of the channel and remains connected for the duration of the communication session. The circuit functions as if the nodes were physically connected as with an electrical circuit.

Circuit switching originated in analog telephone networks where the network created a dedicated circuit between two telephones for the duration of a telephone call. It contrasts with message switching and packet switching used in modern digital networks in which the trunklines between switching centres carry data between many different nodes in the form of data packets without dedicated circuits.

Network throughput (or just throughput, when in context) refers to the rate of message delivery over a communication channel in a communication network, such as Ethernet or packet radio. The data that these messages contain may be delivered over physical or logical links, or through network nodes. Throughput is usually measured in bits per second (bit/s, sometimes abbreviated bps), and sometimes in packets per second (p/s or pps) or data packets per time slot.

The aggregate throughput is the sum of the data rates that are delivered over all channels in a network. Throughput represents digital bandwidth consumption.