Data packets
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The teaching part (1 min) is free to watch. A free account opens the whole lecture: 4 practice questions, 2 real past-paper questions with the answers explained, the mistakes that lose marks, the full-marks tip, a one-card summary and a quick quiz.
What this lecture covers
- One photo, many pieces
- Why packets?
Read the transcript of the teaching part
Last time
Before we start: last time, in Serial, parallel, simplex and duplex, you learned these points. Here they are again on one card. Keep them in mind, because today builds on them.
One photo, many pieces
When you send a photo on WhatsApp, it does not travel as one big lump. It is cut into many small pieces called packets. Each packet travels on its own, and the photo is put back together at the other end.
Why packets?
Why cut data up? Small packets can share the network with everyone else, instead of one big file blocking it. And if one packet is lost or damaged, only that packet is sent again, not the whole file.
Chapter 2.1: Data packets
- Data packets 4 min
Also for IGCSE Computer Science 0478
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