Burst Switching - A New Tactical Switching Concept

Abstract

GTE Laboratories has researched and developed the Burst Switching concept for the past six years. During the last two years, it has become increasingly evident that the switching principles in the Burst structure apply directly to the military environment. The military forces need increased mobility, widely dispersed and diminished targets of opportunity presented to the enemy, decreased switch sizes and consumed power, and a modular structure to provide any switch capacity by simply stacking and interconnecting the digital network. This paper describes the Burst Switching promise to meet the need of the tactical forces for the 21st century.