Message switching
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In telecommunications, message switching was the precursor of packet switching, where messages were routed in their entirety, one hop at a time. Message switching systems are nowadays mostly implemented over packet-switched or circuit-switched data networks.
Hop-by-hop Telex forwarding and UUCP are examples of message switching systems. E-mail is another example of a message switching system.
When this form of switching is used, no physical path is established in advance in between sender and receiver. Instead, when the sender has a block of data to be sent, it is stored in the first switching office (i.e. router) then forwarded later at one hop at a time. Each block is received in its entity form, inspected for errors and then forwarded or re-transmitted
- to do: commercial message switching and routing systems