packet switching 
noun [mass noun] Computing & Telecommunications
A mode of data transmission in which a message is broken into a number of parts which are sent independently, over whatever route is optimum for each packet, and reassembled at the destination. Compare with message switching.Its network uses packet switching to route calls, meaning voice data from the caller is chopped up into packets, sent, and then reassembled at the recipient's end....
- Parks Associates predicts a boom in cable telephony as packet-switching technologies ‘revolutionize the telecommunication market.’
- You can think of this as the database equivalent of packet switching, in which a telephone line is shared among numerous parties by taking advantage of the fact that no one needs the line 100% of the time.