# PS Network - Packet Switched Network PS networks represent the modern method of handling communications in telecom networks, providing flexibility, efficiency, and the ability to support a wide range of services beyond traditional voice, including high-speed data, video, and multimedia services. In the context of telecom networks evolution, **PS network** stands for **Packet-Switched network**. This type of network is used primarily for data communication, where data is broken into packets before being transmitted over the network and reassembled at the destination. Key characteristics and context of PS networks in telecom evolution include: 1. **Data Communication**: Initially designed for data services but has increasingly been used for voice services with the advent of technologies like VoIP. 2. **Packet Transmission**: Data is divided into packets, each of which can take different paths to reach the destination, optimizing network usage and efficiency. 3. **Examples**: [[IP - Internet Protocol]] networks, including the modern Internet and mobile data networks like [[GPRS - General Packet Radio Service]], [[EDGE]], [[3G - High-speed digital cellular telephony|3G]], [[4G - IP-based voice, data and multimedia telephony|4G]], and [[5G - Massive IoT ready|5G]]. 4. **Efficiency**: More efficient than circuit-switched networks for handling bursty data traffic and multiple types of services (voice, video, data). 5. **Integration with Voice Services**: With technologies like [[VoIP - Voice-over IP|VoIP]] and [[IMS - IP Multimedia Subsystem|IMS]], PS networks have become integral in delivering voice services, particularly in [[LTE - Long Term Evolution|LTE - Long Term Evolution]] and [[5G - Massive IoT ready|5G]] networks. 6. **Evolution**: Starting with [[GPRS - General Packet Radio Service|2.5G]] and fully realized in [[3G - High-speed digital cellular telephony|3G]]/[[UMTS - Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service|UMTS - Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service]], [[4G - IP-based voice, data and multimedia telephony|4G]]/[[LTE - Long Term Evolution|LTE - Long Term Evolution]], and [[5G - Massive IoT ready|5G]] networks, which are predominantly packet-switched.