virtual circuit

A connection between two devices that acts as though it's a direct connection even though it may physically be circuitous. The term is used most frequently to describe connections between two hosts in a packet-switching network. In this case, the two hosts can communicate as though they have a dedicated connection even though the packets might actually travel very different routes before arriving at their destination. A Telnet session is an example of a virtual circuit.Virtual circuits can be either permanent (called PVCs) or temporary (called SVCs).

A network service which provides connection-oriented service regardless of the underlying network structure. See also: connection-oriented.