Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC)

A PVC is designed to eliminate the need to set up a call connection on frame relay, ATM or X.25 networks. Typically, the physical connections of a frame relay or supported network into various virtual circuits (VC) allow a physical connection to support multiple VCs simultaneously. Each connection is permanent and transfers data by utilizing the underlying bandwidth capacity and infrastructure. For example, a bank’s headquarters often sets up a PVC between branch offices for continuous data exchange and transfer.