From the perspective of next generation networks one might like to enhance benefits of the current system, while eliminating, or at least reducing the legacy issues.

In the near term future one might find it possible to partially implement a somewhat more satisfactory system in the context of intelligent optical networks, combined with next generation routers and emergent wireless networks.

In the long term future it seems one might consider how a persistent state mechanism of some form, will make a replica of itself in another context.

Notably for example naturally evolved neural networks apparently do not require network layers, for serial pulse information flow between disparate end nodes.

Modern broadband networks although obviously much faster and far more complex are, for the most part, very similar in principle, to the telegraph system, of previous centuries.

Specialized computers called routers rather than intermediate Morse code operators repeat byte coded messages towards the calculated correct target on an outgoing line.

The target address of a network node has a unique tag carried internally by the message, or packet. Contiguous ranges of these numerical tags are called routes and are stored in route registries.

Individual messages are limited to a maximum length called the maximum transmission unit (MTU) from the beginning of the IPv6 header to the end of the payload data, including embedded headers, where as the maximum segment size (MSS) is just the payload data.