Logical Topology (also referred to as Signal Topology) is a network computing term used to describe the arrangement of devices on a network and how they communicate with one another.

How devices are connected to the network through the actual cables that transmit data, or the physical structure of the network, is called the physical topology.

Logical topologies are bound to network protocols and describe how data is moved across the network.

Examples

  • The Ethernet protocol is a common logical bus topology protocol
  • LocalTalk is a common logical bus or star topology protocol
  • Token Ring is a common logical ring topology protocol