Question: how it works frame v.s packet (functional/operational? 

Answer: There is not much difference between frames and packets. it's just naming. Generally, in networking, units of data that is sent out at the Layer 2 level, are called frames. for example, Ethernet frames, sonet frames etc. for Layer 3 onwards, the same thing is called packets, for example, IP packet, ICMP packet, TCP packet etc.
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