Abstract: In a network having a plurality of node apparatus connected to a transmission line, each node apparatus segmenting a transmission message into information blocks of a predetermined length and transmitting them to the transmission line in the form of a fixed length packet (cell) having a source address, each node apparatus sequentially stores packets having different source addresses in vacant memory blocks of a buffer memory. There is written in each memory block the packet data as well as a next address pointer indicating a memory block in which the next received packet having the same source address is stored. When a packet containing the last information block of a message is received, stored in a read address queue is the address indicating the memory block which stores the first information block of the same packet.