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Packet Switching

Packet switching uses small data packets that are transmitted individually through a network and reassembled at the destination. It allows for more efficient use of network resources than circuit switching as packets can share lines and be transmitted intermittently rather than dedicating a fixed bandwidth for the duration of a connection. Packets contain control information for routing and may take different paths through the network using either datagram or virtual circuit switching techniques. Adaptive routing is commonly used to dynamically select routes based on changing network conditions.

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Carl Benedict Abong
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13 views33 pages

Packet Switching

Packet switching uses small data packets that are transmitted individually through a network and reassembled at the destination. It allows for more efficient use of network resources than circuit switching as packets can share lines and be transmitted intermittently rather than dedicating a fixed bandwidth for the duration of a connection. Packets contain control information for routing and may take different paths through the network using either datagram or virtual circuit switching techniques. Adaptive routing is commonly used to dynamically select routes based on changing network conditions.

Uploaded by

Carl Benedict Abong
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Packet Switching

Principles
Circuit switching designed for voice
Resources dedicated to a particular call
Much of the time a data connection is idle
Data rate is fixed
Both ends must operate at the same rate
Basic Operation
Data transmitted in small packets
Typically 1000 octets
Longer messages split into series of packets
Each packet contains a portion of user data plus
some control info
Control info
Routing (addressing) info
Packets are received, stored briefly (buffered)
and past on to the next node
Store and forward
Use of Packets
Advantages
Line efficiency
Single node to node link can be shared by many
packets over time
Packets queued and transmitted as fast as possible
Data rate conversion
Each station connects to the local node at its own
speed
Nodes buffer data if required to equalize rates
Packets are accepted even when network is
busy
Delivery may slow down
Priorities can be used
Switching Technique
Station breaks long message into packets
Packets sent one at a time to the network
Packets handled in two ways
Datagram
Virtual circuit
Datagram
Each packet treated independently
Packets can take any practical route
Packets may arrive out of order
Packets may go missing
Up to receiver to re-order packets and recover
from missing packets
Virtual Circuit
Preplanned route established before any
packets sent
Call request and call accept packets establish
connection (handshake)
Each packet contains a virtual circuit identifier
instead of destination address
No routing decisions required for each packet
Clear request to drop circuit
Not a dedicated path
Virtual Circuits v Datagram
Virtual circuits
Network can provide sequencing and error control
Packets are forwarded more quickly
No routing decisions to make
Less reliable
Loss of a node looses all circuits through that node
Datagram
No call setup phase
Better if few packets
More flexible
Routing can be used to avoid congested parts of the
network
Circuit v Packet Switching
Performance
Propagation delay
Transmission time
Node delay
External and Internal Operation
Packet switching - datagrams or virtual circuits
Interface between station and network node
Connection oriented
Station requests logical connection (virtual circuit)
All packets identified as belonging to that connection &
sequentially numbered
Network delivers packets in sequence
External virtual circuit service
e.g. X.25
Different from internal virtual circuit operation
Connectionless
Packets handled independently
External datagram service
Different from internal datagram operation
Combinations (1)
External virtual circuit, internal virtual circuit
Dedicated route through network
External virtual circuit, internal datagram
Network handles each packet separately
Different packets for the same external virtual circuit
may take different internal routes
Network buffers at destination node for re-ordering
Combinations (2)
External datagram, internal datagram
Packets treated independently by both network and
user
External datagram, internal virtual circuit
External user does not see any connections
External user sends one packet at a time
Network sets up logical connections
Routing
Complex, crucial aspect of packet switched
networks
Characteristics required
Correctness
Simplicity
Robustness
Stability
Fairness
Optimality
Efficiency
Performance Criteria
Used for selection of route
Minimum hop
Least cost
Decision Time and Place
Time
Packet or virtual circuit basis
Place
Distributed
Made by each node
Centralized
Source
Network Information Source
and Update Timing
Routing decisions usually based on knowledge
of network (not always)
Distributed routing
Nodes use local knowledge
May collect info from adjacent nodes
May collect info from all nodes on a potential route
Central routing
Collect info from all nodes
Update timing
When is network info held by nodes updated
Fixed - never updated
Adaptive - regular updates
Routing Strategies
Fixed
Flooding
Random
Adaptive
Fixed Routing
Single permanent route for each source to
destination pair

Route fixed, at least until a change in network


topology
Flooding
No network info required
Packet sent by node to every neighbor
Incoming packets retransmitted on every link
except incoming link
Eventually a number of copies will arrive at
destination
Each packet is uniquely numbered so duplicates
can be discarded
Nodes can remember packets already forwarded
to keep network load in bounds
Can include a hop count in packets
Properties of Flooding
All possible routes are tried
Very robust
At least one packet will have taken minimum
hop count route
Can be used to set up virtual circuit
All nodes are visited
Useful to distribute information (e.g. routing)
Random Routing
Node selects one outgoing path for
retransmission of incoming packet
Selection can be random or round robin
Can select outgoing path based on probability
calculation
No network info needed
Route is typically not least cost nor minimum
hop
Adaptive Routing
Used by almost all packet switching networks
Routing decisions change as conditions on the
network change
Failure
Congestion
Requires info about network
Decisions more complex
Tradeoff between quality of network info and
overhead
Reacting too quickly can cause oscillation
Too slowly to be relevant
Adaptive Routing - Advantages
Improved performance
Aid congestion control
Complex system
May not realize theoretical benefits
Classification
Based on information sources
Local (isolated)
Route to outgoing link with shortest queue
Can include bias for each destination
Rarely used - do not make use of easily available info
Adjacent nodes
All nodes
X.25
1976
Interface between host and packet switched
network
Almost universal on packet switched networks
and packet switching in ISDN
Defines three layers
Physical
Link
Packet
X.25 - Physical
Interface between attached station and link to
node
Data terminal equipment DTE (user equipment)
Data circuit terminating equipment DCE (node)
Uses physical layer specification X.21
Reliable transfer across physical link
Sequence of frames
X.25 - Link
Link Access Protocol Balanced (LAPB)
Subset of HDLC
X.25 - Packet
External virtual circuits
Logical connections (virtual circuits) between
subscribers
Virtual Circuit Service
Virtual Call
Dynamically established
Permanent virtual circuit
Fixed network assigned virtual circuit
Multiplexing
DTE can establish 4095 simultaneous virtual
circuits with other DTEs over a single DTC-DCE
link
Packets contain 12 bit virtual circuit number
Packet Sequences
Complete packet sequences
Allows longer blocks of data across network with
smaller packet size without loss of block
integrity
A packets
M bit 1, D bit 0
B packets
The rest
Zero or more A followed by B
Reset and Restart
Reset
Reinitialize virtual circuit
Sequence numbers set to zero
Packets in transit lost
Up to higher level protocol to recover lost packets
Triggered by loss of packet, sequence number error,
congestion, loss of network internal virtual circuit
Restart
Equivalent to a clear request on all virtual circuits
E.g. temporary loss of network access

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