MODULE II

Switching
Simple Switched Network
Switching Networks
• Long distance transmission is typically done over a
network of switched nodes
• Nodes not concerned with content of data
• End devices are stations
—Computer, terminal, phone, etc.
• communications network -A collection of nodes.
• Data routed by being switched from node to node
Nodes
• Nodes may connect to other nodes only, or to stations
and other nodes
• Node to node links usually multiplexed.
• Node-station links are generally dedicated point-to-
point links.
• Network is usually partially connected
—Some redundant connections are desirable for reliability
Simple Switched Network
Taxonomy of switched networks
Circuit Switching(Physical Layer)
• A circuit-switched network consists of a set of
switches connected by physical links.
• A connection between two stations is a dedicated
path made of one or more links. However, each
connection uses only one dedicated channel on each
link.
• Each link is normally divided into n channels by
using FDM or TDM
A trivial circuit-switched network
• Circuit switching takes place at the physical layer.
• Before starting communication, the stations must make a reservation
for the resources to be used during the communication. These
resources, such as channels (bandwidth in FDM and time slots in
TDM), switch buffers, switch processing time, and switch
input/output ports, must remain dedicated during the entire duration
of data transfer until the teardown phase.
• Data transferred between the two stations are not packetized
(physical layer transfer of the signal). The data are a continuous flow
sent by the source station and received y the destination station,
although there may be periods of silence.
• There is no addressing involved during data transfer. The switches
route the data based on their occupied band (FDM) or time slot
(TDM).
Example
• As a trivial example, let us use a circuit-switched network to connect eight
telephones in a small area. Communication is through 4-kHz voice
channels. We assume that each link uses FDM to connect a maximum of
two voice channels. The bandwidth of each link is then 8 kHz. Figure 8.4
• shows the situation. Telephone 1 is connected to telephone 7; 2 to 5; 3 to
8; and 4 to 6. Of course the situation may change when new connections
are made. The switch controls the connections.
Circuit Switching
• Dedicated communication path between two stations
• Three phases
—Establish
—Transfer
—Disconnect
• Must have switching capacity and channel capacity
to establish connection
• Must have intelligence to work out routing
Circuit Switching
Circuit Switching
• Inefficient
—Channel capacity dedicated for duration of connection
—If no data, capacity wasted
• Set up (connection) takes time
• Once connected, transfer is transparent
• 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
Public Circuit Switched Network
Telecommunication Components
• Subscriber
— Devices attached to network
• Subscriber line
— The link between the subscriber and the network
— Known as Local Loop or Subscriber loop
— Few km up to few tens of km
• Exchange
— Switching centers in the network.
— A switching center that directly supports subscribers is known as an
end office.

• Trunks
— Branches between exchanges
— Trunks carry multiple voice frequency circuits using either FDM or
synchronous TDM
Circuit Establishment
Circuit Switch Elements
Circuit Switching Concepts
• Digital Switch
— Provide transparent signal path between devices
• Network Interface Element
- represents the functions and hardware needed to connect digital
devices, such as data processing devices and digital telephones.
• Control Unit
— Establish connections
• Generally on demand
• Handle and acknowledge requests
• Determine if destination is free
• construct path
— Maintain connection
— Disconnect
Characteristics of Circuit Switching
• Blocking
—A network is unable to connect stations because all paths
are in use
—Used on voice systems
• Short duration calls
• Non-blocking
—Permits all stations to connect (in pairs) at once
—Used for some data connections
Message switching(Application
Layer)
• No dedicated path between sender and
receiver.
• Store and forward.
• Not suitable for real time applications
Packet Switching Principles
• In a packet-switched network, there is no resource
reservation; resources are allocated on demand.
• 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
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
Packet Switching Technique
• Station breaks long message into packets
• Packets sent one at a time to the network
• Packets handled in two ways
—Datagram Approach
—Virtual circuit Approach
Datagram Approach(Network Layer)
• Datagram switching is normally done at the network layer
• Packets in this approach are referred to as datagrams.
• 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.
• A switch in a datagram network uses a routing table that is
based on the destination address.
A datagram network with four switches
Datagram
Diagram
Virtual Circuit Approach(DataLink Layer)
• Preplanned route established before any packets sent
• Call request and call accept packets establish
connection (handshake)
• Each packet contains a virtual circuit identifier(VCI)
instead of destination address
• No routing decisions required for each packet
• Clear request to drop circuit
• Not a dedicated path
Virtual
Circuit
Diagram
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