SWITCHING

INTROUDCTION
• A switched network consists of a series of interlinked nodes called switches.
• Switches are devices capable of creating temporary connections between two or more devices
linked to a switch.
• In a switched network, some of these nodes are connected to the end systems (computers or
telephones).
• Other nodes are used for routing

SWITCHING AND TCP/IP LAYERS

• At the physical layer, circuit switching only is possible.
• No packets are exchanged at physical layer.
• Switches at physical layer allow signals to travel in one path or another.
• At the data link layer, packet switching is possible.
• Packet switching is done using a virtual – circuit approach.
CIRCUIT SWITCHED NETWORKS
• Consists of set of switches connected by physical links.
• A connection between two stations is a dedicated path made of one or more links.
• Each connection uses only one dedicated channel on each link.
• Each link is normally divided into n channels by using FDM or TDM

• In the diagram, the end systems such as computers or telephones are directly connected to a
switch.
• When end system A wants to communicate with end system M, system A needs to request a
connection to M.
• This request must be accepted by all switches.
• The above process is called Setup Phase.
• After the dedicated path is established, the data transfer phase takes place.
• After all data have been transferred, the circuits are torn down.
• 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.
• The resources such as channels, switch buffers, switch processing time, 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.
• Data are continuous flow sent by source station and received by destination station.
• No addressing is involved during data transfer.
• The switch route the data based on their occupied band (FDM) or time slot (TDM).
• The three phases are
• Connection setup
• Data transfer
• Connection teardown
• Setup Phase:
• Dedicated circuit needs to be established.
• End systems are normally connected through dedicated lines to the switches.
• Connection setup – creating dedicated channels between the switches.
• When system A needs to connect with M, it sends a setup request that includes the
address of system M, to switch I.
• Switch I finds a channel between itself and switch IV that can be dedicated for this
purpose.
• Switch I finds a channel between itself and switch IV. Switch I sends the request to
switch IV.
• Switch IV finds a dedicated channel between itself and switch III. Switch III informs
system M about system A’s intention.
• To establish a connection, an acknowledgement from system M needs to be sent in
the opposite direction to system A.
• Only after system A receives the acknowledgement, the connection is established.
• Data Transfer Phase
• After the establishment of the dedicated circuit, two parties can transfer data.
• Teardown Phase
• When one system wants to disconnect, a signal is sent to each switch to release the
resource.
• EFFICIENCY
• Circuit switch networks not efficient as the other two networks.
• Resources are allocated during the entire duration of the connection.
• Resources are unavailable to other connections.
• DELAY
• Circuit switched network has low efficiency.
• Delay is minimal.
• During data transfer the data are not delayed at each switch.
• No waiting time at each switch.
• Total delay is due to the time needed to create the connection, transfer data and
disconnect the circuit.
• Delay caused by setup is sum of four parts:
• Propagation time of the source computer request
• The request signal transfer time
• The Propagation time of the acknowledgment from the destination.
• Signal transfer time of the acknowledgement
• Delay caused by data transfer is sum of two parts:
• Propagation time
• Data transfer
PACKET SWITCHING
• In data communications, we need to send messages from one end system to another.
• In packet switched network, the messages must be divided into packets of fixed or variable
size.
• The size of the packet is determined by the network and governing protocol.
• In packet switching, there is no resource allocation for a packet.
• No reserved bandwidth on the links.
• No scheduled processing time for each packet.
• Resources are allocated on demand.
• The allocation is done on first come first serve basis.
• When a switch receives a packet, the packet must wait if there are other packets being
processed.
• This lack of reservation causes delay.
• In a Datagram network, each packet is treated independently. Packets are referred as
datagrams.
• Datagram switching is done at Network Layer.
• The following figure explains how datagram approach is used to deliver four packets from
station A to station X.
• Switches in a Datagram network is referred to as Routers.

PACKET SWITCHING – DATAGRAM SWITCHING

• In a Datagram network, each packet is treated independently. Packets are referred as
datagrams.
• Datagram switching is done at Network Layer.
• The following figure explains how datagram approach is used to deliver four packets from
station A to station X.
• Switches in a Datagram network is referred to as Routers.
• All four datagrams belong to the same message. But they may travel in different paths to
reach their destination.
 • This approach can cause the datagrams of a transmission to arrive at their destination out of
order with different delays between the packets.
• Packets may be lost or dropped because of a lack of resources.
• It is responsibility of the upper layer to reorder the datagrams.
• Datagram Networks – Connectionless networks – switch does not keep information about the
connection state.
• Routing Table
• No setup phase and tear down phase.
• Each switch has a routing table which is based on destination address.
• Routing tables are dynamic and updated periodically.
• Routing table consists of destination address and forwarding output ports
• Destination Address
• Every packet carries a header that contains the destination address of the packet.
• When the switch receives the packet, this destination address is examined.
• The routing table is consulted to find the corresponding port through which the packet
should be forwarded.
• Efficiency
• Better than circuit switching.
• Resources are allocated only when there are packets to be transferred.
• Delay
• Greater delay than circuit switching
• Each packet may experience a wait at a switch before it is forwarded.
• Since all packets do not travel through same switches, the delay is not uniform

PACKET SWITCHING – VIRTUAL CIRCUIT NETWORKS

• Virtual circuit network is a cross between circuit switched network and datagram network.
• Setup and teardown phase available.
• Resources can be allocated during the setup phase or on demand.
• Data’s are packetized and each packet carries an address in the header.
• The address in the header has local jurisdiction – it defines the next switch and the channel on
which the packet is carried. (Not end to end Jurisdiction)
• All the packets follow the same path established during the connection.
• Virtual circuit network is implemented in data link layer.
• Addressing
– Global addressing
– Local addressing
• Global Addressing
– An address that can be unique in the scope of network
– Global address is used to only create a virtual circuit identifier.
• Virtual Circuit Identifier
– The identifier is actually used for data transfer is called virtual circuit identifier (VCI)
or Label.
– VCI is a small number that has only switch scope.
– It is used by a frame between two switches.
– When a frame arrives at a switch it has a VCI.
– When it leaves, it has different VCI

• Three Phases
– In the setup phase, the source and destination use their global addresses to help
switches for connection.
– In teardown phase, the source and destination inform the switches to delete the
corresponding entry.
• Data Transfer phase
– To transfer a frame from source to destination, all switches need to have a table entry
for this virtual circuit.
– The table has four columns. Incoming Port and VCI, Outgoing Port and VCI.
– The figure shows a frame arriving at port 1 with a VCI of 14.
– When the frame arrives, the switch looks in its table to find port1 and a VCI of 14.
– When it is found, the switch knows to change the VCI to 22 and send out the frame
from port 3.
• Setup Phase
– A Switch creates an entry for virtual circuit.
 – Suppose source A needs to create a virtual circuit to B.
– Two steps: Setup Request and Ackno
• Setup Request
– Source A sends a frame to switch I.
– Switch I receives the setup request frame.
– It knows that a frame going from A to B goes out through port 3.
– The switch has the routing table.
– The switch creates an entry in its table and fills three of four columns.
– The switch assigns the incoming port as 1 and chooses an available incoming VCI
(14) and outgoing port as 3.
– It does not know the outgoing VCI. This will be found in acknowledgement step.
• Setup Request
– The switch then forwards the frame through port 3 to switch 2.
– Switch 2 receives the setup request frame. The same events happen here as at switch
1. In this case incoming port (1), VCI as 66 and outgoing port as 2.
– Switch 3 receives the setup request frame. Again three fields are filled. Incoming port
(2), VCI as 22 and outgoing port (3)
– Destination B receives the setup frame and if it is ready to receive frame from A it
assigns VCI.

• Acknowledgement
– Destination sends an ACK to switch 3.
– The ACK carries the global source and destination address so the switch knows
which entry in the table is to be completed.
– The frame carries VCI 77 chosen by destination as the incoming VCI for frames from
A.
– Switch 3 sends an ACK to switch 2 that contains its incoming VCI table.
– Switch 3 sends an ACK to switch 1 that contains its incoming VCI
– Finally switch 1 sends an ACK to system A.
• Teardown Phase
– Source A after sending all frames to B sends a special frame called a teardown
request.
 – Destination B responds with a teardown confirmation frame.
– All switches delete the entry from their tables.
• Efficiency
– Resource reservation can be made setup or on demand.
– In first case delay for each packet is same.
– In second case, each packet may encounter different delays.
– Source can check the availability of resources
• Delay
– The packet is travelling through two switches.
– There are three transmission times, Three propagation times, data transfer, setup
delay and teardown delay
Total delay = 3T+3Propagation Time + setup delay + teardown delay
• Message switching is known by store and forward mechanism.
• In this mechanism, a node receives a message, stores it until the appropriate route is free and
then sends the message.