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Multiplexing and
UNIT 3: MULTIPLEXING AND SWITCHING Switching

Structure Page No.

3.0 Introduction 41
3.1 Objectives 41
3.2 Multiplexing concept 42
3.3 Frequency-Division Multiplexing 43
3.4 Time-Division Multiplexing 45
3.5 Code Division Multiplexing 46
3.6 Space Division Multiplexing 47
3.7 Switching 48
3.8 Message Switching 50
3.9 Circuit Switching 51
3.10 Packet Switching 52
3.10.1 Connection Less Packet Switching
3.10.2 Connection Oriented Packet Switching
3.11 Summary 57
3.12 References/Further Reading 57
3.13 Solutions/Answers 57

3.0 INTRODUCTION
The most fundamental need of any communication system design is to cater to large
number of users. But this requires a large number of resources and large bandwidths
supporting multiple channels. Requirement for large number of resources can be met
if the resources are available, but this makes it cost ineffective. Therefore, the aim is
always to use minimum number of resources and make their utilisation to their fullest
potential. Bandwidth always remains a critical resource due to its limited availability
and therefore, communication systems try to harness its fullest potential. Networks
always require us to accommodate multiple signals utilizing a single piece of cabling
to make it cost effective and reduce complexity. This need is seen throughout
networking whether we are talking about local area networks or wide area ones.
Modern telephone systems must place a large number of calls over a limited amount
of bandwidth (i.e. a trunk). Broadband LANs must have several different types of data
on a single wire at once. For these applications, we need to share the resources and in
particular the bandwidth. Multiplexing and Switching are the two most important
techniques being employed for this purpose in the present day communication
systems and have been discussed in the present unit.

3.1 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you should be able to:
• Know the concept of Multiplexing and Switching in computer networks
• Understand the basic multiplexing techniques like FDM, TDM, CDM and SDM
• Differentiate between different types of multiplexing techniques
• Know the switching mechanisms
• Differentiate between packet, circuit and message switching
• Understand the different packet switching mechanisms

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Concepts of
Communication and 3.2 MULTIPLEXING CONCEPT
Networking
In general, a medium can carry only one signal at any moment in time. For multiple
signals to share one medium, the medium must somehow be divided, giving each
signal a portion of the total bandwidth. Multiplexing (also known as MUXing) is a
method by which multiple analog message signals or digital data streams are
combined into one signal over a shared medium. The basic aim of the Multiplexing is
to share an expensive resource by putting-up multiple signals on the same channel.
For example, in telecommunications, several telephone calls may be carried using one
wire. Multiplexing originated in telegraphy in the 1870s, and is now widely applied in
different streams of communications. When several communication channels are
needed between the same two points, significant economies may be realized by
sending all the messages on one transmission facility – called multiplexing. As
shown in Figure 1, n number of signals from the low speed channels have been
combined to one sigh speed link using a n:1 multiplexer. Whereas the opposite
process is carried out at the other end, where the signals are further separated into n
number of low speed channels. This opposite process is referred as demultiplexing.

n-Channels n-Channels
(Low Speed (Low Speed
Channels) Channels)
High Speed Link

Figure 1: Multiplexing and De-Multiplexing

Thus, Multiplexing refers to the ability to transmit data coming from several pairs of
equipment (transmitters and receivers) called low-speed channels on a single physical
medium (called the high-speed channel). Whereas, a multiplexer is the multiplexing
device that combines the signals from the different transmitters and sends them over
the high-speed channel. A demultiplexer is the device which separates signal received
from a high-speed channel into different signal and sends them to receivers.

There are four basic multiplexing techniques:

• Frequency division multiplexing (FDM)

• Time division Multiplexing (TDM)

• Code division Multiplexing (CDM)

• Space-division Multiplexing (SDM)

• Frequency division Multiplexing: Bandwidth is divided into different smaller

frequency bands (range).

• Time division Multiplexing (TDM) (Time slots are allocated to message signals
in an non overlapping manner in the time domain so that individual messages
can be recovered from time synchronized switches)

• Quadrature Carrier/amplitude Multiplexing (QAM): Two message signals are

transmitted in the same frequency band. The recovery is possible due to the
carrier signals being orthogonal)

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• Code division Multiplexing (CDM) users occupy the same frequency band but Multiplexing and
modulate their messages with different codes TDMA FDMA CDMA when Switching
used for multiple access TDMA, FDMA, e.g., GSM, FM, AM, Wireless
networks

Check Your Progress 1

1. Define multiplexing.

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2. State the importance of multiplexing.

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3. What are the multiplexing techniques?

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3.3 FREQUENCY-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING

Frequency division multiplexing (FDM) is the technique used to divide the available
bandwidth into a number of smaller independent logical channels with each channel
having a small bandwidth. The method of using a number of carrier frequencies each
of which is modulated by an independent speech signal is in fact frequency division
multiplexing. The following Figure 2 depicts the basic process of frequency division
multiplexing, in which the total bandwidth has been divided into n-number of
different channels and each one of them working with a specific bandwidth.

The following figure 2 depicts how three voice-grade telephone channels are
multiplexed using FDM. When many channels are multiplexed together, 4000Hz is
allocated to each channel to keep them well separated. First the voice channels are
raised in frequency, each by a different amount. Then they can be combined, because
no two channels can occupy the same portion of the spectrum. Notice that even
though there are gaps (guard bands) between the channels, there is some overlap
between adjacent channels, because the filters do not have sharp edges. This overlap
means that a strong spike at the edge of one channel will be felt in the adjacent one as
non-thermal noise.

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Concepts of
Communication and
Networking

Figure 2: Frequency Division Multiplexing

In the telecommunication technology, the total bandwidth available in a
communication medium is divided into a series of non-overlapping frequencies sub-
bands using the frequency division multiplexing. Each one of these sub-bands then
carries a separate signal. This allows a single transmission medium such as a cable or
optical fiber to be shared by many signals. An example of a system using FDM is
cable television, in which many television channels are carried simultaneously on a
single cable. FDM is also used by telephone systems to transmit multiple telephone
calls through high capacity trunk lines, communications satellites to transmit multiple
channels of data on uplink and downlink radio beams, and broadband DSL modems to
transmit large amounts of computer data through twisted pairs telephone lines, among
many other uses.Frequency-division multiplexing works best with low-speed devices.
The frequency division multiplexing schemes used around the world are very
standardized. A wide spread standard is 12, 4000-Hz each voice channels (3000Hz for
user, plus two guard bands of 500Hz each) multiplexed into the 60 to 108 KHz band.
Many carriers offer a 48 to 56 kbps leased line service to customers, based on the
group. The frequency band division has been illustrated in the Figure 3 taking some
example frequencies.

MUX DEMUX

Figure 3: Illustration of FDM using four different channels

In Telephony, the most widely used method of modulation in FDM is single sideband
modulation, which, in the case of voice signals, requires a bandwidth that is
approximately equal to that of the original voice signal. Each voice input is usually
assigned a bandwidth of 4 KHz. The bandpass filters following the modulators are
used to restrict the band of each modulated signal to its prescribed range. The

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resulting bandpass filter outputs are combined in parallel to form the input to the Multiplexing and
common channel. At the receiving terminal, a bank of band pass filters, with their Switching
inputs connected in parallel, is used to separate the message signals on a frequency-
occupancy basis. The original message signals are recovered by individual
demodulators

Frequency division multiplexing (FDM) is also referred as the Wavelength division

multiplexing (WDM), where we are using the optical communications focusing on the
wavelength rather than the frequency.

Advantages of FDM:
1. The users can be added to the system by simply adding another pair of
transmitter modulator and receiver demodulators.
2. FDM system support full duplex information (Both side simultaneous
Communication) flow which is required by most of application.

Disadvantages of FDM:
1. In FDM system, the initial cost is high. This may include the cable between the
two ends and the associated connectors for the cable.
2. A problem with one user can sometimes affect the others.
3. Each user requires a precise carrier frequency for transmission of the signals.

3.4 TIME-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING

Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) is another popular method of utilizing the
capacity of a physical channel effectively. Each user of the channel is allotted a small
time interval during which it may transmit a message. Thus the total time available in
the channel is divided and each user is allocated a time slot. Data from each user is
multiplexed into a frame which is transmitted over the channel. In TDM, user’s
messages are buffered as they received and read from the buffer during its time slot to
make a frame. Therefore each user can use the full channel bandwidth. The channel
capacity is fully utilized in TDM by interleaving a number of messages belonging to
different users into one long message. This message sent through the physical channel
must be separated at the receiving end. Individual chunks of message sent by each
user should be reassembled into a full message. The process of the Time division
multiplexing has been shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Time Division Multiplexing

Sharing of the signal is accomplished by dividing available transmission time on a
medium among users. For example, in some countries, the individual stations have
two logical sub channels: music and advertising. These two alternate in time on the
same frequency first a burst of music, then a burst of advertising, then more music and

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Concepts of so on. This situation is time division multiplexing. Unfortunately, TDM can only be
Communication and used for digital data multiplexing. Since local loops produce analog signals, a
Networking conversion is needed from analog to digital in the end office. Where all the individual
local loops come together to be combined onto outgoing trucks. The TDM process is
further illustrated in Figure 5 with the digital data stream.

Figure 5: Digital Transmission using TDM

Applications of TDM
• The PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy) system, also known as the PCM
(Pulse Code Modulation) systems
• The synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) / synchronous optical networking
(SONET) network transmission standards.
• TDM can be further extended into the time division multiple Channel (TDMA)
scheme, where several stations connected to the same physical medium, for
example sharing the same frequency channel, can communicate. Application
examples include the widely used GSM telephone system

Advantages of TDM
1. It uses a single link
2. It does not require precise carrier matching at both end of the links.
3. Use of the channel capacity is high.
4. Each to expand the number of users on a system at a low cost.
5. There is no need to include identification of the traffic stream on each packet.

Disadvantages of TDM
1. The sensitivity to other user is very high and causes problems
2. Initial cost is high
3. Technical complexity is more

3.5 CODE DIVISION MULTIPLEXING

As you may know, the concept of multiple access where we can allow several
transmitters to send information simultaneously over a single communication channel
and it allows several users to share a band of frequencies (or you can say bandwidth).

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CDMA uses spread-spectrum technology and a special coding scheme (where each Multiplexing and
transmitter is assigned a code generally pseudorandom code) to allow multiple users Switching
to be multiplexed over the same physical channel. By contrast, time division multiple
access (TDMA) divides access by time, while frequency-division multiple access
(FDMA) divides it by frequency. CDMA is a form of spread-spectrum signalling,
since the modulated coded signal has a much higher data bandwidth than the data
being communicated. This allows more users to communicate on the same network at
one time than if each user was allotted a specific frequency range. Remember that
CDMA is a digital technology, so analog signals must be digitized before being
transmitted on the network.

3.6 SPACE DIVISION MULTIPLEXING

When we want to transmit multiple messages through any of the communication
media, the ultimate goal is to maximize the use of the given resources (e.g. time and
frequency in general). It involves grouping many separate wires into a common cable
enclosure. A cable that has, for example, 50 twisted pairs inside it can support 50
channels. SDM has the unique advantage of not requiring any multiplexing
equipment. It is usually combined with other multiplexing techniques to better utilize
the individual physical channels. For example, if there are six persons in the office
and all of them want to talk at the same time, this will give rise to interference
between the conversations. To reduce the interference they may divide themselves
into three groups of two, such that the conversation is between each pair of people. If
the pairs continue talking whilst sitting next to each other, the interference would still
be present. The best way for each pair to converse with minimal interference would
be to sit a few feet away from the other pairs (within the same room) and converse.
They would still be sharing the same medium for their conversations but the physical
space in the room would be divided for each conversation. This is the simplest
example of Space Division Multiplexing. The concept of SDM has been illustrated in
Figure 6.

Figure 6: Space Division Multiplexing

Space Division Multiplexing is the multiplexing technique in which both the time and
frequency can be reused by transmitting our information through a parallel set of
channels.

In wired communication, space-division multiplexing simply implies different point-

to-point wires for different channels. Examples include an analogue stereo audio
cable, with one pair of wires for the left channel and another for the right channel, and
a multipair telephone cable usually employed to provide PSTN connections in
different homes. Another example is a switched star network such as the analog
telephone access network (although inside the telephone exchange or between the
exchanges, other multiplexing techniques are typically employed). In wireless
communication, space-division multiplexing is achieved by multiple antenna elements
forming a phased array antenna. Examples are multiple-input and multiple-output
(MIMO), single-input and multiple-output (SIMO) and multiple-input and single-
output (MISO) multiplexing.

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Concepts of
Communication and 3.7 SWITCHING
Networking
Switching forms a very important process in a communication system. A switch is
used to connect the incoming link to the desired outgoing link and directs the
incoming message to the appropriate outgoing link. Let us understand the concept of
switching with the help of a simple illustrative example.

Consider a group of 8 people with telephones. If we were to use direct lines between
all the people, we would need 28 duplex (wires that allow simultaneous two-way
conversation) lines. The arithmetic is pretty simple - to connect n subscribers directly,
we need n(n-1)/2 lines. This is alright as long as the number of subscribers is less and
the distances are also small. But in the present day electronic communication systems,
we are talking about connecting the entire world - obviously direct connections are
not the answer. We need to design a system, which can connect the people from
anywhere. Now, if we were to use a switch instead, we could reduce the number of
lines needed to just 4, because with 8 subscribers, there would at the most be just 4
conversations simultaneously. The switch would have 4 lines internally and it would
use the each line to connect a pair of subscribers. This has been illustrated in Figure 7
below.

Figure 7: A simple switch with 4-input and 4-output lines

Let us assume the switch in the above diagram has 4 internal lines A, B, C and D. Say
A is being used to connect 1 to 7 and B to connect 4 to 5. Now if 3 were to wish to get
connected to 8, the switch would 'patch' the ends of C so that 3 and 8 are connected.
Instead, if 6 had lifted the phone before the 3 and tried to get connected to 2, the
switch would use C to 'patch' a connection between 6 and 2. We assume that the order
in which the lines A, B, C and D are used is in accordance with their alphabetical
order. This assumption is valid and any other order would not have any bearing upon
the concept of switching. The fact remains that the lines A, B, C and D are not fixed.
Their end-points change from time to time. Thus they are switched circuits.

Figure 8: Two Switches with 8-subscribers

Consider 2 such 8-subscriber switches as shown in the Figure 8. They are seemingly
connected by just one line. But this line is a multiplexed line, and is not switched. It is
called a trunk. It is not switched because it always carries traffic from switch a switch
b. Let us assume the multiplexer is capable of sending 4 simultaneous conversations
over one line. Then the trunk could be carrying conversations between 1-15, 4-9, 8-11
and 5-12. The lines internal to switch a would connect 1,4,8 and 5 to the multiplexer /

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demultiplexer (remember the line is duplex ) and therefore the trunk. Similarly, the Multiplexing and
lines internal to switch b would connect 15, 9, 11 and 12 to the multiplexer/ Switching
demultiplexer. The switched circuits are inside the switches a and b. But the trunk
between a and b is multiplexed with 4 conversations. So in a sense, the trunk is not
switched. But if you had more than one trunk between switches a and b, then the
trunks would also be switched. Why, because a call from 1 to 15 could go on either
trunk 1 or trunk 2 (assuming there are two trunks each capable of carrying 4
conversations). Thus, the trunks are now switched, in addition to being multiplexed.

It is very important to understand the difference between switching and multiplexing.

In simple terms, multiplexing is done to maximize the use of a communications
channel. Whereas, the switching is the manipulation of the ends of the
communications channel and is used to make the connections. The purpose of an
electrical switch is to close /open a circuit to allow/stop flow of current. A
communication switch is similarly used to allow/stop flow of message through the
path connecting the receiver and the transmitter. Two users, one can be called sender
and the other receiver, can be connected by a medium like a conducting wire over
which messages in the form of electrical signals can be transmitted from one user to
the other. A switch inserted in the electrical path between the two users facilitates
connection/disconnection of the users as desired by controlling the switch. The path
need not be on all the time. It needs to be switched on only when the users need to
communicate. The role of such a switch becomes more important when there are a
large number of users and a particular user at one time may want to communicate with
another user and wants to communicate still another user at a different time. Thus the
same user has to be connected to two different users at two different times. This can
be done by a controlled switch. Thus in a set of say n users, different users may like to
communicate with different users at different time. The simple 2 X 2 switch has been
illustrated in the Figure 9 below.

Figure 9: A Simple 2 X 2 Switch

Switching plays a very important role in telecommunication networks. It enables any
two users to communicate with each other. Basically, there are three categories of
Switching
a) Message Switching
b) Circuit Switching
c) Packet Switching

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Concepts of A circuit switch closes a circuit between the incoming and the outgoing paths so that
Communication and the incoming message can go to the output link. The circuit between any two desired
Networking paths is closed by a control signal applied to the switch. In message and packet
switching, the incoming message/packet to the node is stored in a memory location.
Then the stored message/packet is transferred to another desired memory location,
from where the message/packet can be delivered/forwarded to the next node or the
receiver. The transfer from the incoming bin to the outgoing bin is done with a
control/command signal.

3.8 MESSAGE SWITCHING

Message switching is one of the initial mode of switching, which helped a lot in the
proliferation of the electrical communication. It is interesting to know that electrical
communication in the form of Telegraph arrived earlier than the Telephone. Let us try
to understand the working of the Telegraph system to build the concept of message
switching. Consider the Figure 10 as a working model of the Telegraph Network. As
an example of message switching: A, B, ….F are the message switching
nodes/telegraph offices.

Figure 10: Working Model of the Telegraph Systems

The User who wants to send a telegraph comes to a Telegraph office with his message
and hands it over to the counter operator. Now the following sequences of events
occur:
• This message is sorted on the basis of the receiver’s address and clubbed with
other messages moving in the same direction, i.e., if in the Delhi’s telegraph
office the operator receives 10 messages for addresses in Mumbai, then they are
bundled and are sent.
• The operator in this case does not bother if the entire path (to Mumbai) is
available or not. He just forwards this message to the next node (Telegraph
Office) in the path (generally predetermined).
• The operator at the next node receives all these messages, stores, sorts and
forwards them.
In the olden days, the storage was done by manually. Human beings then did the
sorting. Later on the storage process was automated using paper tapes. The advantage
of using paper tapes is that the incoming signal is punched onto it automatically and
the same tape can be directly fed into the telegraph machine for further transmission.
In the Telegraph system, unlike telephones, no circuits are switched. Information is
transmitted as discrete messages. So this method of switching is known as Message
Switching. The important context is ‘Store and Forward’. At each node (telegraph
office) the message that arrives from the previous node in the path is stored for some
time, sorted, and depending on the availability of the path from this node to the next
in the path, the message is forwarded.

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There were central telegraph offices which acted like nodes of telegraph network and Multiplexing and
performed the task of message switching. as the teleprinters came, Morse code was Switching
replaced by machine telegraphy resulting in faster operations. Later computers were
introduced to do the function of message switching. Computer based message
switching is still used many organizations having many locations of working.
However, if we compare the cost, the telegraph is less costly than the telephone due to
the following reasons:
• Better utilization of transmission media
• The message switching is done over distributed time.
• Hogging (Capturing the entire path) does not occur in message switching. Only
one of the links in the entire path may be busy at a given time.
However, message switching requires storage and this may raise-up the cost of the
systems.

3.9 CIRCUIT SWITCHING

Circuit switching is defined as a mechanism applied in telecommunications (mainly in
PSTN) whereby the user is allocated the full use of the communication channel for
the duration of the call. That is if two parties wish to communicate, the calling party
has to first dial the numbers of the called party. Once those numbers are dialed, the
originating exchange will find a path to the terminating exchange, which will in turn
find the called party. After the circuit or channel has been set up, then communication
will take place, then once they are through the channel will be cleared. This
mechanism is referred to as being connection-oriented.

Voice being a very vital medium of human communication, telephone was invented. It
permitted long distance voice communication. The need of a user to talk to a desired
person out of many persons on a real time basis leads to the concept of establishing a
direct path between the caller and the called users. Circuit switching was conceived to
be an appropriate technique for the purpose. Telephone systems use circuit switching
largely to date because it serves the purpose very well. However, a major drawback of
circuit switching is the requirement of a dedicated path between the calling and the
called parties. This means reserving resources like the chain of switches and
transmission media over the entire path. This is obviously a costly proposition. The
circuit switching process has been illustrated in the Figure 11, for the telephone
network. In which, the physical connections are made by the switching offices to
connect the call of two users.

Figure 11: Circuit Switching in the Telephone Network

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Concepts of For each connection, physical switches are set in the telephone network to create a
Communication and physical “circuit” – That’s the job of the switching office Switches are set up at the
Networking beginning of the connection and maintained throughout the connection. Network
resources reserved and dedicated from sender to receiver. However this is not a very
efficient strategy as a connection “holds” a physical line even during “silence”
periods (when there is nothing to transmit)

Advantages of Circuit Switching:

• Once the circuit has been set up, communication is fast and without error.
• It is highly reliable

Disadvantages:
• Involves a lot of overhead, during channel set up.
• Waists a lot of bandwidth, especial in speech whereby a user is sometimes
listening, and not talking.
• Channel set up may take longer.
To overcome the disadvantages of circuit switching, packet switching was introduced,
and instead of dedicating a channel to only two parties for the duration of the call it
routes packets individually as they are available. This mechanism is referred to as
being connectionless packet switching as discussed in the next section.

Check Your Progress 2

1. Write differences between FDM and TDM.

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2. What is CDMA?

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3. What is Circuit Switching?

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3.10 PACKET SWITCHING

Packet Switching is the backbone of the present day communication systems. The
packet switching works on the principle that the long messages are fragmented into
small size units, known as packets. It is these packets that are transmitted instead of
the single long message. This method is slightly different from Message switching
and is called Packet switching. Figure12 shows a message broken down into small
sized packets P , P …P5.
1 2

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P1 Multiplexing and
P2 Switching
P3
P4
-
-
Pn
Figure 12: A Message broken into n number of packets
These packets are now transmitted over the network in the same manner as the
messages in message switching. The model is just like Sharing by taking turn and is
analogous to the conveyor belt in a warehouse. In this case, the Items are picked from
the storage room and placed on the conveyor belt every time a customer makes an
order. In this model, this is important that Different customers may request a different
number of items and Different users’ items may be interspersed on the conveyor belt
(they are “multiplexed”). Similarly in the Packet Switching, packetizes the data to
transfer and Multiplex it onto the wire. Thus packets from different connections share
the same link

The packets are stored and forwarded at every node. Obviously every packet now has
to have the source and destination addresses. Even in message switching repeated
transmission of addresses at every node consumes network bandwidth. In packet
switching the overhead/wastage is more because every packet is now required to carry
the addresses on their head. Thus each packet is composed of the payload (the data
we want to transmit) and a header. The header contains information useful for
transmission, such as:
• Source (sender’s) address
• Destination (recipient’s) address
• Packet size
• Sequence number
• Error checking information
The header introduces overheads, that is, additional bits to be sent. Therefore, it is
not wise to have packets that are too small. In the packet switching, each computer
attached to a network is assigned a unique number (called address). A packet contains
the address of the computer that sent it and the address of the computer to which it is
sent. In general, packets need not be of the same size, The Internet Protocol specifies
the maximum size in the form of Maximum transmission unit (MTU) and does not
give the No minimum size. But, header size is fixed (e.g., 20 bytes for TCP/IP in the
IP version 4 ). Packets are generated by the network hardware, however the
application (e.g., email) does not know that the data to be transmitted is packetized.
When packets are received, they are put together before the application accesses the
data. The process is shown in the Figure 13 below, where A and B are the sender and
C and D are the receiver.

Figure13: Packet Switching Example

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Concepts of So with the user message in a packet with the header is to be transmitted also. From
Communication and this point of view network bandwidth consumed is maximum in packet switching and
Networking minimum in circuit switching. Packets of the same message are launched into the
network in parallel over different available forward links at a node. These packets
would travel through different paths to arrive at the destination. This simultaneous
transmission of packets over different paths results in further improvement of the link
utilization compared to the message switching. Another advantage is that no link is
engaged for a long time since the packets are of smaller size than the single message.
This permits better sharing of the links amongst multiple users. However the scheme
just discussed has two major drawbacks. Firstly, the packets of the same message
traveling through different paths may arrive at the destination at different times due to
different delays encountered in different paths. Thus the packets may arrive out of
order. In order to deliver them to the destination, they need to be ordered which
requires extra processing and so more delay. They need to be given sequence numbers
for reordering them. The sequence number increases the overhead and requires more
network bandwidth. Secondly, some of the paths may not be very good and some
packets may get lost. This worsens the quality. To improve quality, they require
retransmission which in turn requires more processing time and more bandwidth. In
spite of these drawbacks the packet switching is the most favored technique in the
present day communication systems. The basic reasons behind this choice are:
a) Computer traffic being mostly text is non real time (in the beginning of the
networking)
b) Computer data traffic is highly bursty in nature
Considering these features it becomes obvious that circuit switching was not the right
kind of switching. Message switching can do the job but for better line utilization
packet switching is preferable. Thus computer networks used packet switching. The
difference between the packet switching and the circuit switching has been outlined in
the Table 1.

Table 1: Difference between the packet switching and Circuit Switching

S.No. Packet Switching Circuit Switching
1 Bandwidth is allocated dynamically. Fixed bandwidth allocation.
2 Packets has header, FCS. Don’t deal with data content and
error-checking
3 Better buffering. System can be Simple buffering
operated at different bit rate to inter-
network.
4 May be more economical as not Costs more for hardware.
needed dedicated circuit.
5 The packet needs to be re-transmitted Once connection is established,
every time when it gets lost, damaged communication is fast and almost
before it is received in this method. errorless.
6. Useful for bursty applications Useful for delay sensitive
applications

Categories of Packet Switching

The packet switching is basically, categorized in the following two categories:
a) Connection Less Packet Switching
b) Connection Oriented Packet Switching

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3.10.1 Connection Less Packet Switching Multiplexing and

Switching
In this mode of transmission, packets from a source machine to a
destination machine are transmitted as per-packet basis, meaning that each
packet is transmitted and routed independently from all other packets. So,
even if the source and destination machines do not change, routers in the
middle may decide to change the routes that different packets follow ,
resulting in the different packets reaching their destination in a different order
from the sender because of the different transmission path length , difference in
transmission rates, and the amount of congestion in the different paths. This is
illustrated in the following Figure 14.

Figure 14: Connection less Packet Switching

In the figure 14, S denotes the source and D denotes the destination. R represents the
router, whereas the packets have been shown by the arrow. Three packets are
transmitted from the same source machine heading towards the same destination
machine. Each route of the network shows the packets that have travelled over it. It is
clear that the packets may arrive at the destination machine in an
order different from the transmission order. Since the details of this routing table
change with the movement of the packets, the routing of different packets often
changes. The transmission process involves the following steps:
• Transmit Packet 1
• Transmit Packet 2
• ……
• ………..
• Transmit Packet N

Examples:
• POTS (Plane Old Telephone Systems)
• ATM (Asynchronous Transmission Mode)
• Frame Relay
• MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching)

Disadvantages of connectionless packet switching:

1. Extra processing power is required at the nodes for attaching source and
destination addresses with every packet which also increases the required time
of transmission.
2. Connectionless Packet switching requires overhead bits for indexing/numbering
the packets.

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Concepts of 3. Packets may arrive at the destination in a random manner. This requires that all
Communication and the arriving packets are stored and rearranged.
Networking
4. Some packets may be lost in the network.

3.10.2 Connection Oriented Packet Switching

In this mode of transmission, packets from a source machine to a destination machine
are moved as per the source destination pair basis, meaning that all packets from the
same source going to the same destination are transmitted over the same routes and
through the same routers. This results in having almost a constant delay of
transmission for the different packets and the different packets reaching their
destination in order

Figure 15: Connection Oriented Packet Switching

It is clear from the above Figure 15 that a circuit - like connection has been
established. The process of transmission in the above case is also called
Virtual - Circuit Packet Switching as it involves the establishment of a fixed
path called Virtual Circuit or Virtual Connection between the source and
destination prior to the transfer of packets. The transmission of packets involves
the following steps:

1. Connection Request
2. Connection Confirm \
3. Transmit Packet 1
4. Transmit Packet 2
5. ……
6. …………
7. Transmit Packet N
8. Connection Release

Example:
ATM Networks

Check Your Progress 3

1. Define the difference between switched and leased lines.

……………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..

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2. What are switched communications networks? Multiplexing and

Switching
……………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..

3. Discuss the advantages of packet switching over circuit switching.

……………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..

3.11 SUMMARY
We hope you must have understood the concept of multiplexing and switching. As we
discussed Multiplexing refers to the ability to transmit data coming from several pairs
of equipment (transmitters and receivers) called low-speed channels on a single
physical medium (called the high-speed channel). Whereas, A multiplexer is the
multiplexing device that combines the signals from the different transmitters and
sends them over the high-speed channel. Further in this unit you have studied
four basic multiplexing techniques are frequency division multiplexing (FDM), Time
division Multiplexing (TDM), Code division Multiplexing (CDM) and Space-division
Multiplexing (SDM). As you have studied that Switching plays a very important role
in telecommunication networks. It enables any two users to communicate with each
other. Basically, there are three categories of Switching like Message Switching,
Circuit Switching and Packet Switching.

3.12 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

1. Computer Networks, A. S. Tanenbaum 4th Edition, Practice Hall of India, New
Delhi. 2003.

2. Introduction to Data Communication & Networking, 3rd Edition, Behrouz

Forouzan, Tata McGraw Hill.

3. Computer Networking, J.F. Kurose & K.W. Ross, A Top Down Approach
Featuring the Internet, Pearson Edition, 2003.

4. Communications Networks, Leon Garcia, and Widjaja, Tata McGraw Hill, 2000.

5. www.wikipedia.org

6. Data and Computer Communications, Willian Stallings, 6th Edition, Pearson

Education, New Delhi.

7. Larry L. Peterson, Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, 3rd Edition (The

Morgan Kaufmann Series in Networking).

3.13 SOLUTIONS/ANSWERS

Check Your Progress 1

1. Multiplexing is the set of techniques that allows the simultaneous transmission
of multiple signals across a single data link.

2. To make efficient use of high speed telecommunications lines, some form of

multiplexing is used. Multiplexing allows several transmission sources to share
a larger transmission capacity.

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Concepts of A common application of multiplexing is in long-haul communications. Trunks
Communication and on long-haul networks are high capacity fiber, coaxial or microwave links.
Networking These links can carry large numbers of voice and data transmission
simultaneously using multiplexing.

3. Four basic multiplexing techniques are frequency division multiplexing (FDM),

Time division Multiplexing (TDM), Code division Multiplexing (CDM) and
Space-division Multiplexing (SDM).

Check Your Progress 2

1. Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM) is a form of signal multiplexing where
multiple baseband signals are modulated on different frequency carrier waves
and added together to create a composite signal.

Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) is a type of digital multiplexing in which

two or more signals or bit streams are combined into different slots of a frame.
Transmission of frame carries simultaneously data from sub-channels in one
communication channel, but are physically taking turns on the channel.

2. What is CDMA?

3. Circuit switching is defined as a mechanism applied in telecommunications

hereby the user is allocated the full use of the communication channel for the
duration of the call and hence a physical connection is set-up between the caller
and the receiver.

Check Your Progress 3

1. In switched line communications, a link that is established in a switched
network, such as the international dial-up telephone system.

A leased line is a symmetric dedicated service (the same upstream and

downstream bandwidth) creating a permanent connection between your
premises and the Internet.

2. In the switched communications networks data entering the network from a

station are routed to the destination by being switched from node to node. For
example in the Figure 16 data from station A intended for station F are send to
node 4. They may then be routed via nodes 5 and 6 or nodes 7 and 6 to the
destination. This is called switched communication networks.

Figure 16: Simple Switching Network

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3. i) Line efficiency is greater, because single node to node link can be Multiplexing and
dynamically shared by many packets over time. in other hand in circuit Switching
switching time on a node to node link is pre-allocated using synchronous
time division multiplexing.

ii) A packet switching network can perform data rate conversion.

iii) When traffic becomes heavy on a circuit switching network, some caller
are blocked, on the packet switching network, packets are still accepted,
hut delivery delay increases.

iv) Priorities can be used. Thus it can transmit higher priority packet first.

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