Multiple Stage Switching

• If all arrays provide full availability, there are k possible paths through
the switch for any particular connection between inlets and outlets.
• Each of the k paths utilizes a separate center stage array. Thus the
multiple stage structure provides alternate paths through the switch to
circumvent failures.
• Furthermore, since each switching link is connected to a limited
number of crosspoints, capacitive loading is minimized.
• The total number of crosspoints Nx required by a three-stage switch, as
shown in Figure 5.6 is

Nx = 2Nk + k (N/n)

N = the/number of inlets/outlets
n = the size of each inlet/outlet group
k = the number of center stage arrays
 Nonblocking Switches
• One attractive feature of a single stage switch is that it is
strictly nonblocking.
• If the called party is idle, the desired connection can always
be established by selecting the particular crosspoint
dedicated to the particular inlet/outlet pair.
• When crosspoints are shared, however, the possibility of
blocking arises.
• In 1953 Charles Clos of Bell Laboratories published an
analysis of three-stage switching networks showing how
many center stage arrays are required to provide a strictly
nonblocking operation. His result demonstrated that if each
individual array is nonbiocking, and if the number of center
stages k is equal to 2n — 1, the switch is strictly
nonblocking.
 Nonblocking Switches
• The condition for a nonblocking operation can be derived by first
observing that a connection through the three-stage switch requires
locating a center stage array with an idle link from the appropriate first
stage and an idle link to the appropriate third stage.
• Since the individual arrays themselves are nonblocking, the desired
path can be set up any time a center stage with the appropriate idle
links can be located. A key point in the derivation is to observe that
since each first-stage array has n inlets, only n — 1 of these inlets can
be busy when the inlet corresponding to the desired connection is idle.
• If k is greater than n — 1, it follows that, at most, n — 1 links to center
stage arrays can be busy. Similarly, at most n — 1 links to the
appropriate third-stage array can be busy if the outlet of the desired
connection is idle.
 Nonblocking Switches
• The worst case situation for blocking occurs (as shown in Figure 5.7)
if all n — 1 busy links from the first-stage array lead to one set of
center stage arrays, and if all n — 1 busy links to the desired third-
stage array come from a separate set of center stage arrays.
• Thus these two sets of center stage arrays are unavailable for the
desired connection. However, if one more center stage array exists, the
appropriate input and output links must be idle, and that center stage
can be used to set up the connection. Hence if k = (n - 1) + (n -1) + 1 =
2n - 1 the switch is strictly nonblocking.
• For a strictly nonblocking operation of a three stage switch:

Nx = 2N(2n - 1) + (2n - 1)(N/n)2 ………………[5.2]

Nonblocking Switches
 Nonblocking Switches
• The number of crosspoints in a nonblocking three-stage switch is dependent on how the inlets
and outlets are partitioned into subgroups of size n.
• Differentiating Equation 5.2 with respect to n and setting the resulting expression equal to 0 to
determine the minimum reveals that (for large N) the optimum value of n is (N/2)1/2.
• The minimum number of crosspoints of a nonblocking three-stage switch.

Nx(min) = 4N(√ 2N - 1)
where N = total number of inlets/outlets.
• Table 5.1 provides a tabulation of Nx(min) for various sized nonblocking three-stage switches
and compares the values to the number of crosspoints in a single stage square matrix.
 Nonblocking Switches
• As indicated in Table 5.1, a three-stage switching matrix
provides significant reductions in crosspoints, particularly
for large switches.
• Large switches typically use more than three stages to
provide greater reductions in crosspoints.
• For example, the No. 1 ESS uses an eight-stage switching
matrix that can service up to 65,000 lines.
• However, the most significant reductions in crosspoint
numbers are achieved not so much from additional stages
but by allowing the switch to introduce acceptably low
probabilities of blocking.
 TIME DIVISION SWITCHING
• As evidenced by multiple stage switching, sharing of individual
crosspoints for more than one potential connection provides significant
savings in implementation costs of space division switches.
• The crosspoints of multistage space switches are shared from one
connection to the next, but a crosspoint assigned to a particular
connection is dedicated to that connection for its duration.
• Time division switching involves the sharing of crosspoints for shorter
periods of time so that individual crosspoints and their associated
interstage links are continually reassigned to existing connections.
• When the crosspoints are shared in this manner, much greater savings
in crosspoints can be achieved.
• The savings are accomplished by time division multiplexing the
crosspoints and interstage links in the same manner that transmission
links are time division multiplexed to share interoffice wire pairs.
 TIME DIVISION SWITCHING
• Time division switching is equally applicable to either
analog or digital signals.
• Analog time division switching is attractive when
interfacing to analog transmission facilities, since the
signals are only sampled and not digitally encoded.
• However, large analog time division switches experience
the same limitations as do analog time division
transmission links: the PAM samples are particularly
vulnerable to noise, distortion, and crosstalk.
• In digital switches, the voice signals are regenerated every
time they pass through a logic gate.
 TIME DIVISION SWITCHING
• A digital matrix is always less expensive than an
analog matrix of the same size.
• The only situation in which an analog matrix is
cost effective is in an analog transmission
environment—and then only in small line sizes.
• Due to the low cost of PCM codecs analog
switching is only used in very small PBXs, key
systems, or small hybrid key/PBX systems.
Digital Time Division Switching
• By continually changing the connections for short periods
of time in a cyclic manner, the configuration of the space
division switch is replicated once for each time slot.
• This mode of operation is referred to as time multiplexed
switching. While this mode of operation can be quite
useful for both analog and digital signals, digital time
division multiplexed signals usually require switching
between time slots, as well as between physical lines.
• This second mode of switching, represents a second
dimension of switching and is referred to as time
switching.
 Digital Time Division Switching
• The basic requirement of a time division switching network is shown
in Figure 5.15.
• As an example connection, channel 3 of the first TDM link is
connected to channel 17 of the last TDM link.
• The indicated connection implies that information arriving in time slot
3 of the first link is transferred to time slot 17 of the last link.
• Since the voice digitization process inherently implies a four-wire
operation, the return connection is required and realized by transferring
information from time slot 17 of the last input link to time slot 3 of the
first link.
• Thus each connection requires two transfers of information: each
involving translations in both time and space.
Digital Time Division Switching
Digital Time Division Switching

• A variety of switching structures are

possible to accomplish the transfers
indicated in Figure 5.15.
• All of these structures inherently require at
least two stages:
– a space division switching stage
– a time division switching stage.
 A Digital Memory Switch
• Primarily owing to the low cost of digital memory, time switching
implementations provide digital switching functions more
economically than space division implementations.
• Basically, a time switch operates by writing data into and reading data
out of a single memory.
• In the process the information in selected time slots is interchanged as
shown in Figure 5.16.
• When digital signals can be multiplexed into a single TDM format,
very economical switches can be implemented with time switching
alone.
• However, practical limitations of memory speed limit the size of a time
switch so that some amount of space division switching is necessary in
large switches.