IT351: Computer Networks

Lecture 2: Switching
(Text Book: Chapter 8)

Dr. Fayza A. Nada

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 Course Details

 Credits: 3 Hours
 Prerequisites: IT251
 Text books:
 Data Communications and Networking,
Behrouz A. Forouzan, 4th Edition McGraw-Hill.
 Understanding Data Communication and
Networks, William A. Shay, (3rd edition).

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 Course Assessment
10% for oral test
15% for practical test
15% Mid Exam. Total : 40 %

Final Exam 60 %

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 Topics Covered in IT251
(Data Communications)
Introduction
Transmission Media
Network Topologies
Network types
Network Models
Data representation
Data transmission
Signals and encoding
Modulation
According to OSI model, we finished ph
Transmission impairments ysical layer and ready for data link layer
Data Compression
Error control and Flow control 4
 Outline
This Lecture
 Services Types
 Switching Techniques
 Switch Types
 Practical: Switch Configuration

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 Service Types
Connection-oriented service
Connectionless service

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 Connection-Oriented Service
Modelled after the telephone system.
Establish a connection, use the connection,
and then release the connection.
Acts like a tube - the sender pushes objects in at
one end, and the receiver takes them out in the
same order at the other end.
A connection in a connection-oriented service can
also be a virtual circuit.
 Virtual circuit is a logical connection established prior to
any data transfer.
 All packets associated with the connection travel
through the same network nodes.
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Connection-Oriented Service
(cont.)

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 Connectionless Service
Similar to the postal system.
Each message carries the full destination address.
Each message is routed through the network
independent of the others.
Normally first message sent will be the first
message to arrive.
But the order is not guaranteed.
An independent packet in connectionless service is
called a datagram.
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Connectionless Service (cont.)
Reliable delivery
 Messages or packets are guaranteed to be delivered
to the destination without errors.
Unreliable delivery
 Messages or packets are delivered on a best effort
basis, possibly with errors.

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 Motivation for Switching
Multiple devices, how to connect them to
make one-to-one communication possible?

 One solution is to make a point-to-point

connection between devices (a mesh topology)
or between a central device and every other
device (a star topology).

A better solution is switching.

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 Switched Network
o 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 the switch.
Some of these nodes are connected to the
end systems (computers or telephones, for
example).
Others are used only for routing.
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Switched Network

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Switching Techniques

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 Switching Techniques
Circuit switching
Message switching
Packet switching
 Datagram
 Virtual circuit

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CIRCUIT-SWITCHED NETWORKS

Connection-oriented service
A physical connection (copper path for example) is
established before the start of communications.
Connection is used by the communicating devices.
Medium may be shared but it is not apparent.
Suitable for voice/video communication with constant
bit rate.
Inflexible and low utilization
An example is the telephone

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CIRCUIT-SWITCHED NETWORKS

Three Phases
 Setup Phase
 Data transfer Phase
 Tear down Phase

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 Message Switching
 Address attached to beginning of message
 Message is sent to a switching centre (router)
closer to destination.
 Process is repeated until the message arrives
at the destination.
 Store and forward - the message is stored at
each station until the route is available, then it is
sent on its way.
 Disadvantage - a long message may occupy
the route for a long time
 Connectionless service
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 Packet Switching
 Message broken into pieces, called packets.
 Each piece is sent to a router.
 Packets are received and stored until forwarded to the
next node in the route.
 Routing methods
Datagram - similar to letters delivery
Virtual circuit - similar to voice delivery
 Can support both connection-oriented and connectionless
services

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 DATAGRAM NETWORKS
Each packet is treated independently of all
others.
Packets are referred to as datagrams.
Datagram switching is normally done at
the network layer.
 We briefly discuss datagram networks here as
a comparison with circuit-switched and virtual-
circuit-switched networks. Later we will go into
greater detail.
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 DATAGRAM NETWORKS

If there are no setup or tear down phases, how are the pac
kets routed to their destinations in a datagram network? In
this type of network, each switch (or packet switch) has a ro
uting table which is based on the destination address.
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DATAGRAM NETWORKS

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Datagram Networks in the Internet
The Internet has chosen the datagram
approach to switching at the network layer.
It uses the universal addresses defined in
the network layer to route packets from the
source to the destination.

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VIRTUAL-CIRCUIT NETWORKS
A virtual-circuit network is a cross
between a circuit-switched network and a
datagram network.
It has some characteristics of both (see
next slide).

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VIRTUAL-CIRCUIT NETWORKS
 There are setup and tear down phases in addition
to the data transfer phase.
 Resources can be allocated during the setup
phase, as in a circuit-switched network, or on
demand, as in a datagram network
 As in a datagram network, data are packetized
and each packet carries an address in the
header.
 As in a circuit-switched network, all packets follow
the same path established during the connection.
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VIRTUAL-CIRCUIT NETWORKS
A virtual-circuit network is normally
implemented in the data link layer, while a
circuit-switched network is implemented in
the physical layer and a datagram net-
work in the network layer.

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VIRTUAL-CIRCUIT NETWORKS

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STRUCTURE OF A SWITCH
Structure of Circuit Switches
 Space-Division Switch
 Time-Division Switch

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Structure of Packet Switches

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Structure of Packet Switches
Input Ports: performs the physical and
data link functions of the packet switch.
Output Port: performs the same functions
as the input port, but in reverse order.
Routing Processor: performs the functions
of the network layer.
Switching Fabrics move the packet from
the input queue to the output queue.

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