Lahore College for Women University

Dept of Software Engineering, 5th Semester

Assignment Topics: Switching Techniques, Congestion

(How it Controls, Factors that causes Congestion)

Submitted to:

Ma’am Bisma Islam

Submitted by Group 1:

Malaika (2125165031)

Samreen Habib (2125165045)

Nashra Mukhtar (2125165038)

Ayesha Amin (2125165011)

Zanib Fatima (2125165058)

 Switching Techniques

Switch:

Device that connect multiple computers together in a network.

Switching:

Switching is a process to forward data packets coming in from one device to another in network.

In large networks, there can be multiple paths from sender to receiver. The switching technique will decide
the best route for data transmission.

When data comes on a port it is called ingress, and when data leaves a port or goes out it is called egress.

Types of Switching
There are three types of switching methods:
 Circuit Switching
 Message Switching
 Packet Switching
Circuit switching:

 Two nodes communicate over pre-specified route.

 Circuit-Switched Network – a type of network where the communications between devices (nodes)
must be set up before they can communicate. Once set up, the “circuit” is dedicated to the two
nodes it connects for the duration of that connection.
 It is used to connect devices physically in computer network.
 Fixed data can be transferred at a time in circuit switching network.
 An example of a circuit-switched network is an analog telephone network.
 Simply, it is designed for telephone network when there is no concept of OSI model.
 Communication through circuit switching has three phases:
 Circuit establishment
 Data transfer
 Circuit disconnect
Advantages:

 Decreases the delay the user experiences before and during a call.
 Packets are always delivered in the correct order.
Disadvantages:

 Great for only voice communication.

 Doesn't use resources efficiently.
 Dedicated channels for circuit switching are unavailable for any other use.
 There is a higher cost to dedicate one channel per use.
Message switching:

 Works on Store and forward mechanism

 Whole message is treated as unit
 There is no dedicated path established between sender and receiver in message switching.
  Each and every node stores the entire message and then formatted to the next node. This network is
also known as Store and Forward network.
For example:

E-mail and messages

Advantages:

 Reliability:
Message switching is a reliable form of communication as it ensures the delivery of messages
even some messages are delayed.
 Cost effectiveness:
Message switching is most cost effective than any other forms of communication because it
allows messages to be transmitted simultaneously over the same communication lines.
 Flexibility:
Message switching allows for flexible communication as it enables the transmission of
messages of varying lengths and formats.
Disadvantage:

 The message switches must be equipped with sufficient storage to enable them to store
the message until the message is formatted.
 The long delay can occur due to storing and forwarding facility provided by message
switching.
Packet switching:

 Message is broken into chunks called packets.

 Each packet sent individually.
 Each packet contain source and destination address.
 So, no packet gets lost in network.
 Different packets follow different paths.
 Packets arranged with sequence number.
 This type of switching is used in OSI model in network layer.

Advantages:

 More efficient than circuit switching.

 Data packets are able to find the destination without the use of a dedicated channel.
 Reduces lost data packets because packet switching allows for resending of packets
Disadvantages:

 Takes more time in sending data.

 Large data is sending in data switching.
Congestion

What is congestion?

Congestion is a state in a network when network nodes and links are overloaded with traffic. This
problem usually makes the end users’ network slow. This can lead to delays, packet loss, and other
performance problems.

Effects of Congestion

 As delay increases, performance decreases.

 If delay increases, retransmission occurs, making situation worse.
Congestion control:

The process of managing traffic flow in a network to prevent congestion from occurring. There are two
main types of congestion control:

 Open-loop congestion control

 Closed-loop congestion control
Open-loop congestion control:

In open loop congestion control policies are applied to prevent congestion before it happens. Congestion
control is handled by the source or the destination.

These policies are;

 Retransmission policy
The policy in which retransmission of the packets are taken care of. If the sender feels that a sent
packet is lost or corrupted, the packet needs to be retransmitted. This transmission may increase
the congestion in the network.
 Admission control policy:
This mechanism controls the amount of traffic that is allowed to enter the network.
 Resource reservation: This mechanism reserves resources for specific flows or applications.
 Load balancing:
This mechanism distributes traffic across multiple links or paths to avoid overloading any one link
or path.
 Routing:
This mechanism can be used to direct traffic away from congested areas.

Closed loop congestion control:

This type of congestion control is reactive and responds to congestion after it has already occurred.

Several techniques are used by different protocols; some of them are:

 Backpressure:
Backpressure is a technique in which a congested node stops receiving packets from upstream
node. This may cause the upstream node or nodes to become congested and reject receiving data
from above nodes.
  Choke Packet Technique:

A choke packet is a packet sent by a node to the source to inform it of congestion. Whenever the
resource utilization exceeds the threshold value which is set by the administrator, the router directly
sends a choke packet to the source giving it a feedback to reduce the traffic.

Factors that cause congestion:

There are a number of factors that can cause congestion, including:

High Network Traffic:

1. Excessive data packets traversing the network.

2. Occurs during peak usage times or due to sudden spikes in data transfer.

Limited Bandwidth:

1. Network capacity is insufficient to handle data demands.

2. Often due to inadequate network infrastructure.

Network Bottlenecks:

1. Points in the network with limited capacity.

2. Typically occur at switches, routers, or data centers.

Packet Collisions:

1. Simultaneous transmission of data packets leading to collisions.

2. Common in Ethernet-based networks.

Examples of congestion:

Here are some examples of congestion in computer networks:

1) Slow Internet speeds:

If there is too much traffic on your Internet connection, you may experience slow Internet speeds. This is
especially common during peak times of day, such as when everyone is coming home from work or
school and using the Internet.

2) Dropped connections:

If a network is congested, it may drop packets. This can lead to dropped connections or lost data.

Website outages: If a website is experiencing high traffic, it may go down completely. This is because the
website's servers cannot handle the load.

3) Inefficient Routing:

Suboptimal path selection for data transmission.

Causes congestion as data takes longer routes.