SWITCHING

MRS NEETA GEORPHIN

SWITCHING
 A switched network consists of a series of inter-linked nodes, called switches. Switches
are hardware and/or software devices capable of creating temporary connections
between two or more devices linked to the switch but not to each other. In a switched
network, some of these nodes are connected to the communicating devices. Others are
used only for routing.
 Each switch is connected to multiple links and is used to complete the connections
between them, two at a time. Traditionally, three methods of switching have been
important: circuit switching, packet switching, and message switching. The first two
are commonly used today. The third has been phased out in general communications
but still has net-working applications. New switching strategies are gaining prominence,
among them cell relay (ATM) and Frame Relay.
CIRCUIT SWITCHING
 Circuit switching creates a direct physical connection
between two devices such as phones or computers. For
example, in Figure, instead of point-to-point
connections between the three computers on the left
(A, B, and C) to the four computers on the right (D, E, F,
and G), requiring 12 links, we can use four switches to
reduce the number and the total length of the links. In
Figure 10.1, computer A is connected through switches
I, II and III to computer D. By moving the levers of the
switches, any computer on the left can be connected to
any computer on the right. A circuit switch is a device
with n inputs and m outputs that creates a
temporary connection between an input link and
an output link (see Figure 10.2). The number of
inputs does not have to match the number of outputs.
An n-by-n folded switch can connect n lines in full-
duplex mode. Circuit switching today can use either of
two technologies: space-division switches or time-
division switches.
• Space-Division Switches In space-division switching, the
paths in the circuit are separated from each other spatially.
This technology was originally designed for use in analog
networks but is used currently in both analog and digital
networks. It has evolved through a long history of many
designs.
• Crossbar Switches A crossbar switch connects n inputs to m
outputs in a grid, using electronic micro-switches
(transistors) at each cross point (see Figure 10.4). The major
limitation of this design is the number of cross points
required. Connecting n inputs to m outputs using a crossbar
switch requires n x m cross points. For example, to connect
1000 inputs to 1000 outputs requires a crossbar with
1,000,000 cross points. This factor makes the crossbar
impractical because it makes the size of the crossbar huge.
Such a switch is also inefficient because statistics show that,
in practice, fewer than 25 percent of the cross points are in
use at a given time. The rest are idle.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKyXCZV_faY

• Multistage Switches The solution to the limitations of the

crossbar switch is to use multistage switches, which combine
crossbar switches in several stages. In multistage switching,
devices are linked to switches that, in turn, are linked to a
hierarchy of other switches
• The design of a multistage switch depends on the number of stages and the number of switches
required (or desired) in each stage. Normally, the middle stages have fewer switches than do the
first and last stages.
• Multiple Paths Multistage switches provide several options for connecting each pair of linked
devices.
• Blocking

• The reduction in the number of cross points results in a phenomenon called blocking during
periods of heavy traffic. Blocking refers to times when one input cannot be connected to an output
because there is no path available between them all of the possible intermediate switches are
occupied. In a single-stage switch, blocking does not occur. Because every combination of input and
output has its own cross point, there is always a path.
• In a single-stage switch, blocking does not occur. Because every combination of input and output
has its own cross point, there is always a path. (Cases where two inputs are trying to contact the
same output don't count. That path is not blocked; the output is merely busy.)
• In the multistage switch described in the example above, however, only two of the first five inputs
can use the switch at a time, only two of the second five inputs can use the switch at a time, and so
on. The small number of outputs at the middle stage further increases the restriction on the
number of available links.
 Time-Division Switches
• Time-division switching uses time-division multiplexing
to achieve switching. There are two popular methods
used in time-division multiplexing: the time-slot
interchange and the TDM bus.
• Time-Slot Interchange (TSI)

• Figure 10.7 shows a system connecting four input lines

to four output lines. Imagine that each input line wants
to send data to an output line according to the following
pattern: Figure 10.7a shows the results of ordinary
time-division multiplexing. As you can see, the desired
task is not accomplished. Data are output in the same
order as they are input. Data from 1 go to 1, from 2 go to
2, from 3 go to 3, and from 4 go to 4.
• In Figure 10.7b, however, we insert a device called a
time-slot interchange (TSI) into the link. A TSI changes
the ordering of the slots based on the desired
connections. In this case, it changes the order of data
from A, B, C, D to C. D. A, B. Now, when the demultiplexer
separates the slots, it passes them to the proper outputs.
PACKET SWITCHING
VIRTUAL CIRCUIT APPROACH
• In the virtual circuit approach to packet switching, the relationship between
all packets belonging to a message or session is preserved.
• A single route is chosen between sender and receiver at the beginning of the
session. When the data are sent, all packets of the transmission travel one
after another along that route. Today, virtual circuit transmission is
implemented in two formats: switched virtual circuit (SVC) and permanent
virtual circuit (PVC).
• SVC The switched virtual circuit (SVC) format is comparable conceptually to
dial-up lines in circuit switching. In this method, a virtual circuit is created
whenever it is needed and exists only for the duration of the specific
exchange. For example, imagine that station A wants to send four packets to
station X. First, A requests the establishment of a connection to X. Once the
connection is in place, the packets are sent one after another and in sequential
order. When the last packet has been received and, if necessary,
acknowledged, the connection is released and that virtual circuit ceases to
exist (see Figure 10.13). Only one single route exists for the duration of
transmission, although the network could pick an alternate route in response
to failure or congestion.
 Permanent virtual circuits
• Permanent virtual circuits (PVC) are
comparable to leased lines in circuit
switching. In this method, the same virtual
circuit is provided between two users on a
continuous basis. The circuit is dedicated to
the specific users. No one else can use it and,
because it is always in place, it can be used
without connection establishment and
connection termination. Whereas two SVC
users may get a different route every time
they request a connection, two PVC users
always get the same route (see Figure
10.14).
Circuit-Switched Connection versus Virtual-Circuit
Connection
• Path versus route. A circuit-switched connection creates
a path between two points. The physical path is created
by setting the switches for the duration of the dial (dial-
up line) or the duration of the lease (leased line). A
virtual circuit connection creates a route between two
points. This means each switch creates an entry in its
routing table for the duration of the session (SVC) or
duration of the lease (PVC). Whenever, the switch
receives a packet belonging to a virtual connection, it
checks the table for the corresponding entry and routes
the packet out of one of its interfaces. Figure 10.15
shows this difference.
• Dedicated versus sharing. In a circuit-switched
connection, the links that make a path are dedicated;
they cannot be used by other connections. In a virtual
circuit connection, the links that makeroute can be
shared by other connections. Figure 10.16 shows this
difference
 MESSAGE SWITCHING
• Message switching is best known by the descriptive term
store and forward. In this mechanism, a node (usually a
special computer with a number of disks) receives a
message, stores it until the appropriate route is free, then
sends it along. Store and forward is considered a
switching technique because there is no direct link
between the sender and receiver of a transmission. A
message is delivered to the node along one path then
rerouted along another to its destination. Note that in
message switching, the messages are stored and relayed
from secondary storage (disk), while in packet switching
the packets are stored and forwarded from primary
storage (RAM).
• Message switching was common in the 1960s and 1970s.
The primary uses have been to provide high-level
network services (e.g., delayed delivery, broadcast) for
unintelligent devices. Since such devices have been
replaced, this type of switch has virtually disappeared.
Also, the delays inherent in the process, as well as the
requirements for large capacity storage media at each
node, make it unpopular for direct communication.