Switching

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Switching
• Process of moving the data packets towards their destination by
forwarding them from one port to the other port is called as switching.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Circuit Switching
• It operates in the following three phases.
1. Establishing a circuit
2. Transferring the data
3. Disconnecting the circuit

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Circuit Switching cont..
1. Establishing a circuit
• A circuit is established between the two
ends.
• Circuit provides a dedicated path for data
to travel from one to the other end.
• Resources are reserved at intermediate
switches which are used during the
transmission.
• Intermediate switches are connected by
the physical links.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Circuit Switching cont..
2. Transferring The Data
• After the circuit is established,
• The entire data travels over the dedicated path from one end to the other end.

3. Disconnecting The Circuit-

• After the data transfer is completed,
• The circuit is torn down i.e. disconnected.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Circuit Switching cont..
Advantages
• A well defined and dedicated path exists for the data to travel.
• There is no header overhead.
• There is no waiting time at any switch and the data is transmitted without any
delay.
• Data always reaches the other end in order.
• No re ordering is required.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Circuit Switching cont..
Disadvantages
• The channel is blocked for two ends only.
• It is inefficient in terms of utilization of system resources.
• The time required for establishing the circuit between the two ends is too long.
• Dedicated channels require more bandwidth.
• It is more expensive than other switching techniques.
• Routing decisions can not be changed once the circuit is established.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Circuit Switching cont..
Important Notes
• Circuit switching is implemented at physical layer.
• Circuit switching is now outdated.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Packet Switching
• The entire message to be sent is divided into multiple smaller size packets.
• This process of dividing a single message into smaller size packets is called
as packetization.
• These smaller packets are sent after the other.
• It gives the advantage of pipelining and reduces the total time taken to transmit the
message.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Packet Switching cont..
Types of Packet Switching
• Packet switching may be carried out in the following 2 ways.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Virtual Circuit Switching
• It operates in the following three phases
1. Establishing a circuit
2. Transferring the data
3. Disconnecting the circuit

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Virtual Circuit Switching cont..
• Establishing a circuit
• A logical connection is established
between the two ends.
• It provides a dedicated path for data to
travel from one to the other end.
• Resources are reserved at intermediate
switches which are used during the
transmission.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Virtual Circuit Switching cont..
2. Transferring The Data
• After the connection is established,
• The entire data travels over the dedicated path from one end to the other end.

3. Disconnecting The Circuit

• After the data transfer is completed,
• The connection is disconnected.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

Datagram Switching
• There exists no dedicated path for data to travel.
• The header of each packet contains the destination address.
• When any intermediate switch receives the packet, it examines its
destination address.
• It then consults the routing table.
• Routing table finds the corresponding port through which the packet
should be forwarded.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

 Virtual Circuit Switching Datagram Switching

The first packet during its transmission-

1. Informs the intermediate switches that
The first packet does not perform
more packets are following.
any such task during its
2. Reserve resources (CPU, bandwidth and
transmission.
buffer) for the following packets at all the
switches on the way.

The packets are never discarded at The packets may be discarded at

intermediate switches and immediately intermediate switches if sufficient
forwarded since resources are reserved for resources are not available to process
them. the packets.

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

 Virtual Circuit Switching Datagram Switching

It is a connection oriented service since

It is a connection less service since no
resources are reserved for the packets at
resources are reserved for the packets.
intermediate switches.

All the packets follow the same

All the packets take path independently.
dedicated path.

Data appears in order at the destination Data may appear out of order at the
since all the packets take the same destination since the packets take path
dedicated path. independently.

It is highly reliable since no packets are It is not reliable since packets may be
discarded. discarded.
Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.
It is costly. It is cost effective.
 Virtual Circuit Switching Datagram Switching

Only first packet requires a global

header which identifies the path from
All the packets require a global header
one end to other end.
which contains full information about the
All the following packets require a local
destination.
header which identifies the path from
hop to hop.

ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)

IP Networks use datagram switching.
uses virtual circuit switching.

Virtual circuit switching is normally Datagram switching is normally

implemented at data link layer. implemented at network layer.
Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.
 Packet Switching
Circuit Switching
Virtual Circuit Switching Datagram Switching
Connection oriented Connection oriented
Connection less service
service service

Packets may be delivered

Ensures in order delivery Ensures in order delivery
out of order

No reordering is required No reordering is required Reordering is required

A dedicated path exists for A dedicated path exists for No dedicated path exists
data transfer data transfer for data transfer

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

 Packet Switching
Circuit Switching
Virtual Circuit Switching Datagram Switching

All the packets take the All the packets take the All the packets may not
same path same path take the same path

Resources are allocated Resources are allocated on

No resources are allocated
before data transfer demand using 1st packet

Stream oriented Packet oriented Packet oriented

Fixed bandwidth Dynamic Bandwidth Dynamic bandwidth
Reliable Reliable Unreliable

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.

 Packet Switching
Circuit Switching
Virtual Circuit Switching Datagram Switching
No header overheads Only label overheads Higher overheads
Implemented at physical Implemented at data link Implemented at network
layer layer layer
Provides better efficiency Provides better efficiency
Inefficient in terms of
than circuit switched than message switched
resource utilization
systems systems
Example- Telephone Examples- X.25, Frame
Example- Internet
systems relay

Dr. S.Meenatchi, Associate Professor, SITE, VIT.