UNIT 3- Switching

• Switching is process to forward packets coming in from one

port to a port leading towards the destination.
• When data comes on a port it is called ingress, and when data
leaves a port or goes out it is called egress.
• A communication system may include number of switches and
nodes.
SWITCHING

• A network is a set of connected devices. Whenever we have multiple

devices, we have the problem of how to connect them to make one-
to-one communication possible.
• One solution is to make a point-to-point connection between each
pair of devices (a mesh topology) or between a central device and
every other device (a star topology).
• The number and length of the links require too much infrastructure to
be cost-efficient, and the majority of those links would be idle most of
the time
• Other topologies employing multipoint connections, such as a bus,
are ruled out because the distances between devices and the total
number of devices increase beyond the capacities of the media and
equipment.
CIRCUIT-SWITCHED NETWORKS

• A circuit-switched network consists of a set of switches connected by

physical links.
• A connection between two stations is a dedicated path made of one
or more links. However, each connection uses only one dedicated
channel on each link.
• Each link is normally divided into n channels by using FDM or TDM
• Circuit switching takes place at the physical layer.

• Before starting communication, the stations must make a reservation for the
resources to be used during the communication.
• These resources, such as channels (bandwidth in FDM Frequency division
multiplexing and time slots in TDM time division multiplexing), switch buffers,
switch processing time, and switch input/output ports, must remain dedicated
during the entire duration of data transfer until the teardown phase.
• (Multiplexing is the process of combining multiple signals into one signal, over a
shared medium. If analog signals are multiplexed, it is Analog Multiplexing and
if digital signals are multiplexed, that process is Digital Multiplexing.)
• There is no addressing involved during data transfer. The switches
route the data based on their occupied band (FDM) or time slot
(TDM).
• There is end-to-end addressing used during the setup phase.
• Three Phases

• The actual communication in a circuit-switched network requires

three phases:
• connection setup,
• data transfer, and
• connection teardown
• Setup Phase:
• Before the two parties (or multiple parties in a conference call) can
communicate, a dedicated circuit (combination of channels in links)
needs to be established.
• The end systems are normally connected through dedicated lines to
the switches, so connection setup means creating dedicated channels
between the switches.
• system A needs to connect to system M, it sends a setup request that
includes the address of system M, to switch I.
• Switch I finds a channel between itself and switch IV that can be dedicated
for this purpose.
• Switch I then sends the request to switch IV, which finds a dedicated
channel between itself and switch III. Switch III informs system M of
system A's intention at this time.
• In the next step to making a connection, an acknowledgment from system
M needs to be sent in the opposite direction to system A. Only after
system A receives this acknowledgment is the connection established.
• Data Transfer Phase:
• After the establishment of the dedicated circuit (channels), the two
parties can transfer data.
• Teardown Phase:
• When one of the parties needs to disconnect, a signal is sent to each
switch to release the resources.
• Efficiency
• It can be argued that circuit-switched networks are not as efficient as
the other two types of networks because resources are allocated
during the entire duration of the connection.
• Delay
• Although a circuit-switched network normally has low efficiency, the
delay in this type of network is minimal.
• During data transfer the data are not delayed at each switch; the
resources are allocated for the duration of the connection.
 DATAGRAM NETWORKS

• In data communications, we need to send messages from one end

system to another.
• If the message is going to pass through a packet-switched network, it
needs to be divided into packets of fixed or variable size.
• The size of the packet is determined by the network and the
governing protocol
• In packet switching, there is no resource allocation for a packet.
• This means that there is no reserved bandwidth on the links, and there
is no scheduled processing time or each packet.
• Resources are allocated on demand. The allocation is done on a first-
come, first-served basis.
• When a switch receives a packet, no matter what is the source or
destination, the packet must wait if there are other packets being
processed.
• As with other systems in our daily life, this lack of reservation may
create delay
• The datagram networks are sometimes referred to as connectionless
networks.
• The term connectionless here means that the switch (packet switch)
does not keep about the connection state.
• There are no setup or teardown phases.
• Each packet is treated the same by a switch regardless of its source or
destination .
Routing Table

•
• If there are no setup or teardown phases, how are the packets routed to
their destinations in a datagram network? In this type of network, each
switch (or packet switch) has a routing table which is based on the
destination address.
• The routing tables are dynamic and are updated periodically.
• The destination addresses and the corresponding forwarding output
ports are recorded in the tables. This is different from the table of a
circuit- switched network in which each entry is created when the setup
phase is completed and deleted when the teardown phase is over.
Destination Address
• Every packet in a datagram network carries a header that contains,
among other information, the destination address of the packet.
• When the switch receives the packet, this destination address is
examined; the routing table is consulted to find the corresponding
port through which the packet should be forwarded.
• This address, unlike the address in a virtual circuit-switched network,
remains the same during the entire journey of the packet.
Efficiency

• The efficiency of a datagram network is better than that of a circuit-

switched network;
• resources are allocated only when there are packets to be transferred.
• If a source sends a packet and there is a delay of a few minutes before
another packet can be sent, the resources can be reallocated during
these minutes for other packets from other sources.
Delay

• There may be greater delay in a datagram network than in a virtual-

circuit network.
• Although there are no setup and teardown phases, each packet may
experience a wait at a switch before it is forwarded.
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.
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.
A. As in a circuit-switched network, there are setup and teardown
phases in addition to the data transfer phase.
B. Resources can be allocated during the setup phase, as in a circuit-
switched network, or on demand, as in a datagram network.
C. As in a datagram network, data are packetized and each packet
carries an address in the header
D. As in a circuit-switched network, all packets follow the same path
established during the connection.
E. 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
TELEPHONE NETWORK

• Telephone networks use circuit switching

• The telephone network had its beginnings in the late 1800s. The
entire network, which is referred to as the plain old telephone system
(POTS), was originally an analog system using analog signals to
transmit voice.
• telephone network has undergone many technical changes.
• The network is now digital as well as analog.
 Major Components
• is made of three major components: local loops, trunks, and
switching offices.
• The telephone network has several levels of switching offices such as
end offices, tandem offices, and regional offices.
• (tandem (a telephone central office or switchboard used entirely for
the interconnection of telephone exchanges that reduces the number of
trunk circuits.))
• Local Loops:
• One component of the telephone network is the local loop, a twisted-
pair cable that connects the subscriber telephone to the nearest end
office or local central office.
• The local loop, when used for voice, has a bandwidth of 4000 Hz (4
kHz).
• The first three digits of a local telephone number define the office,
and the next four digits define the local loop number.
• Trunks:
• Trunks are transmission media that handle the communication
between offices.
• A trunk normally handles hundreds or thousands of connections
through multiplexing.
• Transmission is usually through optical fibers or satellite links.
• Switching Offices:
• To avoid having a permanent physical link between any two
subscribers, the telephone company has switches located in a
switching office.
• A switch connects several local loops or trunks and allows a
connection between different subscribers.
LATAs

• local-access transport areas (LATAs). The number of LATAs has

increased since then.
• A LATA can be a small or large metropolitan area. A small state may
have one single LATA;
• a large state may have several LATAs.
• Intra-LATA Services:
• The services offered by the common carriers (telephone companies)
inside a LATA are called intra-LATA services.
• The carrier that handles these services is called a local exchange
carrier (LEC)
Inter-LATA Services:

• The services between LATAs are handled by interexchange carriers

(IXCs).
• These carriers, sometimes called long-distance companies, provide
communication services between two customers in different LATAs.
• After the act of 1996 (see Appendix E), these services can be provided
by any carrier, including those involved in intra-LATA services.
• The field is wide open.Carriers providing inter-LATA services include
AT&T, MCI, WorldCom, Sprint, and Verizon.
• A telephone call going through an IXC is normally digitized, with the
carriersusing several types of networks to provide service.
Points of Presence:

• As we discussed, intra-LATA services can be provided by several LECs

(one ILEC and possibly more than one CLEC) (local exchange carriers
(LECs). .
• We also said that inter-LATA services can be provided by several IXCs.
• How do these carriers interact with one another? The answer is, via a
switching office called a point of presence (POP).
• Each IXC that wants to provide inter- LATA services in a LATA must have
a POP in that LATA.
• The LECs that provide services inside the LATA must provide
connections so that every subscriber can have access to all
• A subscriber who needs to make a connection with another
subscriber is connected first to an end switch and then, either directly
or through a tandem switch, to a POP.
• The call now goes frm the POP of an IXC (the one the subscriber has
chosen) in the source LATA to the POP of the same IXC in the
destination LATA.
• The call is passed through the toll office of the IXC and is carried
through the network provided by the IXC.
Signaling

• The telephone network, at its beginning, used a circuit-switched network with dedicated links
(multiplexing had not yet been invented) to transfer voice communication.
• a circuit switched network needs the setup and teardown phases to establish and terminate paths
between the two communicating parties. In the beginning, this task was performed by human
operators.
• The operator room was a center to which all subscribers were connected.
• A subscriber who wished to talk to another subscriber picked up the receiver (off-hook) and rang
• the operator.
• The operator, after listening to the caller and getting the identifier of the called party, connected the
two by using a wire with two plugs inserted into the corresponding two jacks.
• A dedicated circuit was created in this way. One of the parties, after the conversation ended, informed
the operator to disconnect the circuit.
• This type of signalling is called in-band signaling because the same circuit can be used for both
signalling and voice communication.
• As telephone networks evolved into a complex network, the functionality of
the signaling system increased.
• The signalling system was required to perform other tasks such as
• a. Providing dial tone, ring tone, and busy tone
• b. Transferring telephone numbers between offices
• c. Maintaining and monitoring the call
• d. Keeping billing information
• e. Maintaining and monitoring the status of the telephone network
equipment
• f. Providing other functions such as caller ID, voice mail, and so on
• LATA (local access and transport area) is a term in the U.S. for
a geographic area covered by one or more local telephone
companies, which are legally referred to as local exchange
carriers (LECs). A connection between two local exchanges
within the LATA is referred to as intra LATA.
• A telephone call within the same LATA (same
region). IntraLATA is local telephone service.
•  InterLATA refers to a call from one LATA to another, which
can be within a state or from state to state (interstate).