William Stallings

Data and Computer

Communications
7th Edition

Chapter 10
Circuit Switching and Packet
Switching
Switching Networks
• Long distance transmission is typically done over
a network of switched nodes
• Nodes not concerned with content of data
• End devices are stations
—Computer, terminal, phone, etc.
• A collection of nodes and connections is a
communications network
• Data routed by being switched from node to
node
Nodes
• Nodes may connect to other nodes only, or to
stations and other nodes
• Node to node links usually multiplexed
• Network is usually partially connected
—Some redundant connections are desirable for
reliability
• Two different switching technologies
—Circuit switching
—Packet switching
Simple Switched Network
Circuit Switching
• Dedicated communication path between two
stations
• Three phases
—Establish
—Transfer
—Disconnect
• Must have switching capacity and channel
capacity to establish connection
• Must have intelligence to work out routing
Circuit Switching - Applications
• Inefficient
—Channel capacity dedicated for duration of
connection
—If no data, capacity wasted
• Set up (connection) takes time
• Once connected, transfer is transparent
• Developed for voice traffic (phone)
Public Circuit Switched
Network
Telecomms Components
• Subscriber
— Devices attached to network
• Subscriber line
— Local Loop
— Subscriber loop
— Connection to network
— Few km up to few tens of km
• Exchange
— Switching centers
— End office - supports subscribers
• Trunks
— Branches between exchanges
— Multiplexed
Circuit Establishment
Circuit Switch Elements
Circuit Switching Concepts
• Digital Switch
—Provide transparent signal path between devices
• Network Interface
• Control Unit
—Establish connections
• Generally on demand
• Handle and acknowledge requests
• Determine if destination is free
• construct path
—Maintain connection
—Disconnect
Blocking or Non-blocking
• Blocking
—A network is unable to connect stations because all
paths are in use
—A blocking network allows this
—Used on voice systems
• Short duration calls
• Non-blocking
—Permits all stations to connect (in pairs) at once
—Used for some data connections
Problem
• Consider two hosts, A and B, connected by a single link of
rate R bps. Suppose that the two hosts are separated by m
meters, and suppose the propagation speed along the link is s
meters/sec. Host A is to send a packet of size L bits to Host B.
• a. Ignoring processing and queuing delay, obtain an
expression for the end-to-end delay.
• b. Suppose s=2.5*10^8 meters/sec, L=120 bits, and
R=56kbps. Find the distance m so that the propagation delay
equals transmission delay.
Circuit switching problem
• Find the total delay in sending x bits of user data over a k-hop
path in a circuit switched networks. Consider lossless circuit
switching networks, the circuit setup time is s seconds, the
propagation delay is d second per hop, each packet contains p
data bits, and the bit rate of the line on each hop is b bps.
• Over the circuit-switched network, the total delay is due to
three parts: the setup time s, the total propagation delay kd,
and the transmission time x/b. So,

• Total time delay = s+kd+x/b

Problem
• 4 hops (point-to-point links) between two terminals
nodes; Transmission rate 9600 bps on all links; 1ms
per-hop signal propagation delay. 1 sec. Call set-up
time for circuit switched connection across 4 hops.
Message size 5000 bits, and all other parameters
the same.
Solution
• 5000 bits at 9600 bps = 0.521 sec. message duration
• total propagation delay 0.004 sec.
• Total time for message is 0.521 + 0.004 + 1 = 1.525
sec.
• Message size 5000 bits, packet size 1024 bits, all other
parameters the same.
— R - channel capacity, l - length of message bits
k - number of hops, x - total message length, distance
between the hosts, L – packet size
• Packet switching
• Total delay = (x/l+(k-1))L/R + kd
• Number of packets = 5 (1024 - 24 = 1000 bits of message data,
5*1000=5000)
• Transmission time = 1024/9600 = 0.107 sec.
• Total delay = 0.107(5+3)+(4*0.001)
= 0.860 sec
• Message size 5000 bits, packet size 512
bits, other parameters the same.

• Circuit switching
• Packet switching
Packet Switching Principles
• Circuit switching designed for voice
—Resources dedicated to a particular call
—Much of the time a data connection is idle
—Data rate is fixed
• Both ends must operate at the same rate
Basic Operation
• Data transmitted in small packets
—Typically 1000 octets
—Longer messages split into series of packets
—Each packet contains a portion of user data plus
some control info
• Control info
—Routing (addressing) info
• Packets are received, stored briefly (buffered)
and past on to the next node
—Store and forward
Store-and-Forward
Transmission
Packet switching – Packet loss
Caravan Analogy
Nodal delay
Use of Packets
Advantages
• Line efficiency
— Single node to node link can be shared by many packets over
time
— Packets queued and transmitted as fast as possible
• Data rate conversion
— Each station connects to the local node at its own speed
— Nodes buffer data if required to equalize rates
• Packets are accepted even when network is busy
— Delivery may slow down
• Priorities can be used
Switching Technique
• Station breaks long message into packets
• Packets sent one at a time to the network
• Packets handled in two ways
—Datagram
—Virtual circuit
Datagram
• Each packet treated independently
• Packets can take any practical route
• Packets may arrive out of order
• Packets may go missing
• Up to receiver to re-order packets and recover
from missing packets
Datagram
Diagram
Virtual Circuit
• Preplanned route established before any packets
sent
• Call request and call accept packets establish
connection (handshake)
• Each packet contains a virtual circuit identifier
instead of destination address
• No routing decisions required for each packet
• Clear request to drop circuit
• Not a dedicated path
Virtual
Circuit
Diagram
Virtual Circuits v Datagram
• Virtual circuits
—Network can provide sequencing and error control
—Packets are forwarded more quickly
• No routing decisions to make
—Less reliable
• Loss of a node looses all circuits through that node
• Datagram
—No call setup phase
• Better if few packets
—More flexible
• Routing can be used to avoid congested parts of the
network
Circuit v Packet Switching
• Performance
—Propagation delay
—Transmission time
—Node delay
Problem
(a) What are “loss-intolerant” applications? Give an example of a loss-intolerant
Internet application.
•Applications that don’t tolerate loss of data. Example; Email, File transfer,
Web.
(b) What are “delay intolerant” applications? Give an example of a delay-
intolerant Internet application.
•Applications that don’t tolerate delay in data delivery. Example; Internet
telephony, video conferencing, etc.
(c) Based on your comparative analysis in Question 1, does the Internet
adequately support loss-intolerant applications? And delay-intolerant
applications? Explain. (2pts)
•The Internet was designed to support loss-intolerant applications but was not
designed to support delay-intolerant applications properly.
•This is because, the Internet, as a packet switching network, cannot provide
delay bound guarantees.
Problem
• Question 3 (6 points) Consider an Internet application running on two
Internet hosts, Host1 and Host2, which are communicating using a path
through router R. Assume that the average service time at R is 10 ms,
packets are 2,000 bits long, and the propagation delay between Host1 and
Host2 is 150ms.
• (a) Based on the latency expression we covered in class, how is service
time defined?
• Write the mathematical expression for it explaining its terms.
The service delay is the sum of the delays for processing and queueing.
• Processing: checking bit errors, determining output link
• Queueing: waiting for output link availability
• Total delay = processing + queue + transmission + propagation
• Service time = processing + queue
Problem
• (b) If the application running on Host1 and Host2 cannot
tolerate latencies over 200ms, what is the minimum capacity
of the link connecting the two hosts? Show your work.

• 10ms service + 150ms propagation = 160ms -> 40ms for

transmission
• Transmission of 2000 bits in 40ms -> 2000/.04 = 50 kb/s
Problem
• A restaurant holds about 60 people, and the average person
will be in there about 2 hours. On average, how many
customers arrive per hour? If the restaurant queue has 30
people waiting to be seated, how long does each person have
to wait for a table?
Rate = 60 customers / 2 hrs = 30 customers / hr
Waiting time = 1 hour
 Problem
• Calculate the latency (total delay from first bit sent to last bit received)
for the following:
• Sender and receiver are separated by two 1-Gigabit/s links and a single
switch. The packet size is 5000 bits, and each link introduces a
propagation delay of 10 microseconds. Assume that the switch begins
forwarding immediately after it has received the last bit of the packet
and the queues are empty.
• For each link, it takes 1 Gigabits/5 Kbits = 5 microseconds to transmit
the packet on the link, after which it takes an additional 10 microseconds
for the last bit to propagate across the link. Thus, with only one switch
that starts forwarding only after receiving the whole packet, the total
transfer delay is two transmit delays + two propagation delays = 30
microseconds.
• Same as (A) with three switches and four links.
• For three switched and thus four links, the total delta
is four transmit delays + four propagation delays =
60 microseconds.
• Circuit switching and packet switching are two different ways
of sharing links in a communication network. Indicate True
or False for each choice.
• Switches in a circuit-switched network process connection
establishment and tear-down messages, whereas switches in a
packet-switched network do not.
• Yes
• Under some circumstances, a circuit-switched network may
prevent some senders from starting new conversations.
• True.
• Once a connection is correctly established, a switch in a
circuit-switched network can forward data correctly without
requiring data frames to include a destination address.
• True
• Unlike in packet switching, switches in circuit-switched
networks do not need any information about the network
topology to function correctly.
• False.
Event Timing
X.25
• 1976
• Interface between host and packet switched
network
• Almost universal on packet switched networks
and packet switching in ISDN
• Defines three layers
—Physical
—Link
—Packet
X.25 - Physical
• Interface between attached station and link to
node
• Data terminal equipment DTE (user equipment)
• Data circuit terminating equipment DCE (node)
• Uses physical layer specification X.21
• Reliable transfer across physical link
• Sequence of frames
X.25 - Link
• Link Access Protocol Balanced (LAPB)
—Subset of HDLC
—see chapter 7
X.25 - Packet
• External virtual circuits
• Logical connections (virtual circuits) between
subscribers
X.25 Use of Virtual Circuits
Virtual Circuit Service
• Logical connection between two stations
—External virtual circuit
• Specific preplanned route through network
—Internal virtual circuit
• Typically one to one relationship between
external and internal virtual circuits
• Can employ X.25 with datagram style network
• External virtual circuits require logical channel
—All data considered part of stream
X.25 Levels
• User data passes to X.25 level 3
• X.25 appends control information
—Header
—Identifies virtual circuit
—Provides sequence numbers for flow and error
control
• X.25 packet passed down to LAPB entity
• LAPB appends further control information
User Data and X.25 Protocol
Control Information
Frame Relay
• Designed to be more efficient than X.25
• Developed before ATM
• Larger installed base than ATM
• ATM now of more interest on high speed
networks
Frame Relay Background - X.25
• Call control packets, in band signaling
• Multiplexing of virtual circuits at layer 3
• Layer 2 and 3 include flow and error control
• Considerable overhead
• Not appropriate for modern digital systems with
high reliability
Frame Relay - Differences
• Call control carried in separate logical
connection
• Multiplexing and switching at layer 2
—Eliminates one layer of processing
• No hop by hop error or flow control
• End to end flow and error control (if used) are
done by higher layer
• Single user data frame sent from source to
destination and ACK (from higher layer) sent
back
Advantages and Disadvantages
• Lost link by link error and flow control
—Increased reliability makes this less of a problem
• Streamlined communications process
—Lower delay
—Higher throughput
• ITU-T recommend frame relay above 2Mbps
Protocol Architecture
Control Plane
• Between subscriber and network
• Separate logical channel used
—Similar to common channel signaling for circuit
switching services
• Data link layer
—LAPD (Q.921)
—Reliable data link control
—Error and flow control
—Between user (TE) and network (NT)
—Used for exchange of Q.933 control signal messages
User Plane
• End to end functionality
• Transfer of info between ends
• LAPF (Link Access Procedure for Frame Mode
Bearer Services) Q.922
—Frame delimiting, alignment and transparency
—Frame mux and demux using addressing field
—Ensure frame is integral number of octets (zero bit
insertion/extraction)
—Ensure frame is neither too long nor short
—Detection of transmission errors
—Congestion control functions
User Data Transfer
• One frame type
—User data
—No control frame
• No inband signaling
• No sequence numbers
—No flow nor error control
Required Reading
• Stallings Chapter 10
• ITU-T web site
• Telephone company web sites (not much
technical info - mostly marketing)
• X.25 info from ITU-T web site
• Frame Relay forum
Space Division Switch
Space Division Switching
• Developed for analog environment
• Separate physical paths
• Crossbar switch
—Number of crosspoints grows as square of number of
stations
—Loss of crosspoint prevents connection
—Inefficient use of crosspoints
• All stations connected, only a few crosspoints in use
—Non-blocking
Multistage Switch
• Reduced number of crosspoints
• More than one path through network
—Increased reliability
• More complex control
• May be blocking
Three Stage Space Division
Switch
Time Division Switching
• Modern digital systems rely on intelligent control
of space and time division elements
• Use digital time division techniques to set up
and maintain virtual circuits
• Partition low speed bit stream into pieces that
share higher speed stream
Control Signaling Functions
• Audible communication with subscriber
• Transmission of dialed number
• Call can not be completed indication
• Call ended indication
• Signal to ring phone
• Billing info
• Equipment and trunk status info
• Diagnostic info
• Control of specialist equipment
Control Signal Sequence
• Both phones on hook
• Subscriber lifts receiver (off hook)
• End office switch signaled
• Switch responds with dial tone
• Caller dials number
• If target not busy, send ringer signal to target subscriber
• Feedback to caller
— Ringing tone, engaged tone, unobtainable
• Target accepts call by lifting receiver
• Switch terminates ringing signal and ringing tone
• Switch establishes connection
• Connection release when Source subscriber hangs up
Switch to Switch Signaling
• Subscribers connected to different switches
• Originating switch seizes interswitch trunk
• Send off hook signal on trunk, requesting digit
register at target switch (for address)
• Terminating switch sends off hook followed by
on hook (wink) to show register ready
• Originating switch sends address
Location of Signaling
• Subscriber to network
—Depends on subscriber device and switch
• Within network
—Management of subscriber calls and network
—ore complex
In Channel Signaling
• Use same channel for signaling and call
— Requires no additional transmission facilities
• Inband
— Uses same frequencies as voice signal
— Can go anywhere a voice signal can
— Impossible to set up a call on a faulty speech path
• Out of band
— Voice signals do not use full 4kHz bandwidth
— Narrow signal band within 4kHz used for control
— Can be sent whether or not voice signals are present
— Need extra electronics
— Slower signal rate (narrow bandwidth)
Drawbacks of In Channel
Signaling
• Limited transfer rate
• Delay between entering address (dialing) and
connection
• Overcome by use of common channel signaling
Common Channel Signaling
• Control signals carried over paths independent of voice
channel
• One control signal channel can carry signals for a
number of subscriber channels
• Common control channel for these subscriber lines
• Associated Mode
— Common channel closely tracks interswitch trunks
• Disassociated Mode
— Additional nodes (signal transfer points)
— Effectively two separate networks
Common v. In Channel
Signaling
Common
Channel
Signaling
Modes
Signaling System Number 7
• SS7
• Common channel signaling scheme
• ISDN
• Optimized for 64k digital channel network
• Call control, remote control, management and
maintenance
• Reliable means of transfer of info in sequence
• Will operate over analog and below 64k
• Point to point terrestrial and satellite links
SS7
Signaling Network Elements
• Signaling point (SP)
—Any point in the network capable of handling SS7
control message
• Signal transfer point (STP)
—A signaling point capable of routing control messages
• Control plane
—Responsible for establishing and managing
connections
• Information plane
—Once a connection is set up, info is transferred in the
information plane
Transfer
Points
Signaling Network Structures
• STP capacities
—Number of signaling links that can be handled
—Message transfer time
—Throughput capacity
• Network performance
—Number of SPs
—Signaling delays
• Availability and reliability
—Ability of network to provide services in the face of
STP failures
Softswitch Architecture
• General purpose computer running software to make it a smart
phone switch
• Lower costs
• Greater functionality
— Packetizing of digitized voice data
— Allowing voice over IP
• Most complex part of telephone network switch is software
controlling call process
— Call routing
— Call processing logic
— Typically running on proprietary processor
• Separate call processing from hardware function of switch
• Physical switching done by media gateway
• Call processing done by media gateway controller
Traditional Circuit Switching
Softswitch
Packet Size