Telecommunication

Technologies

Week 11

Circuit Switching
Packet Switching

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Switching Networks
Š Long distance transmission is typically
done over a network of switched nodes
Š Nodes not concerned with content of
data
Š End devices are stations
„ Computer, terminal, phone, etc.
Š A collection of nodes and connections is
a communications network
Š Data routed by being switched from node
to node
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Nodes
Š Nodes may connect to other nodes only,
or to stations and other nodes
Š Node to node links usually multiplexed
Š Network is usually partially connected
„ Some redundant connections are desirable
for reliability
Š Transmission of switched nodes may be
either…
„ Circuit switching
„ Packet switching

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

Simple Switched Network
 Circuit Switching
Š Dedicated communication path between
two stations
Š Three phases
„ Establish
„ Transfer
„ Disconnect
Š Must have switching capacity and
channel capacity to establish connection
Š Must have “intelligence” to work out
routing
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Circuit Switching - Applications
Š Inefficient
„ Channel capacity dedicated for duration of
connection
„ If no data, capacity wasted
Š Set up (connection) takes time
Š Once connected, transfer is
“transparent”
„ Transfer appears independent of the
underlying network
Š Developed for voice traffic (phone)
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
Public Circuit Switched Network

Consists of several (hierarchical) levels of

switching between end nodes.
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Telecomms Components

Š Exchange
Š Subscriber
„ Switching centers
„ Devices attached to
network „ End office - supports
subscribers
Š Local Loop
Š Trunks
„ Subscriber loop
„ Branches between
„ Connection to exchanges
network
„ Multiplexed

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Circuit Switch
Elements
Š Generic switch
elements:
„ duplex lines to
devices
„ network interface
„ digital switching
„ control
 Circuit Switching Concepts
Š Digital Switch
„ Provide transparent signal path between
devices
Š Network Interface
Š Control Unit
„ Establish connections
z Generally on demand
z Handle and acknowledge requests

z Determine if destination is free

z construct path

„ Maintain connection
„ Disconnect
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Blocking or Non-blocking
Š A switch may be either blocking or non-
blocking
Š Blocking
„ A network is unable to connect stations
because all paths are in use
„ A blocking network allows this
„ Used on voice systems
z Short duration calls
Š Non-blocking
„ Permits all stations to connect (in pairs) at
once
„ Used for some data connections
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Space Division Switching
Š Developed for analog environment
Š Separate physical paths
Š Crossbar switch
„ Number of crosspoints grows as square of
number of stations
„ Loss of crosspoint prevents connection
„ Inefficient use of crosspoints
z All stations connected, only a few crosspoints in
use
„ Non-blocking

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Crossbar Matrix

Caller
Appropriate
switch is
activated to
connect call

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Receiver

Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Multistage Switch

Š Reduced number of crosspoints

Š More than one path through network
„ Increased reliability
Š More complex control
Š May be blocking

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

Three Stage Switch
 Š How many connections are required for
the previous three stage switch
compared to the crossbar matrix? How
many calls can simultaneously be
supported in each?

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Time Division Switching
Š Partition low speed bit stream into pieces
that share higher speed stream
Š e.g. TDM bus switching
„ based on synchronous time division
multiplexing
„ Each station connects through controlled
gates to high speed bus
„ Time slot allows small amount of data onto
bus
„ Another line’s gate is enabled for output at
the same time
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Routing
Š Many connections will need paths
through more than one switch
Š Need to find a route
„ Efficiency
„ Resilience
Š Public telephone switches are a tree
structure
„ Static routing uses the same approach all
the time
Š Dynamic routing allows for changes in
routing depending on traffic
„ Uses a peer structure for nodes
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Alternate Routing

Š Possible routes between end offices

predefined
Š Originating switch selects appropriate
route
Š Routes listed in preference order
Š Different sets of routes may be used at
different times

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Control Signaling Functions

Š Audible Š Signal to ring phone

communication with
subscriber Š Billing info
Š Transmission of Š Equipment and trunk
dialled number status info
Š Call cannot be Š Diagnostic info
completed indication Š Control of specialist
Š Call ended indication equipment

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Switch to Switch Signaling
Š Subscribers connected to different
switches
Š Originating switch seizes inter-switch
trunk
Š Send off hook signal on trunk, requesting
digit register at target switch (for
address)
Š Terminating switch sends off hook
followed by on hook (wink) to show
register ready
Š Originating switch sends address
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Location of Signalling

Š Subscriber to network
„ Depends on subscriber device and switch
Š Within network
„ Management of subscriber calls and network
„ More complex

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 In Channel Signalling
Š Use same channel for signalling and call
„ Requires no additional transmission facilities
Š In-band
„ Uses same frequencies as voice signal
„ Can go anywhere a voice signal can
„ Impossible to set up a call on a faulty speech path
Š 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)

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Drawbacks of In Channel
Signalling

Š Limited transfer rate

Š Delay between entering address
(dialling) and connection
Š Overcome by use of common channel
signalling

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Common Channel Signalling
Š Control signals carried over paths independent
of voice channel
Š One control signal channel can carry signals
for a number of subscriber channels
Š Common control channel for these subscriber
lines
Š Associated Mode
„ Common channel closely tracks interswitch

trunks
Š Disassociated Mode
„ Additional nodes (signal transfer points)

„ Effectively two separate networks

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Common v. In Channel
Signalling

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

Signalling
Modes
 Signalling System Number 7

Š SS7
Š Common channel signalling scheme
Š ISDN
Š Optimized for 64k digital channel network
Š Call control, remote control, management and
maintenance
Š Reliable means of transfer of info in sequence
Š Will operate over analog and below 64k
Š Point to point terrestrial and satellite links

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Packet Switching

Š Circuit switching designed for voice

„ Resources dedicated to a particular call
„ Much of the time a data connection is idle
„ Data rate is fixed
z Both ends must operate at the same rate

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Basic Operation
Š 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
Š Control info
„ Routing (addressing) info
Š Packets are received, stored briefly
(buffered) and past on to the next node
„ Store and forward
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Š Line efficiency Advantages
„ Single node to node link can be shared by
many packets over time
„ Packets queued and transmitted as fast as
possible
Š Data rate conversion
„ Each station connects to the local node at its
own speed
„ Nodes buffer data if required to equalise
rates
Š Packets are accepted even when
network is busy
„ Delivery may slow down
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
Š Priorities can be used
 Switching Technique

Š Station breaks long message into

packets
Š Packets sent one at a time to the network
Š Packets handled in two ways
„ Datagram
„ Virtual circuit

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Datagram

Š Each packet treated independently

Š Packets can take any practical route
Š Packets may arrive out of order
Š Packets may go missing
Š Up to receiver to re-order packets and
recover from missing packets

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Virtual Circuit

Š Preplanned route established before any

packets sent
Š Call request and call accept packets establish
connection (handshake)
Š Each packet contains a virtual circuit identifier
instead of destination address
Š No routing decisions required for each packet
Š Clear request to drop circuit
Š Not a dedicated path

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Virtual Circuit vs Datagram
Š Virtual circuits
„ Network can provide sequencing and error control

„ Packets are forwarded more quickly

z No routing decisions to make

„ Less reliable

z Loss of a node looses all circuits through that

node
Š Datagram
„ No call setup phase

z Better if few packets

„ More flexible

z Routing can be used to avoid congested parts of

the network
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Data to be set in
one large packet,
with a small fixed
header. First from
X (source) to a

Then from a to b

Packet
Size
And finally, from b to
Y (destination) But, with more (smaller) packets
If the individual packets are too
the data can be forwarded
small, then the header size
sooner, and this reduces
becomes significant, and the
transmission time.
transmission takes longer.
 Š Referring to the previous diagram, what
is the optimum packet size to transmit
20kB of data over 2 intermediary nodes
with 32 bits of header information?

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Circuit vs Packet Switching

Š Performance
„ Propagation delay
„ Transmission time
„ Node delay

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 External and Internal Operation

Š Packet switching - datagrams or virtual circuits

Š Interface between station and network node
„ Connection oriented
z Station requests logical connection (virtual circuit)
z All packets identified as belonging to that connection &
sequentially numbered
z Network delivers packets in sequence
z External virtual circuit service
z e.g. X.25
z Different from internal virtual circuit operation
„ Connectionless
z Packets handled independently
z External datagram service
z Different from internal datagram operation
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
 Combinations
Š External virtual circuit, internal virtual
circuit
„ Dedicated route through network
Š External virtual circuit, internal datagram
„ Network handles each packet separately
„ Different packets for the same external
virtual circuit may take different internal
routes
„ Network buffers at destination node for re-
ordering

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 Combinations

Š External datagram, internal datagram

„ Packets treated independently by both
network and user
Š External datagram, internal virtual circuit
„ External user does not see any connections
„ External user sends one packet at a time
„ Network sets up logical connections

EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE

 External
Virtual
Circuit
and
Datagram
Operation
 Internal
Virtual
Circuit
and
Datagram
Operation
Virtual Circuit
EIE325: Telecommunication Technologies Maciej J. Ogorzałek, PolyU, EIE
Packet Switching