CHAPTER 9

WAN Technology and Protocols

Switched Communications Networks

Switching nodes - provide a switching facility that move data between nodes

Stations – devices attached to the network

Nodes – switching devices that provide communication

Communications network – collection of nodes

Switched communication network – data entering the network from a station

are routed to the destination by being switched from node to node
 Mainframe

Personal C
computer
2 Server

1
3
B D

5
Personal
computer
Switching E
4 Node
Personal
6 computer

A 7
Personal
computer
F
Figure 9.1 Simple Switching Network
 Circuit Switching
Uses a dedicated path between Has three phases
two stations
Can be inefficient
Channel capacity dedicated for Establish
duration of connection
If no data, capacity is wasted
Set up (connection) takes time
Once connected, transfer is
transparent Transfer

Disconnec
t
 Long-distance Long-distance
office office

End Office
End Office

Digital PBX

Figure 9.2 Example Connection Over a Public Circuit-Switching Network

a

b End
office

c
Trunk
Intermediate
exchange
Trunk

End
office
d

Figure 9.3 Circuit Establishment

 Circuit-Switching Technology

• Driven by applications that handle voice traffic

• Key requirement is no transmission delay and no variation in
delay
• Efficient for analog transmission of voice signals
• Inefficient for digital transmission
• Transparent
• Once a circuit is established it appears as a direct connection; no special logic is
needed
 Control Unit

to attached devices
Full-duplex lines
Digital Switch

Network
Interface

Figure 9.4 Elements of a Circuit-Switch Node

Circuit-Switching Concepts

Network
Digital switch Control unit
interface
• Provides a • Functions • Establishes,
transparent and maintains,
signal path hardware and tears
• Must allow needed to down the
full-duplex connect connection
transmission digital
devices
Blocking or Non-blocking
Blocking network
• May be unable to connect
stations because all paths are in
use
• Used on voice systems because it
is expected for phone calls to be
of short duration and that only a
fraction of the phones will be
engaged at any one time
Non-blocking network
• Permits all stations to connect at
once
• Grants all possible connection
requests as long as the called
party is free
• When using data connections
terminals can be continuously
connected for long periods of
time so nonblocking
configurations are required
Space Division Switching

Originally developed for analog, space

division switching has been carried over into
the digital realm
Signal paths are physically separate from
one another
Path is dedicated solely to transfer signals
Basic building block of switch is a metallic
crosspoint or semiconductor gate
Input Lines

Output Lines

Figure 9.5 Space-Division Switch

 FIRST STAGE SECOND STAGE THIRD STAGE

1 5 2 2 5 1
switch switch
2 2

3 2 2 switch 3

4 4

5 5

2 2 switch

6 5 2 2 5 6
switch switch
7 7

8 8

9 9

10 10

Figure 9.6 Three-Stage Space-Division Switch

Time Division Switching

Modern digital systems use intelligent control of space &

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
Individual pieces manipulated by control logic to flow from
input to output
1 a b b a 1
I J I J
I I
TSI
J J
N N

(a) TSI Operation

Data in Data out

Write address

I a
Read
J b address

Data store J I

Read address
I J
Time slot
counter Address
store

(b) TSI Mechanism

Figure 9.7 Time-Slot Interchange

 SEL

SEL

SEL SEL

TSI

TSI

Figure 9.8 A Time-Multiplexed Switch

 SWITCH

Call SS7
processing Network

Request to generate progress

Supervisory events tones (e.g., ringback, engaged).
(e.g., off-hook, on-hook) Instructions to establish switch
fabric connections.

Circuit- Circuit-
switching switched
fabric trunks

(a) Traditional circuit switching

Media SS7
gateway Network
controller

Request to generate progress

Supervisory events tones (e.g., ringback, engaged) .
(e.g., off-hook, on-hook) Instructions to establish switch
fabric connections.

Circuit- or packet- Media Circuit- or packet-

switched gateway switched
access trunks

(b) Softswitch architecture

Figure 9.9 Comparison between Traditional Circuit Switching and Softswitch

Packet Switching

Circuit switching was designed for voice

Packet switching was designed for data
Transmitted in small packets
Packets contain user data and control info
User data may be part of a larger message
Control information includes routing (addressing)
Packets are received, stored briefly (buffered) and
passed on to the next node
 Application data

Packet-Switching
control information Network
(packet header)

packet

Figure 9.10 The Use of Packets

 Advantages

Line efficiency
Single link shared by many packets over time
Packets queued and transmitted as fast as possible
Data rate conversion
Stations connect to local node at own speed
Nodes buffer data if required to equalize rates
Packets accepted even when network is busy
Priorities can be used
Switching Techniques
• Station breaks long message into packets
• Packets sent one at a time to the network
• Packets can be handled in two ways:

Datagram Virtual circuit

• Each packet is treated • A preplanned route is
independently with established before
no reference to any packets are sent
previous packets
 (a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

Figure 9.11 Packet Switching: Datagram Approach

 (a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

Figure 9.12 Packet Switching: Virtual-Circuit Approach

 Virtual Circuits vs. Datagram

Virtual circuits
Network can provide sequencing and error control
Packets are forwarded more quickly
Less reliable
Datagram
No call setup phase
More flexible
More reliable
(a) 1-packet message (b) 2-packet message (c) 5-packet message (d) 10-packet message

1
Header 1

Data 2 1
1
Data 2 1 3 2 1

4 3 2
3 2 1
5 4 3
Data Data
2 1 4 3 2 6 5 4

7 6 5
5 4 3
8 7 6
Data Data
Data
2 1 5 4 9 8 7

10 9 8
5
10 9
Data
X a b Y 10
2

X a b Y
X a b Y

Data

X a b Y

Figure 9.13 Effect of Packet Size on Transmission Time

External Network Interface

ITU-T standard for interface between host and packet switched

network
Almost universal on packet switched networks and packet switching
in ISDN
Defines three layers

Physical Link Packet

 Mainframe

C
Personal
Server
computer

D
Personal
B computer

Personal
computer
Packet-Switching
E
Network
Personal
computer

A
Solid line = physical link
Dashed line = virtual circuit
F

Figure 9.14 The Use of Virtual Circuits

 (a) Circuit switching (b) Virtual circuit packet switching (c) Datagram packet switching

propagation processing
Call delay delay Call
request request
signal packet
Pkt1
Call Call
accept accept Pkt2
signal packet Pkt1
Pkt3
Pkt2
Pkt1
Pkt3
Pkt2
User Pkt1
data Pkt3
Pkt2
Pkt1
Acknowledge-
ment signal Pkt3
Pkt2
Pkt1
Pkt3
Pkt2

Pkt3 Acknowledge-
ment packet

link link link

Nodes: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Figure 9.15 Event Timing for Circuit Switching and Packet Switching
 Circuit Switching
Dedicated transmission path
Continuous transmission of
data
Fast enough for interactive
Messages are not stored
The path is established for
entire conversation
Call setup delay; negligible
transmission delay
Busy signal if called party
busy
Overload may block call
setup; no delay for established
calls
Electromechanical or
computerized switching nodes
User responsible for message
loss protection
Usually no speed or code
conversion
Fixed bandwidth
No overhead bits after call
setup
Datagram Packet Switching
No dedicated path
Transmission of packets
Fast enough for interactive
Packets may be stored until
delivered
Route established for each
packet
Packet transmission delay
Sender may be notified if
packet not delivered
Overload increases packet
delay
Small switching nodes
Network may be responsible
for individual packets
Speed and code conversion
Dynamic use of bandwidth
Overhead bits in each packet
Virtual Circuit Packet
Switching
No dedicated path
Transmission of packets
Table 9.1  
Fast enough for interactive
Packets stored until delivered
Route established for entire
conversation Comparison
of
Call setup delay; packet
transmission delay Communication
Sender notified of connection Switching
denial Techniques
Overload may block call
setup; increases packet delay
Small switching nodes
Network may be responsible
for packet sequences
Speed and code conversion
(Table can be found
Dynamic use of bandwidth on page 291 in
Overhead bits in each packet textbook)
 Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
• A switching and multiplexing technology that employs small, fixed-
length packets called cells
• A fixed-size packet ensures function could be carried out efficiently, with
little delay variation
• Small cell size supports delay-intolerant interactive voice service with a
small packetization delay
• Designed to provide the performance of a circuit-switching network and
the flexibility and efficiency of a packet-switching network
• Standardization effort was to provide a powerful set of tools for
supporting a rich QoS capability and a powerful traffic management
capability
ATM

• Commonly used by telecommunications providers to implement wide

area networks
• Used by many DSL implementations
• Used as a backbone network technology in numerous IP networks
• Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) has reduced the role for ATM
 Virtual Channel Connection
(VCC)
• Logical connection in ATM
• Analogous to a virtual circuit
• Basic unit of switching in an ATM network
• Set up between two end users through the network, and a variable-rate,
full duplex flow of fixed-size cells is exchanged over the connection
• Also used for user-network exchange and network-network exchange
Virtual Channels

Virtual Path
Physical
Transmission Path

Figure 9.16 ATM Connection Relationships

Virtual Path Advantages

Simplified network architecture

• Network transport functions can be separated into those related to an individual

logical connection and those related to a group of logical connections

Increased network performance and reliability

• The network deals with fewer, aggregated entities

Reduced processing and short connection setup time

• By reserving capacity on a virtual path connection, new virtual channel connections

can be established by executing simple control functions at the endpoints of the
virtual path connection

Enhanced network services

• The virtual path is used internal to the network but is also visible to the end user; the
user may define closed user groups or closed networks of virtual channel bundles
Virtual Channel Characteristics
• ITU-T Recommendation I.150 lists the following characteristics of VCCs:

Quality of service (QoS)

• Specified by parameters such as cell loss ratio and cell delay variation

Switched and semipermanent VCCs

• A switched VCC is an on-demand connection which requires a call control signaling for setup and tearing down
• A semipermanent VCC is one that is of long duration and is set up by configuration or network management action

Cell sequence integrity

• The sequence of transmitted cells within a VCC is preserved

Traffic parameter negotiation and usage monitoring

• Traffic parameters can be negotiated between a user and the network for each VCC
• The network monitors the input of cells to ensure that the negotiated parameters are not violated
 ITU-T Recommendation I.150 lists the following characteristics of VPCs:

Quality of service (QoS)

Virtual Path Characteristics

Specified by parameters such as cell loss ratio and cell delay variation

Switched and semipermanent VPCs

A switched VPC is an on-demand connection which requires A semipermanent VPC is one that is of long duration and is
a call control signaling for setup and tearing down set up by configuration or network management action

Cell sequence integrity

The sequence of transmitted cells within a VPC is preserved

Traffic parameter negotiation and usage monitoring

Traffic parameters can be negotiated between a user and The network monitors the input of cells to ensure that the
the network for each VPC negotiated parameters are not violated

Virtual channel identifier restriction within a VPC

One or more virtual channel identifiers, or numbers, may not be available to the user of the VPC but may be reserved for
network use
 Control Signaling
VCCs
• Semipermanent VCCs may be used for
user-to-user exchange
• No control signaling is required
• If there is no preestablished call control
signaling channel, then one must be set up
• Meta-signaling channel
• The meta-signaling channel can be used to
set up a VCC between the user and the
network for call control signaling
• User-to-network signaling virtual channel
• The meta-signaling channel can also be
used to set up a user-to-user signaling
virtual channel
• Such a channel must be set up within a
preestablished VPC
VPCs
• Can be established on a
semipermanent basis by prior
agreement
• No control signaling is required
• VPC establishment/release may be
customer controlled
• The customer uses a signaling VCC to
request the VPC from the network
• VPC establishment/release may be
network controlled
• The network establishes a VPC for its
own convenience
• The path may be network-to-network,
user-to-network, or user-to-user
 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Generic flow control Virtual path identifier

Virtual path identifier
Virtual path identifier

Virtual channel identifier 5-octet Virtual channel identifier

header
Payload type CLP Payload type CLP

Header error control Header error control

53-octet
cell
Information field Information field
(48 octets) (48 octets)

(a) User-Network Interface (b) Network-Network Interface

Figure 9.17 ATM Cell Format

 Table 9.2
Payload Type (PT) Field Coding

PT Coding Interpretation
000 User data cell, congestion not experienced, SDU-type = 0
001 User data cell, congestion not experienced, SDU-type = 1
010 User data cell, congestion experienced, SDU-type = 0
011 User data cell, congestion experienced, SDU-type = 1
100 OAM segment associated cell
101 OAM end-to-end associated cell
110 Resource management cell
111 Reserved for future function

SDU = Service Data Unit

OAM = Operations, Administration, and Maintenance
 Summary
• Switched communications
networks
• Circuit-switching networks
• Circuit-switching concepts
• Space division switching
• Time-division switching
• Softswitch architecture
• Packet-switching principles
• Switching technique
• Packet size
• External network interface
• Comparison of circuit switching and
packet switching
• Asynchronous transfer mode
• ATM logical connections
• ATM cells