Chapter 8
Switching
8.1 Introduction
• Problem to connect devices one-to-one and solutions:
– Mesh, star but are costly and links are idle most of time
• A better solution is Switching
– A switched network consists of a series of interlinked
nodes, called switches
– switch can be connected to multiple links
8.1.1 Three methods of switching
1. Circuit switching,
2. Packet switching
1. Virtual circuit approach
2. Datagram approach
3. Message switching
3. It is more conceptual than practical
The first two are commonly used.
Switching and TCP/IP Layers
Switching at Physical Layer
only circuit switching
Switching at Data-Link Layer
packet switching (called frames or cell)
done using a virtual-circuit approach
Switching at Network Layer
packet switching
virtual-circuit or datagram can be used
Switching at Application Layer
only message switching
8.2 Circuit-Switched Networks
• It 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
– each connection uses only one dedicated channel on each link.
– Each link is divided into n channels by FDM or TDM
• In circuit switching,
– the resources need to be reserved during the setup phase;
– the resources remain dedicated for the entire duration of data transfer until the teardown
phase.
Efficiency
• It is not as efficient as the other two types of networks
– because resources are allocated during the entire duration of the
connection
• dedicated resources means that
– connections are deprived
Delay
• delay in this type of network is minimal
8.3 Packet Switching
• It divide packets into fixed or variable size.
– Size determined by the network and governing
protocol
• In a packet-switched network,
– there is no resource reservation;
– resources are allocated on demand
• Two types:
1. Datagram Networks
2. Virtual Circuit Networks
Datagram Networks
• each packet is treated independently of all others
– Datagram switching is normally done at the network layer
– sometimes referred to as connectionless networks
• no setup or teardown phases
• A switch in a datagram network uses a routing table that is based
on the destination address
Destination Address
– The destination address in the header in a datagram
network
• remains the same during the entire journey of the packet
Efficiency
– better than that of a circuit-switched network
– resources are allocated only when there are packets
Delay
– greater delay in a datagram network than in a virtual-
circuit network
– delay is not uniform for the packets of a message
Total delay = 3T + 3τ + w1 + w2
3T: Transmission Time [ message size / bandwidth ]
3τ: Propagation Delay [ distance / speed ]
w: waiting time [depends on current load]
Virtual Circuit Networks (VCN)
• It is a cross between a circuit-switched network and a
datagram network
– there are setup and teardown phases
– Resources can be allocated
• during the setup phase (like circuit switch)
• or on demand, (like datagram network)
– address in the header has local jurisdiction
– all packets follow the same path established during the connection
– implemented in the data-link layer
Addressing
– Global
– Local (VC identifier)
• Global Addressing
– global address is used only to create a VC identifier
• VC identifier
– small number that has only switch scope
– When a frame arrives at a switch,
• it has a VCI;
• when it leaves, it has a different VCI
Setup Phase:
– a switch creates an entry for a virtual circuit
• Setup request and
• setup acknowledgement
Setup Acknowledgement
Data-Transfer Phase
– All switches need to have a table entry for this virtual
circuit
– active until the source sends all its frames to the
destination
Teardown Phase:
• source A, after sending all frames to B,
– sends a special frame called a teardown request.
• Destination B responds with a teardown
confirmation frame.
• All switches delete the corresponding entry
from their tables
Efficiency
– all packets belonging to the same source and
destination
• travel the same path
– but the packets may arrive at the destination with
different delays
• if resource allocation is on demand
Delay in VCN
– one-time delay for setup and
– one-time delay for teardown
• If resources are allocated during the setup phase
– there is no wait time for individual packets
Total delay = 3T + 3τ + setup delay + teardown delay
