COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

REVIEW

CIRCUIT SWITCHING

The N2 Problem

For N users to be fully connected directly

Requires N(N 1)/2 connections
Requires too much space for cables
Inefficient & costly since connections not always on
1

N = 1000
N(N 1)/2 = 499500
N

Circuit Switching
Patchcord panel switch invented in 1877
Operators connect users on demand

Establish circuit to allow electrical current to flow

from inlet to outlet

Only N connections required to central office

N1
3

Manual Switching

Switch Network

A switched network consists of a series of interlinked nodes, called switches.

Switches are hardware and/or software devices
capable of creating temporary connections
between two or more devices linked to the
switch but not to each other.
Methods of switching

Circuit switching, packet switching, and message

switching
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Circuit Switch

Circuit switching creates a direct physical

connection between two devices such as
phones or computers.
We can use switches to reduce the number and
length of links.

A Circuit Switch

A circuit switch is a device with n inputs and m

outputs that creates a temporary connection
between an input link and an output link.
The number of inputs does not have to match
the number of outputs.

A Folded Switch

An n-by-n folded switch can connect n lines in full-duplex

mode. For example, it can connect n telephones in such
a way that each phone can be connected to every other
phone.
Circuit switching uses space-division switch [paths in the
circuit are separated from each other spatially] or timedivision switch.

Circuit Switch Types

Space-Division switches

Time-Division switches

Provide separate physical connection between

inputs and outputs
Crossbar switches
Multistage switches
Time-slot interchange technique
Time-space-time switches

Hybrids combine Time & Space switching

Space Division Switch

Paths in the circuit are separated from each other spatially.

Crossbar Switch
Crossbar switch connects n inputs to m outputs in a grid,
using electronic micro-switches (transistors) at each crosspoint.
Limitation is the number of cross-points required

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Multistage Switch

Multistage switch combines crossbar switches in several

stages.
Design of a multistage switch depends on the number of
stages and the number of switches required (or desired) in
each stage.
Normally, the middle stages have fewer switches than do the
first and last stages.

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Multiple Switching Paths

Multiple paths are available in multistage switches.

Blocking refers to times when two inputs are looking for
the same output. The output port is blocked.

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Multistage Space Switch

Large switch built from multiple stages of small switches
The n inputs to a first-stage switch share k paths through intermediate
crossbar switches
Larger k (more intermediate switches) means more paths to output
In 1950s, Clos asked, How many intermediate switches required to
make switch nonblocking?

2(N/n)nk + k (N/n)2 crosspoints

1

N/n N/n
2

nk

kn
3

N
outputs

kn

nk
N/n

kn
kn

nk

N
inputs

N/n N/n

nk

N/n N/n

N/n

Clos Non-Blocking Condition:

k=2n-1

Request connection from last input to input switch

j to last output in output switch m
Worst Case: All other inputs have seized top n-1
middle switches AND all other outputs have
seized next n-1 middle switches
If k=2n-1, there is another path left to connect
desired input to desired output

Clos Non-Blocking Condition:

k=2n-1

n-1
busy

nxk

Desired
input

kxn

N/n x N/n

N/n x N/n
n-1
N/n x N/n
n+1

kxn
m

n-1
busy

# internal links =
2x # external links

N/n x N/n
2n-2
nxk
N/n

x N/n
Free path N/n2n-1

Desired
output

nxk

Free path

kxn
N/n

Minimum Complexity Clos Switch

C(n) = number of crosspoints in Clos switch
= 2Nk + k( N )2 = 2N(2n 1)+(2n 1)( N )2
n
n
Differentiate with respect to n:
2
2
2
0 = dC = 4N 2N + 2N 4N 2N ==> n N
3
2
2
2
dn
n
n
n

The minimized number of crosspoints is then:

N2
N
C* = (2N + N/2 )(2( 2 )1/2 1) 4N 2N = 4 2N1.5

This is lower than N2 for large N

Example: Clos Switch Design

16x8
1

16x8

144x144

8x16
3

16x8

8x16
2

144144

8x16
144

Clos Nonblocking Design for 1152x1152

switch
N=1152, n=8, k=16
N/n=144 8x16 switches in first stage
16 144x144 in centre stage
144 16x8 in third stage
Aggregate Throughput: 3.6 Tbps!

8x16
1

1152 outputs

Circa 2002, Mindspeed offered a Crossbar

chip with the following specs:
144 inputs x 144 outputs, 3.125
Gbps/line
Aggregate Crossbar chip throughput:
450 Gbps
1152 inputs

16x8

144x144

N/n

16

Note: the 144x144 crossbar can be

partitioned into multiple smaller switches

Time Division Switch

Time-division switching uses time-division multiplexing to

achieve switching. Two methods used are:

Time-slot interchange (TSI) changes the order of the slots based on the
desired connection.
TDM bus

Time-Slot Interchange (TSI)

TSI consists of random access memory (RAM) with several

memory locations. The size of each location is the same as
the size of a single time slot.
The number of locations is the same as the number of inputs.
The RAM fills up with incoming data from time slots in the
order received. Slots are then sent out in an order based on
the decisions of a control unit.

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Time-Slot Interchange (TSI)

Switching

Write bytes from arriving TDM stream into memory

Read bytes in permuted order into outgoing TDM stream
Max # slots = 125 msec / (2 x memory cycle time)
1

3
c
23

Incoming

TDM
stream

b
2

a
1

d
24

Write
22
slots in
order of 23
arrival

24

Read slots
according to
connection
permutation

c
d

b
24

a
23

d
2

c
1

Outgoing
TDM
stream

Time-slot interchange

10

TDM Bus

Input and output lines are connected to a high-speed bus through input and
output gates (microswitches)
Each input gate is closed during one of the four slots.
During the same time slot, only one output gate is also closed. This pair of
gates allows a burst of data to be transferred from one specific input line to
one specific output line using the bus.
The control unit opens and closes the gates according to switching need.

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Comparison of SDM and TDM

SDM

Advantage:

Disadvantage:

Instantaneous.
Number of cross points required.

TDM

Advantage:

No cross points.

Disadvantage:

Processing delay.
22

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TST Switch

Combine Space division and time division switching.

This results in switches that are optimized both physically (the
number of crosspoints) and temporally (the amount of delay).
Various types are: time-space-time (TST), time-space-spacetime (TSST), space-time-time-space (STTS), etc.

23

Time-Space-Time Hybrid Switch

Use TSI in first & third stage; Use crossbar in middle

Replace n input x k output space switch by TSI switch that takes n-slot
input frame and switches it to k-slot output frame
nxk
1

kxn

N/n x N/n

nxk
N
inputs

nxk
3

nxk

Input TDM
frame with
n slots

1
2

n 2

Output TDM
frame with k
slots
k 2

N/n

Time-slot interchange

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Flow of time slots between

switches
First slot

First slot

nk

N/n N/n

kn
1

kn

nk
2

N/n N/n

kn

nk
N/n

kth slot

N/n

N/n N/n
k

kth slot

Only one space switch active in each time slot

Time-Share the Crossbar Switch

Space stage

TSI stage
TDM
n slots

nxk

n slots

nxk

N
inputs

n slots

nxk

kxn
1

kxn
N/n x N/n
Time-shared
space switch

kxn

N
outputs

n slots

TDM
k slots

TDM
k slots

TSI stage

nxk

kxn

N/n

N/n

Interconnection pattern of space switch is reconfigured

every time slot
Very compact design: fewer lines because of TDM &
less space because of time-shared crossbar

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Example: A3, B4, C1, D3

(a)
A
B

C
D

3-stage

Space
Switch
B

(b)
B2 A2 B1 A1

2x3

B1 A1

C1 A1

3x2

A1 C1

Equivalent

TST Switch
D2 C2 D1 C1

2x3

D1 C1

D1 B1

3x2

B1 D1

Example: T-S-T Switch Design

For N = 960
Single stage space switch ~ 1 million crosspoints
T-S-T

Let n = 120 N/n = 8 TSIs

k = 2n 1 = 239
for non-blocking
Pick k = 240 time slots
Need 8x8 time-multiplexed space switch

For N = 96,000
T-S-T

Let n = 120
k = 239
N / n = 800
Need 800x800 space switch

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