1

1.3 THE NETWORK CORE

1. Packet Switching
2. Circuit Switching

1. Packet Switching
breaks long messages into smaller chunks of data known
as packets.
 Between source and destination, each packet travels through communication links and packet
switches (for which there are two predominant types, routers and link layer switches)

 Rate of link equal to the full transmission rate of the link

store-and-forward transmission
the packet switch must receive the entire packet before it can begin to transmit
the first bit of the packet onto the outbound link

Store : the packet is (buffer)

Fordward: packet onto the outbound link

 2

Packet transmission L (bits) L : length of Packets

delay = R (bits/sec) R: Transmission Rate

L
End-to-end delay = N Where N is number of link
R

output buffer : which stores packets that the router is about to send into that link.

Note:
The output buffers play a key role in packet switching.
 If an arriving packet needs to be transmitted onto a link but finds the link busy
with the transmission of another packet, the arriving packet must wait in the
output buffer.

queuing delays: the arriving packet must wait in the output buffer , These delays
are variable and depend on the level of congestion in the network
packet loss : will occur—either the arriving packet or one of the already-queued
packets will be dropped.
 3

 Forwarding Tables and Routing Protocols

Forwarding table : maps destination addresses.

When a packet arrives at a router, the router examines the address and searches its
forwarding table , using this destination address, to find the appropriate outbound
link.
Routing protocols : that are used to automatically set the forwarding tables.
For example , determine the shortest path from each router to each destination and
use the shortest path results to configure the forwarding tables in the routers

2. Circuit Switching

The resources needed along a path (buffers, link transmission rate) to provide for
communication between the end systems are reserved for the duration of the
communication session between the end systems

Multiplexing in Circuit-Switched Networks :

A circuit in a link is implemented with either frequency-division multiplexing (FDM)
or time-division multiplexing (TDM)
 4
Packet-switching VS Circuit-Switching
Differences by technology

Circuit – Switching Packet – Switching

It is a connection oriented network switching technique. It is a connectionless network switching technique.

A dedicated path has to be established between the source There is no need to establish a dedicated path from the
and the destination before transfer of data commences. source to the destination.
Once, the data is transmitted, the path is relinquished.

It is inflexible in nature since data packets are routed along Each packet is routed separately. Consequently, it is
the same dedicated path. flexible in nature where the different data packets follow
different paths.

It was initially designed for voice transfer. It was initially designed for data transfer.
The entire message is received in the order sent by the The individual packets of the message are received out of
source. order and so need to be reassembled at the destination.

It is implemented at Physical Layer. It is implemented at Network Layer.

It has two approaches −Space division switching, and It has two approaches − Datagram, and Virtual Circuit
•Time division switching

It is not a store and forward transmission. It is store and forward transmission.

Data is processed and transmitted at the source only. Data is processed and transmitted, not only at the source
but at each switching station.
 5
Packet-switching VS Circuit-Switching
Differences by advantages and disadvantages

Circuit – Switching Networks Packet – Switching Networks

They are suitable for long continuous transmission, like They are unsuitable for applications that cannot afford
voice calls. delays in communication like high quality voice calls.

Once a route is established between the source and the It allows simultaneous usage of the same channel by
destination, the route cannot be used by any other user. multiple users. This guarantees better resource utilization.
This leads to poor utilization of resources.

Bandwidth requirement is high even in cases of low data It ensures better bandwidth usage as a number of packets
volume. from multiple sources can be transferred via the same link.

Time required to establish connection may be high. Delay in delivery of packets is less, since packets are sent
as soon as they are available.

Initial cost is low. Packet switching high installation costs.

The protocols for delivery are relatively simpler. They require complex protocols for delivery.

It is more reliable. It is less reliable.