Switching Systems

1. Introduction:

In a switched communication network, data are routed to

the destination by being switched
from node to node. Networks have
two different switching technologies
– circuit switching
– packet switching,
In addition to virtual circuit switching
The terminals (stations) connected to a network may be
computers, terminals, telephones, or other communicating
devices.
2. Circuit Switching
A path from source to destination
is established before a message is
transmitted. It has three phases:
• Establish
• Transfer
• Disconnect
It is characterized by:
• An inefficient bandwidth utilization,
• Latency due to setup duration, and
• Blocking (unable to connect stations ).
Node to node links switching are usually based on
multiplexing, using either Frequency Division Multiplexing
(FDM) or Time Division Multiplexing (TDM).
3. Packet switching:
packets sent one at a time to the network

Packet switching can be handled in two ways

– datagram
– virtual circuit
Packet Switching: Datagram

A message is transmitted in
a form of packets without
prior reservation of link
capacity. When a packet is
received at a switch, it is
Inspected to determine the
appropriate output link and
transmitted when the output
link is available.
A datagram packet switching network is also called
store and forward network. The packets are queued up
and transmitted as rapidly as possible over the link.
Packet Switching: Virtual Circuit
Is considered as hybrid of
datagram packet switching
and circuit switching networks.
All packets that belong to the
given message all follow the
same path. The resource of the
path can be shared by other flows.
Example: ATM‐asynchronous
Transfer Mode.
MPLS - Multiprotocol Label Switching (2.5 layer protocol)

MPLS belongs to the family of virtual circuit packet-

switched networks. It operates at a layer that is generally
considered to lie between traditional definitions of OSI
Layer 2 (data link layer) and Layer 3 (network layer), and
thus is often referred to as a layer 2.5 protocol.
Virtual Circuits v 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
The package switching transcend the circuit switching
from the perspective of :
• Better Bandwidth utilization since a single node-to-
node link can be dynamically shared by many packets
over time.
• Priorities can be used. If a node has a number of
packets queued for transmission, it can transmit the
higher-priority packets first. These packets will
therefore experience less delay than lower-priority
packets
• Two stations of different data rates can exchange
packets because each connects to its node at its
proper data rate.
Packet switching: Statistical Multiplexing