Module-II:Circuit Switching and
Packet Switching
Dr. Sudarshan Nandy
Associate Professor,
School of Computer Science and Engineering
VIT , Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
Syllabus
Switched Communications Networks
Circuit Switching
Packet Switching
Comparison of Circuit Switching and Packet
Switching
Implementing Network Software, Networking
Parameters
Transmission Impairment,
Data Rate and
Performance.
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Switching
A network is a set of connected devices. Whenever we have multiple
devices, we have the problem of how to connect them to make one-to-
one communication possible.
One solution is to make a point-to-point connection between each pair of
devices (a mesh topology) or between a central device and every other
device (a star topology). These methods, however, are impractical and
wasteful when applied to very large networks.
The number and length of the links require too much infrastructure to be
cost-efficient, and the majority of those links would be idle most of the
time.
Other topologies employing multipoint connections, such as a bus, are
ruled out because the distances between devices and the total number of
devices increase beyond the capacities of the media and equipment.
A better solution is switching. A switched network consists of a series of
interlinked nodes, called switches. Switches are devices capable of
creating temporary connections between two or more devices linked to
the switch.
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Switched Network
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Switching
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Circuit Switching
A circuit-switched network 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.
However, each connection uses only one
dedicated channel on each link.
A circuit-switched network is made of a set
of switches connected by physical links, in
which each link is divided into n channels.
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Circuit Switched Network
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Circuit switching takes place at the physical layer.
Before starting communication, the stations must make a
reservation for the resources to be used during the
communication. These resources, such as channels (bandwidth in
FDM and time slots in TDM), switch buffers, switch processing
time, and switch input/output ports, must remain dedicated
during the entire duration of data transfer until the teardown
phase.
Data transferred between the two stations are not packetized
(physical layer transfer of the signal). The data are a continuous
flow sent by the source station and received by the destination
station, although there may be periods of silence.
There is no addressing involved during data transfer. The switches
route the data based on their occupied band (FDM) or time slot
(TDM). Of course, there is end-to-end addressing used during the
setup phase, as we will see shortly.
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Circuit Establishment
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Circuit switching
The actual communication in a circuit-switched network
requires three phases: connection setup, data transfer, and
connection teardown.
Setup Phase
Before the two parties (or multiple parties in a conference call)
can communicate, a dedicated circuit (combination of channels
in links) needs to be established. The end systems are normally
connected through dedicated lines to the switches, so
connection setup means creating dedicated channels between
the switches.
Data-Transfer Phase
After the establishment of the dedicated circuit (channels), the
two parties can transfer data.
Teardown Phase
When one of the parties needs to disconnect, a signal is sent to
each switch to release the resources.
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Circuit switching
Advantages of Circuit Switching:
Dedicated Communication Path
A fixed path is established for the entire duration of the call, ensuring a continuous and
predictable connection.
Consistent Quality of Service (QoS)
Since the path is reserved, there’s no competition for bandwidth, leading to consistent
transmission quality and minimal delay or jitter.
Real-Time Communication
Ideal for real-time applications like traditional voice calls or video calls, where a stable
connection is necessary.
No Packet Overhead
Unlike packet switching, there’s no need to break data into packets or add
headers/footers, reducing processing overhead.
Simple at the Receiver End
Data arrives in the correct order, making reassembly or buffering unnecessary.
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Circuit switching
Disadvantages of Circuit Switching:
Inefficient Use of Resources
Resources are reserved for the entire duration of the call, even when no data is being
transmitted (e.g., during pauses in speech).
Setup Time Delay
Establishing the circuit before communication begins can cause an initial delay.
Scalability Issues
Not well-suited for handling large volumes of bursty traffic, like internet data, where
users connect and disconnect frequently.
Higher Cost
Maintaining dedicated circuits can be expensive in terms of infrastructure and
operational costs.
Less Fault Tolerant
If the dedicated path fails, the entire communication session is dropped, as there’s no
automatic rerouting like in packet switching.
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Circuit Switch
Elements
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Blocking or Non-blocking
blocking network
may be unable to connect stations because all
paths are in use
used on voice systems
non-blocking network
permits all stations to connect at once
used for some data connections
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Packet Switching
Circuit switching was designed for voice
Packet switching was designed for data
Transmitted in small packets
Packets contains user data and control info
user data may be part of a larger message
control info includes routing (addressing) info
Packets are received, stored briefly (buffered)
and past on to the next node
In a packet-switched network, there is no
resource reservation; resources are allocated on
demand.
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Packet Switching
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Datagram packet switching
In a datagram network, each packet is treated
independently of all others. Even if a packet is part of
a multipacket transmission, the network treats it as
though it existed alone. Packets in this approach are
referred to as datagrams.
Datagram switching is normally done at the network
layer.
The datagram networks are sometimes referred to
as connectionless networks. The term connectionless
here means that the switch (packet switch) does not
keep information about the connection state. There
are no setup or teardown phases. Each packet is
treated the same by a switch regardless of its source
or destination.
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Datagram packet switching
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A switch in a datagram network uses a
routing table that is based on the destination
address.
The destination address in the header of a
packet in a datagram network remains the
same during the entire journey of the packet.
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Virtual Circuit Switch
A virtual-circuit network is a cross between a circuit-switched
network and a datagram network. It has some characteristics of
both.
1. As in a circuit-switched network, there are setup and teardown phases in
addition to the data transfer phase.
2. Resources can be allocated during the setup phase, as in a circuit-
switched network, or on demand, as in a datagram network.
3. As in a datagram network, data are packetized and each packet carries an
address in the header. However, the address in the header has local
jurisdiction (it defines what the next switch should be and the channel on
which the packet is being carried), not end-to-end jurisdiction. The reader
may ask how the intermediate switches know where to send the packet if
there is no final destination address carried by a packet. The answer will be
clear when we discuss virtual-circuit identifiers in the next section.
4. As in a circuit-switched network, all packets follow the same path
established during the connection.
5. A virtual-circuit network is normally implemented in the data-link layer,
while a circuit-switched network is implemented in the physical layer and a
datagram network in the network layer. But this may change in the future.
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Addressing
In a virtual-circuit network, two types of addressing are
involved: global and local (virtual-circuit identifier).
Three Phases: As in a circuit-switched network, a
source and destination need to go through three
phases in a virtual-circuit network: setup, data
transfer, and teardown
In the setup phase, the source and destination use their
global addresses to help switches make table entries for
the connection.
In the teardown phase, the source and destination inform
the switches to delete the corresponding entry.
Data transfer occurs between these two phases.
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Source-to-destination data transfer in a virtual-
circuit network
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Setup request in a virtual-circuit network
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Setup acknowledgment in a virtual-circuit
network
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Difference between VLAN and Virtual Circuit
Aspect VLAN Virtual Circuit Switching
Layer (OSI) Layer 2 (Data Link) Layer 2 or 3 (Data Link or
Network)
Purpose Segment LAN into Emulate a dedicated path
broadcast domains between source and dest
Use Case LAN segmentation WAN communication (e.g.,
(e.g., office Frame Relay, ATM)
departments)
Connection Always on Set up per session or connection
Path No (uses MAC- Yes (establishes path before
Guarantee based switching) data transfer)
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Delay in a virtual-circuit network
The packet is traveling through two switches (routers). There are three transmission
times (3T ), three propagation times (3τ), data transfer depicted by the sloping lines, a
setup delay (which includes transmission and propagation in two directions),and a
teardown delay (which includes transmission and propagation in one direction).
Total delay = 3T + 3τ + setup delay + teardown delay
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Data Rate (Bandwidth)
Definition: The amount of data that can be
transmitted over a link in a given time.
Unit: Bits per second (bps), Kbps, Mbps, Gbps,
etc.
Example: If a link has a data rate of 10 Mbps, it
can transmit 10 million bits per second.
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Transmission Time (Transmission Delay)
Definition: The time it takes to push all the
bits of a message into the wire.
Transmission Time= Message Size (in bits) /
Data Rate (in bps)
Example: Sending a 1000 bit message over
100 kbps link:
Transmission time = 1000 / 100000 = 0.01
seconds
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Propagation Delay
Definition: The time it takes for a single bit
to travel from sender to receiver through
the medium.
Formula:Propagation Delay= (Distance /
Propagation Speed)
For a 1000 km with a propagation speed 2
x108 m/s:
1000,000/(2 x108 m/s) = 0.005 s = 5ms
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Transmission rate = Link Rate or Bit rate /
no. of slots bps
Transmission time = size of file / transmission
rate
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