CSE 413: Computer Network

Circuit Switching and Packet Switching

Networks

Md. Kamrul Hasan

09-03-2010
 The network core:
• mesh of interconnected
routers
• the fundamental
question: how is data
transferred through net?
– circuit switching: dedicated
circuit per call: telephone
net
– packet-switching: data sent
through net in discrete
“chunks” (packets) on
shared media
 The network core:
Circuit Switching
End-to-end
resources reserved
for “call”
• link bandwidth, switch
capacity
• dedicated resources: no
sharing
• circuit-like (guaranteed)
performance
• call setup required
 Circuit Switching
Boston
• It’s the method used by Switch
LA
Switch
the telephone network
• A call has three Caller Callee
phases:
1. Establish circuit processing delay at switch

from end-to-end propagation

delay
(“dialing”), (1) between
caller
2. Communicate, and Boston
switch
3. Close circuit (“tear (2)
down”).
• DATA
If circuit not available:
“busy signal”
(3)
 Circuit Switching:
Multiplexing/Demultiplexing
Switch Frames

Slots = 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5

• Time divided into frames and frames divided into slots

• Relative slot position inside a frame determines which
conversation the data belongs to
– E.g., slot 0 belongs to the red conversation
• Need synchronization between sender and receiver

Lecture notes use the word “frame” for slot

 The network core:
Circuit Switching
network resources (e.g., bandwidth) divided
into “pieces”
• pieces allocated to calls
• resource piece idle if not used by owning call
(no sharing)
• Consumers are charged on a per-minute basis
• 2 ways of dividing the link bandwidth into
“pieces”
– frequency division multiplexing (FDM)
– time division multiplexing (TDM)
 Circuit Switching: FDM and TDM
Example:
Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
4 users

frequency

time
Time Division Multiplexing. (TDM)

frequency

time
 Numerical example
• How long does it take to send a file of
640,000 bits from host A to host B over
a circuit-switched network?
• The link’s transmission rate = 1.536 Mbps
• Each link uses TDM with 24 slots/sec
• 500 msec to establish end-to-end circuit
Figure it out …
• Solution:
– Bandwidth of circuit = 1.536/24 = 64 kbps
– Time to send: 640 kbits/64 kbps + 0.5s = 10.5s
What would be different if we use FDM instead of TDM?
Common mistake/confusion :
Question:
• A) Express transmission rate of 1Kbits/sec in bits/sec
• B) Express the file size of 1KBytes in bits
Answer:
• A) 1000 bits/sec (in throughput, K = 103=1000)
• B) 1024 Bytes = 8192 bits (in data size, K = 210=1024)

• Electronic speeds/times: K = 103, M = 106, G = 109

• Computer file/memory sizes: K = 210 , M = 220, G = 230

• Common computer notation:

– b(bits) Kb, Mb, Gb
– B(Bytes) KB, MB, GB
• Better computer notation:
– b(bits) Kib, Mib, Gib
– B(Bytes) KiB, MiB, GiB
 Packet Switching
• Used in the Internet
• Data is sent in Packets Host 1 Host 2
(header contains control
info, e.g., source and Node 1 Node 2
destination addresses)

Header Data propagation

delay
between
Host 1 &
transmission processing
Packet 1 Node 2
time of
• Per-packet routing Packet 1 Packet 2 delay of
Packet 1
• At each node the entire at Host 1
Packet 3 Packet 1
at Node 2
Packet 2
packet is received, stored, Packet 1
Packet 3
and then forwarded (store- Packet 2
and-forward networks) Packet 3
• No capacity is allocated
 Packet Switching:
Multiplexing/Demultiplexing

Router
Queue

• Multiplex using a queue

– Routers need memory/buffer
• Demultiplex using information in packet header
– Header has destination
– Router has a routing table that contains information about
which link to use to reach a destination
 Packet switching also show reordering
Packets in a flow may not follow the same path (depends
on routing as we will see later)  packets may be
reordered
Host C

Host A Host D

Node 1 Node 2
Node 3

Node 5

Host B
Node 7 Host E
Node 6
Node 4
 The network core:
Packet Switching
• all streams share
network resources
• each packet uses full Resource contention:
link bandwidth • aggregate resource
• resources used as demand can exceed
needed amount available

Bandwidth division into

• congestion: packets
“pieces” queue, wait for link
Dedicated allocation
Resource reservation
 The network core:
Packet switching
• Data transmitted in small, independent
pieces
– Source divides outgoing messages into packets
– Destination recovers original data
• Each packet travels independently
– Includes enough information for delivery
– May follow different paths
– Can be retransmitted if lost
 The network core:
Functions of packet-switching
networks
• Packet construction
– encode/package data at source
• Packet transmission
– send packet from source to destination
• Packet interpretation
– unpack/decode data from packet at destination
– acknowledge receipt
 The network core:
statistical multiplexing
100 Mb/s
A Ethernet statistical multiplexing C

1.5 Mb/s
B
queue of packets
waiting for output
link

D E

statistical multiplexing ➨ Sequence of A & B packets does not have

fixed pattern; shared on demand.
Compare: in TDM, each host gets same slot (periodically)
in FDM, each host gets same bandwidth (continuously)
 Differences Between Circuit & Packet
Switching
Circuit-switching Packet-Switching
Guaranteed capacity No guarantees (best
effort)
Capacity is wasted if data More efficient
is bursty
Before sending data Send data immediately
establishes a path
All data in a single flow Different packets might
follow one path follow different paths
No reordering; constant Packets may be
delay; no pkt drops reordered, delayed, or
dropped
 Network performance metrics
End-to-end delay (nodal delay) :
• Total time from initiating “send” (from source) to
completed “receive” (at destination)
Throughput :
• Rate (bits/sec) at which bits are actually being
transferred between sender/receiver
– instantaneous: rate at given point in time
– average: rate over longer period of time
 Four sources of packet delay
• 1. nodal processing: • 2. queueing delay
– check bit errors – time waiting at output
– determine output link link for transmission
– depends on
congestion level of
router
transmission
A propagation

B
nodal
processing queueing
 Four sources of packet delay
• 3. Transmission delay: • 4. Propagation delay:
– R=link bandwidth (speed – d = length of physical link (in
in bits per second, i.e. meters)
“bps”) – s = propagation speed in
medium (~2.5 x 108 m/sec)
– L=packet length (in bits)
– propagation delay = d/s
– transmission delay = L/R
Note: R and s are very different quantities!

transmission
A propagation

B
nodal
processing queueing