TRANSMISSION MEDIUM

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Transmission Media
In the OSI model, the transmission media are located below the physical layer. It is
directly controlled by the physical layer. Hence, transmission media belong to the
lowest layer of OSI model. Media are what the message is transmitted over. In other
words, a communication channel is also called as a medium. Different media have
different properties and used in different environments for different purpose. The
purpose of the physical layer is to transport a raw bit stream from one computer to
another.

Classification of Transmission Medium

Transmission
media

Unguided or
Wireless media
Guided or
(air acts
wired media
as medium)

Twisted Pair Fibre-optic Microwave

Co-axial cable Infrared
cable cable links
 Media are roughly grouped into two classes :
 Guided Media
 Unguided Media
i) Guided media – It is a communication medium which allows the data to get
guided along it. For this, the media need to have a point to point physical
connection. Energy is confined to the medium and guided by it
ii) Unguided media – The wireless media is also called unguided media.

Types of Transmission Media

1. Wired Media : In this type of media, the signal energy is contained and guided
within a solid media. E.g. copper pair wires, co-axial cables, fibre optic cables.
2. Wireless Media : In this type of media, the signal energy propagates in the form
of unguided electromagnetic waves. E.g. radio and infrared light.
Design Factors for Transmission Media

 Bandwidth: All other factors remaining constant, the greater the band-width of a
signal, the higher the data rate that can be achieved.
 Transmission impairments. Limit the distance a signal can travel.
 Interference: Competing signals in overlapping frequency bands can distort or
wipe out a signal.
 Number of receivers: Each attachment introduces some attenuation and
distortion, limiting distance and/or data rate.

Comparison of wired and wireless media

S.No Wired Media Wireless Media

1. The signal energy is contained and guided within a The signal energy propagates in the form of
solid medium.e.g. twisted pair wires, co-axial cable, unguided electromagnetic waves.e.g. radio and
optical fibre cables. infrared light.
2. Used for point to point communication. Used for radio broadcasting in all directions.
3. It lead to discrete network topologies. It leads to continuous network topologies.
4. Additional transmission capacity can be procured by It is not possible to procure additional capacity.
adding more wires.
5. Installation is costly, time consuming and complicated. Installation needs less time and money.
6. Attenuation depends exponentially on the distance. Attenuation is proportional to square of the
distance.
 Types of Wired Media
1. Twisted Pair Cables -
A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires, typically about 1 mm thick. The
wires are twisted together in a helical form, just like a DNA molecule to reduce
interference. The pairs of wires are colored to identify the same wire at each end. In
each pair, one of the wire is a solid color and its partner is of same color striped onto
white background. In twisted pair cabling, the number of twists per unit length affects
the amount of resistance that the cable has to interference. Twisted pair cable
suitable for carrying telephone traffic, referred to as CAT3, has 3-4 turns per foot
making it less resistant. Cable suitable for data transmission, known as CAT5, has 3-
4 turns per inch, making it more resistant to interference. Two commonly used types
of twisted pair cables are :
 Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
 Shielded twisted pair (STP)
 Screened twisted pair.
a) UTP - The unshielded twisted pair cables are very cheap and easy to install. But,
they are badly affected by the noise interference. This type of cable is used to
connect workstations, hosts and network devices. It can come with many different
numbers of pairs inside the jacket, but the most common number of pairs is four.
Each pair is identified by a specific color code. Many different categories of UTP
cables have been developed over time. Each category of cable was developed to
support a specific technology. The cable types which are still commonly found
Category 3 Cable-
 Used for voice communication.
 Most often used for phone lines.
Category 7 Cable :
 Used for data transmission.
 Individual pairs are wrapped in a shield and
then the entire four pairs wrapped in another
shield.
 Supports 1000 Mbps- 10 Gbps, though 10
Gbps not recommended.
Category 6 Cable :
 Used for data transmission.
 An added separator is between each pair of
wires allowing it to function at higher speeds.
 Supports 1000 Mbps- 10 Gbps, though 10
Gbps not recommended.

Category 5 and 5e Cable :

 Used for data transmission.
 Cat 5 supports 100 Mbps and can support
1000Mbps but not recommended.
 Cat 5e supports 1000 Mbps.
Benefits of UTP

Inexpensive and readily available

Flexible and light weight
Easy to work with and install

Disadvantages of UTP
Susceptibility to interference and noise
Attenuation problem
For analog, repeaters needed every 5-6km
For digital, repeaters needed every 2-3km
Relatively low bandwidth (3000Hz
UTP and STP cable is usually terminated into an RJ-45 connector.

The RJ-45 connector is considered a male component, which is crimped to the end of
the cable. When a male connector is viewed from the front with the metal contacts facing
up, the pin locations are numbered from 8 on the left to 1 on the right.

The jack is considered the female component and is located in networking devices, wall
outlets, or patch panels. The RJ-45 connector on the wire plugs into the jack.

Cables can be purchased that are pre-terminated with RJ-45 connectors. They can also
be manually terminated, onsite, using a crimping tool. When manually terminating UTP
cable into an RJ-45 connector, untwist only a small amount of wire to minimize crosstalk.
Also be sure that the wires are pushed all the way into the end of the connector and that
the RJ45 connector is crimped onto the wire jacket. This ensures good electrical contact
and provides strength to the wire connection.
Twisted pair cable is most commonly used in network installations. The TIA/EIA
organization defines two different patterns, or wiring schemes, called T568A and
T568B. Each wiring scheme defines the pinout, or order of wire connections, on the
end of the cable.

The two schemes are similar except two of the four pairs are reversed in the
termination order. The graphic shows this color-coding and how the two pairs are
reversed.

On a network installation, one of the two wiring schemes (T568A or T568B) should
be chosen and followed. It is important that the same wiring scheme is used for
every termination in that project. If working on an existing network, use the wiring
scheme already employed.
Using the T568A and T568B wiring schemes, two types of cables can be created: a
straight-through cable and a crossover cable. These two types of cable are found in data
installations.

Straight-through Cables

A Straight-through cable is the most common cable type. It maps a wire to the same pins
on both ends of the cable. In other words, if T568A is on one end of the cable, T568A is
also on the other. If T568B is on one end of the cable, T568B is on the other. This
means that the order of connections (the pinout) for each color is the exact same on
both ends.

It is the type of straight-through cable (T568A or T568B) used on the network that
defines the wiring scheme for the network.

Crossover Cable

A crossover cable uses both wiring schemes. T568A on one end of the cable and T568B
on the other end of the same cable. This means that the order of connection on one end
of the cable does not match the order of connections on the other.

The straight-through and crossover cables each have a specific use on the network. The
type of cable needed to connect two devices depends on which wire pairs the devices
use to transmit and receive data.
Two devices directly connected and using different pins for transmit and receive are
known as unlike devices. They require a straight-through cable to exchange data.
Devices that are directly connected and use the same pins for transmit and receive, are
known as like devices. They require the use of a crossover cable to exchange data.

Unlike Devices

The pins on the RJ-45 data connector of a PC have pins 1 and 2 as transmit and pins 3
and 6 as receive. The pins on the data connector of a switch have pins 1 and 2 as
receive and pins 3 and 6 as transmit. The pins used for transmit on the PC correspond
to those used for receive on the switch. Therefore, a straight-through cable is necessary.

The wire connected to pin 1 (transmit pin) on the PC on one end of the cable, is
connected to pin 1 (receive pin) on the switch on the other end of the cable.

Other examples of unlike devices that require a straight-through cable include:

 Switch port to router port.
 Hub port to PC
Like Devices

If a PC is directly connected to another PC, pins 1 and 2 on both devices are transmit
pins and pins 3 and 6 are receive pins.

A crossover cable would ensure that the green wire connected to pins 1 and 2
(transmit pins) on one PC connect to pins 3 and 6 (receive pins) on the other PC.

If a straight-through cable were used, the wire connected to pin 1, the transmit pin, on
PC1 would be connected to pin 1, the transmit pin, on PC2. It is not possible to receive
data on a transmit pin.

Other examples of like devices that require a crossover cable include:

 Switch port to switch port
 Switch port to hub port
 Hub port to hub port
 Router port to router port
 PC to router port
 PC to PC

If the incorrect cable type is used, the connection between network devices will not
function.

Some devices can automatically sense which pins are used for transmit and receive
STRAIGHT THROUGH CABLE VS.
CROSSOVER CABLE
TWISTED PAIR - APPLICATIONS
 Telephone network
 Between house and local exchange (subscriber loop/local
loop)
 Within buildings
 To private branch exchange (PBX)
 For local area networks (LAN)
 10Mbps or 100Mbps or 1000 Mbps
b) STP - There are electrical environments in which EMI and RFI are so strong
that shielding is a requirement to make communication possible, such as in a
noisy factory. In this instance, it may be necessary to use a cable that contains
shielding, such as Shielded twisted-pair (STP) and Screened twisted-pair
(ScTP). Unfortunately both STP and ScTP are very expensive, not as flexible,
and have additional requirements due to the shielding that make them difficult to
work with. It has a metal foil to cover each pair of insulating conductors.

2. Coaxial Cable

Coaxial cable is usually constructed of either copper or aluminum, and is used

by cable television companies to provide service. It is also used for connecting
the various components which make up satellite communication systems. Both
conductors share a common center axis, hence the term “co-axial”. It consists
of following components:
a) Conductor : A single center conductor , most often made of copper, though
aluminum can be used as well.
b) Braid : A metallic braid made of aluminum or foil in the form of wire mesh helps to
shield against EMI.
c) Insulator : An insulator, usually made of steel, that both protects against EMI and
provides strength to the cable, allowing it to be more pliable.
COAX LAYERS
outer jacket
(polyethylene)
shield
(braided wire)

insulating material

copper or aluminum
conductor
d) Termination : Coax is normally with a BNC or F-series connector. BNC (Bayone-
Neill-Concelman) is crimped down connector and is typically considered a stronger
connection. Different types of adapters are available for BNC connectors, including a
T-connector, barrel connector, and terminator. Connectors on the cable are the
weakest points in any network. To help avoid problems with your network, always
use the BNC connectors that crimp, rather than screw, onto the cable.

A tough plastic jacket forms the cover of the cable.

Characteristics
1. Due to the shield provided, this cable has
excellent noise immunity.
1. It has a large bandwidth and low losses.
2. Suitable for point to point or point to multipoint applications like LAN.
3. These cables are costlier than twisted pair but cheaper than fibre optic cables.
4. Data rate of 10 Mbps which can be increased with the increase in the diameter of
inner conductor.
5. Less attenuation.
6. Easy to install.
COAXIAL CABLE APPLICATIONS
 Most versatile medium
 Television distribution
 Arielto TV
 Cable TV
 Long distance telephone transmission
 Can carry 10,000 voice calls simultaneously
 Being replaced by fiber optic
 Short distance computer systems links
 Local area networks
3. Fiber Optic Cables
Fiber optic cables transmit data using pulses of light. Although not normally found in
home or small business environments, fiber optic cabling is widely used in enterprise
environments and large data centers.
Fiber optic cable is constructed of either glass or plastic, neither of which conducts
electricity. This means that it is immune to EMI and is suitable for installation in
environments where interference is a problem.
In addition to its resistance to EMI, fiber optic cables support a large amount of
bandwidth making them ideally suited for high-speed data backbones. Fiber optic
backbones are found in many corporations and are also used to connect ISPs on the
Internet. It is costlier, and installation is difficult and tedious. Its has much lower
attenuation and can carry signal to longer distances without using amplifiers and
repeaters in between.
Each fiber optic circuit is actually two fiber cables. One is used to transmit data; the
other is used to receive data. It consists of following components:
a) Core : This cable consists of inner core made up of silica or glass. The core is
actually the light transmission element at the center of the cable. Light pulses
traveling through the fiber core.
b) Cladding : Made from slightly different chemicals than those used to create the
core. It tends to act like mirror by reflecting light back into the core of the fiber. This
keeps light in the core as it travels down the fiber.
c) Buffer : Used to help shield the core and cladding from damage.
d) Strengthening material : Surrounds the buffer, prevents the fiber cable from being
stretched when it is being pulled. The material used is often the same material used
to produce bulletproof vests.
e) Jacket : Added to protect the fiber against abrasion, solvents, and other
contaminants. This outer jacket composition can vary depending on the cable usage.
There are two forms of fiber optic cable: multimode and single mode.

Multimode

Of the two forms of fiber optic, multimode is the less expensive and more widely
used. The light source that produces the pulses of light is usually an LED. It is
referred to as multimode because there are multiple rays of light, each carrying
data, being transmitted through the cable simultaneously. Each ray of light takes a
separate path through the multimode core. Multimode fiber optical cables are
generally suitable for links of up to 2000 meters. However, improvements in
technology are continually improving this distance.

Single Mode

Single mode fiber optic cables are constructed in such a way that light can follow
only a single path through the fiber. The light source for single mode fiber optic
cables is usually a LED laser, which is significantly more expensive and intense
than ordinary LEDs. Due to the intensity of the LED laser, much higher data rates
and longer ranges can be obtained. Single mode fibers can transmit data for
approximately 3000 meters and are used for backbone cabling including the
interconnection of various NOCs. Again, improvements in technology are continually
improving this distance.
Advantages :
1. Small size and light weight.
2. Easy availability and low cost.
3. No electrical or electromagnetic interference.
4. Large bandwidth.
5. No cross-talk inside the cable.
6. Signal can be sent upto 100 times faster.
7. Intermediate amplifier are not required as the transmission losses in the fiber are low.
8. Ground loops are absent.
9. Installation is easy as these cables are flexible.
10. These cables are not affected by the drastic environmental conditions. Because of all
these advantages, this cable is replacing the conventional cable rapidly in many
areas.
Disadvantages
1. Sophisticated plants are required for manufacturing optical fibers.
2. The initial cost incurred is high.
3. Joining the optical fibers is a difficult job.
Fiber Optic Cable connectors
These cables uses three types of connectors :
i) Subscriber channel (SC) connector : used for cable TV. It uses a push/pull
locking system. It has a squared face and is easier to connect in a confined
space.
ii) Straight tip (ST) connector : used to connect networking devices. It uses
bayonet locking system and is more reliable.. It is barrel shaped, similar to a BNC
connector.
i) MT-RJ connector : Same size as RJ-45.
OPTICAL FIBER - APPLICATIONS
 Long-haul trunks
 Metropolitan trunks

 Rural exchange trunks

 Subscriber loops (FTTH, FTTC)

 LANs (generally backbone connections)

Comparison of Wired Media
S.No. Twisted pair cable Co-axial cable Optical fiber
1. Transmission of signals take place Transmission of signals take place in Signal transmission takes place in an
in the electrical form over the the electrical form over the inner optical form over a glass fiber.
metallic conducting wires. conductor of the cable.
2. Noise immunity is low. Therefore, Higher noise immunity than twisted Highest noise immunity as the light rays
more distortion. pair cable due to presence of shielding are unaffected by the electrical noise.
conductor.
3. Affected due to the external Less affected due to external magnetic Not affected by the external magnetic
magnetic field. field. field.
4. Short circuit between the two Short circuit between the two Short circuit is not possible.
conductors is possible. conductors is possible.
5. Cheapest. Moderately expensive. Expensive.
6. Can support low data rates. Moderately high data rates. Very high data rates.
7. Power loss due to conduction and Power loss due to conduction. Power loss due to absorption, scattering,
radiation. dispersion and bending

8. Low bandwidth. Moderately high bandwidth. Very high bandwidth.

9. Node capacity per segment is 2. Node capacity per segment is 30 Node capacity per segment is 2.
to100
10. High attenuation. Low attenuation. Very low attenuation.
11. Easy installation. Fairly easy installation. Difficult installation.
12. Electromagnetic interference can EMI is reduced due to shielding. EMI is not present.
take place.
Unguided (Wireless ) Media

In addition to the wired network, various technologies exist that allow the transmission of
information between hosts without cables. These are known as wireless technologies.

Wireless technologies use electromagnetic waves to carry information between devices.

An electromagnetic wave is the same medium that carries radio signals through the air.

Three general ranges of frequencies

Broadcast radio - 30MHz to 1GHz

Omnidirectional

Microwave - 2GHz to 40GHz microwave frequencies

Highly directional
Point to point
Satellite
Infrared - 3 x 1011 to 2 x 1014

.
i) Radio Wave Transmission Systems
Radio waves have frequencies between 10 kHz and 1 gigahertz. The ranges of
electromagnetic spectrum between 10 kHz and 1 gHz is called radio frequency (RF).
Radio waves are easy to generate, can travel long distances and penetrate buildings
easily. These waves are omnidirectional, meaning that they travel in all directions from
the source, so the transmitter and receiver do not have to be carefully aligned physically.
Radio waves include the following types :
 Short wave used in AM radio.
 Very high Frequency (VHF) used in FM radio and TV.
 Ultra High Frequency (UHF) used in TV.
The radio frequency bands are regulated and require a license from the regulated body
because of interference between users. Unregulated frequency bands are also present
which operate at less than 1 watt transmitted power. The power of the RF signal is
determined by the antenna and transceiver. Each range has characteristics that affect its
use in computer network. For computer network applications, radio waves fall into three
categories :
Low power, single frequency.
High power, single frequency.
Spread – spectrum.
2. Microwave Transmission System
It makes use of the lower gigahertz frequencies of the electromagnetic (EM)
spectrum. These frequencies are higher than the RF and they produce better
throughput and performance. There are two types of microwave data
communications systems :
 Terrestrial.
 Satellite.
These are electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz.
Microwaves are unidirectional. Microwave propagation is a line of sight propagation.
The microwave band is wide (299 GHz) and so it is possible to allot wider band.
Therefore, it can support high data rates.
a) Terrestrial Microwave systems: These systems use directional parabolic antennas
to transmit and receive signals in the lower gigahertz range. It has following features:
1. The frequency range used is from 4 – 6 GHz and 21 to 23 GHz.
2. It supports a bandwidth from 1 to 10 mbps.
3. Attenuation is affected by frequency, signal strength, antenna size and atmospheric
conditions.
4. The signals are affected by EMI effect, jamming .
5. Line of sight requirements make installation difficult.
6. Short distance systems can be inexpensive but long distance systems are relatively
expensive.
Microwave Transmission Advantages
No cabling needed between sites
Wide bandwidth
Multi-channel transmissions
Used for long haul or high capacity short haul
Requires fewer amplifiers and repeaters.

Microwave Transmission Disadvantages

Line of sight requirement
Expensive towers and repeaters
Subject to interference such as passing airplanes and rain
Frequency bands are regulated
TERRESTRIAL MICROWAVE
COMMUNICATIONS
SATELLITE MICROWAVE TRANSMISSION

 Satellite
is a microwave relay station in space
 Can relay signals over long distances
 Geostationary satellites
 remain above the equator at a height of 22,300 miles
(geosynchronous orbit)
 travel around the earth in exactly the time the earth takes to
rotate
 Earth stations communicate by sending signals to
the satellite on an uplink
 The satellite then repeats those signals on a
downlink
 The broadcast nature of the downlink makes it
attractive for services such as the distribution of
television programming
 SATELLITE TRANSMISSION PROCESS

satellite
transponder

dish dish
22,300 miles

uplink station downlink station

APPLICATIONS
 Television distribution
a network provides programming from a central location
 direct broadcast satellite (DBS)

 Long-distance telephone transmission

 high-usage international trunks
 Private business networks
PROS AND CONS
 Satellite Advantages
 Can reach a large geographical area
 High bandwidth
 Cheaper over long distances

 Satellite Disadvantages
 High initial cost
 Susceptible to noise and interference
 Propagation delay (0.25 sec) - requires sophisticated flow
control
FIBER VS SATELLITE
 INFRARED
 Frequencies from 300GHz to 400 THz (wavelengths from 1 mm to 770 mm).
 Uses transmitters/receivers (transceivers) that modulate noncoherent infrared light.
 Transceivers must be within line of sight of each other (directly or via reflection ).
 Unlike microwaves, infrared does not penetrate walls. So it can be used within a room. Due to
this property, the IR light can be used with a much reduced interference and possibility of
reuse of the same frequency band in different rooms.
 The wavelength ranges from 850 nm and 900 nm where the received with good sensitivity are
available.
 Very large bandwidth.
 Major disadvantage that sun generates radiation in the infrared band. This can cause a lot of
interference with IR communication.
 Can be used in the development of very speed wireless LANs in future.
Switching Technologies
It is an important technique that can determine how connections are made and how
data movement is handled in WAN. Switching sends data along different routes. There
are three types of techniques :
Circuit Switching
Message switching
Packet switching
CIRCUIT-SWITCHING
 Definition: Communication in which a
dedicated communications path is established
between two devices through one or more
intermediate switching nodes
 Oldest Networking Technology - more than a
hundred years old
 Dominant in both voice and data
communications today
 e.g. PSTN is a circuit-switched network
 Relatively
inefficient (100% dedication even
without 100% utilization)
CIRCUIT SWITCHING
 In circuit switching network any two stations wishing to
communicate first establish a connection by requesting to the
network.
 The network responds by arranging a connection in such a way that
a dedicated/physical path is established between the two parties
 For the duration of the connection the path is dedicated to the
connection and cannot be used for other connections
 After the connection has been established the network becomes
pretty much transparent to the two parties. Data can be exchanged
transparently over the connection
 After the parties are done communicating the connection is released
by making a request to the network
 The network responds by de-allocating the resources of the network
that were dedicated to the connection
CIRCUIT-SWITCHING STAGES
 Circuit establishment
 Transfer of information
 point-to-point from endpoints to node
 internal switching/multiplexing among nodes

 Circuit disconnect
CIRCUIT SWITCHING APPLICATION
 Circuit switching is well suited for analog voice
communications as in the telephone network.
 Circuit switching turns out to be rather in-efficient for
data networks due to its resource allocation nature.
 Circuit Switching is ill-suited to data communication
because data traffic is BAD
EXAMPLES OF CIRCUIT SWITCHING
 Public Switched Telephone Network - PSTN
 Private Automatic Branch Exchange - PABX

 Integrated Services Digital Network - ISDN

PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONE
NETWORK (PSTN)
 PSTN is short for Public Switched Telephone Network,
which refers to the international telephone system based
on copper wires carrying analog voice data. This is in
contrast to newer telephone networks base on digital
technologies, such as ISDN and FDDI.
 Telephone service carried by the PSTN is often called
plain old telephone service (POTS).
POTS
 POTS is short for plain old telephone service, which
refers to the standard telephone service that most
homes use. In contrast, telephone services based on
high-speed, digital communications lines, such as
ISDN and FDDI, are not POTS.
 The main distinctions between POTS and non-POTS
services are speed and bandwidth. POTS is generally
restricted to about 33.6 kbps (33,600 bits per
second) though several modem manufacturers have
developed technologies that would enable rates of
56.6 kbps.
CIRCUIT SWITCHING CONNECTION
PABX
 PBX = Private Branch Exchange
 A Customer Premise Communication Switch used to
connect customer telephones (and related equipment)
to LEC central office lines (trunks), and to switch
internal calls within the customer's telephone system.
Modern PBXs offer numerous software-controlled
features such as call forwarding and call pickup. A
PBX uses technology similar to that used by a central
office switch (on a smaller scale). (The acronym PBX
originally stood for "Plug Board Exchange".)
 CIRCUIT SWITCHING X PACKET
SWITCHING

Timing of events:
Queuing delay

Call request signal

Pkt 1
Pkt 2
Circuit Propagation delay
Pkt 3
establishment
Time
Time Transmission delay
Call accept
signal
Data

A B C D
A B C D
Circuit switching Packet switching
 DELAYS IN CIRCUIT SWITCHING

Timing of events:

Call request signal

Circuit
After connection is established,
establishment
Information is transmitted at a
Time fixed data rate.
Node delays are negligible.
Propagation delay

Advantages?
Data
Disadvantages?

A B C D
Circuit switching Packet switching
Advantages
1. Dedicated transmission channel the computers establish provides a guaranteed
data rate.
2. Because of dedicated path, there is no delay in data flow.

Disadvantages
1. Since the connection is dedicated, it cannot be used to transmit any other data
even if the channel is free.
2. Dedicated channels require more bandwidth.
3. It takes long time to establish connection.
II. Message Switching
When this form of switching is used, no physical path is established in advance in
between sender and receiver. Instead, when the sender has a block of data to be
sent, it is stored in the first switching office (i.e. router) then forwarded later at one
hop at a time. Each block is received in its entity form, inspected for errors and then
forwarded or re-transmitted.
A form of store-and-forward network. Data is transmitted into the network and stored
in a switch. The network transfers the data from switch to switch when it is
convenient to do so, as such the data is not transferred in real-time. Blocking can
not occur, however, long delays can happen. The source and destination terminal
need not be compatible, since conversions are done by the message switching
networks.
A message switch is “transactional”. It can store data or change its format and bit
rate, then convert the data back to their original form or an entirely different form at
the receive end. Message switching multiplexes data from different sources onto a
common facility.
In message switching, when a message consists of a block of data to be sent, it is
stored in the first switching office (i.e. router) and then forwarded later, one hop at a
time. Each block is received in its entirety, inspected and later retransmitted. A
network using this technique is referred to as a store-and-forward network.
Store and forward delays
Since message switching stores each message at intermediate nodes in its entirety
before forwarding, messages experience an end to end delay which is dependent on the
message length, and the number of intermediate nodes. Each additional intermediate
node introduces a delay which is at minimum the value of the minimum transmission
delay into or out of the node. Note that nodes could have different transmission delays
for incoming messages and outgoing messages due to different technology used on the
links. The transmission delays are in addition to any propagation delays which will be
experienced along the message path.
In a message-switching centre an incoming message is not lost when the required
outgoing route is busy. It is stored in a queue with any other messages for the same
route and retransmitted when the required circuit becomes free. Message switching is
thus an example of a delay system or a queuing system. Message switching is still used
for telegraph traffic and a modified form of it, known as packet switching, is used
extensively for data communications.
(a) Circuit switching (b) Message switching (c) Packet switching
Advantages
1. It provides efficient traffic management by assigning priorities to the messages to
be switched.
2. Reduces network traffic congestion because it is able to store message until a
communication channel becomes available.
3. In this, the network devices share the data channels.
4. Provides asynchronous communication across time zones.

Disadvantages
1. Storing and forwarding introduces delay, hence cannot be used for real time
applications like voice and video.
2. Intermediate devices require a large storing capacity since it has to store the
message unless a free path is available.
III. Packet Switching
With message switching, there is no limit on block size, in contrast, packet switching
places a tight upper limit on block size. A fixed size of packet which can be
transmitted across the network is specified. Another point of its difference from
message switching is that data packets are stored on the disk in message switching
whereas in packet switching, all the packets of fixed size are stored in main memory.
This improves the performance as the access time (time taken to access a data
packet) is reduced, thus, the throughput (measure of performance) of the network is
improved.
Packet switching is a network communications method that groups all transmitted
data, irrespective of content, type, or structure into suitably-sized blocks, called
packets. The network over which packets are transmitted is a shared network which
routes each packet independently from all others and allocates transmission
resources as needed. Independent routing of packets gives two advantages :
1. Bandwidth is reduced by splitting data into different routes in a busy circuit.
2. If a certain link in the network goes down during transmission, the remaining packets
can be sent through another route.
The principal goals of packet switching are to optimize utilization of available link
capacity and to increase the robustness of communication. When traversing network
adapters, switches and other network nodes, packets are buffered and queued,
resulting in variable delay and throughput, depending on the traffic load in the
network. There are tow methods of it :
 Datagram packet switching.
 Virtual circuit packet switching.
 b) Datagram Packet Switching Networks
This approach uses a different, more dynamic scheme, to determine the route through
the network links. Each packet is treated as an independent entity, and its header
contains full information about the destination of the packet. The intermediate nodes
examine the header of the packet, and decide the next hop of this packet. In the
decision two factors are taken into account:
The shortest way to pass the packet to its destination - protocols such as RIP/OSPF is
used to determine the shortest path to the destination.
Finding a free node to pass the packet to - in this way, bottle necks are eliminated,
since packets can reach the destination in alternate routes. Thus, in this method, the
packets don't follow a pre-established route, and the intermediate nodes (the routers)
don't have pre-defined knowledge of the routes that the packets should be passed
through.
Packets can follow different routes to the destination. Due to the nature of this method,
the packets can reach the destination in a different order than they were sent, thus
they must be sorted at the destination to form the original message. This approach is
time consuming since every router has to decide where to send each packet.
The main implementation of Datagram Switching network is the Internet which uses
the IP network protocol.
 TIMING OF DATAGRAM PACKET SWITCHING

Host 1 Host 2
Node 1 Node 2

propagation
delay between
transmission Host 1 and
time of Packet 1 Packet 1 processing
at Host 1
Node 2
delay of
Packet 2
Packet 1 Packet 1 at
Packet 3 Node 2
Packet 2
Packet 1
Packet 3
Packet 2

Packet 3
b) Virtual Circuit Packet Switching Networks
An initial setup phase is used to set up a route between the intermediate nodes for all
the packets passed during the session between the two end nodes. In each
intermediate node, an entry is registered in a table to indicate the route for the
connection that has been set up. The packets passed through this route, have short
headers, containing only a virtual circuit identifier (VCI). Each intermediate node
passes the packets according to the information that was stored in its table, in the
setup phase and according to the packets header content.
In this way, packets arrive at the destination in the correct sequence. This approach
is slower than Circuit Switching, since different virtual circuits may compete over the
same resources. As in Circuit Switching, if an intermediate node fails, all virtual
circuits that pass through it are lost.
The most common forms of Virtual Circuit networks are ATM and Frame Relay,
which are commonly used for public data networks (PDN).
 
VIRTUAL-CIRCUIT PACKET SWITCHING

 Hybrid of circuit switching and packet switching

 data is transmitted as packets
 all packets from one packet stream are sent along a pre-
established path (=virtual circuit)
 Guarantees in-sequence delivery of packets
 However: Packets from different virtual circuits may be
interleaved
 Example: ATM networks
VIRTUAL-CIRCUIT PACKET SWITCHING
 Communication with virtual circuits takes place in
three phases
1. VC establishment
2. data transfer
3. VC disconnect
 On demand circuit setup, several packets may share
same virtual link
Comparison of Virtual Circuit Packet Switching and Datagram
Switching

Virtual Circuit Packet Switching

1. Virtual circuits allow packets to contains circuit number instead of full destination
address so less router memory and bandwidth require. Thus cost wise it is cheaper.
2. Virtual circuit requires a setup phase, which takes time and consume resources.
3. In virtual circuit, router just uses the circuit number to index into a table to find out
where the packet goes.
4. Virtual circuit has some advantages in avoiding congestion within the subnet
Because resources can be reserved in advance, when the connection is established.
5. Virtual circuit have some problem. It a router crashes and loses its memory, even it
come back up a second later, all the virtual circuits passing through it will have to be
aborted.
6. The loss fault on communication line vanishes the virtual circuits.
7. In virtual circuit a fixed path is used during transmission so traffic throughout the
subnet can not balanced. It cause congestion problem.
8. A virtual circuit is a implementation of connection oriented service.
Datagram Packet Switching
1. Datagram circuits allow packets to contains full address instead of circuit number so
each packet has significant amount of overhead, and hence wasted band width. Thus
it is costly.
2. Datagram circuit does not require setup phase , so no resources are consumed.
3. In datagram circuit, a more complicated procedure is required to determine where
the packet goes.
4. In a datagram subnet, congestion avoidance is more difficult.
5. In datagram circuit if a router goes down only those user whose packets were
queued up in the router at the time will suffer.
6. The loss or fault on communication line can be easily compensated in datagram
circuits.
7. Datagram allow the router to balance the traffic throughout the subnet, since router
can be changed halfway through a connection.
A comparison of circuit switched and packet-switched networks.