CHAPTER -5
SWITCHING & ROUTING 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.
• The process by which data are transmitted from one node to the other via a switched network is
called switching.
TYPES:
1.Circuit switching
2.Packet switching
CIRCUIT-SWITCHED NETWORKS:
• 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. Each link is normally
divided into n channels by using FDM or TDM.
• Circuit switching takes place at the physical layer.
• 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 receive 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:
PACKET SWITCHED NETWORK:
• In this switching network data are transmitted in discrete units called as packets.
• The problems associated with circuit switching like non-voice and data transmission problem
was successfully overcome in packet switching.
• In packet switching there is no resource allocation for the packets. The allocation is done on first
come first serve basis.
• There are two popular approaches for packet switching. 1) Datagram approach 2) Virtual circuit
approach.
Datagram Packet Switching : In Datagram Packet switching, each data frame is
taken as an individual entity and thus, they are processed separately. Here, no
connection is established before data transmission occurs. Although this approach
provides flexibility in data transfer, it may cause a loss of data frames or late
delivery of the data frames.
Virtual-Circuit Packet Switching: In Virtual-Circuit Packet switching, a logical
connection between the source and destination is made before transmitting any
data. These logical connections are called Virtual circuit. Each data frame follows
these logical paths and provides a reliable way of transmitting data with less
chance of data loss.
ROUTING IN PACKET SWITCHING:
• Routing refers to the process of directing a data packet from one node to another. It
is an autonomous process handled by the network devices to direct a data packet
to its intended destination.
Routing Table:
• Each packet switch has a routing table which is based on the destination address.
• The routing tables are dynamic and are updated periodically.
• The destination addresses and the corresponding forwarding output ports are recorded in
the tables.
• The destination address in the header of a packet in a datagram network remains the same
during the entire journey of the packet.
• When the switch receives the packet, this destination address is examined; the routing table
is consulted to find the corresponding port through which the packet should be forwarded.
X.25:
• X.25 is a protocol suite defined by ITU-T for packet switched communications over WAN
(Wide Area Network).
• It was originally designed for use in the 1970s and became very popular in 1980s. Presently,
it is used for networks for ATMs and credit card verification.
• It allows multiple logical channels to use the same physical line.
It also permits data exchange between terminals with different communication speeds.
X.25 has three protocol layers:
Physical Layer:
It lays out the physical, electrical and functional characteristics that interface between the
computer terminal and the link to the packet switched node. X.21 physical implementer is
commonly used for the linking.
Data Link Layer:
It comprises the link access procedures for exchanging data over the link.
Packet Layer: This layer defines the format of data packets and the procedures for control
and transmission of the data packets. It provides external virtual circuit service.
CONGESTION:
Congestion is an important issue that can arise in packet switched network.
Congestion is a situation in Communication Networks in which too many packets are present in a
part of the subnet, performance degrades.
Congestion in a network may occur when the load on the network (i.e. the number of packets sent
to the network) is greater than the capacity of the network (i.e. the number of packets a network
can handle.)
CONGESTION CONTROL TECHNIQUE:
Congestion Control refers to techniques and mechanisms that can either prevent a congestion,
before it happens, or remove congestion, after it has happened Congestion control mechanisms are
divided into two categories, one category prevents the congestion from happening and the other
category removes congestion after it has taken place. These two categories are:
1. Open loop
2. Closed loop
Open Loop Congestion Control
• In this method, policies are used to prevent the congestion before it happens.
• Congestion control is handled either by the source or by the destination.
Closed Loop Congestion Control
• Closed loop congestion control mechanisms try to remove the congestion after it happens.
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT:
• Traffic management in the context of congestion refers to the techniques used to
control and optimize data flow to prevent or reduce network bottlenecks and maintain
overall network health, especially during periods of high traffic.
• It involves prioritizing important traffic, shaping data rates, and potentially limiting or
dropping certain traffic to ensure smooth performance and quality of service (QoS).
Purpose of Traffic Management in Congestion:
1. Preventing Network Bottlenecks:
Traffic management aims to prevent or mitigate congestion, which occurs when the
network's capacity is exceeded, leading to delays, packet loss, and reduced performance.
2. Improving QoS:
By prioritizing and managing traffic, it helps ensure that critical applications receive the
necessary resources and maintain a satisfactory level of performance.
3. Ensuring Network Health:
Traffic management contributes to the overall health of the network by preventing resource
exhaustion and maintaining stable performance.
CONGESTION CONTROL IN PACKET SWITCHING NETWORK:
