Multiplexing, Circuit Switching and Packet Switching
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Circuit Switching
Old telephone technology For each connection, physical switches are set in the telephone network to create a physical circuit
Thats the job of the switching office
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Circuit Switching - Example
Physical copper connection set up when call is made
Switching offices
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Circuit Switching (contd)
Switches are set up at the beginning of the connection and maintained throughout the connection Network resources reserved and dedicated from sender to receiver Not a very efficient strategy
A connection holds a physical line even during silence periods (when there is nothing to transmit)
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Sharing a Media: Multiplexing
Multiplexing means combining different communication streams into just one communication line Example 1 : Frequency-Division Multiplexing
Used by radio,TV and cable TV
Different stations transmit over different channels (with different frequency)
Example 2 :Time-Division Multiplexing
For use with digital signals! Used for the communication between telephone switching offices
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Time-Division Multiplexing Example
0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 N streams R = sampling rate of each stream NR = sampling rate of multiplexed stream
0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
001001111000110011000111
1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Time-Division Demultiplexing Example
N streams R = sampling rate of each stream NR = sampling rate of multiplexed stream 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
001001111000110011000111
0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)
From N streams, each with a bitrate of R bits/s, we generate a single signal with bitrate of N*R bits/s Example:
Digitized speech with sampling rate F = 8KHz and B = 8 bits per sample (R = 64 Kb/s) Multiplexing N = 24 streams together creates a stream of 1.5 Mb/s
This is the bitrate provided by a T1 carrier
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
TDM (contd)
Resources (time slots on the link) are reserved and allocated to each user
Every n-th time slot, the line is dedicated to one predetermined sender
How long is the time slot in our previous example?
What happens if one sender has nothing to transmit?
That time slot is wasted!
NOTE: There is an inherent constant delay
E.g., stream #3 has to wait until the first 4 bits of stream #1 and the first 4 bits of stream #2 are transmitted What is the constant delay in our previous example?
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Packet Switching
Sharing by taking turn
Model: conveyor belt in a warehouse Items are picked from the storage room and placed on the conveyor belt every time a customer makes an order Different customers may request a different number of items Different users items may be interspersed on the conveyor belt (they are multiplexed)
Networks use a similar idea
Packet Switching
Packetize data to transfer Multiplex it onto the wire
Packets from different connections share the same link
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Packet Switching Example
Header
Payload
A
C
C
D
C
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Packet Switching
Each packet is composed by the payload (the data we want to transmit) and a header
The header contains information useful for transmission, such as:
Source (senders) address Destination (recipients) address Packet size Sequence number Error checking information
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Packet Switching (contd)
The header introduces overhead, that is, additional bits to be sent
Therefore, it is not wise to have packets that are too small
What happens if the payload is just 1 bit?
Computer Addresses
Each computer attached to a network is assigned a unique number (called address) A packet contains the address of the computer that sent it and the address of the computer to which it is sent.
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Packet Switching (contd)
In general, packets need not be of the same size
The Internet Protocol specifies the maximum size
Maximum transmission unit (MTU)
No minimum size
But, header size is fixed (e.g., 20 bytes for TCP/IP)
Packets are generated by the network hardware
The application (e.g., email) does not know that the data to be transmitted is packetized When packets are received, they are put together before the application accesses the data
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Packet Switching (contd)
What kind of delay should we expect?
Time-division multiplexing: constant delay Packet switching multiplexing: variable delay (it depends on the traffic on the line)
Conveyor belt example: if there are many customers before you, you may have to wait more
Packetized communication is used by many devices
Computer, printers, digital TV, cellular phones,
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Queueing
What happens when a computer needs to send packets but the link is congested?
Needs to queue the packets as they are generated before they are transmitted
What happens when a queue becomes too long?
Packets are dropped!
Queues form (and packets are dropped) also at the intermediate nodes (routers) How can the receiver detected that a packet was dropped on its way?
Look at the packet sequence number!
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Example:
TDM vs Packet Switching
1Mb/s link Users are active only 10% of the time
A user is active when s/he has bits to transmit
When they transmit, users send 100 Kb/s streams
Hence, only 10 users can be active at the same time
Time-Division Multiplexing:
Only 10 user can connect at the same time
Every time a user is not active, the time slot is wasted!
Packet-switching
More users can connect
As long as no more than 10 users are active at the same time! (which will rarely happen)
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
Circuit Switching vs Packet Switching
Circuit switching Must set up a connection (initial delay) Connection is reliable Resources are dedicated
Therefore they are used inefficiently!
Packet switching Very small set-up delay Efficient shared use of resources Possible congestion and consequent packet dropping
CMPE 80N - Introduction to Networks and the Internet
