Telecommunication Switching

Chapter – 2
Space Switching
Introduction:
A Switching system can be understood as a collection of switching
elements arranged and controlled in such a way as to set up a common
path between any two distant points. The introduction of switching
systems reduced the complexity of wiring and made the telephony
hassle-free.
Historical overview and Manual Exchanges:
Telecommunications represent the transfer of information, from an entity
at one place to an entity at another place, whereas the information can
be in the form of data, voice or symbol. The entities can be human beings,
computers, facsimile machines, telegraphy machines, phones or so on.
In telephone conversation, the one who initiates the call is referred to as
the Calling Subscriber and the one for whom the call is destined is
the Called Subscriber. In other cases of information transfer, the
communicating entities are known as Source and Destination,
respectively.
In March 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented and demonstrated his
telephone set and the possibility of long-distance voice communication.
He demonstrated the point-to-point communication, in which a calling
subscriber chooses the appropriate link to establish connection with the
called subscriber. This system also requires some mode of Signalling to
alert the called subscriber about the incoming call and a signal to indicate
the calling subscriber, when the called subscriber is busy on another call.
Need for Switching Exchanges
The point-to-point connection for establishing communication requires
the telephone sets to be linked using wires. If the number of telephone
sets or the subscribers present is low in number, the type of connection
will be a little complex. However, if this number is high or moderate, then
the connections will lead to a mess. To understand the complication, let
us consider a network of 5 subscribers.
The following illustration shows a point-to-point connection for five
subscribers (telephone sets):
In the point-to-point connection, for n entities, we need n(n-1)/2 links. All
these links form a network. Networks with point-to-point links among all
the entities are known as Fully Connected Networks. The number of
links required in a fully connected network becomes very large even with
moderate values of n.
Hence, a system of switching the networks is needed in-between these
subscribers. Alexander Graham Bell recommended the Switching
between the subscribers using a switching office that maintains the
telephone connections.
Switching Systems
This network connection cannot be simply made with telephone sets and
bunch of wires, but a good system is required to make or break a
connection. This system is known as the Switching System or
the Switching Office or the Exchange. With the introduction of the
switching system, the subscribers instead of getting connected directly to
one another, are connected to a switching office and then to the required
subscriber.
The following figure will help you understand the switching system.
With the introduction of switching systems, the need for traditional
connections between the subscribers reduced. All the subscribers need
to have a connection with the switching system, which makes or
breaks any connection, requested by the calling subscriber. The
switching system, which is also called the Telephone Exchange, takes
care of establishing the calls. Hence, the total number of such links is
equal to the number of subscribers connected to the system.
Signalling is required for the switching system to establish or release a
connection. It should also enable the switching system to detect whether
a called subscriber is busy and if so, indicate the same to the called
subscriber. The functions performed by a switching system in
establishing and releasing connections are known as Control
Functions.
The early systems required manual operations to establish telephone
calls. An operator used to receive a call from the calling subscriber and
then connect the call to the called subscriber. Later on, the system was
automated.
Classification of Switching Systems
In the early stages of telecommunication systems, the process and
stages of switching, played an important to make or break connections.
At the initial stages, the switching systems were operated manually.
These systems were later automated. The following flowchart shows how
the switching systems were classified.
The switching systems in the early stages were operated manually. The
connections were made by the operators at the telephone exchanges in
order to establish a connection. To minimize the disadvantages of
manual operation, automatic switching systems were introduced.
The Automatic switching systems are classified as the following −
• Electromechanical Switching Systems − Here, mechanical
switches are electrically operated.
• Electronic Switching Systems − Here, the usage of electronic
components such as diodes, transistors and ICs are used for the
switching purposes.
Electromechanical Switching Systems
The Electromechanical switching systems are a combination of
mechanical and electrical switching types. The electrical circuits and the
mechanical relays are deployed in them. The Electromechanical
switching systems are further classified into the following.
Step-by-step
The Step-by-step switching system is also called
the Strowger switching system after its inventor A B Strowger. The
control functions in a Strowger system are performed by circuits
associated with the switching elements in the system.
Crossbar
The Crossbar switching systems have hard-wired control subsystems
which use relays and latches. These subsystems have limited capability
and it is virtually impossible to modify them to provide additional
functionalities.
Electronic Switching Systems
The Electronic Switching systems are operated with the help of a
processor or a computer which control the switching timings. The
instructions are programmed and stored on a processor or computer that
control the operations. This method of storing the programs on a
processor or computer is called the Stored Program Control
(SPC) technology. New facilities can be added to a SPC system by
changing the control program.
The switching scheme used by the electronic switching systems may be
either Space Division Switching or Time Division Switching. In space
division switching, a dedicated path is established between the calling
and the called subscribers for the entire duration of the call. In time
division switching, sampled values of speech signals are transferred at
fixed intervals.
The time division switching may be analog or digital. In analog switching,
the sampled voltage levels are transmitted as they are. However, in
binary switching, they are binary coded and transmitted. If the coded
values are transferred during the same time interval from input to output,
the technique is called Space Switching. If the values are stored and
transferred to the output at a time interval, the technique is called Time
Switching. A time division digital switch may also be designed by using
a combination of space and time switching techniques.
Telecommunication Network
A Telecommunication network is a group of systems that establishes a
distant call. The switching systems are part of a telecommunication
network.
The switching stations provide connection between different subscribers.
Such switching systems can be grouped to form a telecommunication
network. The switching systems are connected using lines called
the Trunks. The lines that run to the Subscriber premises are called
the Subscriber Lines.
The following figure shows a telecommunication network.
From the early to the later stages of the 20th Century (1900-80), when a
person needed to make a distant call, the call was first routed to the
operator at the nearest switching center and then the number and
location of the called subscriber was noted down. Here, the job of the
operator was to establish a call to the remote switching center and then
recall the calling subscriber to establish the connection. This system of
making calls was called the Trunk call system.
For example, a person at Hyderabad can book a trunk call to Mumbai
and wait for the operator to call back when the operator establishes
connection through the trunk lines and the switching systems.
Basics of a Switching System
In this section, we will learn about the different components and terms
used in switching systems.
Inlets and Outlets
The set of input circuits of an exchange are called Inlets and the set of
output circuits are called the Outlets. The primary function of a switching
system is to establish an electrical path between a given inlet-outlet pair.
Usually, N indicates the inlets and the outlets are indicated by M. So, a
switching network has N inlets and M outlets.
Switching Matrix
The hardware used to establish connection between inlets and outlets is
called the Switching Matrix or the Switching Network. This switching
network is the group of connections formed in the process of connecting
inlets and outlets. Hence, it is different from the telecommunication
network mentioned above.
Types of Connections
There are four types of connections that can be established in a
telecommunication network. The connections are as follows −

• Local call connection between two subscribers in the system.

• Outgoing call connection between a subscriber and an outgoing
trunk.
• Incoming call connection between an incoming trunk and a local
subscriber.
• Transit call connection between an incoming trunk and an outgoing
trunk.
Folded Network
When the number of inlets is equal to the number of outlets for a switching
network, such a network is called the Symmetric Network, which means
N=M. A network where the outlets are connected to the inlets, is called
the Folded Network.
In a Folded Network, the N number of inlets which come as outlets are
again folded back to the inlets. Nevertheless, the switching network
provides connections to the inlets and outlets as per the requirement. The
following figure will help you understand how the Switching Network
works.

As one connection can be given to one line per time, only N/2
connections are established for N inlets of a folded network. Such a
network can be called as Non-blocking network. In a non-blocking
network, as long as the called subscriber is free, a calling subscriber will
be able to establish a connection to the called subscriber.
In the above figure, only 4 subscribers were considered - where line 1 is
busy with line 2 and line 3 is busy with line 4. While the call is in progress,
there used to be no chance for making another call and hence, only a
single connection was made. Hence for N inlets, only N/2 lines are
connected.
At times, it might happen that the inlet and outlet connections are
continuously used to make Transit calls through trunk lines only, but not
among the local subscribers. The inlet and outlet connections if used in
an Inter-exchange transmission such that the exchange does not
support connection between local subscribers, then it is called the Transit
Exchange. A switching network of such kind is called the Non-folded
network. This is shown in the following figure −

Blocking Network
If there are no switching paths free in the network, the call requested will
be denied, where the subscriber is said to be blocked and the network
is called the Blocking Network. In a blocking network, the number of
simultaneous switching paths is less than the maximum number of
simultaneous conversations that can take place. The probability that a
user may get blocked is called the Blocking Probability. A good design
should ensure low blocking probability.
Traffic
The product of the calling rate and the average holding time is defined as
the Traffic Intensity. The continuous sixty-minute period during which the
traffic intensity is high is the Busy Hour. When the traffic exceeds the limit
to which the switching system is designed, a subscriber experiences
blocking.
Erlang
The traffic in a telecommunication network is measured by an
internationally accepted unit of traffic intensity known as Erlang (E). A
switching resource is said to carry one Erlang of traffic if it is continuously
occupied through a given period of observation.
In this chapter, we will discuss the elements of a switching system.
Though there are different kinds of switching systems from manual to
automatic, a few basic elements play an essential role for the functioning
of a switching system. Along with the switching network, there are
different sub systems such as control sub system, signalling system,
trunk and subscriber line interfaces, distributor units, operator console,
juncture circuits, essential for the operation of the whole switching
system.
Switching System
In this section, we will understand the structure of the switching system.
We will also understand how the different elements work in it. The block
diagram of the switching system given below show the essential
elements of a switching system.

The diagram shown above contains different blocks of the switching

system. The blocks are discussed below.
Switching Network
It provides the switching paths between the called subscribers and the
calling subscribers.
Control Subsystem
This is the critical part of the switching system, which actively establishes
the switching paths, by identifying the inlet and outlet lines and
interpreting the signalling information received on these lines.
This control subsystem, controls the making and breaking of the
connection by sensing the signal transfer on the lines. The control sub
system sends out signalling information to the subscriber and other
exchanges connected to the outgoing trunks.
Signalling
The signalling formats and requirements for the subscriber, the trunks
and the sub systems differ significantly. Accordingly, a switching system
provides for three different forms of signalling −

• Subscriber loop signalling

• Interexchange signalling
• Intraexchange or register signalling
A switching system is composed of elements that perform switching,
control and signalling functions.
Trunk Interface
The Trunk lines used for connections between the switching systems, are
terminated at this port. The Trunk interface is the point where the trunk
lines are connected to the system.
Subscriber Line Interface
The Subscriber lines used for connections between the subscribers and
the switching systems are terminated at this port. The subscriber line
interface is the point where the lines from the subscribers are connected
to the system.
Line Scanning Unit
The line scanning unit senses and obtains the signaling information from
the respective lines. The information obtained from these lines are given
to the control sub system to identify the inlets and outlets.
Distributor Units
The distributor units are used for distributing or sending out the signaling
information on the respective lines. The distribution of information
through the trunk lines, is done through the distribution units.
Operator Console
The operator console permits interaction with the switching system for
maintenance and administrative purposes.
Service Circuit Interface
The service circuit interface provides interaction between circuits for
maintenance and testing purposes.
Junctures
The Junctures is a junction that provides a folded connection for the local
subscribers and the service circuits. If the called subscriber and the
calling subscriber both are local, then the folded connection helps in
making the connection to a local call, whereas the trunk lines will not be
in use.
Direct and Indirect
The switching systems are of the following two types −

• the direct control switching system

• the indirect control switching system
Direct Control Switching System
The Switching systems where the control sub systems form an integral
part of the network are called the Direct Control Switching systems. For
example, the Strowger switching system.
Indirect Control Switching System
The Switching system in which the control sub system is present outside
the switching network is called the Indirect Control Switching system or
the Common Control Switching system or the Register
Control switching system. The examples of this system include Crossbar
switching system, Electronic switching system or Stored Program Control
method of switching systems.
In this chapter, we will discuss how the Time Division Switching works in
Telecommunication Switching Systems and Networks.
The switching scheme used by the electronic switching systems may be
either Space Division Switching or Time Division Switching. In space
division switching, a dedicated path is established between the calling
and the called subscribers for the entire duration of the call. In time
division switching, sampled values of speech signals are transferred at
fixed intervals.
The time division switching may be analog or digital. In analog switching,
the sampled voltage levels are transmitted as they are whereas in binary
switching, they are binary coded and transmitted. If the coded values are
transferred during the same time interval from input to output, the
technique is called Space Switching. If the values are stored and
transferred to the output at a late time interval, the technique is called
as Time Switching. A time division digital switch may also be designed
by using a combination of space and time switching techniques.
Space Division Switching
The paths in a circuit are separated from each other, spatially in space
division switching. Though initially designed for analog networks, it is
being used for both analog and digital switching. A Crosspoint switch is
mostly referred to as a space division switch because it moves a bit
stream from one circuit or bus to another.
The switching system where any channel of one of its incoming PCM
highway is connected to any channel of an outgoing PCM highway,
where both of them are spatially separated is called the Space Division
Switching. The Crosspoint matrix connects the incoming and outgoing
PCM highways, where different channels of an incoming PCM frame may
need to be switched by different Crosspoints in order to reach different
destinations.
Though the space division switching was developed for the analog
environment, it has been carried over to digital communication as well.
This requires separate physical path for each signal connection, and uses
metallic or semiconductor gates.
Advantages of Space Division Switching
Following is the advantage of Space Division Switching −

• It is instantaneous.
Disadvantages of Space Division Switching
• Number of Crosspoints required to make space-division switching
are acceptable in terms of blocking.
Time Division Switching
Time division switching comes under digital switching techniques, where
the Pulse Code Modulated signals are mostly present at the input and
the output ports. A digital Switching system is one, where the inputs of
any PCM highway can be connected to the outputs of any PCM highway,
to establish a call.
The incoming and outgoing signals when received and re-transmitted in
a different time slot, is called Time Division Switching. The digitized
speech information is sliced into a sequence of time intervals or slots.
Additional voice circuit slots, corresponding to other users are inserted
into this bit stream of data. Hence, the data is sent in time frames.
The main difference between space division multiplexing and time
division multiplexing is sharing of Crosspoints. Crosspoints are not
shared in space division switching, whereas they can be shared in time
division multiplexing, for shorter periods. This helps in reassigning the
Crosspoints and its associated circuitry for other connections as well.

Time division switches use time division multiplexing, in switching. The

two popular methods of TDM are TSI (Time and Slot Interchange) and
TDM bus. The data sent at the transmitter reaches the receiver in the
same order, in an ordinary time division multiplexing whereas, in TSI
mechanism, the data sent is changed according to the ordering of slots
based on the desired connections. It consists of RAM with several
memory locations such as input, output locations and control unit.
Both of the techniques are used in digital transmission. The TDM bus
utilizes multiplexing to place all the signals on a common transmission
path. The bus must have higher data rate than individual I/O lines. The
main advantage of time division multiplexing is that, there is no need of
Crosspoints. However, processing each connection creates delay as
each time slot must be stored by RAM, then retrieved and then passed
on.
Time Division Multiplexing
When the transmission of data or signals is done in digital means, using
the limited number of resources available, then the Time Division
Multiplexing is used for the transmission of such data. Multiplexing is
the process in communication, which merges two or more signals at its
input into a single output, which when de-multiplexed, offers all those
signals separately as they were.
The Multiplexers are broadly classified as Analog and Digital, where the
Time Division Multiplexing comes under Digital Multiplexing. There are
two types of TDM called as Synchronous and Asynchronous TDM.
Time Division Space Switching
Time division switches may also employ space division switching
techniques, whereas an appropriate mixture of both time and space
division switching is advantageous in various circumstances.
A Time division space switch takes outputs of several time-division
switches (say, TSI switches) which are then given as inputs to space
division switches. This means that one of the two similar outputs
produced by a TDM switch, can be selected by space switch to deliver to
another output path which reduces the number of Crosspoints. The
model of time division space switch is as shown in the following figure.

The interchange of time slots is not possible in time division switching, as

the incoming time slot transfers the data to its dedicated output time slot
only. Hence, time multiplexed switches do not provide full availability.
A time multiplexed Time Division Space Switch can be configured around
a space array, which has M input horizontals and N output verticals. If
both inputs and outputs are equal, M=N the switch leads to non-blocking.
If inputs are greater than outputs; for concentrating switch we have M>N
and if the outputs are higher, the switch expands gathering one more
connection. In every time slot, one logic gate per vertical if M>N, or one
logic per horizontal if M>N is enabled for one-to-one connections.
In every time slot, up to N or M samples are switched simultaneously.
Because of the parallel transfer of N or M data samples in each time slot,
a large number of channels can be multiplexed per input line. If along
with multiplexing for N control memory modules, full availability has to be
achieved, one should opt for time division time multiplexing technique.
Time Division Time Switching
The main advantage of time division time multiplexing technique is that,
unlike time division space switching, it allows time slot interchange
(TSI) of sample values. In TSI, a speech sample input during a time slot
may be sent to the output during a different time slot, which implies a
delay between reception and transmission of a sample.
The rate at which the time slot clock runs is 125-$\mu$ sec. The time slot
counter increments by one, at the end of each clock pulse, the contents
of which provide location addresses for data memory and control
memory. The input sample is read at the beginning of the time slot and it
is clocked at the end of the clock pulse. Because of the storage action,
the sample is delayed at least by a single time slot in passing from the
input to the output, even if there is no time slot interchange.
A TSI which can be expanding or concentrating, has different number of
time slots per frame at input and output also. For an expanding switch,
the output bit rate is higher, whereas for a concentrating switch, the input
bit rate is higher. The handling of input and output subscribers in this
technique can be done in four ways, such as serial-in/serial-out, parallel-
in/parallel-out, serial-in/parallel-out, parallel-in/serial-out.
Multi-Stage Networks
The multi-stage networks are the networks built to provide connections
between more subscribers more efficiently than the Crossbar switching
systems.
The Crossbar switching networks discussed previously have some
limitations as described below −
• The number of Crosspoint will be the square of the number of
attached stations and hence this is costly for a large switch.
• The failure of Crosspoint prevents connection with those two
subscribers between which the Crosspoint is connected.
• Even if all the attached devices are active, only few of the
Crosspoints are utilized
In order to find a solution to subsidize these disadvantages, the
multistage space division switches were built. By splitting the Crossbar
switch into smaller units and interconnecting them, it is possible to build
multistage switches with fewer Crosspoints. The following figure shows
an example of a multistage switch.

The multistage switch like the above one needs less number of
Crosspoints than the ones needed in Crossbar switching. According to
the example shown above, for the 8 (input) and 8 (output) various
subscribers (both called and calling subscribers), the Crosspoints
needed in a normal Crossbar network will be square of them, which is 64.
However, in the multistage Crossbar network, just 40 Crosspoints are
enough. This is as shown in the diagram above. In a large multistage
Crossbar switch, the reduction is more significant.
Advantages of a Multistage Network
The advantages of a multistage network are as follows −

• The number of Crossbars are reduced.

• The number of paths of connection can be more.
Disadvantages of a Multistage Network
The disadvantage of a multistage network are as follows −
• Multistage switches may cause Blocking.
• The number or size of the intermediate switches if increased can
solve this problem, but the cost increases with this.
Blocking
Blocking reduces the number of Crosspoints. The following diagram will
help you understand Blocking in a better way.

In the above figure, where there are 4 inputs and 2 outputs, the
Subscriber 1 was connected to Line 3 and the Subscriber 2 was
connected to Line 4. The red-colored lines indicate the connections.
However, there will be more requests coming; a calling request from
subscriber 3 and subscriber 4 if made cannot be processed, as the call
cannot be established.
The subscribers of the above block also (as shown in the above diagram)
face the same problem. Only two blocks can be connected at a time;
connecting more than two or all of the inputs cannot be done (as it
depends on the number of outputs present). Hence, a number of
connections cannot be established simultaneously, which is understood
as the calls being blocked up.
In this chapter, we will discuss the switching techniques in
Telecommunication Switching Systems and Networks.
In large networks, there may be more than one path for transmitting data
from the sender to the receiver. Selecting a path that data must take out
of the available options can be understood as Switching. The
information may be switched while it travels between various
communication channels.
There are three typical switching techniques available for digital traffic.
They are −

• Circuit Switching
• Message Switching
• Packet Switching
Let us now see how these techniques work.
Circuit Switching
In Circuit switching, two nodes communicate with each other over a
dedicated communication path. In this, a circuit is established to transfer
the data. These circuits may be permanent or temporary. Applications
that use circuit switching may have to go through three phases. The
different phases are −

• Establishing a circuit
• Transferring the data
• Disconnecting the circuit
The following figure below shows the pattern of Circuit switching.

Circuit switching was designed for voice applications. Telephone is the

best suitable example of circuit switching. Before a user can make a call,
a virtual path between the called subscriber and the calling subscriber is
established over the network.
The drawbacks of circuit switching are −

• The waiting time lasts long, and there is no data transfer.

• Each connection has a dedicated path, and this gets expensive.
 • When connected systems do not use the channel, it is kept idle.
The circuit pattern is made once the connection is established, using the
dedicated path which is intended for data transfer, in the circuit switching.
The telephone system is a common example of Circuit Switching
technique.
Message Switching
In message switching, the whole message is treated as a data unit. The
data is transferred in its entire circuitry. A switch working on message
switching, first receives the whole message and buffers it until there are
resources available to transfer it to the next hop. If the next hop is not
having enough resource to accommodate large size message, the
message is stored and the switch waits.
The following figure shows the pattern of Message switching.

In this technique, the data is stored and forwarded. The technique is also
called the Store-and-Forward technique. This technique was
considered a substitute to circuit switching. But the transmission delay
that followed the end to end delay of message transmission added to the
propagation delay and slowed down the entire process.
Message switching has the following drawbacks −
• Every switch in the transit path needs enough storage to
accommodate the entire message.
• Because of the waiting included until resources are available,
message switching is very slow.
• Message switching was not a solution for streaming media and real-
time applications.
The data packets are accepted even when the network is busy; this slows
down the delivery. Hence, this is not recommended for real time
applications like voice and video.
Packet Switching
The packet switching technique is derived from message switching where
the message is broken down into smaller chunks called Packets. The
header of each packet contains the switching information which is then
transmitted independently. The header contains details such as source,
destination and intermediate node address information. The intermediate
networking devices can store small size packets and don’t take many
resources either on the carrier path or in the internal memory of switches.
Individual routing of packets is done where a total set of packets need
not be sent in the same route. As the data is split, bandwidth is reduced.
This switching is used for performing data rate conversion.
The figure below shows the pattern of Packet switching.
The following figure shows the pattern of Packet switching.

The line efficiency of packet switching can be enhanced by multiplexing

the packets from multiple applications over the carrier. The internet which
uses this packet switching enables the user to differentiate data streams
based on priorities. Depending upon the priority list, these packets are
forwarded after storing to provide quality of service.
The packet switching technique was proved to be an efficient technique
and is being widely used in both voice and data transfer. The
transmission resources are allocated using different techniques such as
Statistical Multiplexing or Dynamic Bandwidth allocation.