Packet Switching vs.

Circuit Switching
Packetswitchedandcircuitswitchednetworksusetwo
differenttechnologiesforsendingmessagesanddata
fromonepointtoanother.
Eachhasitsadvantagesanddisadvantagesdepending
onwhatyouaretryingtodo.

adaptedfromwww.teachict.com

Packet Switching

Inpacketbasednetworks,themessagegetsbrokenintosmalldata
packets.
Thesepacketsaresentoutfromthecomputerandtheytravelaround
thenetworkseekingoutthemostefficientroutetotravelascircuits
becomeavailable.
Thisdoesnotnecessarilymeanthattheyseekouttheshortestroute.
Eachpacketmaygoadifferentroutefromtheothers.

Packet Switching

Eachpacketissentwithaheaderaddresswhich
tellsitwhereitsfinaldestinationis,soitknows
wheretogo.
Theheaderaddressalsodescribesthesequencefor
reassemblyatthedestinationcomputersothatthe
packetsareputbackintothecorrectorder.
Onepacketalsocontainsdetailsofhowmany
packetsshouldbearrivingsothattherecipient
computerknowsifonepackethasfailedtoturnup.
Ifapacketfailstoarrive,therecipientcomputer
sendsamessagebacktothecomputerwhich
originallysentthedata,askingforthemissing
packettoberesent.

UDP =
User
Datagram
Protocol

Packet Switching
Advantages
Security
Bandwidth used to full potential
Devices of different speeds can communicate
Not affected by line failure (redirects signal)
Availability no waiting for a direct connection
to become available
During a crisis or disaster, when the public
telephone network might stop working, e-mails
and texts can still be sent via packet switching

Packet Switching
Disadvantages
Under heavy use there can be a delay
Data packets can get lost or become corrupted
Protocols are needed for a reliable transfer
Not so good for some types data streams (e.g.
real-time video streams can lose frames due to the
way packets arrive out of sequence)

Circuit Switching

Circuit switching was designedin1878inorderto

sendtelephonecallsdownadedicatedchannel.
Thischannelremainsopenandinusethroughoutthe
wholecallandcannotbeusedbyanyotherdataor
phonecalls.

Circuit Switching

Therearethreephasesincircuitswitching:
Establish
Transfer
Disconnect
Thetelephonemessageissentalltogether;itisnot
brokenup.
Themessagearrivesinthesameorderthatitwas
originallysent.

Circuit Switching

Inmoderncircuitswitchednetworks,electronicsignals
passthroughseveralswitchesbeforeaconnectionis
established.
Duringacallnoothernetworktrafficcanusethose
switches.
Theresourcesremaindedicatedtothecircuitduringthe
entiredatatransferandtheentiremessagefollowsthe
samepath.
Circuitswitchingcanbeanalogordigital.

Circuit Switching

WiththeexpandeduseoftheInternetforvoiceand
video,analystspredictagradualshiftawayfrom
circuitswitchednetworks.
Acircuitswitchednetworkisexcellentfordatathat
needsaconstantlinkfromendtoend,forexample,
realtimevideo.

Circuit Switching
Advantages
Circuitisdedicatedtothecallnointerference,
nosharing
Guaranteedthefullbandwidthforthedurationof
thecall
Guaranteedqualityofservice

Circuit Switching
Disadvantages
Inefficienttheequipmentmaybeunusedforalotof
thecall;ifnodataisbeingsent,thededicatedlinestill
remainsopen.
Ittakesarelativelylongtimetosetupthecircuit.
Duringacrisisordisaster,thenetworkmaybecome
unstableorunavailable.
Itwasprimarilydevelopedforvoicetrafficratherthan
datatraffic.

Packet vs. Circuit Switching

Itiseasierandlessexpensivetodoublethecapacityofa
packetswitchednetworkacircuitnetworkisheavily
dependentonthenumberofchannelsavailable.
Circuitswitchedtechnologies,whichtakefourtimesas
longtodoubletheirperformance/cost,forceISPstobuy
thatmanymoreboxestokeepup.

ThisiswhyeveryoneislookingforwaystogetInternettraffic
offthetelephonenetwork.
Thealternativeofbuildingupthetelephonenetworktosatisfy
thedemandgrowthiseconomicallyoutofthequestion.

Packet Vs Circuit Switching

Thebattlebetweencircuitandpackettechnologieshas
beenaroundalongtime,anditisstartingtobelikethe
oldstoryofthetortoiseandthehare.

Inthiscase,thehareiscircuitswitchingfast,reliableand
smart.Theharestartsoutfastandkeepsasteadypace,
whilethetortoisestartsslowbutmanagestodoublehis
speedevery100meters.
Iftheraceislongerthan2km(1.2miles),thepowerof
compoundingfavorsthetortoise(packetswitching).