Introduction to Switching Systems

 Telecommunication networks carry information signals

among entities, which are geographically far apart
 The entities are involved in the process of information
transfer which may be in the form of a telephone
conversation (telephony) or a file transfer between two
computers or message transfer between two terminals etc.
 The communication switching system enables the universal
connectivity. The universal connectivity is realized when any
entity in one part of the world can communicate with any
other entity in another part of the world.
 The telecommunication links and switching were mainly
designed for voice communication. With the appropriate
attachments/equipments, they can be used to transmit data.
 In early days, a very simple exchange whose control is provided
by a human operator and the elements of the switch assemblies
are plugs and sacks.
 With increase in demand of service, human operator exchange
was replaced by the invention of range of electromechanical
switching devices. Of all the electromechanical switching
devices that became available over the years, the step-by-step
switching system invented by Almon B. Strowger in 1892 is still
quite popular. The next automatic electromechanical switching
system was crossber switching.
 The electromechanical switching systems have been replaced
by computer controlled switching systems referred to as stored
program control (SPC). In SPC, switching is controlled by
software program.
 The purpose of a telecommunication switching system is to
provide the means to pass information from any terminal
device to any other terminal device selected by the
originator.
 Telecommunication system can be divided into four main
parts. They are:
 1. End system or Instruments
 2. Transmission system
 3. Switching system
 4. Signaling.
 The end system or instruments are a transmitter or receiver
that are responsible for sending information or decoding or
inverting received information or message into an intelligible
message.
 Signals generated by the end system or the instruments
should be transported to the destination by some means.
 The transmission on links conveys the information and
control signals between the terminals and switching centers.
 A transmission link can be characterized by its bandwidth,
link attenuation and the propagation delay.
 To maintain signal quality, the signal must be regenerated
after a certain distance.
 In general a communication path between two distinct points
can be setup be connecting a number of transmission lines in
tandem.
 The transmission links include two-wire lines, coaxial cables
microwave radio, optical fibers and satellites. Functionally, the
communication channels between switching system are referred
to as trunks.
 The switching centers receives the control signals, messages
or conversations and forwards to the required destination,
after necessary modification (link amplifications) if
necessary.
 A switching system is a collection of switching elements
arranged and controlled in such a way as to setup a
communication path between any two distant points.
 A switching center of a telephone network comprising a
switching network and its control and support equipment is
called a central office.
 In computer communication, the switching technique used is
known as packet switching or message switch (store and
forward switching).
 In telephone network the switching method used is called
circuit switching. Some practical switching system are step-
by-step, cross barred relay system, digital switching systems,
electronic switching system etc.
 A signaling system in a data communication networks
exchanges signaling information effectively between
subscribers.
 The signaling systems are essential building blocks in
providing the ultimate objective of a worldwide automatic
telephone services standardized.
 The consultative committee on international telegraphy and
telephony (CCITT) based in Geneva, recommended seven
formats related to signalling. The first five formats related to
Inband signalling and the last two in the category of common
channel signalling. In In-band signalling, voice information
and signalling information travel on common paths, where as
in common channel signalling, they travel on separate paths.
 A telecommunication network consists of exchanges, trunks,
and subscriber lines.
 Trunks are circuits between exchanges, and the group of trunks
between a pair of exchanges is known as a trunk group (TG).
Subscriber lines (SL) are circuits between a subscriber S and his
local exchange (A, B, C). Exchanges D and E do not have
subscriber lines, and are known as intermediate, tandem, tolls or
transit exchanges.
 A call requires a communication circuit (connection) between
two subscribers.
 In (a), Sp is on a call with Sq who is attached to the same
exchange.
 Calls of this type are known as intraexchange calls. The circuit for
the call consists of the subscriber lines SLp and SLq, and a
temporary path in exchange A.
 Cases (b) and (c) are calls between Sp and subscribers
attached to other local exchanges (interexchange calls).
 The circuit in case (b) consists of SLp, a temporary path across
exchange A, trunk T1, a temporary path across exchange B, and
SLt. The connections are set up (switched “on”) at the start of a
call, and released (switched “off‟) when the call ends.
 The set-up and release of connections in telecommunication networks is triggered by
signals.
 Starting and ending a call involves signaling between the subscribers and their local
exchanges and, for inter- exchange calls, signaling between the exchanges along the
connection.
 In the figure, Subscriber Sp sends a request-for-service signal to exchange A (by lifting the
handset of his telephone) and then signals the digits of the telephone number of S q (with
the dial or keyset of the telephone). From the received number, exchange A determines
that Sq is served by exchange B, and that the call is to be routed out on a trunk in group
TG1.
 It then searches for an idle trunk in this group, and finds trunk T 1.
 Exchange A now seizes the trunk, and sends a seizure signal, followed by signals that
represent digits of the called number, to exchange B. It then sets up a path between SLp
and T1.

 When exchange B receives the seizure signal and the called number, it checks whether
Sq is idle. If this is the case, it sends a ringing signal on SLq, and a ringing-tone signal
T1, to inform Sp.
 When Sq lifts the handset of his telephone, an answer signal is sent to exchange B, which
then stops the ringing signal and ringing tone, sets up a path between T 1 and SLq, and
signals to exchange A that the call has been answered. The connection is now complete,
and allows speech or other communications between the subscribers. At the end of the
call, another signaling sequence takes place to release the connection.
 In the figure, there is at most one trunk group between two exchanges.

 Let us consider the group TG1. The network should allow calls originating at A with
destination B, and calls originating at B with destination A. Therefore, both exchanges
are allowed to seize trunks in TG1.
 A trunk group whose trunks can be seized by the exchanges at both ends is known as a
bothway trunk group.
 A pair of exchanges can also be interconnected by two one-way trunk groups. The
trunks in one-way groups can be seized by one exchange only.
 For example, exchanges A and B could be interconnected by two one-way trunk groups
TGIA and TG1B, whose trunks can be seized by A and B, respectively.

 Both arrangements are used in actual networks. Two-way groups have an economic
advantage because, for a given traffic intensity, the number of trunks of a both-way trunk
group can be smaller than the total number of trunks in the one-way groups.
 In bothway groups, it can happen that the exchanges at both ends of a trunk group seize
the same trunk at the same time (double seizure).
 There are several alternatives to deal with a double seizure. For example, it can be
arranged that one exchange continues the set-up, and the other exchange backs off (tries
to seize another trunk for its call). The signaling on both-way trunks includes provisions to
alert the exchanges when a double seizure occurs.
 Traditionally, the design for telephone switching center or
equipment requirement in a telecommunication system are
determined on the basis of the traffic intensity of the busy
hour.
 The traffic intersity is defined as the product of the calling rate
and the average holding time. The busy hour is defined as that
continuous sixty-minute period during which the traffic intersity
is highest.
 The calling rate is the average number of request for connection that
are made per unit time. If the instant in time that a call request arises is
a random variable, the calling rate may be stated as the probability
that a call request will occur in a certain short interval of time.
 The holding time is the mean time that calls last. Otherwise the average
holding time is the average duration of occupancy of traffic path by a
call.
 In telephone field, the so called busy hour traffic are used for
planning purposes. Once the statistical properties of the
traffic are known, the objective for the performance of a
switching system should be stated. This is done by specifying
a grade of service (GOS).
 GOS is a measure of congestion expressed as the probability
that a call will be blocked or delayed. Thus when dealing with
GOS in traffic engineering, the clear understanding of
blocking criteria, delay criteria and congestion are essential.
 If the design of a system is based on the fraction of calls
blocked (the blocking probaility), then the system is said to
be engineered on a blocking basis or call loss basis.
Blocking can occur if all devices are occupied when a
demand of service is initiated.
 Blocking criteria are often used for the dimensioning of
switching networks and interoffice trunk groups. For a system
designed on a loss basis, a suitable GOS is the percentage of
calls which are lost because no equipment is available at the
instant of call request.
 If the design of a system is based on the fraction of calls
delayed longer than a specified length of time (the delay
probability), the system is said to be a waiting system or
engineered on a delay basis. Delay criteria are used in
telephone systems for the dimensioning of registers. In
waiting system, a GOS objective could be either the
percentage of calls which are delayed or the percentage
which are delayed more than a certain length of time.
 It is the condition in a switching center when a subscriber can
not obtain a connection to the wanted subscriber immediately. In
a circuit switching system, there will be a period of congestion
during which no new calls can be accepted. There are two ways
of specifying congestion.
 1. Time congestion. It is the probability that all servers are busy. It is
also called the probability of blocking.
 2. Call congestion. It is the proportion of calls arising that do not find
a free server. Call congestion is a loss system and also known as the
probability of loss while in a delay system it is referred to as the
probability of waiting.
 If the number of sources is equal to the number of servers, the
time congestion is finite, but the call congestion is zero. When the
number of sources is large in comparison with servers, the
probability of a new call arising is independent of the number
already in progress and therefore the call congestion is equal to
the time congestion. In general, time and call congestions are
different but in most practial cases, the discrepancies are small.
 GOS is expressed as a probability. The GOS of 2% (0.02)
mean that 98% of the calls will reach a called instrument if it
is free. Generally, GOS is quoted as P.02 or simply P02 to
represent a network busy probability of 0.02. GOS is applied
to a terminal-to-terminal connection. For the system
connection many switching centers, the system is generally
broken into following components.
 (i) an internal call (calling subscriber to switching office)
 (ii) an outgoing call to the trunk network (switching office to
trunk)
 (iii) The trunk network (trunk to trunk)
 (iv) A terminating call (switching office to called subscriber)
 the traffic analysis is the fundamental request for the design
of cost effective, efficient and effective configuration of
networks.
 The effectiveness of a network can be evaluated in terms of
how much traffic it carries under normal or average loads
and how often the traffic volume exceeds the capacity of the
network.
 Fundamental problem in the design of telecommunication
networks concerns the dimensioning of a route. To dimension
the route, volume of traffic, required grade of service and
capacity (in bits per sec) must be known.
 In telecommunication system, traffic is defined as the
occupancy of the server in the network. There are two types
of traffic viz. voice traffic and data traffic. For voice traffic, the
calling rate is defined as the number of calls per traffic path
during the busy hour. In a day, the 60 minutes interval in
which the traffic is highest is called busy hour (BH).
 If the average number of calls to and from a terminal during a
period T second is „n‟ and the average holding time is „h‟
seconds, the average occupancy of the terminal is given by

 The average occupancy is also referred as traffic flow of

traffic intensity. The international unit of telephone traffic is
the Erlang.
 A simplest way of structuring the telecommunication
switching is the terminal-to-terminal connection. This kind of
switching is called distributed switching and applied only to
small telephone system.
 The distributed system cannot be extended to large terminal
cases and the increased geographical separation of
terminals. A simple centralized system, which reduces the
average length of transmission link, and hence the
transmission cost is shown But this system increases the total
switching costs.
 Each terminal have two kind of switches, one to make
required link and other to connect a link to receive a call. By
this method, for N terminals, the numbers of links required
are 1/2 N (N – 1)
 Here each terminal is connected permanently to one channel
and all other terminals may be accessed by operating a
switch. Also it removes the need to connect a terminal to a
link for an incoming call.
 In this arrangement, a calling terminal sends a calling signal
to indicate the called terminal to which the terminal should
be switched in order to receive the call. The recognition of an
incoming call and switching operation may be performed
automatically in system using coded signals.
 The distributed system cannot be extended to large terminal
cases and the increased geographical separation of
terminals. A simple centralized system, which reduces the
average length of transmission link, and hence the
transmission cost is shown in Fig. 1.8. But this system
increases the total switching costs.
 Introducing more local centers instead of one national center
switching machine can further reduce the transmission cost.
 Two local centers are connected by links called trunk. A
trunk in telephone system is a communication path that
contains shared circuits that are used to interconnect central
offices.
 Even though the increase in the number of switching centers
lower the total transmission costs, the total switching cost
tend to increase for two reasons.
 1. The local centers become more complex because they must be
able to decide on a suitable routing to another center.
 2. Economy of scale is lost with an increased number of local
centers because of additional numbers.