Commutation and IT Technology Are at Their Climax - Essay Example

SWITCH BOARDS Switch boards Affiliation Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 3 Introduction 3 Switching Technology 4 Old Technology Analysis 5 Modern Technology Analyses 7 Conclusion 8 References 9 Abstract In the present age this can be rightly assumed that commutation and IT technology are on their climax. Additionally, a large number of developments and improvements have been observed and found very useful in these technologies and communication frameworks. Thus, we can say that the transfer/transmission of data and information is the major task in every network. Since the evolution of the networks these systems were very simple in nature and straightforward however these technology systems provided a base to develop extensively complicated systems. This paper is based on the comprehensive study of the old and new switching technologies. Just from the beginning of switching systems, a large number of the transformations have been done in the switching technologies. In this regard this paper is going to analyze and evaluate the old strowger switches and mechanical cross-bar switches based on circuit switching technologies with some modern network switches. In this report I would like to provide a technological overview of these technologies and a brief comparison of these technology systems. Introduction The basic use of the telecommunication networks is to carry data and information signals among different entities which are located geographically. In this situation we can say that an entity can be a resource like a human being, a computer, a Tele-printer, a duplicate machine, a communication data workstation and so on. These communication entities are linked with the overall working and process of the transferring information which can be in the form of a file transfer between two systems, or telephone chat (a call) or message transmission between two workstations etc. In this present age of technology, the communication is perceived as a symbol of the new age of technology. In this scenario the introduction of this communication technology has started from the development of the telephone systems (Farahmand & Zhang, 2007). However, due to considerable increase in the number of users and less number line availability, a need was experienced to develop some switching system which can be used for the switching purposes among line to facilitate large number of individuals with small number of available communication lines. Today the technology has gained an extensive limit of advancements but some of the communication restrictions still exist. One of the key issues in these limitations is the highest availability of the communication line. In an attempt to tackle this problem, the technique of the switching was formulated, which was very useful. At present the same technique is still being used extensively but with large number of enhancements and advancements in the overall structure (Farahmand & Zhang, 2007; Gnanasivam, 2005; Tomasi, 2009). This research paper is based on the analysis of the past and present switching technologies. So this research paper is going to provide a technological assessment of the old technology of Strowger switches and mechanical cross-bar switches circuit switching with new and up to date switching technologies. Switching Technology The fundamental principle of a communication system is to exchange information between two or more entities, users or devices. Similar technology system can also be best optimized for data, voice or both. The basic shape of a communication structure can be recognized between two nodes (or stations) which are directly connected through some form of point-to-point data or communication transmission standard. In this overall setup we have a station that can be a PC, fax machine, telephone, mainframe, or some sort of communicating system. This can however, be not implemented practically, if there are many geographically dispersed entities or the communication requires establishing an active link among different stations at different times. An alternate method planned was the point-to-point link that was set up within a communication network. However due to bandwidth and line availability limitation we can certainly gain benefit from this technology constantly. Keeping in view the situation another technique that was planned was the switched network, which has the capability to transmit data to the destinations in a small series of intermediate nodes. Similar nodes are frequently known as switching nodes. Switching nodes are simply concerned of how to transmit the data from one node to another until the data reaches at its destination node. So switched communication networks can be classified into following categories (Gnanasivam, 2005; Farahmand & Zhang, 2007) & (Tomasi, 2009): Packet-switched networks Circuit-switched networks Burst-switched networks Message-switched networks Old Technology Analysis This section discusses old switching technologies i.e. the first switching technology of the Strowger switches. Strowger switches were developed by the Strowger and were built on a system of switching of automatic nature through an electromechanical switch formulated on the principles of electromagnets as well as pawls. His nephew (Walter S. Strowger) assisted her and he developed a functional model of this switch in 1888. In the overall setup of Strowger switch we have a selector, a wiper which can move up to and just about a pool of several other connections, creating a link by means of any one of them (SEG-Communications, 1996). Figure- 1 Strowger switche Source-[http://www.seg.co.uk/telecomm/automat1.htm] By increasing several curves of outlets on the peak of each other, the number of outlets can be increased considerably but the wipers are then needed to move straight to choose a bank as well as then upright to shift some definite bank to the necessary outlet. We call this selector as the Two-Motion Selector. In a Strowger switch 2-motion selectors (straight and upright) usually have 10 rows consisting of 10 outlets, hence providing 100 possible outlets in aggregate. In addition, a Strowger switch with two-motion selector is competent enough to consequently reply to two numbers dialed by a user as well as pass the call to any of 100 available numbers. In the Strowger switch a selector wipers generally begins in the overall process from their inactive position known as home position. The initial digit causes the selector move upright to the equal stage plus then the next digit shifts the wipers about the contacts of that stage (Tomasi, 2009). This was the all the working and operational mechanism through which a Strowger switch. In its overall working it was also able setup communication and circuit switching for approximately 100 people (SEG-Communications, 1996; Telephone World, 2008). The next technology of switching systems we call the Crossbar telephone came into existence just after the development of the Strowger switch systems. This technology was developed in 1930s by a Sweden company known as LM Ericsson. There was a great admiration of Ericsson switches in Europe, particularly in the UK. Western Electric thereafter gained licenses as of Ericsson in an attempt to build up their own crossbar switch systems. The vital benefit that Crossbar switch over either Step by Step or Panel system was the capability to employ a "store and forward" plan. In this technology concept of "store and forward" the Crossbar telephone switching systems has the competence to acquire inward digits, and store these digits, plus then finally providing call mechanism. It was as highly proficient to carry out call routing as well as making decisions of the call destination by carrying out "translation" of the arriving numbers and then making a decision of sending the call. The idea of the crossbar switch is devised on the crossbar technique which functions on the basics of a matrix model where telephone digits will definitely change the place of the crossbar as well as link to further elements of the matrix. It was so far the similar "level" idea of the step by step plus panel systems however these systems are working with enhanced and smaller equipment (Telephone World, 2008). Modern Technology Analyses Recently we are working with new and latest network switching systems which are created on highly sophisticated technology and operational design. These network technology based system are based on the algorithms designed for routing weighted data or communication packets within various network locations. These latest circuit switching technologies are designed on the basis like zero-one principle planned for switching networks that distinguishes a wide diversity of algorithms designed for getting c-approximation by means of paying value to sequences created. These new switches have value to better handle and control situations of the Multi-Queue traffic Switching design plus integrating competitive algorithm for deciding the more appropriate path for packet and data transmission (Azar & Richter, 2004; Liew & Lee, 2010). These switching models are very fast and efficient for of processing huge traffic. These modern network switches are providing the facility of collision detection at the levels of broadcasting domains. Broadcast Domains have the capacity to route the data packets to most suitable route in order to get maximum performance and better results. In this regard each system has a table generally known as port address table through which it can be able to route the data to the most suitable location in the network. These new network switches are built on the latest technology and these switches are providing enhanced facility of taking data forwarding decisions. For defining a Forwarding-strategy, a modern network switch can perform three tasks: forward, discard and spread. In this scenario a packet is therefore transmitted with the most suitable network point for getting better performance and effective response (Liew & Lee, 2010; Azar & Richter, 2004). Conclusion In this research paper I have provided a comprehensive analysis of technology frameworks of the new and old network switches. In this regard I have thoroughly evaluated that the technology has changed broadly. At the moment, we are working with latest switching systems which are fast, reliable, effective and small in size. Another major change observed in these systems is the reduction in size and very low power consumption. Intelligence is appeared as major development in these systems. The new switching systems can definitely provide more accurate power of decision making and also facility for an effective transfer of data and packets. Comparatively the time of decision making and data forwarding has been lessened to huge extent. Therefore we can say that present switching technology is more effective as compared to old switching technology however that technology has definitely provided standards for the progress and improvement of this new technology. References Azar, Y., & Richter, Y. (2004). The zero-one principle for switching networks. Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, Proceedings of the thirty-sixth annual ACM symposium on Theory of computing (pp. 64-71). Chicago, IL, USA: ACM New York, USA . Farahmand, F., & Zhang, Q. (2007, May 19). Circuit Switching. Retrieved September 10, 2010, from Sonoma State University: http://www.sonoma.edu/users/f/farahman/sonoma/courses/cet543/resources/ch69_circuit_switcing.pdf Gnanasivam, P. (2005). Telecommunication switching and networks, 2nd edition. Age International Publishers. Liew, S. C., & Lee, T. T. (2010). Principles of Broadband Switching and Networking . Wiley-Interscience. SEG-Communications. (1996). Theory of Electromechanical Switching. Retrieved September 10, 2010, from http://www.seg.co.uk/telecomm/automat1.htm Telephone World. (2008, December 20). Western Electric Crossbar. Retrieved September 10, 2010, from Telephone World: http://www.phworld.org/switch/wexbar.htm Tomasi, W. (2009). Introduction to Data Communications and Networking 3rd Ed. Pearson Education India. . Read More