Subframe Switching in Data Communications

• Main Authors: Foschini, G. J., Gopinath, B., Hayes, J. F.
• Other Authors: Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated
• Language: en_US
• Published: International Foundation for Telemetering 1978
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/609765; http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/609765

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / November 14-16, 1978 / Hyatt House Hotel, Los Angeles, California === An alternative to packet switching, designated as subframe switching is studied. In this technique the traffic flowing between a pair of nodes in the transport network is given a fixed capacity by means of time division multiplexing. This flow between two nodes, viewed as a single commodity, may consist of packets from many different terminals or ports connected to a node. The advantage of this technique over conventional packet switching lies in simplicity of switching at tandem nodes and in simplicity of operation, particularly in flow control. The disadvantage of subframe switching is that less efficient use is made of transmission capacity. An analysis of the technique is made with the aim of quantifying delay performance and buffering required. A preliminary study of the relative switching complexity of packet and subframe switching is undertaken. Numerical results indicate the relative merits of each method.