Technology Aspects for System 12 Broadband ISDN

Although the enhancement of System 12, SEL's digital switching system, for ISDN services is virtually complete, further development work is being carried out to allow broadband switching for videophone services, videoconferencing, and the distribution of radio and television programs. This paper describes an appropriate approach to the evolution Of System 12 toward the broadband ISDN (B-ISDN), emphasizing the crosspoint and technology aspects of the broadband switch. Test results on a broadband switch VLSI circuit for 140 Mbit/s in a 2μm CMOS technology are presented.     

Switching in the Broad-Band ISDN

The enhancement of ISDN with broad-band services is investigated from the viewpoint of switching systems. Approaches in system architecture and switching technology are described. The extension of an ISDN switch with broad-band modules is presented as an example.     

La commutation de paquets dans le RNIS: de (l’experimentation à I’intégration dans les systèmes*

Integrated service digital networks concepts are currently well established and a number of administrations or network operators are expecting to offer some isdn services soon on a commercial basis: most of these services currently under consideration are based on 64 kbit/s circuit switched bearer capabilities which are inherent to the integrated digital networks from which the isdns are emerging. However network evolution strategies are still under elaboration for the integration of packet switching capabilities. This paper focusses on the steps that, in the view of the French PTT Administration, are necessary to allow a smooth integration of packet switching features in the isdn while preserving a valuable coexistence with existing and well established public switched packet data networks, such as the Transpac network in France. Whilst the commercial opening of the circuit switched based isdn services is planned by 1988, following the Renan pilot, the PTT research center is carrying out the evaluation of the packet feature integration strategy in the isdn, with the Cérame experiment presented here after. Finally the Alcatel developments in relation to the support of isdn packet switched services are presented together with indications on systems impacts.     

ISDN: a snapshot

A snapshot of the present status of ISDN (integrated services digital network) is presented in terms of standardization efforts, field trials and demonstrations, implementations and services, and equipment and devices. A review of opinions and controversies as well as future trends is also given. The authors emphasize the importance of the worldwide standardization effort and discuss the organizations that are responsible for establishing such standards. It is pointed out that, with the limitation and inflexibility of the narrowband ISDN and the broadband ISDN, issues for higher-rate services have become prominent. For broadband services, the problem is not merely increasing the speed of the operation. It affects the compatibility of switching technology, the workability of the local loop arrangement, the availability of rate adaption, and the efficiency of bandwidth utilization. Although some basic principles of narrowband ISDN can be carried to broadband ISDN, the technology is quite different. For example, the interconnection and transmission problems of video, HDTV, (high-definition television), and high-speed data are different from those of voice. Thus, the standard 64-kb/s B channel itself, the fundamental rate of ISDN transmission, appears inadequate for wideband services. At present, the solution is to establish the multiples of 64 kb/s for accommodation of broadband or higher rates     

A growable packet (ATM) switch architecture: design principles andapplication

The problem of designing a large high-performance, broadband packet of ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) switch is discussed. Ways to construct arbitrarily large switches out of modest-size packet switches without sacrificing overall delay/throughput performance are presented. A growable switch architecture is presented that is based on three key principles: a generalized knockout principle exploits the statistical behaviour of packet arrivals and thereby reduces the interconnect complexity, output queuing yields the best possible delay/throughput performance, and distributed intelligence in routing packets through the interconnect fabric eliminates internal path conflicts. Features of the architecture include the guarantee of first-in-first-out packet sequence, broadcast and multicast capabilities, and compatibility with variable-length packets, which avoids the need for packet-size standardization. As a broadband ISDN example, a 2048×2048 configuration with building blocks of 42×16 packet switch modules and 128×128 interconnect modules, both of which fall within existing hardware capabilities, is presented     

A fast packet switch for the integrated services backbone network

With the projected growth in demand for bandwidth and telecommunication services will come the requirement for a multiservice backbone network of far greater efficiency, capacity, and flexibility than ISDN (integrated-services digital network) is able to satisfy. This class of network has been termed the broadband ISDN, and the design of the switching nodes of such a network is the subject of much research. The author investigates one possible solution. The design and performance, for multiservice traffic, is presented for a fast packet switch based on a nonbuffered, multistage interconnection network. It is shown that for an implementation in current CMOS technology, operating at 50 MHz, switches with a total traffic capacity of up to 150 Gb/s can be constructed. Furthermore, if the reserved service traffic load is limited on each input port to a maximum of 80% of switch port saturation, then a maximum delay across the switch of on the order of 100 μs can be guaranteed, for 99% of the reserved service traffic, regardless of the unreserved service traffic load     

The statistical data fork: a class of broad-band multichannelswitches

The circuit switching concept of trunk grouping has been introduced into the broadband packet switch. This trunk grouping concept exploits the very high bandwidth offered by lightwave technology with electronic switching technology operating at substantially slower speeds. A key component of this concept is the multichannel switch, which is a device capable of supporting routing requirements at the trunk group level. The statistical data fork (SDF), which is a multichannel switch enjoying an extremely simple control structure, is introduced here. It is based on the concepts of deflection routing and error correcting codes. It is shown that by properly designing the SDF, an extremely reliable and fault tolerant broadband switch can be obtained     

Performance analysis of a growable architecture for broad-bandpacket (ATM) switching

The performance of a growable architecture for broadband asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching consisting of a memoryless self-routing interconnect fabric and modest-size packet switch modules is examined. The cell loss probability is the focus because the architecture attains the best possible delay-throughput performance if the packet switch modules use output queuing. There are two sources of cell loss in the switch. First, cells are dropped if too many simultaneous arrivals are destined to a group of output ports. Second, because a simple, distributed path-assignment controller is used for speed and efficiency, cells are dropped when the controller cannot schedule a path through the switch. The authors compute an upper bound on arrivals, possibly including isochronous circuit connections, and show that both sources of cell loss can be made negligibly small     

Traffic studies of a multiplexer in an ATM network and applications to the future broadband ISDN

In the first part of this paper the influence of the arrival process on these three performance parameters is discussed. The values of these three performance parameters depend strongly on the utilization distribution over the input trunks of the multiplexer while the total utilization on the input trunks is fixed. If there is the same utilization on all input trunks, the values of these three performance paramters reach a maximum. This result is also valid for an ATM switching matrix with a separate FIFO buffer at each output trunk. In the second part of this paper some examples are provided of how to apply the results of these studies to the future broadband ISDN which is intended to transmit services with very high bit rates (e.g. 135 Mb/s) as well as services with very low bit rates (e.g. 64 kb/s).     

An expandable time-division circuit switching LSI and networkarchitecture for broadband ISDN

A broadband network architecture is proposed that integrates multimedia services, such as data, video, and telephony information, using 52-Mb/s based STM-paths at the user network interface (UNI). The user can access any new service via the STM-based access network via either synchronous transfer mode (STM) switching or asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching. STM circuit switching supports long duration, constant bandwidth data transfer services such as video and high-definition television (HDTV) distribution and will also be used for the crossconnect system. Circuit switching can provide transparent transmission during long connection periods. This paper also proposes an expandable time-division switch architecture, an expandable time-division switching LSI, and an expandable switching module for small to large size system applications. The proposed time-division switching LSI, module, and system handle 52-Mb/s bearer signals and have throughputs of 2.4 Gb/s, 10 Gb/s, and 40 Gb/s, respectively. The time-division switch realizes video distribution with 1:n connections. Finally, a local switching node that features an expandable 52-Mb/s time-division circuit switching network is shown for multimedia access networking     

多业务宽带交换

网络交换经历着一系列发展演变;从电路交换到分组交换;从软件交换到硬件交换;从单一网络业务交换到多种业务交换。多业务宽带交换需要协议机制的支持,如业务类型划分,网络资源预约和用户业务最监控等。目前主要的宽带交换网技术有千兆比以太网,千兆比路由器网和ＡＴＭ网三种。文章最后论述了多业务宽带分组交换网的原理和结构。     

Reservation-based contention resolution mechanism forBatcher-Banyan packet switches

The authors introduce a new method, called ring reservation, to design high-capacity packet switches. Input buffering is used with output port reservations to eliminate packet collisions. They describe a 32×32 prototype packet switch, built as a part of a broadband ISDN prototype, which has a per-port capacity of 30-55 Mbit/s     

Network and System Architecture: The Integrated Approach to ISDN in the UT Line

The paper presents an approach to ISDN suitable both for a pilot service, to be carried out in the near future in Italy, and for long-term developments with a high degree of penetration of ISDN setvices. Integration of ISDN services in the digital telephone exchange "UT" has taken place at all levels: system architecture, subscriber access structure, circuit connecting network, transmission links, call processing, and 0 & M functions. We also describe a new protocol that facilitates the dialog between exchange modules and between different exchanges for the data service. It is suitable for implementing packet transit switches with low complexity, high throughput, and low transit time. A special peripheral-handling processor handles the most repetitive functions of the protocols both in the local exchange and in other parts of the network, while the exchange central processor performs the ISDN call-handling functions; the same peripheral processors and the same module processor are used for both ISDN and telephone services. Finally, the paper shows how this architecture can evolve to include new wide-band services and new techniques to implement high-capacity fast packet switches.     

Very high speed and high capacity packet switching for broadbandISDN

The authors discuss and propose a very-high-speed and high-capacity packet-switching (HPS) architecture for a future broadband ISDN (integrated-services digital network). The HPS network accommodates various communication services, such as voice, high-speed data, high-speed still picture, and video services. The proposed architecture has three significant principles: a high-speed oriented simple network protocol, separation of signaling and network control from data transfer, and hardware switching. These principles provide fast- and high-throughput transmission for data packets and reliable transmission and processing for call-control packets. The HPS protocol structure is addressed, which provides high flexibility for various communications services as well as high-speed capability. A 3-Gb/s capacity and building-block-structured packet-switching system architecture, using bus- and loop-type switch fabric, is also presented     

Unified approaches to integrated-service networks–burst and fast packet switching

The increasing demand for communication services, coupled with recent technological advances in communication media and switching techniques, has resulted in a proliferation of new and expanded services. Currently, networks are needed which can transmit voice, data and video services in an application-independent fashion. Unified approaches employ a single switching technique across the entire network bandwidth, thus allowing services to be switched in an application-independent manner. This paper presents a taxonomy of integrated-service networks, including a look at NISDN, while focusing on unified approaches to integrated-service networks. The two most promising unified approaches are burst and fast packet switching. Burst switching is a circuit switching-based approach which allocates channel bandwidth to a connection only during the transmission of ‘bursts’ of information. Fast packet switching is a packet switching-based approach which can be characterized by very high transmission rates on network links and simple, hard-wired protocols which match the rapid channel speed of the network. Both approaches are being proposed as possible implementations for integrated-service networks. We survey these two approaches, and also examine the key performance issues found in fast packet switching. We then present the results of a simulation study of a fast packet switching network.     

Elastic basket switching

This paper proposes a new integrated switching system, ‘elastic basket switching’, for broadband and multimedia communications, including voice and high-speed data. In elastic basket switching (EBS), it is possible flexibly and efficiently to handle multimedia information by adaptively assigning communication resources according to communication requests and bandwidth of switched information. For continuous information, such as voice, EBS functions just as a circuit switching system, and for burst data it achieves high-efficiency bandwidth usage equivalent to a packet switching system by demand-assign type time-slot assignment. The detail of EBS and its application to a departmental system-orientated PBX are described. The traffic handling capability and details of the hardware structure are presented. The experimental system, including use of LSIs in the main parts of EBS is also described.     

Switching System Software Design for ISDN

The ISDN offers various services through multipurpose digital subscriber lines. The switching program for the ISDN should be so designed as to realize the control of various voice and nonvoice services and provide for developing service enhancement. To attain the goal, the ISDN services are classified hierarchically and each category is allocated to appropriate network nodes for implementation. As a result, the local switching program provides an out-slot subscriber line signaling capability and call connection with appropriate compatibility checking including a check for access capability to communications processing nodes. The switching program modules specific to analog services and those specific to digital services are separated to allow the use of the existing program file and to afford easy program design and maintenance. Remote-controlled switching is a suitable means for an economical introduction of the ISDN services to low traffic density areas. Special routing and reliability arrangements as well as the program structure for a remote-controlled switch are discussed.