Telephone Operation Systems
and Switching Techniques
Telephony | Module 2
Session 1
Basic Telephone
Operation
At the end of this lesson,
the student is expected to:
• Illustrate how the
telephone works.
Photo Credit: [Link]
Source: Electronic Devices 9th edition by Thomas Floyd
❑Telecommunication means “communications at a
distance”
❑ Tele in Greek means at a distance
❑Electrical communications by
❑ wire, radio, or light (fiber optics)
❑Traditionally two distinct disciplines:
❑ Switching: selects and directs communication signals to a
specific user or a group of users
❑ Transmission: delivers the signals in some way from source
to the far-end user with an acceptable signal quality
Source Transmission Medium Destination
❑The source may be a simple telephone microphone,
keyboard
❑The destination may be a simple telephone speaker,
monitor
❑The telephone is connected to Public switched
telecommunications network (PSTN) for local, national,
and international voice communications
❑The same connections can carry data and image
information (television)
❑The connection to the PSTN may be via local
exchange carriers (LEC)
❑End-users, nodes, and connectivities
❑ Transmission of the human voice
❑ Voice is a sound signal
❑ Analog voice-band channel
Photo Credit: [Link]
❑ A channel that is suitable for transmission of
speech or analog
data and has the maximum usable frequency range of 300 to 3400 Hz.
❑ The local serving switch is the point of the connectivity with the PSTN
❑ It is the point where the analog signal is digitized.
Photo Credit: [Link]
❑It is a device which converts human speech in the form
of sound waves produced by the vocal cord to
electrical signals. These signals are then transmitted
over telephone wires and then converted back to
sound waves for human ears.
❑ Microphone
❑ Earphone
❑ Signaling functions
Photo Credit: [Link]
❑Microphone (mouthpiece)
❑It consists of a movable speaker diaphragm that is
sensitive to both amplitude and frequency
❑The diaphragm contains carbon particles that
can conduct electricity.
❑As the human voice spoken into the transmitter
varies, the amount of carbon granules that strike
the electrical contacts in the mouthpiece also
varies—thereby sending varying analog electrical
signals out into the voice network.
❑Earphone (earpiece)
❑Acts in an opposite direction to the mouthpiece.
❑The electrical signal/waves produced by the transmitter
are received at an electromagnet in the receiver.
❑Varying levels of electricity produce varying levels of
magnetism—that, in turn, cause the diaphragm to
move in direct proportion to the magnetic variance.
❑The moving diaphragm produces varying sound that
corresponds to the sound waves that were input at
the transmitter.
Photo Credit: [Link]
Session 2
Network Numbering &
Transmission Facilities
At the end of this lesson,
the student is expected to:
• Explain network
numbering.
• Describe telephone
transmission facilities.
Photo Credit: [Link]
Source: Electronic Devices 9th edition by Thomas Floyd
❑Telephone calls can be:
❑ Local-LATA
❑ Inter-LATA
❑ Intra-LATA
❑LATA = Local Access Transport Areas
❑Local loop---is—analog in character.
❑Trunk line----is—digital in character.
❑Interexchange circuit----digital in character.
Photo Credit: [Link]
❑The numbering is hierarchical, and it has an
internationally standardized country code at the
highest level.
❑ An international prefix or international access number is used for
international calls. It tells the network that the connection is to be
routed via an international telephone exchange to another country.
❑ The country code contains one to four numbers that define the
country of subscriber B. Country codes are not needed for national
calls because their purpose is to make the subscriber identification
unique in the world. A telephone number that includes the country
code is called an international number and it has a maximum length
of 12 digits.
Photo Credit: [Link]
❑3 Basic parts of US-calls:
❑ 3-digit area code---(817)
❑ 3-digit exchange---(496)
❑ 4-digit subscriber number---(3650)
❑4 Basic parts of an International call:
❑ International Prefix (‘+’ usually means whatever is appropriate
for the country (e.g. China and UK has 00, US has 011 or 101,
Japan has 010, Australia has 0011, Russia has 810)
❑ Country code
❑ City code
❑ City number
Each area code can support: 1000 exchanges
Each exchange can support: 10,000 telephone numbers
Each area code can support: 103 X 104 = 107 = 10
million phone numbers
❑Specialized to carry voice
❑Also carries
❑ video
❑ fax
❑ modem calls
❑Internally, uses digital samples
❑Switches and switch controllers are special purpose
computers
❑Single basic service: two-way voice
❑ low end-to-end delay
❑ guarantee that an accepted call will run to
completion
❑Endpoints connected by a circuit
❑ like an electrical circuit
❑ signals flow both ways (full duplex)
❑ associated with bandwidth and buffer resources
Photo Credit: [Link]
❑ Fully connected core
❑ simple routing
❑ telephone number is a hint about how to route a call
❑ but not for 800/888/700/900 numbers
❑ hierarchically allocated telephone number space
❑ A telecommunications facility is defied as:
❑ Fixed, mobile or transportable structure including
❑ All equipment and wiring
❑ All supporting structures (e.g. utility, ground network)
❑ Network-provided service to users or the network operating
administration
❑ Transmission pathway associated with equipment
❑ Protocol applicable to a data unit (e.g. block or frame)
❑ Real property entity consisting of one or more of the following: a
building, a structure, a security system, pavement and underlying
land.
• Torlak, Murat. “The Telephone Network” n.d.
Accessed on: July 9, 2020. [Online.] Available:
[Link]
ectures/[Link]
• “Federal Standard 1037C” 1996. Accessed on: July 10,
2020. [Online.] Available:
[Link]
Session 3
Switching Techniques
At the end of this lesson,
the student is expected to:
• Discuss telephone
switching techniques.
Photo Credit: [Link]
Source: Electronic Devices 9th edition by Thomas Floyd
❑Problem:
❑ each user can potentially
call any other user
❑ can’t have direct lines!
❑Switches establish
temporary circuits
❑Switching systems come
in two parts: switch and
switch controller Photo Credit: [Link]
❑In the early telephone network, operators
closed circuits manually. In modern circuit
switches this is done electronically in digital
switches.
❑If no circuit is available when a call is made, it
will be blocked (rejected). When a call is finished
a connection teardown is required to make the
circuit available for another user.
❑Recall basic elements of communications
network:
❑Terminals, transmission media, and switches
❑Basic function of any switch is to set up and
release connections between transmission
channels on an “as- needed basis”
❑Computers are used to control the switching
functions of a central office
Photo Credit: [Link]
❑Two different switching technologies
❑ Circuit switching
❑ Packet switching
❑Transfers data from an
input to an output
❑ many ports (up to
200,000 simultaneous
calls)`
❑ need high speeds
❑Some ways to switch:
❑ space division
❑ if inputs are multiplexed, Photo Credit: [Link]
need a schedule (why?)
❑A crossbar switch with N
input lines and N output
lines contains an N x N
array of cross points that
connect each input line to
one output line. In modern
switches, each cross point is
a semiconductor gate. Photo Credit: [Link]
❑Developed for analog environment
❑Separate physical paths
❑Recall Cross bar switch
❑ The no. of cross points grows with square of the
lines attached. N×N array of crosspoints
❑ The loss of cross point means the loss of connection
between the corresponding points.
❑ Only fraction of the cross points are used even when
all the points are fully active. (sqrt of cross points)
❑ Non-blocking switching type.
❑ Less signaling requirement from the network.
❑ Multistage switch
❑ Less no. of cross points are needed.
❑ More than one route for a connection.
❑ More signaling from the network.
❑ A blocking switching type (voice)
Photo Credit: [Link]
When a multistage switch becomes nonblocking?
❑ The multistage switch with k=2n-1 is nonblocking
The number of crosspoints required in a three stage switch is the
sum of the following components
❑N/n×nk +k×(N/n)2+N/n×nk=2Nk+k(N/n)2
Photo Credit: [Link]
❑ Mostly all modern circuit switches are time-division switches.
❑ Time-slot interexchange (TSI)
❑ It is based on synchronous TDM.
❑ Multiple low speed inputs share a high speed line.
❑ There is no need for address bits in each slot (synchronous)
❑ The slot could be a bit, a byte or a longer block.
Photo Credit: [Link]
❑ Hybrid switch design (or two dimensional switching)
❑ Time-Space switch
❑ Space-Time-Space switch
❑ Time-Space-Time switch
Photo Credit: [Link]
• Torlak, Murat. “The Telephone Network” n.d.
Accessed on: July 9, 2020. [Online.] Available:
[Link]
ectures/[Link]