Main distribution frame

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In Telephony, a Main Distribution Frame (MDF or Main Frame) is a signal

distribution frame for connecting equipment (inside plant) to cables and subscriber carrier
equipment (outside plant). The MDF is a termination point within the local Telephone
exchange where exchange equipment and terminations of local loops are connected by
jumper wires at the MDF. All cable copper pairs supplying services through user
telephone lines are terminated at the MDF and distributed through the MDF to equipment
within the local Exchange e.g. repeaters and DSLAM. Cables to intermediate distribution
frames terminate at the MDF. Trunk cables may terminate on the same MDF or on a
separate Trunk Main Distribution Frame (TMDF).

Like other distribution frames the MDF provides flexibility in assigning facilities, at
lower cost and higher capacity than a patch panel.

The most common kind of large MDF is a long steel rack accessible from both sides. On
one side, termination blocks are arranged horizontally at the front of rack shelves.
Jumpers lie on the shelves and go through a steel hoop to run vertically to other
termination blocks that are arranged vertically. There is a hoop or ring at the intersection
of each level and each vertical. Installing a jumper requires two workers, one on each
side. The shelves are shallow enough to allow the rings to be within arm's reach, but the
workers prefer to hang the jumper on a hook on a pole so their partner can pull it through
the ring. A fanning strip at the back of the termination block prevents the wires from
covering each others' terminals. With disciplined administration the MDF can hold over a
hundred thousand jumpers, changing dozens of them every day, for decades without
tangling.

For the first half of the 20th Century, all MDF jumpers were soldered. This was reliable
but slow and expensive. In the 1960s wire wrap was introduced, and in the 1970s punch
blocks.

Each jumper is a twisted pair. Middle 20th century jumper wires in the USA were 24
AWG single strand copper, with a soft polyethylene inner jacket and a cotton wrapper,
impregnated to make it slightly brittle and easy to remove neatly. Late 20th century ones
had a single, thicker coating of polyethylene, cross-linked to provide the correct degree of
brittleness.

Some urban MDFs are two stories high so they don't have to be more than a city block
long.[citation needed] A few are three stories.[citation needed] By British custom the cables to the
outside world are terminated on the horizontal side, and the indoors equipment on the
vertical side.[citation needed] American usage is vice versa.[citation needed]
Smaller MDFs, and some modern large ones, are single sided so one worker can install,
remove or change a jumper. COSMOS and other computerized Operations Support
Systems help by assigning terminals close to one another, so most jumpers need not be
long and shelves on either type of MDF do not become congested. This database keeps
track of all terminals and jumpers. In the early and middle 20th century these records
were kept as pencil entries in ledger books. The later database method saves much labor
by permitting old jumpers to be reused for new lines.

The adoption of distributed switching in the late 20th century diminished the need for
large, active, central MDFs.

The MDF usually holds central office protective devices including heat coils and
functions as a test point between a line and the office.

Sometimes the MDF is combined with other kinds of distribution frame in a CDF

The MDF in a private branch exchange performs functions similar to those performed by
the MDF in a central office.

In order to automate the manual jumpering the Automated Main Distribution Frame
(AMDF) becomes an important role.

interermediate distribution frame (IDF): In a central office or customer premises, a

frame that (a) cross-connects the user cable media to individual user line circuits and (b)
may serve as a distribution point for multipair cables from the main distribution frame
(MDF) or combined distribution frame (CDF) to individual cables connected to
equipment in areas remote from these frames.(www.tiaonline.org)

IDFs are used, but are not limited to, telephone exchange central office, customer-
premise equipment, Wide Area Network (WAN), and Local Area Network (LAN)
environments.

In central office environments the IDF may contain circuit termination equipment from
various auxiliary components. In WAN and LAN environments IDFs, can hold devices of
different types including, but not limited to, backup systems (Hard Drives or other media
as self-contained or as Raid Arrays, CD-ROM, etc.), Networking (Switches, Hubs,
Routers), and Connections (Fiber Optics, coaxial, category cables) and so on.

Distribution frame
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This article needs references that appear in reliable third-party publications.
Primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject are generally not sufficient
 for a Wikipedia article. Please add more appropriate citations from reliable
sources. (July 2008)

Unshielded twisted pair (copper) and optical fiber distribution frame.

An optical fiber distribution frame.

In telecommunications, a distribution frame is a passive device which terminates cables,

allowing arbitrary interconnections to be made.

For example, the Main Distribution Frame (MDF) located at a telephone central office
terminates the cables leading to subscribers on the one hand, and cables leading to active
equipment (such as DSLAMs and telephone switches) on the other. Service is provided to
a subscriber by manually wiring a twisted pair (called a jumper wire) between the
telephone line and the relevant DSL or POTS line circuit.

In broadcast engineering, a distribution frame is a location within an apparatus room

through which all signals (audio, video, or data) pass, with the ability to arbitrarily route
and connect sources and destinations between studios and other internal and external
points. Connections can either be soldered, or made using terminal blocks. Because the
frame may carry live broadcast signals, it may be considered part of the airchain.
Contents
[hide]

• 1 Types
• 2 Modernization
• 3 See also

• 4 References

[edit] Types

Distribution frames for specific types of signals often have specific acronyms:

• ADF - audio distribution frame

• DDF - digital distribution frame
• VDF - video distribution frame
• ODF or OFDF - optical fiber distribution frame[1]

[edit] Modernization

Distribution frames may grow to extremely large sizes. In major installations, audio
distribution frames can have as many as 10,000 incoming and outgoing separate copper
wires. (Balanced audio signals require two wires plus earth ground for each signal).
Telephone signals do not use a separate earth ground wire, but some urban exchanges
have about 250,000 wires on their MDF. Installing and rewiring these jumpers is a
labour-intensive task, leading to attempts in the industry to devise so-called active
distribution frames or Automated Main Distribution Frames. The principal issues which
stand in the way of their widespread adoption are cost and reliability.

Newer digital mixing consoles can act as control points for a distribution frame or router,
which can handle audio from multiple studios (even for multiple co-located radio or tv
stations) at the same time. Multiple smaller frames, such as one for each studio, can be
linked together with fibre-optics (which also helps eliminate ground loops), or with
gigabit Ethernet. This has the advantage of not having to route dozens of feeds through
walls (and sometimes floors and ceilings) to a single point.