Telecommunication Engineering

Telecommunications An Engineering Approach

M. Adnan Quaium
Faculty of Engineering Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering American International University-Bangladesh Room 271 Email - adnan.quaium@aiub.edu URL- www.adnan.quaium.com
Telecommunication Engineering

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Introductory Concepts
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
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Simple Transmission System

The source may be a simple telephone microphone, keyboard The destination may be a simple telephone speaker, monitor

It can be a seen as a single electrical medium

Or, as a cascade of electrical media

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Telephony

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 Analog voice-band channel

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.
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Voice Telephony

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Telephone Subset
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

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Telephone Handset
Microphone (mouthpiece)

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 variesthereby sending varying analog electrical signals out into the voice network.

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Telephone Handset
Earphone (ear-piece)

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 magnetismthat, 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.

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Conventional Telephony Operation

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Dialing

A combination of 350 Hz and 440 Hz sine waves sent to the Telephone from the central office (CO) indicating that the network is ready to receive calling instructions. Dialing Modes: Pulse and Rotary

Each button sends a dual frequency sine wave indicated by the corresponding row and column. Telephone Numbers are decided by ITU internationally

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Subscriber Signaling
Subscriber A is calling Subscriber B via the Exchange:

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Subscriber Loop Design

Any use of telephone channels involves two unidirectional paths, one for transmission and one for reception. The local loop, which connects a telephone to a local exchange is a two-wire (2W) circuit that carries the signals in both transmission directions. 2-wire circuits is primarily limited to one-way, incoming service. 4-wire circuits, meaning they have separate transmit and receive paths.

To connect a 2W local loop to a 4W network a circuit called a 2W/ 4W hybrid 12 is needed.

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Signal Flow

Two-Wire-to-Four-Wire Conversion

2-wire impedance must match 4-wire impedance Impedance mismatch causes echo
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Basic Telephone Communication

Simplex Half Duplex

Full Duplex

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Simplex

Simplex communication refers to communication that occurs in one direction only. A simplex circuit is one where all signals can flow in only one direction. These systems are often employed in broadcast networks, where the receivers do not need to send any data back to the transmitter/broadcaster.

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Simplex

The microphone normally used in telephone is made of carbon. It has an acceptable fidelity with large electrical output. There are carbon granules in a metal box. One of the faces of the metal box is used as diaphragm. As the voice signal impinges the diaphragm, the concentration of the carbon granules in the box changes. This leads to change in resistance and accordingly the current through the MIC also changes and we get an audio or speech signal equivalent to the voice signal. If a voltage is applied, current through the circuit varies according to the vibration. In the loudspeaker there is an electromagnet and a diaphragm is placed in front of the electromagnet. As the current varies, the flux linked with the electromagnet changes and the diaphragm vibrates accordingly and we get the required sound output.

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Simplex

The MIC works as a variable resistance in the total circuit. Therefore, according to the figure, the current I1 will be changed with respect to the pronounced voice. As the current generated from the DC source (I1 + I2 ) is constant. I2 will also be changed according to pronounced expression. The I2 will cause the vibration variation of the loudspeaker; consequently, loudspeaker can vibrate according to the pronounced expression in front of the MIC. The inductor is behaving as a short circuit for DC supply and allows the current to flow in both the MIC and Loudspeaker circuits. The inductor blocks the voice signal being an AC signal and hence it goes to the loudspeaker circuit.
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Duplex

A half-duplex (HDX) system provides communication in both directions, but only one direction at a time (not simultaneously). Typically, once a party begins receiving a signal, it must wait for the transmitter to stop transmitting, before replying. Example: "walkie-talkie" style twoway radio A full-duplex (FDX), allows communication in both directions simultaneously. Land-line telephone networks are full-duplex, since they allow both callers to speak and be heard at the same time.

Examples: Telephone, Mobile Phone, etc.

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Duplex

This system works in the same way as the simplex does. The difference here is that both subscribers 1 and 2 can communicate to each other, which was not possible in simplex system. In half duplex, at the time of 1st subscriber MIC M1 and speaker E1 are on, whereas, MIC M2 and speaker E2 are on when subscriber 2 is speaking. A circuit called duplexer does the switching. But when we allow communication in both directions, this system has a drawback. This circuit suffers from the problem of side tone i.e., speech can be heard on both sides simultaneously, which is undesirable.

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Sidetone Coupling

Sidetone is the effect of sound that is picked up by the telephone's mouthpiece and in real-time introduced at a low level into the earpiece of the same handset, acting as controlled feedback. As the side tone is undesirable, it needs to be coupled. In the following figure only one section of the entire circuit is shown. The other portion is the exact replica of this one.

Fig: Sidetone coupling Circuit

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Sidetone Coupling
There are two inductors P and Q of same value. Let the impedance viewed from this section into the other be Zin. An impedance of Zb=Zin is connected in the circuit as shown in the figure. When a subscriber speaks into M1 , equal currents flow through inductors P and Q (since P = Q and Zin = Zb) but in opposite direction. So, no voltage is induced in the secondary coil and hence E2 has no output. When a subscriber speaks into M2 equal currents flow through inductors P and Q, but now in same direction. So, a net voltage is induced in the secondary of the coil and the speech is heard at E2. The same is valid for the other section as well.
A certain amount of sidetone is useful. Human speech and hearing system is a feedback system in which the volume of speech is automatically adjusted, based on the sidetone heard by the ear. If no sidetone is present, a person tends to shout, and if too much of sidetone is present there is a tendency to reduce the speech to a very low level.
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Telephone Network

The three basic elements of a communications network are Terminals, Transmission systems and Switches. A terminal is a device which is capable of communicating over a line. Examples of terminals are telephones, fax machines, and network devices - printers and workstations. Transmission is the process of sending, propagating and receiving an analogue or digital information signal over a physical point-to-point or point-to-multipoint transmission medium, either wired, optical fiber or wireless. A switch is a device that channels incoming data from any of multiple input ports to the specific output port that will take the data toward its intended destination.
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Switching Systems

A major component of a switching system or an exchange is the set of input and output circuits called inlets and outlets, respectively. The primary function of a switching system is to establish an electrical path between a given inlet-outlet pair. The hardware used for establishing such a connection is called the switching matrix or the switching network. The following figure shows a model of a switching network with N inlets and M outlets.

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Switching Systems

Fig: Switching Networks Configurations

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Switching Systems

When N = M the switching network is called a Symmetric Network. The inlets/ outlets may be connected to local subscriber lines or to trunks from/To other exchanges as shown in Fig. (b). When all the inlets/outlets are connected to the subscriber lines, the logical connection appears as shown in Fig. (c). In this case, the output lines are folded back to the input and hence the network is called a Folded Network. In Fig. (b), four types of connections may be established: Incoming call connection between Local call connection between an incoming trunk and a local two subscribers in the system subscriber Outgoing call connection Transit call connection between between a subscriber and an an incoming trunk and an outgoing trunk 25 outgoing trunk.
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Telecommunication Engineering

Switching Systems

In a folded network with N subscribers, there can be a maximum of N/2 simultaneous calls or information interchanges. The switching network may be designed to provide N/2 simultaneous switching paths in which case the network is said to be non-blocking. In a non-blocking network, as long as a called subscriber is free, a calling subscriber will always be able to establish a connection to the called subscriber. In other words, a subscriber will not be denied a connection for want of switching resources. But, in general, it rarely happens that all the possible conversations take place simultaneously.
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Switching Systems

It may, hence, be economical to design a switching network that has as many simultaneous switching paths as the average number of conversations expected. In this case, it may occasionally happen that when a subscriber requests a connection, there are no switching paths free in the network, and hence he is denied connection. In such an event, the subscriber is said to be blocked, and the switching network is called a Blocking Network. In a blocking network, the number of simultaneous switching paths is less than the maximum number of simultaneous conversations that can take place. The probability that a user may get blocked is called Blocking Probability.
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Switching Systems

All the switching exchanges are designed to meet an estimated maximum average simultaneous traffic, usually known as busy hour traffic. Past records of the telephone traffic indicate that even in a busy exchange, not more than 20-30 per cent of the subscribers are active at the same time. Hence, switching systems are designed such that all the resources in a system are treated as common resources and the required resources are allocated to a conversation as long as it lasts. The quantum of common resources is determined based on the estimated busy hour traffic. When the traffic exceeds the limit to which the switching system is designed, a subscriber experiences blocking. A good design generally ensures a low blocking probability.
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Switching Systems

The traffic in a telecommunication network is measured by an internationally accepted unit of traffic intensity known as erlang (E), named after an illustrious early contributor to traffic theory. A switching resource is said to carry one erlang of traffic if it is continuously occupied throughout a given period of observation. In a switching network, all the inlet/outlet connections may be used for interexchange transmission. In such a case, the exchange does not support local subscribers and is called a transit exchange. A switching network of this kind is shown in Fig. (d) and is called a nonfolded network. In a nonfolded network with N inlets and N outlets, N simultaneous information transfers are possible. Consequently, for a nonfolded network to be nonblocking, the network 29 should support N simultaneous switching paths.
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Switching Systems

The switching network provides the switching paths. The control subsystem of the switching system actually establishes the path. The switching network does not distinguish between inlets/outlets that are connected to the subscribers or to the trunks. It is the job of the control subsystem to distinguish between these lines and interpret correctly the signaling information received on these lines. It senses the end of information transfer and releases connections. A connection is established, based on the signaling information received on the inlet lines. The control sub-system sends out signaling information to the subscriber 30 and other exchanges connected to the outgoing trunks.
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Switching Systems

In addition, signaling is also involved between different subsystems within an exchange. The signaling formats and requirements for the subscriber, the trunks and the subsystems differ significantly. Accordingly, a switching system provides for three different forms of signaling:

Subscriber loop signaling Interexchange signaling Intraexchange or register signaling

A switching system is composed of elements that perform switching, control and signaling functions. The following figure shows the different elements of a switching system 31 and their logical interconnections.
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Switching Systems

Fig. Elements of Switching Systems

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Switching Systems

The subscriber lines are terminated at the subscriber line interface circuits, and trunks at the trunk interface circuits. There are some service lines used for maintenance and testing purposes. Junctor circuits imply a folded connection for the local subscribers and the service circuits. It is possible that some switching systems provide an internal mechanism for local connections without using the junctor circuits. Line scanning units sense and obtain signaling information from the respective lines. Distributor units send out signaling information on the respective lines. Operator console permits interaction with the switching system for maintenance and administrative purposes.

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Switching Systems

In some switching systems, the control subsystem may be an integral part of the switching network itself. Such systems are known as direct control switching systems. Those systems in which the control subsystem is outside the switching network are known as common control switching systems. Strowger exchanges are usually direct control systems, whereas crossbar and electronic exchanges are common control systems. All stored program control systems are common control systems. Common control is also known as indirect control or register control.
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Switching System Components

Signaling - it monitors the activity of the incoming lines and forward appropriate status to the control element. Control it processes the incoming signaling information and sets up connections accordingly. Crosspoint Matrix - it contains the switching matrix, an array of selectable crosspoint used to complete connections between input lines and out put 35 lines.
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Bell System Hierarchy

Alexander Graham Bell invented the first practical telephone in 1876. The first switching office was established in New Haven, Connecticut only 2 years later. This switching office, and others following, was located at a central point in a service area and provided switched connections for all subscribers in the area. Because of their locations in the service areas, these switching offices are often referred to as central offices. As telephone usage grew and subscribers desired longer distance connections, it became necessary to interconnect the individual service areas with trunks between the central offices. Again, switches were needed to interconnect these offices, and a second level of switching evolved. 36
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Bell System Hierarchy

Continued demand for even longer distance connections, along with improved long-distance transmission facilities, stimulated even more levels of switching. In this manner the public telephone network in the United States evolved to a total of five levels. These levels are listed in the following table:

At the lowest level of the network are class 5 switching offices, also called central offices (CO) or end offices (EO). The next level of the network is composed of class 4 toll offices. It contained three more levels of switching:

Primary centers

Sectional centers

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Bell System Hierarchy

To illustrate the structure and motivation for hierarchical networks a symbolic, three-level example is shown in the following figure

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Bell System Hierarchy

In contrast, the following figure depicts a different network structure for interconnecting all of the first-level switches: a fully connected mesh structure.

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Bell System Hierarchy

Obviously, the hierarchical network requires more switching nodes but achieves significant savings in the number of trunks: the transmission links between switching offices. Determination of the total number of trunk circuits in either network is necessarily a function of the amount of traffic between each pair of switching nodes. As a first approximation, the trunk costs of a mesh can be determined as the total number of connections (trunk groups) NC between switching offices:

NC = N(N-1)/2

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Bell System Hierarchy

A less obvious difference between the previous two networks involves the method of establishing connections between two offices. In the hierarchical network there is one and only one route between any two switching nodes. In the mesh network most connections would be established on the direct route between the two offices. If the direct route is unavailable (because of a traffic overload or an equipment failure) and the first-level switches can provide trunk-to- trunk connections (called tandem switching functions) the mesh network provides many alternatives for establishing connections between any two nodes. Hence the reliability of a network architecture must be considered in addition to just the costs. In general, neither a pure mesh nor a purely hierarchical network is desirable.
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Bell System Hierarchy

The following figure depicts alternate routing as implemented in the former Bell System.

The Figure shows the basic order of selection for alternate routes. The direct interoffice trunks are depicted as dashed lines, while the backbone, hierarchical network is shown with solid links.
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Bell System Hierarchy

The basic backbone hierarchical network is augmented with high usage trunks. High-usage trunks are used for direct connections between switching offices with high volumes of interoffice traffic. Normally, traffic between two such offices is routed through the direct trunks. If the direct trunks are busy (which may happen frequently if they are highly utilized), the backbone hierarchical network is still available for alternate routing. Traffic was always routed through the lowest available level of the network. This procedure not only used fewer network facilities but also implied better circuit quality because of shorter paths and fewer switching points.
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Bell System Hierarchy

In addition to the high-usage trunks, the backbone network was also augmented with additional switching facilities called tandem switches. These switches were employed at the lowest levels of the network and provided switching between end offices. Tandem switches are not part of the toll network, but are part of what is referred to as an exchange area. An exchange area is an area within which all calls are considered to be local calls (i.e., toll free).
Fig: Exchange area network
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Bell System Hierarchy

Tandem offices also provide alternate routes for exchange area calls that get blocked on direct routes between end offices. Although the previous figure depicts tandem offices as being physically distinct from end offices and toll offices, tandem switches were often colocated with either or both types. The primary reason for the separation was to simplify tandem switching by avoiding billing and network routing. A toll switch must measure call durations for billing purposes but a tandem switch does not. Prior to the introduction of computer controlled switching, billing functions were a significant consideration.
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