The Public Switched

Telephone Network
Presented by:
Vince Wiemer, CPA

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Introduction

GOAL: To provide a basic understanding

of the functions of the telephone network
Telecom has its own language
A large part of that language is based on the
functions of the network
Knowledge of telephone call transmission
provides a vital framework to the industry
Allows financial, customer service, and
technical personnel to better communicate
Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.
 Concepts & Definitions

Telecommunications is the transfer of

information from a transmitter to a receiver over
a distance
Definitions:
Transmitter: originates information transfer
Receiver: receives the transferred information
Circuit: a communications path between transmitter
and receiver over an established medium
Link: a two-point segment of an end-to-end circuit

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Definitions Illustrated

Link
Link
Transmitter Receiver

Circuit

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 Concepts & Definitions

Definitions (cont’d)
Switch: a device that establishes, maintains, and
changes connections over circuits
Line: a single physical connection between a user
and a switch
Trunks: the physical connection between switches
Channel: a one-way connection between transmitter
and receiver; a circuit can contain multiple channels
Network: a fabric of elements which work together to
transfer information

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Network Elements

There are four basic network

elements:
Station apparatus
Transmission
Switching
Signaling

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 Network Elements (cont’d)

Signaling (digital)

10100110111010100110100110110
01 10
010 01
10
1
Switch 1 10 11 Switch
01 10
0 11 10
0 10
1 01 01

Transmission Transmission
Circuits Circuits
Transmission Facility

Transmission
Facility Transmission
Signaling Facility

(analog) Signaling
(analog)

Station Apparatus Station Apparatus

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STATION APPARATUS

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 Station Apparatus

Station Apparatus are the transmitters and

receivers:
Telephones
Answering Machines
Facsimile Machines
Most are combined transmitters and
receivers

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

Station Apparatus (cont’d)

Telephone handset works by converting

sound waves into electrical impulses and
back into sound waves
Phone lines are powered with their own
electrical current
Sound waves from speaking compress a
variable resistance transmitter which causes
increases and decreases in the electrical
current
Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.
Station Apparatus (cont’d)

The electrical impulses are transmitted over

the telephone line until the reaching the
receiver
The receiver is basically a small speaker; a
metal diaphragm in front of a wire wrapped
around a permanent magnet
As the magnet is powered by the electrical
impulses it attracts and releases the metal
diaphragm creating sound waves

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Transmitter/Receiver Illustrated

Loosely packed
carbon granules

Permanent
Metal Cavity Magnet coiled
with wire

Metal Diaphragm

Flexible Diaphragm

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TRANSMISSION

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 Transmission

Transmission is the conveyance of signals

from one place to another.
Signals may be audio, video, or data
Transmission systems include:
Copper wire cable
Microwave radio (terrestrial and satellite)
Fiber optic cable
Other wireless

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Transmission (cont’d)

The network is composed of transmission media linked

at physical locations (central offices, carrier units, etc.)
Originally each line ran all the way back to the C.O.
Called a “home run” architecture
Circuit cards link the transmission media

Access Lines Circuit

Ports
Toll Trunk

Switch IXC

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Transmission (cont’d)

Modern networks use “multiplexing”, the sharing

of a transmission medium by multiple signals
Frequency (analog) & Time-division (digital) muxing
Multiple channels on a single circuit
Node architecture has replaced the “home run”

Circuit
Digital Line DLC Ports
Carrier Units
Toll Trunk
Splice point
Access Lines DLC IXC
Switch

DLC
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SWITCHING

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Switching

Switches establish, maintain, and change

connectivity between circuits
In order to do so, the network requires a
logical addressing system
The Numbering Plan accomplishes this:
By dialing a telephone number, the user
instructs the network to establish a physical
connection between two logical address
points
Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.
 The Numbering Plan
Phone numbers follow a specific pattern
Example: a call placed from Australia to Alexicon’s
Owasso office @ (918) 376-9901:
0015: 00 indicates the call is international; 15 is the
country code for the United States
1+ : indicates that the call is crossing an area code
boundary
918: indicates the numbering plan area (NPA) code; a
physical area
376: is a specific central office exchange (NXX)
9901: is a port and circuit ID which is associated with a
specific local loop, which is connected to the terminal
equipment at the physical address of Alexicon

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Switch Hierarchy
In the past, switching offices were organized in a
hierarchy:
Class 5: the end office where the calls originate and
terminate (~19,000 in AT&T network)
Class 4: a tandem toll center which interconnect Class 5
offices typically serve to connect ILECs to RBOCs; first
point of entry to toll network (~1,500)
Class 3: a primary toll center connecting Class 4 offices
primarily intrastate toll calling (~200)
Class 2: a sectional toll center connects Class 3 offices
for interstate calling within a geographic region (~67)
Class 1: a regional toll center connects Class 2 offices
to support interregional toll calling (~10)

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Switching Mechanics

Switches used to be electro-mechanical in

nature; most are now digital
Digital switches are simply computers that make
logical routing decisions to connect circuits to
complete calls
When a call is dialed, the end-office switch decides
whether it can handle the call or if it needs to pass it
up the hierarchy
Each switch in succession makes the decision to
pass it up or down the hierarchy until it reaches the
end-office that can complete the call

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

SIGNALING

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Signaling & Control

In order for the network to function properly,

the various components and elements must
have the ability to signal each other to
indicate status and condition.
Signaling can be either:
In-band: takes place over the same physical
path as the conversation and occupy the same
channel
Out-of-band: takes place over a separate
channel or physical path as the conversation
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 Signaling Functions

Signaling performs several functions:

Supervising: monitoring the status of a line or
circuit to see if it is busy, idle or requesting
service; and performing diagnostics
Alerting: indicates a specific condition such
as the arrival of an incoming call (ringing), off-
hook status (alert tone), busy signal, etc.
Addressing: transmitting routing, billing and
destination information

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 The Intelligent Network
The advent of digital switching and databases
has led to flatter hierarchy
The “Intelligent Network” is contains more
signaling and control components:
Service Switching Point (SSP)
switching office enabling interaction with SCPs (most CO’s
have ability)
Signal Transfer Point (STP)
a packet switch that transmits signaling messages between
network components
Service Control Point (SCP)
transaction processor providing network interface to
database

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.

 Intelligent Network Architecture

Signaling (digital)
1010
0110 11
1111 0011011
101
101001101110101001101001101010011
SCP SCP
01
10

10
10

STP STP

10
10

01
11

10
10

11
01

10
10

10
10

10
01
Class 5 Class 5
Switch Class 4 Switch
(SSP) Switch (SSP)
Transmission Transmission
Circuits Circuits
Transmission Signaling Signaling Transmission
Facility (analog) (analog) Facility

Station Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc. Station

Apparatus Apparatus
Questions?

Copyright © 2004 – Alexicon, Inc.