1.

TELEPHONE SYSTEM
AND NETWORK
1.1. Telephone Instrument and
Signals
 Introduction
 The telephone is of the most remarkable devices
ever invented.
 Although telephone systems were originally
developed for conveying human speech
information (voice), they are now also used
extensively to transport data.
 Anyone who uses a telephone or a data modem
on a telephone circuit is part of a global
communications network called the public
telephone network (PTN).
 Introduction
 Because PTN interconnects subscribers through
one or more switches, it is also called the public
switched telephone network (PSTN).
 The PTN is comprised of several very large
corporations and hundreds of smaller
independent companies jointly referred to as.
Telco
 POTS
 Plain old telephone service (POTS) is the voice-
grade telephone service that remains the basic
form of residential and small business service
connection to the telephone network in most
parts of the world.
 The name is a retronym, and is a reflection of
the telephone service still available after the
advent of more advanced forms of telephony
such as ISDN (Integrated Services Digital
Network), mobile phones and VoIP (Voice Over
Internet Protocol).
 THE SUBSCRIBER LOOP
 The local subscriber loop (or simply local loop or
subscriber line ).
 Local loop is simply an unshielded twisted pair
transmission line (cable pair), consisting of two
insulated conductors twisted together.
 Subscriber Loop (POTS)
 The subscriber loop or local loop is
the physical wiring that connects
the telephone instrument to the
central office and to the rest of the
network.
 The wire pair are twisted to help
cancel magnetic fields and reduce
interferences between circuits in
the same cable – “crosstalk”
 Of the two wires in the twister
pair, one is designated “tip”
(green) and the other, “ring”
(red).
 THE SUBSCRIBER LOOP
 The subscriber loop provides
the means to connect a
telephone set at a subscriber’s
location to the closest
telephone office, which is
commonly called an end
office, local exchange office,
or central office.
 Once in the central office, the
subscriber loop is connected
to an electronic switching
system (ESS), which enables
the subscriber to access the
public telephone network.
 THE SUBSCRIBER LOOP
 Functions
 Carries voice signals both ways
 Carries signaling information both ways:
dialing pulses or tones to the central office
from the customer and dial tones, ringing,
busy signals, and prerecorded messages from
the network to the subscriber
 Transmit power from central office to operate
the telephone and ring the bell.
 STANDARD TELEPHONE SET
 The standard dictionary defines a
telephone as follows:
“An apparatus for reproducing sound, especially that
of the human voice (speech), at a great distance, by
means of electricity; consisting of transmitting and
receiving instruments connected by a line or wire
which conveys electric current.”
STANDARD TELEPHONE SET

2500-type telephone set 500-type telephone set

 Functions of the Telephone Set
 It indicates an incoming call to the called
telephone by ringing bells or other
audible tones.
 It changes speech of a calling party to
electrical signals for transmission to a
distant party through the system.
 It automatically adjusts for changes in
the power supplied to it.
 It signals the system that a call is finished
when a caller “hangs up’’ the handset.
 Functions of the Telephone Set
 It requests the use of the telephone
system when the handset is lifted.
 It indicates that the system is ready for
use by receiving a tone, called the - dial
tone.
 It sends the number of the telephone to
be called to the system.
 It indicates the state of a call in progress
by receiving tones indicating the status
Telephone Set, Local Loop and Switching
Machines
 The figure below shows how a telephone set is
connected to a central office switching machine
(local switch).

-48 Vdc (ring)

Telephone set
Central Office Telephone set
Central Office
Switching Switch hook
Switching ground(tip)
machine
machine microphone
microphone

2-Wire local
subscriber loop
Telephone Set, Local Loop and Switching
Machines
 One wire of the local loop is called the tip, and
the other is called the ring.
Telephone Set, Local Loop and Switching
Machines
 Since the 1960s, the phone plugs and jacks have
been gradually replaced in the home with a
miniaturized plastic plug known as RJ-11 and a
matching plastic receptacle.
Telephone Set, Local Loop and Switching
Machines
 The switching machine outputs -48 Vdc on the
ring and connect the tip to ground.
 A dc voltage was used rather than an ac
voltage for several reasons:
1. To prevent power supply hum
2. To allow service to continue in the event of a power
outage
3. Because people were afraid of ac
 Minus 48 volts was selected to minimize
electrolytic corrosion on the loop wires.
Telephone Set, Local Loop and Switching
Machines
 The -48 Vdc is used for supervisory signaling and
to provide talk battery for the microphone in the
telephone set.
 On-hook, off-hook, and dial pulsing are examples
of supervisory signaling.
 It should be noted that -48 Vdc is the only voltage
required for the operation of a standard telephone.
 However, most modern telephones are equipped
with nonstandard features and enhancements and
may require an additional source of ac power.
 Telephone Set Block Diagram
Pulse
Dialer

Tone
Dialer

Local Loop Anti Tinkle and

Speech Muting
T Switch
Ringer
R Hook

Loop Length
Compensation

Receiver
Induction Coil Line Balance
(Hybrid) Network
Transmitter
 Ringer Circuit
 The ringer circuit is placed directly
across the tip and ring of the local loop.
 Function
 The purpose of the ringer is to alert the
destination party of incoming calls.
 The audible tone from the ringer must be loud
enough to be heard from a reasonable distance
and must be offensive enough to make a person
want to answer the phone as soon as possible.
 On/off hook circuit
 The on/off hook circuit (sometimes called a
switch hook) is a single-throw, double-
pole (STDP) switch placed across the tip
and ring.
 Function
 The switch is mechanically connected to the
telephone handset so that when the telephone is
idle (on-hook), the switch is open. When the
telephone is in use (off-hook), the switch is
closed completing an electrical path thru the mic
between the tip and ring of the local loop.
 Anti-tinkling and speech muting
 Function
 High voltage spikes are produced each time
the dial pulsing contacts interrupt the flow of
current
 Removes the tinkling sound caused by the
increased voltage which can cause the bell of
the ringer to sound as the pulses are
generated
 Loop Length Compensation
 Function
 Itis desirable that the speech on all calls
arrive at the exchange at about the same
volume or level regardless of loop length.
 Automatic compensation circuits decrease
loop current with shorter loops by a varistor.
 The speech level is automatically adjust the
speech level so that a relatively constant
speech level will appear at the exchange
regardless of the distance of the telephone
set.
 Hybrid Network
 Function
 The hybrid network (sometimes called a
hybrid coil or duplex coil) is a special balanced
transformer used to convert a two-wire
circuit (the local loop) into a four-wire circuit
(the telephone set) and vice versa, thus
enabling full duplex operation over a two-
wire circuit.
 It also allows a portion of the transmit signal
to be returned to the receiver in the form of a
sidetone.
Hybrid Network
 Microphone
 Ordinary telephones use
carbon microphones and
magnetic earphones
(transmitters and
receivers)
 The carbon microphone
needs DC bias current to
operate
 Carbon microphones are
reliable and simple but
have poor audio quality
 Modern telephones often
use electret condenser
microphones to achieve
better quality
 Dialing Circuit
 The dialing circuit enables the subscriber to
output signals representing digits, and this
enables the caller to enter the destination
telephone number.
 The dialing circuit could be either be an
electronic-dial pulsing circuit or a Touch-tone
keypad, which sends various combinations of
tones representing the called digits.
 BASIC TELEPHONE CALL
PROCEDURES
 Sending a Number
 Dialing
 Pulse dialing uses interruptions in the
current loop to dial a number
 Dual-tone multifrequency dialing (DTMF)
uses two tones for dialing. Also known as
touch dialing
BASIC TELEPHONE CALL PROCEDURES
 BASIC TELEPHONE CALL
PROCEDURES
 Initiating a Call
 On-hook condition – when
the telephone handset is
resting on its cradle
(switchhooks are open)
 Off-hook condition – handset
is removed from its cradle
(switchhooks are closed).
This completes the circuit
to the exchange and the
current flows in the circuit.
 BASIC TELEPHONE CALL
PROCEDURES
 Connecting the Phones
 The connection having made at the switching
office, a ringing signal is sent to the called
phone (called phone is on-hook); a busy
signal is sent if the called phone is off-hook.
 Answering the Call
 When the called party removes the handset in
response to a ring, the loop to that phone is
completed by its closed switchhook and loop
current flows through the called telephone.
 BASIC TELEPHONE CALL
PROCEDURES
 Talking
 Transmitter – converts speech (acoustical energy)
into variations in an electrical current (electrical
energy)
 Receiver – converts electrical current to sound
 Sidetone – a small amount of the transmitter signal
fed back into the talker’s receiver.
 Ending the Call
 The call is ended when either party hangs up the
handset (on-hook).
 CALL PROGRESS TONES AND
SIGNALS
 Call progress tones and call progress signals are
acknowledgement and status signals that ensure
the processes necessary to set up and terminate a
telephone call are completed in a orderly and
timely manner.
 Signaling can be broadly divided into two major
categories: station signaling and interoffice signaling.
 Station signaling is the exchange of signaling
messages over local loops between stations and
telephone company switching machines.
 Interoffice signaling is the exchange of signaling
between messages between switching machines.
 CALL PROGRESS TONES AND
SIGNALS
 Signaling messages can be subdivided further into
four categories: alerting, supervising, controlling, and
addressing.
 Alerting signals indicate a request for service such as
going off hook or ringing the destination telephone.
 Supervising signals provide call status information,
such as busy or ring-back signals.
 Controlling signals provide information in the form
of announcements, such as number changed to
another number, a number no longer in service,
and so on.
 CALL PROGRESS TONES AND
SIGNALS
 Addressing signals provide the routing information
such as calling and called numbers.
 Call Progress Tone Summary
Tone Signal Frequency Duration/Range
Dial tone 350 Hz plus 440 Hz Continuous
DTMF 697 Hz, 770 Hz, 852 Hz, 941 Hz Two of 8 tones
1209 Hz, 1336 Hz, 1477 Hz, On, 50-ms minimum
1633 Hz Off, 45-ms minimum
3-s maximum
MF 700 Hz, 900 Hz, 1100 Hz Two of six tones
1300 Hz, 1500 Hz, 1700 Hz On, 90-ms minimum
120-ms maximum
Dial pulses Open/closed switch On, 39 ms
Off, 61 ms
Station busy 480 Hz plus 620 Hz On, 0.5 s
Off, 0.5 s
 Call Progress Tone Summary
Tone Signal Frequency Duration/Range
Equipment busy 480 Hz plus 620 Hz On, 0.2 s
Off, 0.3 s
Ringing 20 Hz, 90 Vrms On, 2s
Off, 4s
Ring-back 440 Hz plus 480 Hz On, 2s
Off, 4s
Receiver on hook Open loop Indefinite
Receiver off hook dc current 20 –mA minimum
80-mA maximum
Receiver-left- 1440 Hz, 2060 Hz, On, 0.1 s
off-hook alert 2450 Hz, 2600 Hz Off, 0.1 s
 Call Progress Tone Direction of
Propagation
Tone or Signal Direction
Dial tone Telephone office to calling station
DTMF Calling station to telephone office
MF Telephone office to telephone office
Dial pulses Calling station to telephone office
Station busy Telephone office to calling subscriber
Equipment Busy Telephone office to calling subscriber
Ringing Telephone office to called subscriber
Ring-back Telephone office to calling subscriber
Receiver on hook Calling subscriber to telephone office
Receiver off hook Calling subscriber to telephone office
Receiver-left-off hook alert Telephone office to calling subscriber
 Dual-Tone Multifrequency
 DTMF was first introduced in 1963 with 20
buttons in Western Electric 1500 type.
 DTMF was originally called Touch-Tone.
 DTMF is a more efficient means than dial
pulsing for transferring telephone numbers
from subscriber’s location to the central office
switching machine.
 DTMF
 Touchtone Keypad
High Group Frequencies (Hz)
1209 1336 1477 1633

ABC DEF
697 1 A
2 3

Low Group GHI JKL MN B

770 Extended
Frequencies (Hz) 4 5 O6
Keypad

852 PRS TUV WXY C

7 8 9

941  OPER
0
# D
 DTMF Specifications
Transmitter Parameter Receiver
(Subscriber) (Local Office)
-10 dBm Minimum power level -25 dBm
(single frequency)
+2 dBm Maximum power level 0 dBm
(two tones)
+4 dB Maximum power difference +4 dB
between two tones
50 ms Minimum digit duration 40 ms
45 ms Minimum interdigit duration 40 ms
Maximum echo level relative to transmit frequency level (-10 dB)
Maximum echo delay (<20 ms)
 Multifrequency
 Multifrequency tones (codes) are similar to DTMF
signals in that they involve the simultaneous
transmission of two tones.
 MF tones are used to transfer digits and control
signals between switching machines, whereas
DTMF signals are used to transfer digits and
control signals between telephone sets and local
switching machines.
 Dial Pulsing
 Dial pulsing (sometimes called rotary dial pulsing) is
the method originally used to transfer digits from
a telephone set to the local switch.
 When a digit is dialed, the loop current circuit
alternately opens (breaks) and closed (makes) a
prescribed number of items.
 All digits do not take the same length of time to
dial. For example, the digit 1 requires only one
make/break cycle, whereas the digit 0 requires 10
cycles.
 Dial Pulsing
 The minimum time to dial pulse out the seven-
digit telephone number 987-1234 is as follows:

Digit 9 ID 8 ID 7 ID 1 ID 2 ID 3 ID 4
Time(ms) 900 300 800 300 700 300 100 300 200 300 300 300 400

Where ID is the interdigit time (300 ms) and the total

minimum time is 5200 ms, or 5.2 s.
1.2. Telephone Circuit
 Introduction
 A telephone circuit provides a path between a
source and a destination
 Dial-up circuit – temporary
 Private-line circuit – permanent
 The facilities maybe cable pairs or carrier systems,
and the information maybe transferred on a
coaxial, metallic, microwave, optic fiber, or satellite
communication
 The information transferred is called the
message, and the circuit used is called the
message channel.
 The Subscriber Loop
 The local loop is the primary cause of attenuation
and phase distortion on a telephone circuit.
 Attenuation – an actual loss of signal strength
 Phase distortion – occurs when two or more
frequencies undergo different amounts of phase
shift.
 The transmission characteristics of a cable pair
depend on the wire diameter, conductor spacing,
dielectric constant of the insulator separating the
wires, and the conductivity of the wire.
 The Subscriber Loop

There are seven (7) main components that make up a

traditional subscriber loop.

Feeder Cable (F1) . The largest cable used in a local loop,

usually 3600 pair of copper wire placed underground or in
conduit.
Serving Area interface (SAI). A cross-connect
point used to distribute the larger feeder
cable into smaller distribution cables.
Distribution Cable (F2). A smaller version of
feeder cable containing less wire pairs.
The Local Network
 The Subscriber Loop
Subscriber or Standard Network interface (SNI) or the
NID. A device that serves as the demarcation point
between local telephone company and subscriber
responsibility for telephone service.
Drop Wire. The final length cable pair that terminates at the
SNI.
Aerial. That portion of the local loop that is strung between
poles.
Distribution Cable and Drop-wire cross connect point.
The location where individual cable pairs within
distribution cables are separated and extended to the
subscriber’s location on a drop wire.
 Loading Coils
Two components found on local loops are loading coils
and bridge taps.
 Loading is adding inductors periodically in series
with the wire. The inductors are called the loading
coils.
 Loading coil is simply a passive conductor
wrapped around a core and placed in series with a
cable creating a small electromagnet.
 Loading coils placed on a cable decrease the
attenuation, increase the line impedance, and
improve transmission levels for circuits longer than
18000 feet.
Loading Coils
 Loading Coils
Letter Codes Separation (feet)
A 700
B 3000*
C 929
D 4500*
E 5575
F 2787
H 6000*
X 680
Y 2130
* Most common because their separation is representative of distances
between manholes.
 Loading Coils
 The amount of series inductance added is
generally 44 mH, 88 mH or 135 mH
 Designation :
 19H88– 19 wire gauge with 88 mH of series
inductance added every 6000 feet
 16B135 – 16 wire gauge with 135 mH of series
inductance added every 3000 feet
 For a 12000-foot length of 26-gauge copper
cable, a 3000 Hz signal experiences 6 dB more
attenuation than a 500-Hz signal on the same
cable.
Loading Coil
 Bridge Taps
 Bridge taps are unused sections of cable that are
connected in shunt to a working cable pair, such as
local loop.
 Bridge taps increase the flexibility of a cable by
making it easier to reassign a cable to a different
subscriber without requiring a person working in
the field to cross connect sections of cable.
 Bridge taps introduces a loss called, bridging loss.
They allow signals to split and propagate down
more than one wire.
 Signals that propagate down unterminated cables
reflect back from the open end to the cable.
Bridge Taps
 Loop Resistance
 The dc resistance of a local loop depends primarily
on the type of wire and wire size.
 Most local loops use 18- to 26-gauge, twisted-pair
copper wire.
 The lower the wire gauge, the larger the diameter,
the less the resistance, and the lower the
attenuation.
 For example, 26-gauge unloaded copper wire has
an attenuation of 2.67 dB/mile, whereas the same
length of 19-gauge copper wire has only 1.12
dB/mile.
 Loop Resistance
 The total attenuation of a local loop is generally
limited to a maximum value of 7.5 dB with a
maximum dc resistance of 1300 ohms, which
include the resistance of the telephone( approx. 120
ohms)
 The dc loop resistance for copper conductors is
approximated by
0.1095
Rdc  2
d
where Rdc = dc loop resistance (ohms/mile)
d = wire diameter (inches)
TELEPHONE MESSAGE- CHANNEL
NOISE AND NOISE WEIGHTING
 Noise interference is composed of two
components: annoyance and the effect of noise on
intelligibility, both of which are functions of
frequency.
 Noise signals with equal interfering effects are
assigned equal magnitudes.
 To accomplish this effect, the America Telephone
and Telegraph Company (AT&T) developed a
weighting curve network called C-message
weighting.
TELEPHONE MESSAGE- CHANNEL
NOISE AND NOISE WEIGHTING
 Groups of observers were asked to adjust
loudness of 14 different frequencies between 180
Hz and 3500 Hz until the sound of each tone was
judged to be equally annoying as a 1000-Hz
reference tone in the absence of speech.
 The same people were then asked to adjust the
amplitude of the tones in the presence of speech
until the effect of noise on articulation(annoyance)
was equal to that of 1000-Hz reference tone.
 The results of two experiments were combined,
smoothed and plotted, resulting in the C-message
weighting curve.
C Message Weighting Curve
TELEPHONE MESSAGE- CHANNEL
NOISE AND NOISE WEIGHTING
 A translation must be made from dBm0 to dBrn0 or
dBrnc0.
 Add  90  to  the  dBm0  reading;  then  add  the
appropriate correction factor at the frequency of the
interfering tone, as indicated in the figure to produce
dBrnc0.
 Assume that the frequency of the interfering tone is
400 Hz.  In the figure, 400 Hz on the C-
message weighting curve gives a correction factor of
-11 dB.  Add 90 to -30 dBm0 to obtain +60 dBrn0.
 Now add +60 dBrn0 to -11 dB to obtain +49 dBrnc0.
UNITS OF POWER MEASUREMENT

 dB and dBm
 The decibel (dB) is a basic yardstick used for making
power measurements in communications.
 The unit dBm is often used to reference the power
level at a given point to 1 mW.
 For example, power levels of 10 mW and 0.5
mW are 10 dBm and -3 dBm, respectively.
 The difference between the two power levels
in dB is
 10mW 
dB  10log    13dB
 0.5mW 
or 10dBm  (3dBm)  13dB
Transmission Level Point, Transmission Level
and Data Level Point
 Transmission Level Point (TLP) is defined as the
optimum level of a test tone on a channel at
some point in a communication system.
 The numerical value of the TLP does not
describe the total signal power present at that
point – it merely defines what the ideal level
should be.
 The transmission level (TL) at any point in a
transmission system is the ratio in dB of the
power of a signal at that point to the power the
same signal would be at 0-dBm transmission
level point.
Transmission Level Point, Transmission Level
and Data Level Point
 A -15 dBm TLP indicates that, at this specific point the
signal should measure -15 dBm.
 Therefore, the transmission level for a signal that
measures -13 dBm at -15 dBm point is -2 dB.
 A 0 TLP is a TLP where the signal power should be 0
dBm.
 Data Level Point (DLP) is a parameter equivalent to
TLP except TLP is used for voice circuits, whereas DLP
is used as a reference for data transmission.
 The DLP is always 13 dB below the voice level for the
same point.
 If the TLP is -15 dBm, the DLP at the same point is -28
dBm.
 Units of Measurement

 dBmO
 dBmO is the dBm referenced to a zero transmission
level point (0 TLP). It is a power measurement
adjusted to 0 dBm that indicates what power level
would be if the signal is measured at a 0 TLP. For
example, a signal measuring -17 dBm at a -16 dBm
transmission level point is -1 dBmO (i.e. the signal is
1 dB below what is should be, or if it were measured
at a 0 TLP, it would measure –1 dBm.
 dBrn
 dBrn is the dB level of noise with respect to
reference noise (-90 dBm). A noise reading of -50
dBm equates 40 dBrn, which 40 dB above reference
noise (-50 – [-90 ]) = 40 dBrn
 Units of Measurement

 dBrnc
 dBrnc is similar to dBrn except dBrnc is the dB value
of noise with respect to reference noise using C-
message weighting.
 dBrncO
 dBrncO is the amount of noise in dBrnc corrected to
a 0TLP. A reading of 34 dBrnc at a +7 dBm TLP
equates to 27 dBrncO. dBrncO relates noise power
readings (dBrnc) to a 0 TLP.
 Example 1
 For example:
 Noise = -72 dBm (noise, in all cases, will mean C
message noise)
 Signal = -27 dBm at -24 dBm TLP
 Find:
 Signal ___________ dBmO
 Noise____________ dBrnc
 Noise____________ dBrncO
 S/N______________dB
 Solution
0 dBm

-24 dBm TLP (what signal level should be)

-3 dBmO
-27 dBm (what signal actually is)

S/N = 45 dB
-48 dBm equal to -24dBm TLP

+42 dBrncO -72 dBm noise level

+18 dBrnc
(Noise compared with
reference noise)
-90 dBm (reference level for noise)
 Solution

• Answers:
• Signal = -3 dBmO
• Noise = +18 dBrnc
• Noise = +42 dBrncO
• S/N = 45 dB
 Example 2

For a signal measurement of -42 dBm, a noise

measurement of 16 dBrnc, and a -40 dBm
TLP, determine
a. Signal level in dBrnc
b. Noise level in dBm
c. Signal level in dBmO
d. Signal-to-noise ratio in dB.
 Crosstalk
 Crosstalk can be defined as any disturbance
created in a communications channel by signals in
other communications channels.
 Crosstalk can originate in telephone offices, at a
subscriber’s location, or on other facilities used to
interconnect subscriber locations to telephone
offices.
 There are three primary types: nonlinear crosstalk,
transmittance crosstalk, and coupling crosstalk
 Nonlinear Crosstalk
 It is a direct result of nonlinear amplification in
analog communications systems.
 Nonlinear amplification produces harmonics
and cross products (sum and differences).
 If nonlinear frequency components fall into the
passband of another channel, they are
considered crosstalk.
 Transmittance Crosstalk

 Caused by inadequate control of the frequency

response of a transmission system, poor filter
design, or poor filter performance.
 Most prevalent when filters do not adequately
reject undesired products from other channels.
 Coupling Crosstalk

 Caused by electromagnetic coupling between

two or more physically isolated transmission
media.
 Effect of near-field mutual induction between
cables from physically isolated circuits.
 To reduce coupling crosstalk due to mutual
induction, wires are twisted together.
 Standard telephone cable pairs have 20 twists
per foot, whereas data circuits generally require
more twists per foot.
 Units of Measurement

 Crosstalk interference is often expressed in its

own special decibel unit of measurement, dBx.
 Unlike dBm, where the reference is a fixed level,

dBx is referenced to the level on the cable that is

being interfered with (whatever the level may
be).
 Mathematically,

dBx = 90 – crosstalk loss in decibels)

where: 90 dB is the ideal isolation between
adjacent lines.
 Units of Measurement

 For example, the magnitude of the crosstalk on a

circuit is 70 db lower than the power of the
signal on the same circuit. The crosstalk is then
90 dB – 70 dBx = 20 dBx