CHAPTER 1

OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS

NETWROK ARCHITECTURE, LOCAL & TRUNK NETWORK AND CALL ROUTING

[OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS]

INTRODUCTION:

Telecommunications has been defined as a technology concerned with communicating from a distance, and we can categorize it in various ways. Figure 1.1 shows one possible view of the different sections of telecommunications. It includes mechanical communication and electrical communication because telecommunications has evolved from a mechanical to an electrical form using increasingly more sophisticated electrical systems. A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections can be routed to the correct recipients. The collection of addresses in the network is called the address space. The links connect the nodes together and are themselves built upon an underlying transmission network which physically pushes the message across the link. Examples of telecommunications networks are:
y y y y y

Computer network the Internet Network the telephone network the global Telex network the aeronautical ACARS network

SIGNIFICANCE:
Many different telecommunications networks have been interconnected into a continuously changing and extremely complicated global system. Telecommunications plays an essential role on many areas of everyday living. Everyday life is dependent on telecommunications. Each of us uses telecommunications services and services that rely on telecommunications daily. Here are some examples of services that depend on telecommunications:       Banking, automatic teller machines, telebanking; Aviation, booking of tickets; Sales, wholesale and order handling; Credit card payments at gasoline stations; Booking of hotel rooms by travel agencies; Material purchasing by industry;

[OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS]  Government operations, such as taxation.

Figure: Different sections of telecommunications

BASIC TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORK:

The basic purpose of a telecommunications network is to transmit user information in any form to another user of the network. These users of public networks, for example, a telephone network, are called subscribers. User information may take many forms, such as voice or data, and subscribers may use different access network technologies to access the network, for example, fixed or cellular telephones. The three technologies needed for communication through the network are (1) transmission, (2), switching, and (3) signaling.

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TRANSMISSION:
Transmission is the process of transporting information between end points of a system or a network. Transmission systems use four basic media for information transfer from one point to another:  Copper cables, such as those used in LANs and telephone subscriber lines;  Optical fiber cables, such as high-data-rate transmission in telecommunications networks;  Radio waves, such as cellular telephones and satellite transmission;  Free-space optics, such as infrared remote controllers.

SWITCHING:
In principle, all telephones could still be connected to each other by cables as they were in the very beginning of the history of telephony. However, as the number of telephones grew, operators soon noticed that it was necessary to switch signals from one wire to another. Then only a few cable connections were needed between exchanges because the number of simultaneously ongoing calls is much smaller than the number of telephones.

SIGNALING:
Signaling is the mechanism that allows network entities (customer premises or network switches) to establish, maintain, and terminate sessions in a network. Signaling is carried out with the help of specific signals or messages that indicate to the other end what is requested of it by this connection.

Figure: Development of telecommunication systems & services

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CALL ROUTING:
When we raise the hook of a telephone, the on/off hook switch is closed and current starts flowing on the subscriber loop through the microphone that is connected to the subscriber loop. The microphone converts acoustic energy to electrical energy. When sound waves pressed the carbon grains of diaphragms more tightly, loop resistance decreased and current slightly increased. The variable air pressure generated a variable, alternating current to the subscriber loop. Alternating current, generated by the microphone, is converted back into voice at the other end of the connection. The microphone generates the electrical current that carries voice information, and the earphone produces the voice at the receiving end of the speech circuit. The telephone network provides a dialed-up or circuit-switched service that enables the subscriber to initiate and terminate calls. Telephone exchanges supply dc voltage to subscriber loops, and telephone sets use this supplied voltage for operation. The conventional telephone does not include any electronics, and the supplied voltage and current are directly used for speech transmission in addition to signaling functions that include the detection of on/off-hook condition and dialing. Modern electronic telephones would not necessarily need this if they could take their power from a power socket at home. However, getting the power supply from the exchange is still an important feature because it ensures that the telephone network operate seven in emergency situations when the power network may be down. Each telephone has a switch that indicates an on- or off-hook condition. When the hook is raised, the switch is closed and an approximately 50Ma of current starts flowing. This is detected by a relay giving information to the control unit in the exchange. The control unit is an efficient and reliable computer (or a set of computers) in the telephone exchange. It activates signaling circuits, which then receive dialed digits from subscriber A. (We call a subscriber who initiates a call subscriber A and a subscriber who receives a call subscriber B). The control unit in the telephone exchange controls the switching matrix that connects the speech circuit through to the called subscriber B. Connection is made according to the numbers dialed by subscriber A. When the call is being routed to subscriber B, the telephone exchange supplies to the subscriber loop a ringing voltage and the bell of subscriber B s telephone starts ringing. The ringing voltage is often about 70V ac with a 25-Hz frequency, which is high enough to activate the bell on any telephone. The ringing voltage is switched off immediately when an off-hook condition is detected on the loop of subscriber B, and then an end-to-end speech circuit is

[OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS] connected and the conversation may start. When the exchange detects the off-hook condition of a subscriber loop, it informs us with a dial tone that we hear when we raise the hook that it is ready to receive digits. After dialing it keeps us informed about whether the circuit establishment is successful by sending us a ringing tone when the telephone at the other end rings. When subscriber B answers, the exchange switches off both the ringing signal and the ringing tone and connect the circuit. At the end of the conversation, an on-hook condition is detected by the exchange and the speech circuit is released.

Figure: Typical telecommunication network

TRUNK NETWORK:
The national switching hierarchy includes multiple levels of switches above local exchanges. For a network where higher levels than local exchanges are shown as a single level of trunk exchanges. The local exchanges are connected to these trunk exchanges, which are linked to provide a network of connections from any customer to any other subscriber in the country. High-capacity transmission paths, usually optical line systems, with capacities up to 10 Gbps, interconnect trunk exchanges. Note that a transport network has alternative

[OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS] routes. If one of these transmission systems fails, switches are able to route new calls via other transmission systems and trunk exchanges to bypass the failed system. Connections between local and trunk exchanges are usually not fault protected because their faults affect on a smaller number of subscribers. The transmission systems that interconnect trunk exchanges make up a transmission or transport network. Its basic purpose is simply to provide a required number of channels (or data transmission capacity) from one exchange site to another. Exchanges use these channels of the transport network for calls that they route from one exchange to another on subscriber demand. The trunk exchanges are usually located in major cities. They are digital and use the international common channel signaling standard SS7 to exchange routing and other signaling information between exchanges. The transmission lines between exchanges have conventionally carried TDM telephone channels, currently the use of IP networks for connections among exchanges is increasing and it requires media gateways (MGWs) between the exchange and IP network to take care of signaling and real-time transmission through the IP network.

Figure: Trunk Network

VIRTUAL PPRIVATE NETWORKS (VPN):

It is very expensive for an organization to setup and maintain its own private network. Another choice is to lease resources, which are also shared with other users, from a public network operator. This virtual private network (VPN) provides a service similar to

[OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS] an ordinary private network, but the systems in the network are the property of the network operator. In effect, a VPN provides a dedicated network for the customer with the help of public network equipment. As companies concentrate more and more on their core businesses, they are willing to outsource the provision, management, and maintenance of their telecommunications services to a public network operator that has skilled professionals dedicated to telecommunications. The principle of VPN is used for voice services such as corporate PBX/PABX networks. In this case the network that interconnects the offices of a company uses (voice or 56/64 Kbps) channels from the public network that a released from a public network operator.

PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONE SERVICE (PSTN):

The network contains the public land mobile network (PLMN), which provides wireless access for cellular subscribers and is connected to the PSTN/ISDN network at the trunk exchange level. Internet users are connected to the global Internet via the hosts of their ISPs. Networks of national ISPs are connected and this interconnection is extended to the networks of ISPs of neighboring countries, and these networks together make up the global Internet. Figure 2.20 shows two main methods for accessing the Internet. A telephone or ISDN network is used for dial-up connections and ADSL provides permanent higher rate Internet service.

Figure: PSTN

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MESSAGES & PROTOCOLS:

Messages are generated by a sending terminal, then pass through the network of links and nodes until they arrive at the destination terminal. It is the job of the intermediate nodes to handle the messages and route them down the correct link toward their final destination. The messages consist of control (or signaling) and bearer parts which can be sent together or separately. The bearer part is the actual content that the user wishes to transmit (e.g. some encoded speech, or an email) whereas the control part instructs the nodes where and possibly how the message should be routed through the network. A large number of protocols have been developed over the years to specify how each different type of telecommunication network should handle the control and bearer messages to achieve this efficiently.

NETWORK STRUCTURE:
In general, every telecommunications network conceptually consists of three parts, or planes (so called because they can be thought of as being, and often are, separate overlay networks):  The Control Plane carries control information (also known as signaling).  The Data Plane or User Plane carries the network's users' traffic.  The Management Plane carries the operations and administration traffic required for network management  Telecommunications control software is present on all networked computers and is responsible for controlling network activities and functionality.

CLASSIFICATION OF NETWORK TOPOLOGIES:

There are also three basic categories of network topologies:  Physical topologies  Signal topologies  Logical topologies

[OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS] Physical topologies The mapping of the nodes of a network and the physical connections between them i.e., the layout of wiring, cables, the locations of nodes, and the interconnections between the nodes and the cabling or wiring system[. y Point-to-point The simplest topology is a permanent link between two endpoints (the line in the illustration above). Switched point-to-point topologies are the basic model of conventional telephony. The value of a permanent point-to-point network is the value of guaranteed, or nearly so, communications between the two endpoints. The value of an on-demand point-to-point connection is proportional to the number of potential pairs of subscribers, and has been expressed as Metcalfe's Law. y Classification of physical topologies The simplest topology is a permanent link between two endpoints (the line in the illustration above). Switched point-to-point topologies are the basic model of conventional telephony. The value of a permanent point-to-point network is the value of guaranteed, or nearly so, communications between the two endpoints. The value of an on-demand point-to-point connection is proportional to the number of potential pairs of subscribers, and has been expressed as Metcalfe's Law. Permanent (dedicated) Easiest to understand, of the variations of point-to-point topology, is a point-topoint communications channel that appears, to the user, to be permanently associated with the two endpoints. Children's "tin-can telephone" is one example, with a microphone to a single public address speaker is another. These are examples of physical dedicated channels. Within many switched telecommunications systems, it is possible to establish a permanent circuit. One example might be a telephone in the lobby of a public building, which is programmed to ring only the number of a telephone dispatcher. "Nailing down" a switched connection saves the cost of running a physical circuit between the two points. The resources in such a connection can be released when no longer needed, for example, a television circuit from a parade route back to the studio. y Switched:

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[OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS] Using circuit-switching or packet-switching technologies, a point-to-point circuit can be set up dynamically, and dropped when no longer needed. This is the basic mode of conventional telephony.

TELEPHONE EXCHANGE:
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls. A central office is the physical building used to house inside plant equipment including telephone switches, which make telephone calls "work" in the sense of making connections and relaying the speech information. The term exchange area can be used to refer to an area served by a particular switch, but is typically known as a wire center in the US telecommunications industry. The exchange code or Central Office Code refers to the first three digits of the local number (NXX). It is sometimes confused with the area code (NPA). In the United States, local exchange areas together make up a legal entity called local access and transport areas (LATA) under the Modification of Final Judgment (MFJ).

HISTORICAL PERSPICTIVE:
Prior to the telephone, electrical switches were used to switch telegraph lines. One of the first people to build a telephone exchange was Hungarian Tivadar Pusks in 1877 while he was working for Thomas Edison. George W. Coy designed and built the first commercial telephone exchange which opened in New Haven, Connecticut in January, 1878. The switchboard was built from "carriage bolts, handles from teapot lids and bustle wire" and could handle two simultaneous conversations. Later exchanges consisted of one to several hundred plug boards staffed by telephone operators. Each operator sat in front of a vertical panel containing banks of -inch tipring-sleeve (3-conductor) jacks, each of which was the local termination of a subscriber's telephone line. In front of the jack panel lay a horizontal panel containing two rows of patch cords, each pair connected to a cord circuit. When a calling party lifted the receiver, a signal lamp near the jack would light. The operator would plug one of the cords (the "answering cord") into the subscriber's jack and switch her headset into the circuit to ask, "number please?" Depending upon the answer, the operator might plug the other cord of the pair (the "ringing cord") into the called party's local jack and start the ringing cycle, or plug into a trunk circuit to start what might be a long distance call handled by subsequent operators in another bank of boards or in another building miles away. In 1918, the average time to complete the connection for a long-distance call was 15 minutes. In the ringdown method, the originating operator called another intermediate operator who would call the called subscriber, or passed it on to another

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[OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS] intermediate operator.[8] This chain of intermediate operators could complete the call only if intermediate trunk lines were available between all the centers at the same time. In 1943 when military calls had priority, a cross-country US call might take as long as 2 hours to request and schedule in cities that used manual switchboards for toll calls. On March 10, 1891, Almon Brown Strowger, an undertaker in Kansas City, Missouri, patented the stepping switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching. While there were many extensions and adaptations of this initial patent, the one best known consists of 10 levels or banks, each having 10 contacts arranged in a semicircle. When used with a rotary telephone dial, each pair of digits caused the shaft of the central contact "hand" of the stepping switch to first step (ratchet) up one level for each pulse in the first digit and then to swing horizontally in a contact row with one small rotation for each pulse in the next digit. Later stepping switches were arranged in banks, the first stage of which was a linefinder. If one of up to a hundred subscriber lines had the receiver lifted "off hook", a linefinder connected the subscriber's line to a free first selector, which returned the subscriber a dial tone to show that it was ready to receive dialed digits. The subscriber's dial pulsed at about 10 pulses per second, although the speed depended on the standard of the particular telephone administration. Exchanges based on the Strowger switch were eventually challenged by other exchange types and later by crossbar technology. These exchange designs promised faster switching and would accept pulses faster than the Strowger's typical 10 pps typically about 20 pps. At a later date many also accepted DTMF "touch tones" or other tone signaling systems. A transitional technology (from pulse to DTMF) had DTMF link finders which converted DTMF to pulse, to feed to older Strowger, panel, or crossbar switches. This technology was used as late as mid 2002.

TECHNOLOGIES:
 manual service for a condition where a human operator routes calls inside an exchange and a dial is not used
 dial service for an exchange where calls are routed by a switch interpreting     

dialed digits telephone exchange for the building housing the switching equipment telephone switch for the switching equipment concentrator for a device that concentrates traffic, be it remote or co-located with the switch off-hook for a tip condition or to describe a circuit that is in use (i.e., when a phone call is in progress) on-hook for an idle circuit (i.e., no phone call is in progress)

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 wire center for the area served by a particular switch or central office

Figure: Typical Telephone Exchange

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MANUAL SERVICE EXCHANGE:

With manual service, the customer lifts the receiver off-hook and asks the operator to connect the call to a requested number. Provided that the number is in the same central office, the operator connects the call by plugging into the jack on the switchboard corresponding to the called customer's line. If the call is to another central office, the operator plugs into the trunk for the other office and asks the operator answering (known as the "inward" operator) to connect the call. Most urban exchanges were common-battery, meaning that the central office provided power for the telephone circuits, as is the case today. In common battery systems, the pair of wires from a subscriber's telephone to the switch (or manual exchange) carry 48VDC (nominal) from the telephone company end, across the conductors. The telephone presents an open circuit when it is on-hook or idle. When the subscriber goes off-hook, the telephone puts a DC resistance short across the line. In manual service, this current flowing through the off-hook telephone flows through a relay coil actuating a buzzer and lamp on the operator's switchboard. The buzzer and lamp would tell an operator the subscriber was off-hook (requesting service).[9] In the largest U.S. cities, it took many years to convert every office to automatic equipment, such as Panel switches. During this transition period, it was possible to dial a manual number and be connected without requesting an operator's assistance. This was because the policy of the Bell System was that customers should not need to know if they were calling a manual or automated office. If a subscriber dialed a manual number, an inward operator would answer the call, see the called number on a display device, and manually connect the call. For instance, if a customer calling from TAylor 4725 dialed a manual number, ADams 1233, the call would go through, from the subscriber's perspective, exactly as a call to LEnnox 5813, in an automated exchange. In contrast to the common battery system, smaller towns with manual service often had magneto, or crank, phones. Using a magneto set, the subscriber turned a crank to generate ringing current, to gain the operator's attention. The switchboard would respond by dropping a metal tab above the subscriber's line jack and sounding a buzzer. Dry cell batteries (normally two large "No 6" cells) in the subscriber's telephone provided the DC power for conversation. Magneto systems were in use in one American small town, Bryant Pond, Woodstock, Maine as late as 1983. In general, this type of system had a poorer call quality compared to common-battery systems. Many small town magneto systems featured party lines, anywhere from two to ten or more subscribers sharing a single line. When calling a party, the operator would use a distinctive ringing signal sequence, such as two long rings followed by one short. Everyone on the line could hear the rings, and of course could pick up and listen in if they wanted. On rural lines which were not connected to a central office (thus not

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[OVERVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS] connected to the outside world), subscribers would crank the correct sequence of rings to reach their party.

PRE-DIGIT-AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE:
Automatic exchanges, or dial service, came into existence in the early 1900s. Their purpose was to eliminate the need for human telephone operators. Before the exchanges became automated, operators had to complete the connections required for a telephone call. Almost everywhere, operators have been replaced by computerized exchanges. A telephone switch is the brains of an automatic exchange. It is a device for routing calls from one telephone to another, generally as part of the public switched telephone network. The local exchange automatically senses an off hook (tip) telephone condition, provides dial tone to that phone, receives the pulses or DTMF tones generated by the phone, and then completes a connection to the called phone within the same exchange or to another distant exchange. The exchange then maintains the connection until a party hangs up, and the connection is disconnected. This tracking of a connection's status is called supervision. Additional features, such as billing equipment, may also be incorporated into the exchange. In Bell System dial service, a feature called automatic number identification (ANI) was implemented. ANI allowed services like automated billing, toll-free 800-numbers, and 91-1 service. In manual service, the operator knows where a call is originating by the light on the switchboard's jack field. In early dial service, ANI did not exist. Long distance calls would go to an operator queue and the operator would ask the calling party's number, then write it on a paper toll ticket. See also Automatic Message Accounting. Early exchanges used motors, shaft drives, rotating switches and relays. In a sense, switches were relay-logic computers. Some types of automatic exchanges were Strowger (also known as Step-By-Step), All Relay, X-Y, Panel and crossbar. These are referred to collectively as electromechanical switches.

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