LOCAL

SUBSCRIBER
LOOP

INTRODUCTION:
TELEPHONE CIRCUIT
The facilities may be metallic cable pairs,
optical fibers, or wireless carrier systems.
The information transferred is called the
MESSAGE, and the circuit used is called the
MESSAGE CHANNEL.
The network bandwith for a standard voiceband channel message channel is 4kHz

THE LOCAL SUBSCRIBER LOOP

The Local Subscriber Loop is the only facility
required by all voice band circuits, as it is the
means by which subscriber location are
connected to the local telephone company.
The local loop is a metallic transmission line
comprised of two insulated copper wires (a
pair) twisted together.
The local loop is the primary cause of
attenuation and phase distortion on a
telephone circuit.

TRANSMISSION and
ELECTRICAL
The
transmission characteristics of a cable pair
CHARACTERISTICS
depend on the wire diameter, conductor spacing,
dielectric constant of the insulator separating the
wires, and the conductivity of the wire.

The electrical characteristics of a cable (such as

inductance, capacitance, and resistance) are
uniformly distributed along its length and are
appropriately referred to as distributed
parameters.

Feeder Cable
The largest cable
used in a local
loop, usually
3600 pair of
copper wire
placed
underground or
in conduit.

rving Area Interface (SA

A cross-connect point
used to distribute the
larger feeder cable into
smaller distribution
cables.
Is an outdoor enclosure
or metal box that
allows access to
telecommunications
wiring.

Distribution Cable
A smaller version of a feeder
cable containing less wire
pairs.

Subscriber or Standard
Network Interface
A device that
serves as the
demarcation point
between local
telephone company
responsibility and
subscriber
responsibility for
telephone service.

Drop wire
The final length of
cable pair that
terminates at the
Standard Network
Interface.
Wire suitable for
extending an open
wire or cable pair
from a pole or cable
terminal to a building.

Aerial
That portion of
the local loop
that is strung
between poles.

Drop wire cross-connect

point
The location
where individual
cable pairs
within a
distribution
cable are
extended to the
subscribers
location on a
drop wire.

Loading Coils
The Concept of loading coils was discovered by
Oliver Heaviside in studying the problem of slow
signalling speed of the first transatlantic telegraph
cable in the 1860s.
A loading coil or load coil is an inductor that is
inserted into an electronic circuit to increase its
inductance.
The term is also used for inductors in radio
antennas, or between the antenna and its
feedline, to make an electrically short antenna
resonant at its operating frequency.

Bridge Taps
A bridge tap is an irregularity frequently found in
cables serving subscriber location.
Bridge taps introduce a loss called bridging loss.
Bridge taps and loading coils are not generally
harmful to voice transmission, but if improperly
used, they can literally destroy the integrity of a
data signal.

Loop Resistance
The dc resistance of a local loop depends
primarily on the type of wire and wire size.
Most local loop use 18 to 26 gauge, twisted-pair
copper wire.
The lower the wire gauge, the larger the diameter,
the less resistance, and the lower the attenuation.

TELEPHONE MESSAGE
CHANNEL-NOISE AND
NOISE WEIGHTING

NOISE

NOISE
Noise Various sounds, usually unwanted.
Noise Anything that interfers with a listener's
ability to receive a message.
Noise can be both external and internal. External
noise often relates to your physical environment,
such as a noisy room, as well as your
physiological state. Internal noise includes
psychological and semantic noise, and is how
you prevent yourself from effectively delivering
your message.

INTERNAL NOISE
-Internal noise in communication, i.e noises which
get, generated within the receiver or
communication system.
INTERNAL NOISE MAYBE PUT IN THE FF.
CATEGORIES.
1. Thermal noise or White noise
2. Shot noise
3. Transit time noise

EXTERNAL NOISE
-Noise whose sources are External.
EXTERNAL NOISE MAYBE CLASSIFIED INTO THE
FOLLOWING THREE TYPES.

1. Atmospheric Noise
2. Extraterrestrial Noise
3. Man-made noises or Industrial Noise

Noise interference is comprised of two

components
1. Annoyance
2. Effect of noise on intelligibility

C-message weighting
curve

The objective C-message weighting curve describes the combined

frequency response of the 500-type telephone set and the hearing of
the typical human ear. Studies of subjective aspects indicate that, to
have the same interfering effect, low and high frequencies in the
voiceband range must be louder than midfrequencies. The Cmessage weighting curve takes this into account by weighting low
and high frequencies at levels that are an appropriate number of
decibels (dB) below the arbitrary reference value at 1000 Hz. Thus,
an NMS must attenuate low and high frequencies with respect to
1000 Hz in accordance with the C-message curve, to correctly
evaluate their interfering effect and this is accomplished with the Cmessage weighting network.

C-message weighting
curve

Characteristics of a Voltmeter for a Telephone MessageChannel Noise Measuring Set

considering (1)interfering effect of noise and (2) magnitude as a
function of frequency when reading
the meter should be able to combine simultaneous dissimilar
noise signals for accurate measurement of overall interfering effect
the meter should give equal readings with different types of noise
causing equal interference determined in subjective tests
having a transient response resembling human ear
the noise-measuring sets designed to give full power
indication for noises lasting 200 ms or longer since human ear
cannot comprehend true power of sound shorter than 200 ms.

[ -90 dBm (watts) ]

reference for performing message-channel
measurements
was selected because power levels cannot measure
below -90 dBm at the time, making it unnecessary to
deal with negative values when reading noise levels
Tone (Hz)

Power level
(dBm)

Noise reading
(dBrn)

1000

-90

1000

90

1000

-40

50

Substitute Weighting Networks for C-message

3-kHz flat network
to measure power density of white noise
often used for measuring high levels of low-frequency noise
(e.g. power supply hum)
has a nominal low-pass frequency response
3-kHz flat response curve

UNITS OF POWER
MEASUREMENT

dB and dBm

Decibel
(dB)
The basic unit used for making power
measurements in communications.

Where P1 and P2 are power levels at two different

points in a transmission system.

dB and dBm
When P1 = P2 , the power ratio is 0 dB

P1 > P2 , the power ratio in dB is positive

P1 < P2 , the power ratio in dB is negative
In telephone and telecommunication circuits, power
levels are given in dBm and differences between
power levels in dB.

dB and dBm

Example

Determine
a. The power levels in dBm for signal levels of
10mW and 0.5mW

dB and dBm
The difference between the two power levels
b.
in dB

Or

The 10-mW power level is 13 dB higher than a 0.5mW power level.

Transmission Level Point,

Transmission Level, and
Data Level Point
Transmission level point (TLP)

The optimum level of a test tone on a channel at some

point in a communications system.

Transmission level (TL)

The ratio in dB of the power of a signal at that point to
the power the same signal would be at a 0-dBm
transmission level point.

Data level point (DLP)

A parameter equivalent to TLP except TLP is used for
voice circuits, whereas DLP is used as a reference for
data transmission

Units of Measurement
dBmO
Is dBm referenced to a zero transmission level point
(0 TLP).

rn (reference noise)
Is the dB value used as the reference for noise
readings.
Reference noise equals -90 dBm or 1 pW (1 x 10-12
W).

dBrn
Is the dB level of noise with respect to a reference
noise (-90 dBm).

Units of Measurement
dBrnc
Similar to dBrn except dBrnc is the dB value of noise
with respect to reference noise using C-message
weighting.

dBrn 3-kHz flat

Noise readings taken with a filter that has a flat
frequency response from 30 Hz to 3 kHz.

dBrncO
The amount of noise in dBrnc corrected to a 0 TLP.

Units of Measurement
Example
For a signal measurement of -42 dBm, a noise
measurement of 16dBrnc, and a -40dBm TLP.
Determine
a. Signal level in dBrnc
-42dBm (-90dBrn) = 48 dBrnc
b. Signal level in dBm
-90 + 16 = -74 dBm

Units of Measurement
c. Signal level in dBmO
-42 dBm (-40dBm) = -2 dBmO
d. Signal-to-noise ratio in dB
-42 dBm (-74dBm) = 32 dB
48 dBrnc 16 dBrnc = 32 dB

Psophometric Noise
Weighting
Psophometric noise weighting is used primarily in
Europe. Psophometric weighting assumes a
perfect receiver; therefore its weighting to the
frequency response of the human ear only. The
difference between C-message weighting and
psophometric weighting is so small that the same
conversion factor may be used for the both.