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TELEPHONE
SYSTEM INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL
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WHAT IS A
TELEPHONE?
A telephone is a communication device that allows people
to have real-time conversations over long distances. It
works by converting spoken words into electrical signals
for transmission, and then reverts these signals back into
audible sound at the receiving end, enabling two-way voice
communication. Modern telephones include both traditional
landline phones and mobile phones, which use a
combination of wired and wireless technology to facilitate
communication.
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TELEPHONE INSTRUMENT

A telephone instrument is a device used for making and

receiving voice calls. It typically consists of a microphone
(transmitter) to capture the user's voice, a speaker (receiver)
to play back the voice of the person on the other end of the
call, and a keypad or dial for inputting phone numbers.
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WORKING COMPONENTS
OF THE TELEPHONE
• POWER SOURCE
• SWITCH HOOK
• DIALER
• RINGER
• TRANSMITTER
• RECEIVER
• ANTI-SIDETONE CIRCUIIT
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POWER SOURCE
In the first experimental telephones the electric current that powered the
telephone circuit was generated at the transmitter, by means of an
electromagnet activated by the speaker’s voice. Since Bell's initial
design, telephone transmitters have operated on direct current from
independent power sources because the early systems didn't generate
enough voltage to transmit audible speech over long distances. Initially,
telephones had batteries within the instruments themselves, but since
the 1890s, the current is produced at local switching offices and
supplied through a two-wire circuit known as the local loop, with 48
volts being the standard voltage. In the case of cordless phones, they
return to individual power sources as their low-wattage radio
transmitters are powered by a small battery (e.g., 3.6 volts) in the
portable handset. When not in use, the battery recharges via contacts
with the base unit, which is connected to a standard electric outlet
through a transformer.
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SWITCH HOOK
The switch hook in a telephone connects the instrument to the local
loop's direct current. Early telephones used a hook to open and close
a metal contact when the receiver was placed on it. This mechanism
is still in use, with the hook often replaced by a cradle that holds both
the receiver and transmitter. Some modern electronic phones employ
transistor relays instead of mechanical metal contacts. When the
telephone is "on hook," it breaks contact with the local loop, and
when it's "off hook" (when the handset is lifted from the cradle),
contact is reestablished, allowing current to flow through the loop.
The switching office signals this by transmitting a low-frequency
"dial tone," which consists of two simultaneous tones at 350 and 440
hertz.
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DIALER
The dialer in a telephone is a device that lets users input the
number they want to call. It generates signals that activate
switches in the local office, creating a connection to the called
party. There are two main types of dialers: rotary, which was
invented in the 1890s and works by producing interruptions in
the direct current, and push-button, introduced in the 1960s,
which generates specific "dual-tone" signals for each number
entered. Unlike rotary pulses, these dual tones can be used for
automated functions, and both systems use components to
prevent dialing signals from reaching the ringer circuit.
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RINGER
The ringer serves to alert users to incoming calls through an audible tone
or ring, with two types—mechanical and electronic—both activated by a
20-hertz, 75-volt alternating current from the switching office in pulses
and pauses. The traditional mechanical ringer, dating back to early Bell
telephones, involves vibrating a metal clapper against two closely
spaced bells through magnetic fluctuations produced by alternating
current. Modern electronic ringers, introduced in the 1980s, utilize an
oscillator to adjust the current, activating a piezoelectric transducer that
vibrates in response to electric current. This transducer may be
connected to a small loudspeaker for volume adjustment. The ringer
circuit, maintained even when the phone is on the hook, requires a
higher voltage due to its high electrical impedance, preventing power
drain from the transmitter-receiver circuit during use. Additionally, a
capacitor blocks direct current once the handset is lifted off the switch
hook.
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TRANSMITTER
The transmitter in a telephone, typically located in the
handset's mouthpiece, is a miniature microphone. It
transforms the speaker's voice vibrations into changes in
the direct current within the phone's circuit. In earlier
carbon transmitters from the 1880s, sound vibrations
altered the electrical resistance within a carbon granule
layer, while modern electret transmitters, developed in
the 1970s, employ a thin plastic sheet with a conductive
coating to create variations in voltage, which are then
amplified for transmission.
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RECEIVER
The telephone receiver, located in the earpiece of the handset,
functions based on electromagnetic principles established during
Alexander Graham Bell's time. It comprises two key components: a
permanent magnet with coils of insulated wire wound around pole
pieces and a diaphragm supported near the pole pieces. Fluctuating
electric currents in the coils alter the attraction between the magnet
and diaphragm, causing the diaphragm to vibrate and produce sound
waves. Over the years, this electromagnetic system has been
continually enhanced, with a common design introduced in 1951
utilizing a piston-driven diaphragm for efficient response across a
broad frequency range. Telephone receivers are optimized to
accurately reproduce tones with frequencies ranging from 350 to 3,500
hertz, which adequately encompasses the range of normal speech.
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ANTI-SIDETONE
CIRCUIT
The anti-sidetone circuit, composed of transformers, resistors, and
capacitors, serves several functions, with its primary purpose being
the reduction of sidetone, which is the distracting effect of hearing
one's own voice through the telephone receiver. It achieves this
reduction by using a transformer to split the transmitter signals into
two paths, which, when they meet, largely cancel each other out.
Simultaneously, the speech signal from the other end of the line
proceeds unimpeded through the transformer, and the circuit also
ensures efficient current flow by matching the impedance of the
telephone instrument's circuits to that of the telephone line.
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PUBLIC SWITCHED
TELEPHONE NETWORK
(PSTN)
PSTN is the foundation for traditional landline
phone service, but with the advent of digital
and internet-based telecommunication
technologies, it has gradually been replaced by
more modern systems like Voice over IP
(VoIP). reallygreatsite.com
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TELEPHONE SYSTEMS CONSIST OF

THREE MAJOR ELEMENTS:
• Switching, between telephone sets and between trunks, as required.

• Signaling, between the telephone sets and the central offices as well as between central offices
when needed.

• Transmission, between the central switching office and subscribers’ telephone sets and also
between central offices.
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SWITCHING SYSTEM
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MANUAL SWITCHING
In the early days of the telephone, it was more practical to
connect different telephone instruments to a central
switching point, known as a telephone exchange, rather
than running wires between all the instruments. The first
telephone exchange, established in 1878 in New Haven,
Connecticut, allowed up to 21 customers to connect with
each other through a manually operated central
switchboard. This switchboard used jacks and flexible
cords to interconnect lines, enabling efficient
communication between customers.
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AUTOMATIC SWITCHING
ELECTROMECHANICAL SWITCHING
The Electromechanical switching systems are a
combination of mechanical and electrical switching types.
The electrical circuits and the mechanical relays are
deployed in them. The Electromechanical switching
systems are further classified into the following:

• Step-by-step or Strowger
• Cross bar
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AUTOMATIC SWITCHING
ELECTRONIC SWITCHING
Electronic switching systems are controlled by processors or computers that manage call routing
based on programmed instructions, a concept known as Stored Program Control (SPC). These
systems can be expanded by altering the control program. Electronic switches use either Space
Division Switching (dedicated path for the entire call) or Time Division Switching (sampled speech
signal values transferred at fixed intervals), which can be analog or digital. In digital time division
switching, sampled values may be binary coded and transmitted, with options for Space Switching
(simultaneous transfer) or Time Switching (values stored and transferred at intervals), and it can also
use a combination of space and time switching techniques.
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SIGNALING SYSTEM
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SIGNALING SYSTEM
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TRANSMISSION
SYSTEM
 FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL TRANSMISSION - Until the early 1980s the
bulk of long-distance transmission was provided by analog systems in which individual telephone
conversations were stacked in four-kilohertz intervals across the transmission band—a process known
as frequency-division multiplexing (FDM). However, particularly with the development of fibre optics
(see below), these analog systems were rapidly replaced by digital systems. In digital transmission,
which may also be carried over the coaxial and microwave systems, the telephone signals are first
converted from an analog format to a quantized, discrete time format. The signals are then multiplexed
together using time-division multiplexing (TDM), a method in which each digitized telephone signal
is assigned a specific slot within a fixed time frame. In order to provide standard interfaces between
transmission and switching equipment, multiplexed signals are further combined or aggregated in
hierarchical arrangements.
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COAXIAL CABLE
Long-distance coaxial cable systems were
introduced in the United States in 1946.
Employing analog FDM methods, the first
TRANSMISSION
coaxial system could support 1,800 two-way
voice circuits by bundling together three SYSTEM
working pairs of cable, each pair
transmitting 600 voice signals
simultaneously. In the last analog coaxial
system, deployed in 1978, each pair of
cables transmitted 13,200 voice signals, and
the cable bundle contained 10 working pairs;
this combination supported 132,000 two-
way voice circuits. Digital coaxial systems
were introduced into the U.S. long-distance
network beginning in 1962. TDM, a digital
cable system first deployed in 1975, can
support up to 40,320 two-way voice circuits
over 10 working pairs of coaxial cable.
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MICROWAVE LINK

Long-distance transmission via point-to-point

microwave systems, introduced in 1950, offers
TRANSMISSION
advantages such as not requiring continuous
land access along the system's path. These
SYSTEM
systems are line-of-sight and require radio
towers spaced approximately every 42 km (25
miles). They operate in various frequency
ranges, including 3.7–4.2 gigahertz and 5.925–
6.425 gigahertz, with capacities evolving from
analog systems supporting 2,400 two-way
voice circuits to digital systems that can
accommodate a wide range of digital services
available over the Public Switched Telephone
Network (PSTN).
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OPTICAL-FIBRE CABLE
Optical fibers have become the preferred
choice for both short and long-distance TRANSMISSION
transmission systems since their initial use in
1979 due to their wide bandwidth, reliability, SYSTEM
and cost-effectiveness. Advances in fiber optics
since 1990, including non-zero-dispersion
fibers, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, and
tunable lasers, have enabled high-speed data
transmission. Wave division multiplexing
(WDM) and dense wave division multiplexing
(DWDM) technologies have allowed for data
rates of up to 400 gigabits per second,
equivalent to thousands of voice circuits, and
are widely used by long-distance carriers
worldwide, following standards like
SONET/OC in the United States and SDH
elsewhere.
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 OVERSEAS
TRANSMISSION
TERRESTRIAL RADIO TRANSMISSION
Extending telephone service to other countries
and continents was a longstanding goal, but
transmitting calls across the ocean to Europe
SYSTEM
required innovative solutions. Transatlantic
telegraph cables had been in use since 1866,
but they couldn't support voice transmission
due to bandwidth limitations. In 1927, regular
transatlantic telephone service was achieved
using radio, initially operating on long-wave
frequencies, and within a year, it supported
11,000 calls. Additional circuits were added in
a higher frequency range by 1929, marking
progress in international telecommunications.
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UNDERSEA CABLE
To accommodate the growing number of transatlantic telephone
calls, undersea cable technology was developed, featuring
amplifiers or repeaters placed at intervals along the cable. The
TRANSMISSION
first transatlantic cable, laid in 1956 between Canada and
Scotland, used analog frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) to SYSTEM
support voice circuits. Subsequent generations of cables with
increasing voice channel capacity were deployed between 1956
and 1983.

Time assignment speech interpolation (TASI) was introduced to

enhance voice channel capacity by using natural speech pauses
for additional conversations. In the late 1980s and early 2000s,
optical fiber cables significantly impacted undersea
communication, enabling high-quality data transmission at high
rates. The TAT-14 program, established in 2001, connected the
United States, France, Germany, Denmark, and the United
Kingdom with a high-capacity undersea cable, making TASI
unnecessary for increasing voice circuit capacity over undersea
cables.
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SATTELITE
In the 1960s, as transatlantic cables were being
TRANSMISSION
installed, satellite communication emerged. Telstar 1,
launched in 1962, was a pioneering communication
SYSTEM
satellite that served as a repeater in low Earth orbit,
supporting television signals and telephone
conversations. Geostationary satellites, like Syncom 2
launched in 1963, solved the problem of ground
station visibility and offered greater capacity.
However, they introduced signal delays, which, along
with undersea cables, limited their use for common-
carrier telephone communication in many regions.
Nevertheless, geostationary satellites are still
employed to support voice and data traffic where
optical fiber connections are unavailable.