ESS UNIT 1 Part A
ESS UNIT 1 Part A
TECHNOLOGY
Electronic Switching
Systems
By
G.Sattibabu
Dept of Electronics and Communication Engineering
Aditya College of Engineering & Technology
Surampalem.
Aditya College of Engineering and Technology
Introduction:
The world has undergone many changes since the evolution of man. For instance,
the exchange of information was initially in the form of signs and sounds.
The communication from one place to another which called for distance between
individuals was carried through letters; sent by pigeons and between two groups
through drum beats or semaphores.
This transitioned to the language and script form with advanced inventions.
Telecommunications
Evolution of Telecommunications
Switching Systems
This network connection cannot be simply made with telephone sets and
bunch of wires, but a good system is required to make or break a
connection.
This system is known as the Switching System or the Switching Office or
the Exchange.
With the introduction of the switching system, the subscribers instead of
getting connected directly to one another, are connected to a switching
office and then to the required subscriber.
The following figure will help you understand the switching system.
All the subscribers need to have a connection with the switching system, which makes or
breaks any connection, requested by the calling subscriber.
The switching system, which is also called the Telephone Exchange, takes care of establishing
the calls. Hence, the total number of such links is equal to the number of subscribers connected
to the system.
It should also enable the switching system to detect whether a called subscriber is busy and if
so, indicate the same to the called subscriber.
The functions performed by a switching system in establishing and releasing connections are
known as Control Functions.
The early systems required manual operations to establish telephone calls. An operator used to
receive a call from the calling subscriber and then connect the call to the called subscriber. Later
on, the system was automated.
Telephone Model
The following figure will help you to understand the model of telephones in
the early stage of its invention.
When you see the telephone in the above
figure, the dialer part and the microphone
are connected to a stationary wooden
plank; and the speaker to listen, was
connected by a wire at the side.
The top portion of the telephone has two
bells connected - these bells ring when
there is an incoming call. This is one of
the earlier models of the telephone.
The telephone sets of the calling subscriber and the called subscriber are
connected through a switching system or a telephone exchange in order
to establish the calls requested.
Early switching systems were manual and operator oriented. Limitations of operator manned
switching systems were quickly recognised and automatic exchanges came into existence.
Automatic switching systems can be classified as electromechanical and electronic.
Electromechanical switching systems include step-by-step and crossbar systems. The step-by step
system is better known as Strowger switching system after its inventor A.B. Strowger.
The control functions in a Strowger system are performed by circuits associated with the switching
elements in the system. In crossbar systems, the control functions are disassociated from the
switching elements and placed in a separate subsystem called common control subsystem.
The common control subsystems are hard-wired using relays and latches. These subsystems have
limited capability and it is virtually impossible to modify them to provide additional functionalities.
In electronic switching systems, the control functions are performed by a computer or a processor.
Hence, these systems are called stored program control (SPC) systems.
New facilities can be added to a SPC system by changing the control program.
The switching scheme used by electronic switching systems may be either space division
switching or time division switching.
In space division switching, a dedicated and an exclusive switching path is established
between the calling and the called subscribers for the entire duration of the call whereas in
time division switching, the same switching path may be shared by more than one
subscriber pair.
A crossbar switching system with SPC qualifies as an electronic exchange.
Time division switching may be analog or digital. In analog switching, the sampled voltage
levels are transmitted as they are, whereas in digital switching, they are binary coded and
transmitted.
If the coded values are transferred during the same time interval from input to output, the
technique is called space switching.
If the values are stored and transferred to the output at a later time interval, the technique
is called time switching.
ESS G. Sattibabu, ECE Dept. 30/01/2025
Aditya College of Engineering and Technology
Switching Networks
Switching Network
ESS G. Sattibabu, ECE Dept. 30/01/2025
Aditya College of Engineering and Technology
Switching Networks
The links that run between the switching systems are called trunks, and those
that run to the subscriber premises are known as subscriber or local
lines.
The number of trunks may vary between pairs of switching systems and is
determined on the basis of traffic between them.
The switching network came into being when switching systems installed in
different localities of a city were interconnected using trunk lines to form an
intra-city network.
Later, the concept was extended to connecting switching systems located at
different cities, giving birth to long distance telephony.
The first commercial intercity connection was operationalised between New
York and Boston in 1884.
The first transcontinental trunk connected New York city to San Francisco in
1915, and the first intercontinental connectivity using short wave radio became
ESS
operational in 1927 between New
G. Sattibabu, ECE Dept. York and London.
30/01/2025
Aditya College of Engineering and Technology
Communication Links
A telephone switching network is made up of
switching systems, trunks, subscriber lines
and telephone instruments.
Trunks and subscriber lines are essentially
communication links which carry
information signals from one point to
another.
There are basically only two forms of
communication links—electrical and optical.
Typical electrical and optical communication
links are depicted in Figure. In the former,
information is conveyed by means of
electrical energy, and in the latter, by means
of light energy.
ESS G. Sattibabu, ECE Dept. 30/01/2025
Aditya College of Engineering and Technology
Simple telephone
communication
L
V
Microphon
e
Earphon
e
□ m < 1.
□ i = Io( 1 + m sin wt )
□ Carbon microphone acts as amplitude
modulator.
ESS □ m should be small
G. Sattibabu, ECE Dept. to avoid harmonic
30/01/2025
Aditya College of Engineering and Technology
Simple telephone
communication
□ Inductor :
□ Acts as high impedance element for voice.
□ Permits DC to flow from microphone and
speaker.
□ Voice goes from microphone to speaker .
□ Earphone:
□ Converts electrical to voice signal.
□ Electro magnate with magnetic diaphragm.
□ Air gap between diaphragm and poles.
□ Voice current through electro magnet exerts
variable force on diaphragm.
□ Diaphragm vibrates and produces sound.
□ Condition for faithful reproduction:
□ Diaphragm displacement in one direction only.
□ Quiescent current provides this bias.
Earphon Earphon
e e
□ At Receiver:
□ Received current flows through L1
and L2 in same direction inducing
additive field.
□ Additive signal induces in L3.
□ Strong received signal in
earphone.
ESS
Aditya College of Engineering and Technology
A major component of a switching system or an exchange is the set of input and output circuits called
inlets and outlets, respectively. The primary function of a switching system is to establish an electrical
path between a given inlet-outlet pair.
The hardware used for establishing such a connection is called the switching matrix or the
switching fabric. Sometimes, the term switching network is used to denote the switching
hardware inside the switching system.
Figure (a) shows a model of a switch with N inlets and M outlets. When N = M, the switch is called a
symmetric switch.
G. Sattibabu, ECE Dept. 30/01/2025
ESS
Aditya College of Engineering and Technology
The inlets/outlets of a switch may be connected to local subscriber lines or to trunks from/to other exchanges as shown
in Figure (b).
The model of a switch shown here is the most general one and supports four different types of connections:
1. Local call connection between two subscribers in the system (Supported by folded switch)
4. Transit call connection between an incoming trunk and an outgoing trunk. (Supported by non-folded switch)
G. Sattibabu, ECE Dept. 30/01/2025
ESS
Aditya College of Engineering and Technology
BASICS OF A SWITCHING SYSTEM
When all the inlets/outlets are connected to the subscriber lines, the logical
connection appears as shown in Figure (c). In this case, the output lines are
folded back to the input and hence the switch is called a folded
switch.
All the switching exchanges are designed to meet an estimated maximum average simultaneous traffic,
usually known as busy hour traffic.
Past records of the telephone traffic indicate that even in a busy exchange, not more than 20−30 per cent of
the subscribers are active at the same time. Hence, switching systems are designed such that all the
resources in a system are treated as common resources and the required resources are allocated to a
conversation as long as it lasts.
The quantum of common resources is determined based on the estimated busy hour traffic. When the
traffic exceeds the limit to which the switching system is designed, a subscriber experiences blocking. A
good design generally ensures a low blocking probability.
1. Switching structure
2. Control subsystem
3. Signalling subsystem
When a set of one or more switching elements is turned on, a communication path is established
between an inlet and an outlet.
The switching structure ensures that there is at least one path between any given inlet/outlet
pair, i.e. full availability is ensured. The structure may be such that there are many alternative
connection paths for a given inlet/outlet pair.
Such structures provide a certain degree of fault tolerance, i.e. failure of a switching element or
an interconnecting link does not disable an inlet/outlet pair from being connected.
Early Strowger switches suffered from this disadvantage. Later designs were improved to
provide more than one alternative path.
Strowger exchanges are usually direct control systems, whereas crossbar and electronic exchanges are
common control systems. All stored program control systems are common control systems. Common control
is also known as indirect control or register control.
The control actions inside a switch are usually triggered by external events such as a subscriber going off-
hook. In this instance, it is the control subsystem that instructs the signalling subsystem to send out dial tone
on the particular subscriber line.
When the subscriber dials a number, it is the control subsystem which interprets the digits and selects the
appropriate outlet to which the subscriber inlet needs to be connected. While the switching matrix provides
the switching path, it is the control subsystem that actually turns on the appropriate switching elements and
activates the required interconnecting links to establish the path between the chosen inlet/outlet pair.
This, however, is not the case if the switching matrix is self-routing. In this
case of self-routing switching matrices, the control subsystem just presents
the outlet address at the inlet. When a subscriber goes on-hook, signalling the
end of a conversation, it is the control subsystem that initiates necessary
action to turn off the switching elements and release the switching paths.
The switching matrix does not distinguish between a subscriber line and a
trunk line. It is the job of the control subsystem to distinguish between these
lines and interpret correctly the signalling information received on these lines
or send out correct signalling information on these lines via the signalling
subsystem.
In the early switching systems, a clear separation between the control subsystem and the signalling
subsystem did not exist. The control functions inside the switch were referred to as intraexchange
or register signalling.
There is yet another form of signalling known as network wide signalling or end-to-end
signalling. This is essentially a facility provided by the signalling subsystem to allow calling and
called subscribers to exchange signalling information.
In fact, end-to-end signalling is the basis for computerised voice answering system that we commonly
come across in railway, airline or telephone enquiry services these days. Another form of end-to-end
signalling is line signalling.
Subscriber loop signalling depends upon the type of telephone instrument used at the subscriber premises.
For example, the signalling requirements of rotary dial telephone, push button tone telephone and digital
telephone are very different and the signalling formats also differ significantly.
Signalling techniques fall under two major classes: inchannel signalling and common channel
signalling (CCS).
Inchannel signalling, also known as per trunk signalling, uses the same channel which carries user
voice to pass control signals related to that call.
In contrast, CCS uses a separate common channel for passing control signals pertaining to a group of trunks or
voice channels.
CCS is a recent development in telecommunications. The concept of CCS is a powerful one and is the basis for
many value added services provided by modern telecommunication networks.
With the advent of automatic switching systems, the manual exchanges have almost gone out of use. Today,
operator assistance is required on a routine basis, only to connect the incoming calls at a private automatic
branch exchange (PABX) to the required extension numbers. Even this requirement will cease to exist with the
large scale introduction of what is known as direct inward dialling (DID)
However, a discussion of the organisation of manual exchanges would help us to understand many of the
principles of a telecommunication switching system.
In the very early switching systems, the microphone was energised using a battery at the subscriber end. Later,
a battery located at the exchange was used. Accordingly, the exchanges in two categories:
In the LB systems, dry cells were used in subscriber sets to power the
microphone. These cells have limited power output and cannot be used for
signalling over long lines to the exchange.
The necessity to replace dry cells frequently and the cumbersome procedure of rotating the
magnetogenerator led to the development of CB exchanges, where a subscriber set is energised
from a powerful central battery at the exchange.
The subscriber lines are terminated on jacks mounted on the switchboard. There is one jack for every
subscriber line. Associated with each jack is a light indicator to draw the attention of the operator.
When a subscriber lifts the hand set, the off-hook switch is closed, causing a current to flow through the
handset and the lamp relay coil. The lamp relay operates and the indicator corresponding to the subscriber
lights up.
The operator establishes contact with the subscriber by connecting the head set to the subscriber line via
the head set key and a plug-ended cord pair.
The plugs mate with the jacks. To establish contact, a cord is plugged into the subscriber jack and the key corresponding
to the chosen cord is thrown in position to connect the head set.
The ringing circuit at the subscriber end is usually a bell shown as B in Figure , with a capacitor C, in series.
They always remain connected to the circuit. The capacitor allows the alternating ringing current from the
exchange to pass through the bell but prevents the loop direct current.
If the called party is busy, the calling subscriber is told about the same. When the called party answers, his
indicator lamp lights up.
The operator then establishes a connection between the calling and the called party by plugging in the cord pair
to the called party jack.
In a manual switching system, the operator has full control of a connection. He enables the signalling
systems, performs switching, and releases a connection after a conversation.
If there are 200 subscribers terminated on a switchboard, there can be a maximum of 100 simultaneous calls.
In order to support all these calls, the switchboard must contain 100 plug ended cord pairs.
But a single operator may not be able to handle 100 calls simultaneously. It is, however, rare that all the
subscribers would like to talk simultaneously.
Assuming that only 20 subscribers (10 calls) will use the system simultaneously, the switchboard needs to be
provided with only 10 plug-ended cord pairs. What happens if more than 20 users want to talk at the same
time? The operator will not have plug-ended cords for establishing the connection and the users are blocked.
Users may also experience blocking, if the operator is not able to handle more than a certain number of calls
simultaneously even though free plug-ended cord pairs are available.
In general terms, we may say that a user experiences blocking on account of the non-availability of the
switching circuits or the control system circuits.
Every intergroup call requires two operators to establish the call. Consequently, even a small number of
intergroup calls among the switchboards demands that all boards be manned.
The need for two operators per call is avoided in the multitermination switchboard scheme. Here, every
subscriber is terminated on all the switchboards as shown in Figure 1.14.
Such an arrangement has the advantage that a single operator can establish a call between any
two subscribers connected to the system.
The system, however, has two drawbacks. First, the total number of connections in the
system increases considerably, thereby reducing the reliability of the system.
Secondly, terminating all the subscribers in all the boards, such that the terminations are
easily accessible to the operators, poses human engineering problems.
Towns and cities have high subscriber densities and relatively high traffic per subscriber
network designed for these are known as urban or metropolitan networks
Rural areas are characterized by low-subscriber densities, just one or two local exchanges are
used, these are served by rural networks
Long distance or toll or wide area networks acts as backbone networks interconnection
metropolitan and rural networks
The growth rate of telephone industry is more that of computer industry in 90’s
Companies in US that provide communication services to the public are known as common
carriers
In countries where the telecommunication authority with government known as post telegraph
& telephone (PTT)administration
In India from Jan 1985, the responsibilities were divided between two departments (DOP)
department if posts deal with mail and (DOT) department of telephone dealing with telephone
and data communication
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G. Sattibabu, ECE Dept. 30/01/2025
ESS