Section 1: Introduction To Isdn, Atm and Broadband Transmission

INTRODUCTION TO ISDN, ATM AND BROADBAND TRANSMISSION
SECTION 1
COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-1

Introduction
This Information Factory course "Introduction to ISDN, ATM and Broadband
Transmission" is a continuation of our earlier course "Introduction to Digital
Transmission." In the first course we described how the world's telephone
networks were moving from their analog transmission methods onto a completely
digital transmission network. In this training course we are going to describe how
the telephone networks are extending the digital interfaces into the customer's
homes and offices under a new service called "Integrated Services Digital
Network" or ISDN.
We will begin here in Section 1 by describing how the existing telephone network
has been changing from an analog network into an all digital network. It is
necessary to look first at the existing network and its changes in order to
understand how they form the basis for the future ISDN and eventually the
Broadband or B-ISDN network.

Telephone Systems and Networks

The modern ISDN networks are being built on the existing telephone networks
worldwide and as a result many of the views of the network and many of its
principles are based on the same ideas. As an example, when you picked up a
telephone and dialed a call, the call was connected through a series of relays or
"stepper switches" as shown in Figure 1.1 (below).
Digits are Connected

as Dialed Through
these Steppers
Phone goes
Off-Hook and
Dials Call
Second Digit
Each Stepper can

handle only One
Call
Line Finder First Digit
Figure 1.1 Mechanical Telephone Switching
Notice that the process of making a telephone call involves more than just talking.
The caller takes the phone off-hook, dials the call, listens to the ringing and finally
talks when the far end phone is answered.
In the original mechanical telephone systems as shown in Figure 1.1 (above), all
of the work of setting up the call was handled by the same relays that transmitted
the voice. This meant when you picked up the phone and dialed a call, the
stepper switches were being tied up as each digit was entered.

In the 1930's, telephone system manufacturers started to build switching systems

that broke out the functions of setting up a call from the parts that switched the
call or transmitted the voice. Figure 1.2 is an example of the organization of a
Crossbar Telephone Switch. In this system the call was not put through the
network until the full number was entered by the caller.
Accepts The Number

And Computes the
Connection Routing
Incoming Register
Incoming Register
Common Control
Incoming Register
Store The Number

As It Is Dialed
Crossbar
Frame
Makes The Physical

Connection Between
The Telephones
Figure 1.2 Crossbar Switching System
In the crossbar switch the first improvement was the addition of registers which
held the number being dialed. When the phone went off-hook, an available
register was connected to that telephone and the caller heard dial tone. As the
call was being dialed the digits are held in the Incoming Register. After the last
digit is dialed, the Incoming Register passes the number to the Common Control
which analyses the number and computes a path through the network to the
remote telephone.
The connections for the call were then made in matrices called Crossbar Frames.
Because these were matrices, multiple simultaneous calls could be in progress

through a single crossbar frame.
The telephone system Common Control was one of the earliest versions of a
computer system. The common control could look at a telephone number and the
available trunks and compute primary or alternate routes for a telephone call.
The ability to apply the common control and registers to the processing of a
telephone call came about when the network was broken down into functions
which could be analyzed and improved separately.
The Functions in a Telephone Call

The telephone network can be represented as three functions:
Moves the
Number across
the Network
Provides Ringing,
Dial Tone, Busy
and other
Progress Signals
Figure 1.3 Signaling
Signaling - Provides the mechanism for moving numbers across the network
to set up connections and provides progress signals like Dial Tone, Ringing
or Busy.

Makes the
Connection
Between the
Telephones
Figure 1.4 Switching
Switching - Which provides the ability to connect any two telephones for the
duration of the call.
Transmission carries
the Voice from end
to end and keeps it
Understandable
Figure 1.5 Transmission
Transmission - Which moves the voice signal from one telephone to another
and keeps it understandable.
This concept of looking at the function of the network in layers is important

because it carries over into the ISDN networks where each function is being
separated into its own systems.
Also by layering the network, parts of it could be improved without swapping out
all of the systems or equipment. In fact the transition of the world's telephone
network from carrying voice calls to an all digital network has been going on for
many years.


Digital Transmission
The use of digital transmission systems began in the United States in about 1963
when the telephone companies installed a system called T1. The original use for
T1 had been to replace the old analog transmission systems that connected the
central offices.
As shown in Figure 1.6 the links between central offices had been based on an
analog carrier system called "L-Carrier." This system multiplexed several voice
channels using Frequency Division Multiplexing techniques.
Voice Lines
Voice Signals
are Multiplexed
Onto L-Carrier
Telephone
Switch
Multiplexer
L-Carrier Cable
Was Usually Installed
In Underground Ducts
Figure 1.6 Inter-Office L-Carrier Systems
L-Carrier provided a method for the telephone companies to put multiple signals
on one cable but, it had several disadvantages:
• It used analog transmission techniques which were susceptible to noise

each time the signal was amplified.
• It used a special coaxial cable which was different for each version of L-
Carrier.
• It had to be taken off-line for maintenance or testing.

The first task of the digital transmission systems in the United States and Europe
was to replace the analog transmission systems used between the telephone
company switching offices. In this case the L-Carrier Multiplexing Systems were
replaced with T1 Channel Banks (or E1 Channel Banks in Europe) as shown in
Figure 1.7.
Up to 24 Voice
Lines on T1
30 on E1
Voice Signals
are Digitized
and Multiplexed
onto Copper
Telephone
Wires
Switching
System T1/E1
Channel
Bank
Two Pairs of
Copper Wires
Carry One T1 or E1
Circuit
Figure 1.7 T1/E1 Channel Bank in Central Office
The trunk lines from the switching system were brought into the T1 Channel bank
and converted into digital signals for transmission. In the T1 system, 24 voice
channels were carried on a 1.544 megabit per second digital data stream. In the
E1 system, 30 voice channels were carried on one 2.048 megabit per second
data stream. Digital transmission eliminated many of the problems that L-Carrier
had including:
• It used plain copper wires rather than special coaxial cables.
• The digital transmission system was less susceptible to transmission

noise.
• The system could perform self-diagnostics and automatically switch to

back up units.
Digital transmission provided a great improvement in the quality of long distance

telephone calls. The effect on the network was very noticeable as digital
transmission replaced the old analog interoffice trunks. The use of these digital
systems was a cost saving for the telephone company due to the automatic
maintenance and high reliability of digital transmission. In fact the maintenance
and cost savings provided a great incentive for the telephone companies to switch
over to digital systems.
The main problem at this point was that the telephone switches were still based
on analog switching techniques. This meant that the telephone signal had to be
converted between analog and digital as it passed through each office switching
system as shown in Figure 1.8.
Digital
Transmission
Analog
Analog Signal Switching
From Phone Systems
Figure 1.8 Digital Conversion Across the Network
This conversion back and forth introduced an error in the digital conversion called
"quantizing" noise. This quantizing noise limited the number of times a signal
could be digitized and converted back to analog.
Digital Switching
The next step for the telephone companies was to replace their analog switching
systems with all digital switching systems. This meant the voice could be carried
through the network in digital form eliminating the need for conversion at each
switching and transmission point.
In the mechanical switching systems, a relay or stepper switch was used to make
the physical connections through the network. In effect there was a wire path
from one telephone to another (refer back to Figure 1.1).

Digital Switching systems are based on the use of electronic matrix switches.
The switches are usually based on the same digital signals as the T1 and E1
transmission systems which means they switch the signals in eight bit groups of
data equivalent to one voice sample.
Input
Lines
Matrix Switch
Counter
Output
Lines
Figure 1.9 Matrix Switch
As shown in Figure 1.9, the digital switching matrix has several input and output
lines and a counter. The counter provides the timing for the digital multiplexing
time slots. To provide a connection, the input and output lines are assigned a
common number or time slot as shown in Figure 1.10. In our example we will use
the number five (5).

Matrix Switch
Counter
3
5
Number 5 Slot
Assigned to
these Lines 5
Figure 1.10 Assigning a Time Slot
The attached counter rotates through its count until it reaches five (5), and at that
time the input and output lines are connected as shown in Figure 1.11. While the
two lines are connected, eight binary bits representing one voice signal sample
are passed across the connection.

Connection
Enabled
Matrix Switch
Counter
5
5
5 Binary Sample
goes through
connection
10101101
Figure 1.11 Data Passing Through Connection
As the counter advances, it will come to the number five (5) and at that time a
connection between the input and output line will be made. While the connection
is established, eight binary bits or one voice sample will pass through the matrix.
When the counter advances to six (6), the connection will be dropped and another
matrix connection established.
Most of the telephone switching built today use the same technique of switching
the signal in eight bit binary samples (one octet). This allows them to switch voice
signals in the standard digital form found on the T1 and E1 carrier systems. In
these carrier systems, the voice is usually sampled 8,000 times per second and
with one eight bit sample each time, this is a total of 64,000 bits per second. As a
result the matrix must provide a time slot for eight bits every 1/8000 th of a
second.
To build large switching systems, multiple matrices are placed in series and
parallel as shown in Figure 1.12. Notice that the matrix switches are ganged
together so that the first group switches the first digit, the second group the
second digit and on. This grouping is similar to the way the stepping switches
were arranged in Figure 1.1.

Matrix 1n Matrix 2n
Matrix n1
Matrix n2
Matrix n3
Figure 1.12 Grouping Matrix Switches into a Switching System
When the first digital switching systems were installed, they were mainly used on
the long distance lines. The effect on the network was very noticeable to the
telephone users because calls had a much higher signal quality and the delays
due to call set up and switching disappeared.

Signaling
While the telephone companies were converting to digital switching and
transmission, they also began to convert their method of providing network
signaling. Signaling is the function that provides control and information over the
progress and connection of calls. The most noticeable things about signaling are:
• Tones provided for call progress such as:

Dial Tone
Busy (called number engaged)
Ringing
All Circuits Busy (all circuits busy retry later)
• The transfer of the dialed digits across the network
In the old mechanical switching network, the signaling was carried on the same
lines as the voice signal. This meant when you dialed a telephone number, a
trunk was seized and used to attempt the call. The trunk line was in use to carry
the dialed number and to bring the ringing or busy signal back to the caller (as
shown in Figure 1.13).
Tones like Ringing

and Busy Sent
Central Back Across the
Office Trunks or Circuits
Dial Pulses
or Tones Moved
Across Voice Long
Trunks or Circuits Distance
Switch
Central
Office
Figure 1.13 In-Band Signaling
The telephone company doesn't make any revenue from the call unless it is
answered (the remote phone goes off-hook). If the call was never answered or

encountered a busy signal, then no money was made from the attempt. As can
be seen the old "in-band" signaling was terribly inefficient.
In the 1970's telephone companies began deploying a new signaling system

called "Common Channel Inter-Office Signaling" or "Common Channel Signaling"
or CCIS for short. In this new signaling system the telephone signaling is carried
on separate channels and is referred to as "out-of-band" signaling.
As shown in Figure 1.14, the new central offices are connected by transmission
systems which carry the inter-office trunks. These trunks are only used to carry
the telephone calls once a connection has been established. A separate set of
communications links is provided to carry the signaling between the central
offices.
Information on
Ca Number Called
ll D Sent as a Message
ata
Message Gives
Call Progress such
as Ringing
Central
Office Rin
gin
g
Separate Channels
Provided for Signaling
Long
Distance
Switch
Central
Office
Figure 1.14 Common Channel or Out-Of-Band Signaling
Figure 1.15 through Figure 1.17, shows the steps involved in a telephone call
using CCIS:
1. When a phone goes off-hook, it receives dial tone from the local
switching system.

2. After the caller dials in the number, the common control at the local
Central Office generates a message for the remote or called number.
The message is passed across the network via the signaling channels.
2 Number
1
Central Long Central

Office Distance Office
Switch
Figure 1.15 Call Set Up Starting
3. At the remote end the switch verifies that the number is available and
starts ringing the phone.
4. The remote switch also returns a message back to the originating switch.
5. The message tells the originating switch to provide the ringing signal for
the caller. If the called number had been busy, the remote switch would
have returned a message that let the local switch generate a busy (or
engaged) signal.
4 Phone
Ringing
5
3
Office Distance Office
Switch
Figure 1.16 Phone Starts Ringing
6. When the remote telephone is answered, a message is sent to notify the

network.
7. The message tells the all of the switches on the network to set up a trunk
to handle the telephone call.
8. The conversation takes place across the trunk line.
7 Phone
Answered

Office Distance 8 Office
Switch
Figure 1.17 Call Completed and Trunk Set Up
The Common Channel Signaling is based on the use of a communications

network that uses a message switching protocol (similar to the protocols used on
computer networks). Because this is a message network, the telephone switches
can not only send call progress signals, they can also use the signaling network
for sending maintenance messages, routing table updates and performing remote
diagnostics on the health of the network or the telephone switches.
The use of Common Channel Signaling on telephone networks has given

telephone companies a large improvement in:
• Revenues - Since trunks are not actually used unless the call is answered,
the number of trunk circuits to support the network is reduced and the
average revenue per trunk increases.
• Set Up Time - The average time from the end of dialing to the called phone
starts ringing is significantly reduced. With the old signaling system, calls
could take up to ten or fifteen seconds before ringing would start. Now
calls begin ringing in one to two seconds.
Since the signaling on the network has been moved off of the telephone trunks
and switches, it is easier to make changes to signaling.

Summing Up the Improvements

At this point we need to summarize the improvements that have been made to the
telephone network.
(refer to Figure 1.18)
First, the telephone companies converted their inter-office transmission systems

from analog to digital carrier systems.
Second, the telephone switching systems used in long distance and end offices
were converted from mechanical and analog switching to electronic digital
switching.
Third, a separate signaling network was established to improve the efficiency of

connecting calls.
Telco Telco
Common Channel
Signaling
Digital
Switching
Systems
Telco
Telco
Digital
Transmission Local Loop
Still Analog
Figure 1.18 Improvements in Telephone Network
The telephone network now separates the functions of switching, transmission

and signaling. This has made the network modular so that any of these areas can
be upgraded without having to change equipment or systems in the other areas.
The only missing piece in this puzzle, is the requirement to provide an all digital
network into the customer's home or office. This means that when a telephone

call is made, the telephone company still has to deal with analog transmission and
in-band signaling conversion on the wires or local loop to the customer.
ISDN The Next Generation

The next step would be to convert the links into your home or office into digital
transmission. The telephone companies have been at work on this conversion to
digital under a set of standards called "Integrated Services Digital Network" or
"ISDN."
As the names implies, this is not just a telephone network but, a network of
"Integrated Services" that will provide access to a full range of digital
communication for voice, video, multimedia and data communications. In fact the
telephone company can be thought of as a "digital company."
What we will show in the balance of this course is how ISDN will provide a
connection that allows the customer to access the network digitally. Also the
ISDN network will extend a part of the telephone company signaling system into
the customer's premises to allow them a new level of control over incoming and
outgoing calls.

SUMMARY SECTION 1
Let's summarize what we learned in Section 1 about where the telephone network
has come from and how it is moving toward an all digital network.
First we covered the way the telephone network used to work with the mechanical
switching of calls.
Second, we talked about how the telephone network can be looked at as layers
that control the functions of switching, transmission and signaling.
Third, we showed how these functions of transmission, switching and signaling

have changed the internal network to make it more a "digital network" with only
the analog link into the customer's office missing from a totally end-to-end digital
network.
Finally we introduced the concept of ISDN which will provide an all digital network
for the customer.

Terms to Review Section 1

CCIS - See Common Channel Inter-Office Signaling.
Common Channel Inter-Office Signaling - The method that allows telephone

companies to separate their signaling from voice transmission by
placing it into its own transmission channel.
Common Channel Signaling - See Common Channel Inter-Office Signaling.
Common Control - The Common Control is the computer or "heart" of a telephone

switching system. The main function of the common control is to
route and connect the telephone calls. Modern telephone systems
use computer based common controls with stored programs that
give a large number of features and options for routing telephone
calls.
E1 - The standard for digital transmission systems in Europe is based on

the CEPT standards sometimes called the E Standards. E1 is the
lowest rate of CEPT transmission at 2.048 megabits per second.
The E1 system carries 30 voice channels, one signaling channel
and one framing channel.
Integrated Services Digital Network - The ISDN network is the next generation of
telephone network where all signals are carried in digital format right
into the subscribers home or office. The intent is that the new
network can be used for more services such as high speed data or
multimedia.
ISDN - See Integrated Services Digital Network.
Local Loop - The pair of wires that connect the telephone system to a home or
office. Generally one pair of wires (or one loop) is one telephone
line.
Signaling - Signaling is the process that moves the information for call routing
and network progress. Call routing would be the dialed number and
other information. Network progress are the signals like dial tone,
ringing and busy.
Switching - Switching is the process of connecting the telephone calls across

the network.

Transmission - Transmission refers to the process of moving the voice signals

across the telephone network. The measure of a good transmission
system is that it will make the voice understandable enough so that
the listener can identify the speaker.
T1 - The standard for digital transmission systems in the United States

and Canada is based on the ANSI T1 standards which were derived
from the Western Electric Company standards. T1 is the lowest
rate of transmission at 1.544 megabits per second. The T1 system
carries 24 voice channels.

Questions For Review Section 1
1. The Common Control improved the telephone network by?
2. What does the function of Signaling do in a telephone call?
3. How many voice channels are carried on T1 digital links?
4. Why was digital transmission an improvement over analog transmission?
5. Why was Common Channel Signaling an improvement for the network?

Answers For Review Section 1
1. The Common Control improved the telephone network by?
The Common Control removed the routing and contorl of the

telephone system into a stored program computer. This computer
allowed numbers to be dialed into registers rather than tying up the
switching equipment and circuits.
2. What does the function of Signaling do in a telephone call?
Signaling provides the communciations between the parts of the

network. It sends the numbers, provides progress tones and notifies
of the call status.
3. How many voice channels are carried on T1 digital links?
The North American T1 can carry 24 standard voice channels.
4. Why was digital transmission an improvement over analog transmission?
With analog transmission the amplification of signals also amplified

noise, digital system use a regeneration technique that eliminates
most noise. Digital systems could also be tied into automatic
maintenance equipment.
5. Why was Common Channel Signaling an improvement for the network?
The Common Channel Signaling or CCIS moved the signaling out of

the voice channel. This allowed swicthes to look ahead before
connecting calls that may go to busy or unavailable numbers. This
look ahead made a vast improvement in the utilization of network
trunks.

For Further Study

The following are some additional things that can be done to improve your
understanding and expand your knowledge of how the telephone network works.
1. Look at the telephone equipment in your office today and contrast this
equipment with the changes over the past twenty years. Most if all not all
rotary dial telephones have disappeared from desktops and been replaced
by push button dialing. If your office has a PBX, ask for a tour of the
equipment room and have someone show you:
a. How are the trunks brought to your office? ON a fiber optic cable? On
wires as individual trunks? Or, through a digital transmission system
using T1 or E1 multiplexing?
b. What is the brand and type of PBX? Is the PBX digital all of the way to
the telephone? Can you PBX support ISDN?
2. Contact your telephone company request a tour of the central office that
serves your office. Ask if your telephone company has any mechanical
switching systems still in operation and if they do, ask to see and contrast
it with a modern central office.
3. Find out if any of the telephone companies provide ISDN to offices and
homes in your area. If they don't have ISDN, ask about their plans and
what features they expect to offer.

End Of Section 1
This completes Section 1 of our course Introduction To ISDN, ATM And
Broadband Transmission. If you are having trouble with the material, we suggest
that you review the videotape for Section 1. If you feel confident with the subject
matter, go on to Section 2.

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INTRODUCTION TO ISDN, ATM AND BROADBAND TRANSMISSION

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-1

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-2

Telephone Systems and Networks

Digits are Connected

Each Stepper can

Line Finder First Digit

Figure 1.1 Mechanical Telephone Switching

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-3

In the 1930's, telephone system manufacturers started to build switching systems

Accepts The Number

Store The Number

Makes The Physical

Figure 1.2 Crossbar Switching System

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-4

through a single crossbar frame.

The Functions in a Telephone Call

Figure 1.3 Signaling

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-5

Figure 1.4 Switching

Figure 1.5 Transmission

This concept of looking at the function of the network in layers is important

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-6

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-7

Figure 1.6 Inter-Office L-Carrier Systems

• It used analog transmission techniques which were susceptible to noise

• It had to be taken off-line for maintenance or testing.

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-8

Figure 1.7 T1/E1 Channel Bank in Central Office

• It used plain copper wires rather than special coaxial cables.

• The digital transmission system was less susceptible to transmission

• The system could perform self-diagnostics and automatically switch to

Digital transmission provided a great improvement in the quality of long distance

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-9

Figure 1.8 Digital Conversion Across the Network

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-10

Figure 1.9 Matrix Switch

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-11

Figure 1.10 Assigning a Time Slot

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-12

Figure 1.11 Data Passing Through Connection

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-13

Figure 1.12 Grouping Matrix Switches into a Switching System

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-14

• Tones provided for call progress such as:

• The transfer of the dialed digits across the network

Tones like Ringing

Figure 1.13 In-Band Signaling

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-15

In the 1970's telephone companies began deploying a new signaling system

Figure 1.14 Common Channel or Out-Of-Band Signaling

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-16

Central Long Central

Figure 1.15 Call Set Up Starting

Figure 1.16 Phone Starts Ringing

6. When the remote telephone is answered, a message is sent to notify the

COPYRIGHT 1996 the INFORMATION FACTORY 1-17

8. The conversation takes place across the trunk line.