Telecommunication Engineering

Course: ETE 4215

Md. Tarek Hassan

Lecturer
Dept. of ETE
Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology
(RUET)
 Today’s Agenda

1.Strowger Switching System

2.Pulse Dialing Concept
3.Rotary Dialing and its principles

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 Strowger Switching System
Automatic switching systems have a number of advantages over the manual
switching systems. A few important ones are:
▪ In a manual exchange, the subscriber needs to communicate with the operator and a
common language becomes an important fact. In multilingual areas this aspect may
pose problems. On the other hand, the operation of an automatic exchange is language
independent.
▪ A greater degree of privacy is obtained in automatic exchanges, as no operator is
normally involved in setting up and monitoring a call.
▪ Establishment and release of calls are faster in automatic exchanges. It is not unusual in
a manual exchange, for an operator to take quite a few minutes to notice the end of a
conversation and release the circuits. This could be very annoying particularly to the
business subscribers ho may like to make a number of calls in quick succession.
▪ In a automatic exchange, the time required to establish and release a call remains more
or less of the same order irrespective of the load on the system or the time of the day. In
a manual systems, this may not true.
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Rotary Dial Telephone

In manual exchanges, a calling subscriber may communicate the identity of the

called subscriber in a natural and informal language to the operator.

For example, a called subscriber may be identified by his name or profession or

designation. In an automatic exchange, informal communication is not possible
and a formal numbering plan or addressing scheme is required to identify the
subscribers.

Numbering plan, in which a subscriber is identified by a number, is more widely

used than addressing scheme in which a subscriber is identified by alphanumeric
strings. A mechanism to transmit the identity of the called subscriber to the
exchange is now required at the telephone set.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Rotary Dial Telephone

Types of Dialing

Pulse Dialing Multifrequency Dialing

A train of pulses is used to represent a In touch tone phone, the sound made
digit in the subscriber number when pressing a number key by
subscriber

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Pulse Dialing Concept
In this form of dialing, a train of pulses is used to represent a digit in the subscriber
number. The number of pulses in a train is equal to the digit value it represents except
in the case of zero which is represented by 10 pulses. Successive digits in a number are
represented by a series of pulse trains. Two successive trains are distinguished from one
another by a pause in between them, known as the interdigit gap. The pulses are
generated by alternately breaking and making the loop circuit between the subscriber
and the exchange.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Pulse Dialing Mechanism
In introducing dial pulsing mechanism in the telephone set, the following points
have to be considered:

1. Since the pulses are produced by make and break of the subscriber loop,
there is likelihood of sparking inside the telephone instrument.

2. The transmitter, receiver and the bell circuits of the telephone set may be
damaged if the dialing pulses are passed through them.

3. The dialing habits of the users vary widely and hence all timing aspects
should be independent of user action.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Rotary Dialing Mechanism

A rotary dial telephone uses the following for implementing pulse dialing:

▪ Finger plate and spring

▪ Shaft, gear and pinion wheel
▪ Pawl and ratchet mechanism
▪ Impulsing cam and suppressor cam or a trigger mechanism
▪ Impulsing contact
▪ Centrifugal governor and worm gear
▪ Transmitter, receiver and bell by-pass circuits

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Rotary Dialing Mechanism

Figure: Finger Plate Arrangement

Figure: Impulsing Mechanism of Rotary Dial

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Rotary Dialing Mechanism

Figure: Impulsing Circuit of a Rotary Dial Telephone

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Signaling Tones
A number of signaling functions are involved in establishing, maintaining and releasing
a telephone conversation. These functions are performed by an operator in a manual
exchange.

In automatic switching systems, the verbal signaling of the operator is replaced by a

series of distinctive tones. Five subscriber related signaling functions are performed by
the operator:

1. Respond to the calling subscriber to obtain the identification of the called party.
2. Inform the calling subscriber that the call is being established.
3. Ring the bell of the called party. -
4. Inform the calling subscriber, if the called party is busy.
5. Inform the calling subscriber, if the called party line is unobtainable for some
reason
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Signaling Tones: Dial Tone

A dial tone is a telephony signal sent by a telephone exchange or private branch

exchange (PBX) to a terminating device, such as a telephone, when an off-hook
condition is detected. It indicates that the exchange is working and is ready to
initiate a telephone call

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Signaling Tones: Ringing Tone

Ringing tone (audible ringing, also ring back tone) is a signaling tone in
telecommunication that is heard by the originator of a telephone call while the
destination terminal is alerting the receiving party.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Signaling Tones: Busy Tone

A busy signal in telephony is an audible call-progress tone or audible signal to the calling
party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection of that particular
telephone call. The busy signal has become less common in the past few decades due to
the prevalence of call waiting and voicemail
The called number is talking with another caller on the phone. The number is calling out.
Someone else has called the number or is calling the number at the same time. The other
line was left off-hook.
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Signaling Tones: Unobtainable Tone

A tone that indicates that the status of an end instrument or station is such that a
normal ringing tone is not obtainable for that end instrument or terminal for any of
various reasons, such as circuit disconnection, circuit outage, or circuit blocking.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Signaling Tones: Call in Progress Tone

In telephony, call progress tones are audible tones that provide an indication of the
status of a telephone call to the user. The tones are generated by a central office or
a private branch exchange (PBX) to the calling party.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Strowger Switching Components

In the Strowger system, there are two types of selectors which form the building
blocks for the switching system:

▪ Uniselector
▪ Two-motion selector

These selectors are constructed using electromechanical rotary switches

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Strowger Switching Components

Figure: Drive Mechanism of Rotary

Switch.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Strowger Switching Components
A Uniselector is which has a single rotary switch with a bank of contacts.
Typically, there are four banks of which three are used for switching and the
fourth one is used for homing. The three switching banks have 25 or 11 contacts
each. The first contact in each bank is known as the home contact and the
remaining as switching contacts.
The proper functioning of a Uniselector is dependent on a number of factors:

▪ Energizing current level

▪ Inertia of the moving switching system
▪ Friction between wipers and bank contacts
▪ Friction in drive assembly
▪ Tension in restoring springs
▪ Adjustment of interrupter contacts.
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching
A step-by-step switching system maybe constructed using Uniselector or two-
motion selectors or a combinatio2 of both. The wiper contacts of these selector
move in direct response till pulses or other signals like off-hook from the
subscriber telephone. The wiper steps forward by one contact at a time and
moves by as many contacts (es as many steps) as the number of dial pulses
received or as required to satisfy certain signaling conditions.

Hence the name "step-by-step switching" given to this method. Most of the
necessary control circuits are built in as an integral part of the selectors, thus
enabling them to receive and respond to user signaling directly. The relevant
signaling tones arc sent out to the subscriber by the switching elements
(selectors) at the appropriate stages of switching. Thus, a step-by-step switching
system or direct control system.
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching

The line equipment part consists of selector hunters or line finders and the other
two parts consist of sectors. The selector hunters and line finders represent two
fundamental ways in which a subscriber gains access to common switching
resources.

As the name implies, a selector hunter searches and seizes a selector from the
switching matrix part. There is one selector hunter for each subscriber. Usually 24
outlet Uniselectors are used as selector hunters.

The selector hunter scheme is sometimes called subscriber Uniselector scheme as

them is a dedicated Uniselector for each subscriber in the system.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching

As the name. implies, a line finder searches and finds the line of a subscriber to
be connected to the first selector associated with it. Line Finders are built using
Uniselector or two-motion selectors. The line equipment part is also known as
preselector stage. The selector hunters and line finders are generically referred to
as preselectors.

The switching matrix part consist of one or more sets of two-motion selectors
known a first group selector, second group selector, and so on. The larger the
exchange size, the lager is the number of group selector stages.

The connector part comprises one set of two motion selectors known as final
selectors.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching

In se1ctor hunter based approach, when a

subscriber lifts his handset the interrupter
mechanism in his selector hunter gets activated and
the wiper steps until a free first group selector is
found at the outlet.

Then, the first selector sends out a dial tone to the

subscriber via the selector hunter which simply
provides an electrical path. The first selector is now
ready to receive the dialing pulses from the
subscriber.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching
In designing large exchanges, some practical limitations are encountered in both the
above schemes of gaining access to switching resources.

Large exchanges are characterized by a large number of subscribers and first group
selectors. It is not possible to provide a large number of outlets in the selector hunters
or line finders such that any first group selector is accessible by any subscriber.
Usually, subscribers are connected in groups of 100 to different sets of line finders
which use two-motion selectors. Similarly, sets of selector hunters are connected to
different groups of 24 first selectors each. Line finder and selector hunter approaches
are advantageous for different sizes of the exchanges.

If the exchange is small and the volume of traffic low, line finder approach is
economical. For large exchanges with fairly heavy traffic, the selector hunter
approach is more cost effective.
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching
When the subscriber starts dialing, the first selector cuts off the dial tone and receives
the pulse train corresponding to the first digit dialed by the subscriber.

If the called subscriber is free, as sensed from a signal at the corresponding bank
contact, the final selector sends out a ringing current to the called subscriber and a
ringing tone to the calling subscriber.

When the called subscriber lifts his handset, the ringing current and.t.one are cut off
and the call metering circuits are enabled by the control circuits associated with the
final selectors.

If the called subscriber is busy, the final selector sends out a busy tone to the calling
subscriber.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching
The control functions in a Strowger system are performed by circuits associated with
the selectors, control and supervisory signals are carried from stage to stage by
means of contact's in one of the banks.

All the selector control circuits are composed of one or more of the following basic
circuits:

▪ Guarding Circuit
▪ Impulsing circuit
▪ Homing circuit
▪ Metering circuit
▪ Ring-trip circuit
▪ Alarm circuit
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching

Guarding Circuit

The guarding circuit is an essential feature of all the selectors. It guards the selector by
making it busy as soon as it is seized, lest some other selector involved in setting up
another call may also seize it.

Impulsing Circuit

The impulsing circuit is an essential part of all those selectors which have to respond
to dialing pulses. It is used in group and final selectors, but not in line finders or
selector hunters. This Circuit is usually designed around three relays: one fast acting
and the other two slow acting.
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching
Homing Circuit
In the case of Uniselector, the necessity of homing arises only for the calling
subscriber Uniselector. The called subscriber Uniselector is already in the home
position.

Homing operation requires a finite time, and it must be ensured that a hunting selector
may not seize a selector which is in the process of homing. Thus, the provision of
guarding earth during homing is an integral feature of the homing circuit.
Metering Circuit

Metering circuit is a special feature of the final selectors. It registers a call against the
calling party as soon as the called party answers. The circuit drives a meter containing
a simple ratchet-operated counting mechanism with a capacity of 4 to 5 digits.
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Step by Step Switching
Ring Strip Circuit

Ring-trip circuit is a part of the final selectors. The attention of the called subscriber is
drawn by ringing the bell of his telephone set. At the same time, a ringing tone is sent
out from the final selector to the calling subscriber. Both the ringing current and the
ringing tone are cut off by the ring-trip circuit as soon s the called party answers the
call.

Alarm Circuit

Alarm circuits provide visual and audible indications of any fault or undesirable
condition creeping into the selector circuits. Three types of faults are usually detected:
off-hook condition, called-subscriber-held, and release held.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Design Parameters
When considering the design of a switching system, a number of design alternatives
and options may be available. For example, a Strowger switching system may be
designed entirely on the basis of Uniselectors or two-motion selectors, or a
combination of both. It then becomes necessary to compare and evaluate designs to
choose from the alternatives. Design parameters assist us in this process.

The switching network is a major component of any switching system. It is mainly

composed of switching elements and the associated circuits. As a result, the cost of the
switching network is directly proportional to the number of switching elements in the
network.

Hence, a good design must attempt to minimize the number of switching elements in
the system. When considering the total switching systems, there are other cost
elements
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Design Parameters
Every switching system is designed to support a certain maximum number of
simultaneous calls, which we call as the switching capacity. In most of the designs, the
entire switching resources are not utilized even when the switching capacity is fully
utilized. Part of the resources remains idle. The fraction of the hardware actually used
under full load conditions is an index of the design. These factors into account, we
now enumerate the design parameters;

1. Number of subscriber lines, N

2. Total number of switching elements, S
3. Cost of the switching system, C
𝐶 = 𝑆 × 𝐶𝑠 × 𝐶𝑐 × 𝐶𝑐ℎ
𝐶𝑠 = cost per switching element
𝐶𝑐 = cost of the common control system
𝐶𝑐ℎ = cost of the common hardware
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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Design Parameters
The common hardware is usually a small proportion of the total hardware except for
the power supplies and its cost is of the same order in different comparable designs.
Hence, we ignore 𝐶𝑐ℎ in most of our calculations.
Switching Capacity, SC
Traffic Handling Capability, TC

𝑆𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 2(𝑆𝐶)

TC = =
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑁

Equipment Utilization Factor, EUF

𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝐶 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑

EUF =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Design Parameters

▪ Number of switching stages, K

▪ Average switching time per stage, 𝑇𝑠𝑡
▪ Call setup time, 𝑇𝑠

EUF = T𝑠𝑡 × 𝐾 × 𝑇0

where 𝑇0 is the time required for functions other than switching. To is a significant
quantity in common control systems where control functions are separated from
switching functions. In Strowger (direct control system) system, 𝑇0 may be ignored.

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 Strowger Switching System
❖ Design Parameters

▪ Cost Capacity Index, CCI

𝑆𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑁(𝑆𝐶)

𝐶𝐶𝐼 = =
𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝐶

Problem 01: A telephone exchange has the following parameters: number of

subscriber line is 200, total number of switching elements is 25 and cost of the
switching is 130. Calculate cost capacity index, CCI.

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 Strowger Switching System
100 Line Switching System

A 100-line switching system can serve up to 100 subscribers. A 100-line Strowger

switching system may be configured in a variety of ways.

Simple line diagrams known as trunking diagrams are used to represent the
configurations of switching systems. For computing the cost of different designs, we
assume that the cost of a Uniselector is one unit and that of the two-motion selector is
two units.

elementary configuration for a 100-line Strowger switching system using 10-outlet

Uniselectors is shown in the upcoming figure. The configuration has two stages

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 Strowger Switching System
100 Line Switching System See Figure 2.9
In the first stage, there are 100
Uniselectors, one for each subscriber.
The second stage has 10 or more
Uniselectors. The second stage outlets
arc folded back to the corresponding
inlets via suitable control circuitry (not
shown in the figure for the sake of
simplicity).

Usually, each subscriber line is

terminated on a relay group at the -
exchange. The relay group contains all
the necessary circuits for the control of
the switching mechanism.

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 Strowger Switching System
100 Line Switching System

Functions like testing, switching and

return of the tones arc done b y the relay
groups.

Similarly, outlets from the first stage are

terminated on relay groups at the input of
the second stage.

The four banks of the Uniselectors serve

to provide positive, negative, P-wire and
homing connections.

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 Strowger Switching System
100 Line Switching System

The design parameters for this design are:

▪ Total number of switching elements, S = 110

▪ Switching Capacity, SC = 10
▪ Number of Switching Stages, K = 2
▪ Traffic Handling Capability, TC = 0.2
▪ Equipment Utilization Factor, EUF = 0.18
▪ Cost Per Subscriber Line, C = 110
▪ Cost Capacity Index, CCI = 9.09

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 Strowger Switching System
100 Line Switching System
In this design, blocking may occur under two conditions:

▪ The calls are uniformly distributed, 10 calls are in progress and the 11th one
arrives.
▪ The calls are not uniformly distributed, a call is in progress and another call
arrives, which is destined for a number in the same decade.

The blocking probability PB in the first case is dependent upon the traffic statistics. If
we assume a random distribution of calls in the second case, we can calculate PB as

▪ Probability that there is a call in a given decade = 10/100

▪ Probability that another call is destined to the same decade but not to the same
number = 9/98

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 Strowger Switching System
100 Line Switching System: Assignment Problems

Example 2.1: In a 1000-line exchange, the number range 000-299 is allotted to

business subscribers. Forty percent of these subscribers in each group of 100 are
active during peak hours. The number range 300-999 is allotted to domestic
connections. Ten percent of the domestic subscribers are active in each group at
any time. Estimate the total number of final selectors required.

Example 2.2: In Example 2.1, if the probability of more than 40 per cent business
customers being active is f101 and the probability of more than 10 per cent of the
domestic customers being active is 0.05, estimate the blocking performance of the
exchange. Assume that switching stages other than final selector stage are
designed to he nonblocking.

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 Strowger Switching System
Exercise Problems: Assignment

❑ In a 100-line Strowger exchange using 100 two-motion selectors, show the

trunking diagram when the subscriber 85 establishes a connection to subscriber
58. How does the diagram change if the call is initiated by subscriber 58?

❑ A 1000-line exchange has 24 group selectors and 20 final selectors. How many
simultaneous calls can be put through this exchange? How many simultaneous
calls in the number range 200-299 can be put through if final selectors are
uniformly distributed?

❑ A 1000-line exchange has 24 group selectors and 50 final selectors uniformly

distributed. How many simultaneous calls can be put through the exchange?
How many simultaneous calls in the range 200-299 can be put through?

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Strowger Switching System

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