The Public Switched

Telephone Network (PSTN)

Importance of Telephony

 Official name: the Public Switched Telephone

Network
 New technologies revolutionizing “plain old
telephone service” (POTS)
 More options are bringing more complex
elements
 WANs are based on telephone technology and
regulation

2
The Main Elements of the PSTN

Customer Premises Equipment

Access System
Transport Core
Signaling
Figure 6-1: Elements of the Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)

1. Customer Premises Equipment 1. Customer Premises Equipment

4
Figure 6-1: Elements of the Public Switched
Telephone Network (PSTN), Continued

The Access System consists of

the access line to the customer
(called the local loop)
and termination equipment at the end office
(nearest telephone office switch)
2. 2.
Access Line Access Line
(Local Loop) (Local Loop)
2. & 3. End office
Switch (Class 5)

5
Figure 6-1: Elements of the Public Switched
Telephone Network (PSTN), Continued

3. Transport Core

3.
Switch 3. Trunk
Line

The Transport Core connects end office

switches (5 classes, with 1 being highest).
Trunk lines to connect switches.

6
Figure 6-1: Elements of the Public Switched
Telephone Network (PSTN), Continued

4. Signaling System
(SS7 in the U.S.)

Signaling is the control of calling

(setup, teardown, billing, etc.)

Transport is the actual transmission of voice

7
Figure 6-1: Elements of the Public Switched
Telephone Network (PSTN), Continued

 Recap
 Customer premises equipment
 Access system
 Local loop and termination equipment at the end
office switch
 Transport Core
 Transport is the carriage of voice

 Signaling
 Signaling is the control of calling

8
Figure 6-2: Circuit Switching

A circuit is an
end-to-end connection
between two subscribers.
Capacity is reserved on all trunk lines
and switches along the way.

9
Figure 6-3: Time Division Multiplexing
(TDM)
Time

Frame 1 Frame 2 Frame 3

Used Used Used Used Used

Slot 1 Slot 1 Slot 1

for for for
Slot 2
Circuit A Circuit A Circuit A
for
Circuit B
Slot 3
TDM reserves capacity
for
for each circuit in each frame;
Circuit C
assures speed but is wasteful
10
Figure 6-4: Voice and Data Traffic

Full-Duplex (Two-Way) Circuit

Voice Traffic:
Fairly Constant Use of Capacity;
Circuit Switching is Fairly Efficient

11
Figure 6-4: Voice and Data Traffic, Continued

Full-Duplex (Two-Way) Circuit

Data Traffic:
Short Bursts, Long Silences;
Circuit Switching is Inefficient for Data Traffic

12
Figure 6-5: Dial-Up Circuits Versus Private
Line Circuits

Dial-Up Circuits Private Line Circuits

Point to Point? Yes Yes

Operation Dial-up. Circuit only Permanent circuit.

lasts for duration of Always on
each call
Speed for Carrying Up to 56 kbps 56 kbps to gigabit
Data speeds
Number of Voice One Several due to
Calls per Circuit Multiplexing

13
Figure 6-6: Local Loop Technologies

Technology Use Status

1-Pair Voice-Grade Residences Already installed

UTP
2-Pair Data-Grade Businesses for high- Must be pulled to the
UTP Speed access lines customer premises
(this is expensive)
Optical Fiber Businesses for high- Must be pulled to the
Speed access lines customer premises
(this is expensive)

14
Figure 6-7: Analog Telephone
Transmission

Analog
(Analogous)
Signal

Sound
Wave

In digital transmission, state changes abruptly.

In analog transmission, state (loudness) changes smoothly over time,
analogously to the way voice amplitude changes

15
Figure 6-8: The PSTN: Mostly Digital with
Analog Local Loops

Today’s Telephone Network: Predominantly Digital

Local Local
Loop Loop
(Analog) Switch (Digital)
(Digital)

Residential Trunk Line PBX

Telephone Switch (Digital) Switch (Digital)
(Analog) (Digital) (Digital)

16
Figure 6-9: Codec at the End Office Switch

End Office

Analog Digital
ADC Digital
Signal Switch
Internal
Signal
Codec

Local Loop
DAC
Home
Telephone

The codec at the end office translates between

analog customer signals and digital internal signals

17
Figure 6-10: Frequency Division Multiplexing
(FDM) in Microwave Transmission

Frequency
Channel 1 / Circuit A

Channel 2 / Circuit D

Channel 3 / Circuit C

Channel 4 / unused

Channel 5 / Circuit E

In FDM, each circuit is sent in a separate channel.

If channel bandwidth is large, there will be fewer channels.
Voice uses 4 kHz channels to allow more channels.

18
Figure 6-11: Analog-to-Digital Conversion (ADC):
Bandpass Filtering and Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)

Bandpass Filtering
Analog
Analog Electric
Voice Signal
Signal

Subscriber
Filter at End Office Switch

Bandpass filtering to limit voice to 4 kHz

is carried out at the end office switch.

19
Figure 6-11: Analog-to-Digital Conversion (ADC):
Bandpass Filtering and Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)

Bandpass Filtering
Signal

Energy Distribution for

Human Speech

0 Hz 300 Hz 3,400 Hz 20 kHz

Bandwidth (3.1 kHz)

The human voice can produce sounds up to 20 kHz,

but most sound is between 300 Hz and 3.4 kHz.
The bandpass filter only passes this sound to reduce bandwidth.
20
 Figure 6-11: Analog-to-Digital Conversion (ADC):
Bandpass Filtering and Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)

PCM

Analog Duration of Sample

Signal (1/8000 sec.)
Signal
Amplitude

0
Sample Time

In Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), the bandwidth is assumed to be 4

kHz. This adds “guard bands” to the actual 300 Hz - 3.1 kHz signal

21
 Figure 6-11: Analog-to-Digital Conversion (ADC):
Bandpass Filtering and Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)

PCM

Analog Duration of Sample

Signal (1/8000 sec.)
Signal
Amplitude

0
Sample Time

A signal must be sampled at twice its highest frequency (4 kHz) for

adequate quality. In PCM, there are 8,000 samples per second

22
 Figure 6-11: Analog-to-Digital Conversion (ADC):
Bandpass Filtering and Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
In each 1/8000 second sample, the intensity of the
sound is measured.
255 (maximum)
The intensity is divided by the maximum value (255).
The result is changed into an 8-bit binary number.
Analog
Signal Signal So for 125/255, 125 is expressed as 01111101.
Amplitude

0
Sample Time
Intensity of Sample
(125/255 or 01111101)
23
Figure 6-11: Analog-to-Digital Conversion (ADC):
Bandpass Filtering and Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)

 The Math
 The signal is assumed to be 0 Hz – 4 kHz
 It must be sampled 8,000 times per second (2x4
kHz)
 Each sample generates an 8-bit amplitude level
 So voice codecs using PCM generate 64 kbps of
data (8,000 x 8)

24
Figure 6-12: Digital-to-Analog Conversion
(DAC)
One
Sample
One 8-bit
Sample

00000100 00000011 00000111

Generated Arriving Digital Signal

DAC
Analog Signal (8000 Samples/Second)

For signals going to the customer,

sample bits are converted to amplitude levels for each sample.
With 8,000 samples per second, will sound smooth to the ear.

25
Figure 6-13: TDM and ATM Switch
Connections in the PSTN Transport Core
Transport Core

Point-to-Point
SONET/SDH
TDM
Ring
Trunk Line

Traditionally, the transport core used

TDM trunk lines—both point-to-point
and ring trunk lines

26
Figure 6-14: SONET/SDH Dual Ring

1. Normally, One Ring is Used in Each Ring

Telephone Telephone
Switch Switch

SONET/SDH Ring

Telephone
Switch
2.
Rings Can Be Break
Wrapped if a
Telephone
Trunk line
Switch
Is Broken. SONET/SDH Ring
Still a Complete
Loop.
27
Figure 6-13: TDM and ATM Switch
Connections in the PSTN Transport Core
Transport Core

ATM
Network

Increasingly, the transport core is moving to

ATM packet-switched trunking.
ATM offers strong QoS and
strong management capabilities; packet
switching reduces cost, even for voice.
28
Figure 6-15: Cellular Telephony

Mobile Telephone
PSTN
Switching Office
Cellsite
G
Channel D K
47
B H N
A E L P
O
C I Handoff
F M
J
29
Figure 6-15: Cellular Telephony, Continued

Mobile Telephone
PSTN
Switching Office
Cellsite
G
D K

Service area is divided intoBcells. H N

A
Cellsite in each cell communicates E L P
with cellphones. C I O
MTSO controls all cellsites, F M
links cellular system to PSTN.
J
30
Figure 6-15: Cellular Telephony, Continued

Mobile Telephone
PSTN
Switching Office
Cellsite
G
Channel D K
47
B H N
A E L P
C I O
Why cells? F M
So channels can be reused in different cells.
Channel reuse allows more customers J
to be supported. 31
Cellular Technology

 Handoff
 Moving between cells in a system (city)

 Roaming
 Moving between systems (cities)
 Often restricted to avoid cellular fraud

32
Channel Reuse

 Traditional cellular technologies

 Used FDMA, sometimes with TDMA within channels
 Could not reuse channels in adjacent cells
 Typically, a channel is reused roughly every seven
cells
 So if there are 25 cells, each channel will be reused
about three times
B H
A E
Ch 47 Ch 47
C D
33
Channel Reuse, Continued

 Newer cellular systems use CDMA

 Code division multiple access
 Type of spread spectrum transmission that allows
multiple subscribers to transmit simultaneously in a
single channel
 Allows channel reuse in adjacent cells
 If there are 25 cells, each channel can be reused
25 times
 CDMA supports many more customers because of
greater channel reuse
34
Figure 6-16: Generations of Cellular
Technology

Generation 1G 2nd 3G

Year 1980 1990 2002

Technology Analog Digital Digital

Data transfer
30 kbps to
Data Transfer Rate is difficult; 10 kbps
500 kbps
~5 kbps

35
Figure 6-16: Generations of Cellular
Technology, Continued
Generation 1G 2nd 3G

Still being
defined;
Channels ~800 ~800+2,500 using 2G
channels in
the interim

Large /
Large / Still being
Cells / Channel Reuse Medium and
Medium defined
Small / High

Being
Dominates Just being
Perspective phased
today implemented
out

36
Figure 6-16: Generations of Cellular Technology,
Continued

 1G was analog, fading

away
 2G dominates today. Digital
but slow data transmission
 3G will bring rapid data
transmission over a
metropolitan area

37
Figure 6-17: Cellular Standards Families
(Study Figure)

 GSM Family
 GSM (Global System for Mobile communications)
 Dominates 2G service worldwide
 200 kHz channels shared by up to eight users
via TDM
 Data transmission speed of approximately 10
kbps

38
Figure 6-17: Cellular Standards Families
(Study Figure), Continued

 GSM Family
 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
 Upgrade to GSM
 Uses GSM channels
 Provides several TDM time slots per user in each
frame for greater throughput
 2.5G: Typical throughput of 20 kbps to 30 kbps
 Comparable to telephone modems

39
Figure 6-17: Cellular Standards Families
(Study Figure), Continued

 GSM Family
 EDGE
 Upgrade to GSM beyond GPRS
 Also uses GSM channels with multiple time slots
per user
 2.5G: Typical throughput of 80 kbps to 125 kbps

40
Figure 6-17: Cellular Standards Families
(Study Figure), Continued

 GSM Family
 W-CDMA
 Wideband CDMA
 Full 3G service
 Throughput comparable to DSL and cable
modems
 Developed in Europe and Japan

41
Figure 6-17: Cellular Standards Families
(Study Figure), Continued

 Qualcomm CDMA Family

 CDMAone (IS-95)
 2G system used widely in the United States
 Used by about 70% of cellphones in the U.S.
 Uses CDMA
 125 MHz channel shared by multiple
simultaneous users
 10 kbps data transmission

42
Figure 6-17: Cellular Standards Families
(Study Figure), Continued

 Qualcomm CDMA Family

 CDMA2000 (IS-2000) Upgrades
 1x: 30 kbps to 50 kbps throughput in a 1.25 MHz
channel
 Only modem throughput

 Considered to be 3G because rated speed is

144 kbps
 1xEV-DO: 100 kbps to 300 kbps throughput
 DSL/Cable modem throughput

43
Perspective

 2G Service (Dominant Today)

 Only 10 kbps data transfer

 Telephone Modem Throughput (2.5 G)

 GPRS and Edge in GSM Family
 1x in Qualcomm CDMA Family

 DSL/Cable Modem Throughput

 WCDMA in GSM Family
 1x EV-DO in Qualcomm CDMA Family

44
802.11 Hot Spots

 Hot Spots
 Coffee houses, airport lounges, campus centers, etc.
 Offer Internet access via 802.11 WLANs
 Sometimes for free, sometimes for a fee
 Growing in popularity and coverage
 Hot spots are impeding demand for 3G services,
which have wide coverage but that are both slower
and more expensive

45
U.S. Cellular Telephony Lag

 The U.S. lags behind many other countries in cellular

telephone use.
 U.S. wired telephone charges are low, making the
price gap to get a cellular phone high
 In the U.S., when someone calls a cellular number,
the receiver pays. In the rest of the world, the caller
pays. This further makes cellular service expensive
in the United States

46
IP Telephony (VoIP)

 IP telephony is the transmission of digitized

voice over IP
 Also called voice over IP (VoIP)

 Packet switching should reduce costs

compared to traditional long-distance and
international telephone calling
 Can integrate voice with data services,
allowing new applications

47
Figure 6-18: IP Telephony

User either has…

PC with IP telephony software
Or
IP telephone with built-in
codec and IP functionality;
PC with Plugs directly into an IP network
IP Telephony
IP
Software
Internet

IP Telephone
with
Codec and
PSTN
IP Functionality

48
Figure 6-18: IP Telephony, Continued

Media Gateway
Connects IP telephony system to the PSTN.
Does signaling and transport format
conversion.

IP
Internet Media
Gateway

PSTN

49
Figure 6-19: Speech Codecs

Codec Transmission Rate

G.711 64 kbps
G.721 32 kbps Several
different codecs
G.722 48, 56, 64 kbps can be used.
G.722.1 24, 32 kbps
Vary in
G.723 5.33, 6.4 kbps compression
G.723.1A 5.3, 6.3 kbps and sound
G.726 16, 24, 32, 40 kbps Quality.

G.728 16 kbps
G.729AB 8 kbps

50
Figure 6-20: IP Telephony Protocols

Signaling: H.323 or SIP

(Call setup, breakdown, etc.)

Codec Data RTP UDP IP

Stream Hdr Hdr Hdr

Transport
(Voice Transmission)
PC with IP IP Telephone
Telephony Software (Can connect
directly to wall jack)

51
IP Telephony Transport

 UDP (User Datagram Protocol)

 Used at the transport layer instead of TCP
 Efficient
 No opens, closes, ACKs

 So creates less delay, load on the network

 Unreliable
 No error correction

 OK because there is no time to retransmit voice

packets
 Receiver “interpolates” between received packets

52
IP Telephony Transport, Continued

 RTP (Real Time Protocol)

 RTP Header is used to improve voice signal

 Contains a sequence number so that voice packets

can be put in order even if unreliable IP and UDP
deliver them out of order

 Contains a time stamp so that the spacing of sounds

in adjacent packets can be handled well
 Reduces “jitter” (variability in latency)

53
Regulation and Carriers

 Regulation
 Carriers: carry signals between customer premises

 Rights of Way: government permission to lay wire

 Monopoly: service was originally provided by a

single telephone carrier

 Regulation: This monopoly carrier was regulated to

prevent abuse of the monopoly

54
Regulation and Carriers, Continued

 Deregulation
 Deregulation: remove protections & restrictions
 To increase competition, lowering prices
 Varies by country
 Varies by service within countries
 Data, long-distance, and customer premises
deregulation is high.
 Local voice service deregulation is low.

55
Regulation and Carriers, Continued

 Carriers
 Public Telephone and Telegraph (PTT)
authority is the traditional domestic
monopoly carrier in most countries.
 Domestic transmission: within a country
 UK: British Telecoms
 Japan: NTT
 Ireland: Eircom

56
Figure 6-21: Telephone Carries in the United
States, Continued

 Carriers LATA

 In the United States

 U.S.
is divided into regions called local
access and transport areas (LATAs)
 About 200 LATAs nationwide
 Small states have just one LATA
 Large states have 10 to 20 LATAs

57
Figure 6-21: Telephone Carries in the United
States, Continued

LATA LEC
 Carriers
ILEC CLEC
 In the United States
 Local exchange carriers (LECs) provide service
within a LATA
 Incumbent LEC (ILEC) is the traditional
monopoly carrier in the LATA
 Competitive LEC (CLEC) is a new
competitor

58
Figure 6-21: Telephone Carries in the United
States, Continued

IXC
 Carriers LATA LATA
 In the United States
 Inter-exchange carriers (IXCs) provide
service between LATAs

 LEC versus IXC distinction is used by data

carriers as well as voice carriers

59
Mix and Match Quiz

 A. Geographical  1. IXC
Region

 B. Carrier within  2. LEC

a region

 C. Carrier  3. LATA
Between
Regions
 4. CLEC

60
Figure 6-21: Telephone Carries in the
United States, Continued

 Carriers
 In the United States
 Point of Presence (POP) is a place in a
LATA where all carriers interconnect to
provide integrated service to all
customers
LATA
POP
ILEC IXC
CLEC IXC

61
Figure 6-21: Telephone Carries in the United
States, Continued

 International Service (Between Pairs of

Countries)
 Provided by international common carriers
(ICCs)
 Allowed carriers, prices, and conditions of
service are settled through bilateral
negotiation between each pair of countries

Country 1 ICC Country 2

62
Figure 6-21: Telephone Carries in the United
States, Continued

 U.S.
 Intra-LATA
 LECs
 ILEC
 CLECs
 Inter-LATA
 IXCs

 Most of the World

 PTTs for domestic service

 ICCs for Service Between Countries

63
Main Elements of the PSTN

 Customer premises equipment

 Access system
 Access line (local loop), termination equipment

 Transport core
 Signaling
Note:
Transport versus Signaling
Is Fundamental

64
Circuit Switching

 Reserved capacity all along the path between

subscribers
 Typically implemented by TDM
 Wasteful for bursty data transmission
 Dial-up versus Private Line Circuits
 Private line circuits are always on and fast

65
Analog-Digital Conversion

 Residential local loop is analog

 The rest of the PSTN is digital
 At the end office switch
 Bandpass filtering to limit signal to 300 Hz to 3.1 kHz
 Codec to convert analog signal into 64 kbps digital
stream
 Codec also converts digital telephone company
signals into analog signals for local loop

66
Analog-Digital Conversion

 Pulse Code Modulation

 Bandpass filtering to limit signal to 300 Hz to 3.1 kHz
 Treated as 4 kHz signal (0 Hz – 4 kHz)
 8,000 samples per second
 Twice highest frequency for good quality

 8 bits per sample

 256 loudness levels is good

 64 kbps data stream (8,000 x 8)

67
Transport Core and Signaling

 Transport Core
 TDM: point-to-point and ring
 SONET uses dual rings for reliability
 If there is a break, the rings are wrapped

 ATM uses packet switching

 More efficient than TDM, replacing TDM

 Signaling
 SS7 in the United States, C7 in Europe
 Interoperable

68
Cellular Telephony

 Multiple cells for channel reuse

 Supports more subscribers with limited bandwidth
 The whole reason for cellular operation
 Channel reuse better for CDMA

 Generations
 1G: analog, being phased out
 2G: dominates today; only 10 kbps for data
 3G: for faster data transmission (telephone modem
or DSL/cable modem speed)
69
IP Telephony

 Send voice over IP

 More efficient than TDM
 Promises to lower long-distance and international
calling charges

 Multiple codecs give choices

 Signaling uses SIP or H.323
 Transport uses UDP and RTP to carry data
streams
70
Regulation and Carriers

 Carriers and rights of way

 Regulation and deregulation
 In most countries, PTTs provided monopoly
domestic service
 In the U.S., LATAs, ILECs and CLECs for intra-
LATA service, IXCs for inter-LATA service
 ICCs for international service

71