Establishing telecommunications call paths between clustered switching entities
First Claim
1. In a telecommunications switching system or cluster comprising a plurality of switching modules or switching systems, apparatus comprising:
- means for converting first output signals to second output signals, each said first output signal comprising a plurality of synchronous pulse code modulated (PCM) signals received from said switching modules or systems, each said first output signal for carrying a plurality of PCM channels, each said second output signal comprising a plurality of composite packets transmitted periodically, and each composite packet comprising bytes of a plurality of PCM channels of said first output signals, the PCM channels of each composite packet having a common means for converting third output signals into PCM signals as a destination; and
means for switching each composite packet of said second output signals to one of a plurality of third output signals, each said third output signal for transmission to a means for convertning a third output signal into PCM signals for transmission to ones of said plurality of switching modules or systems;
wherein each of said second and said third output signals comprise Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) signals and said plurality of periodically transmitted composite packets are a plurality of composite ATM cells;
wherein said plurality of composite ATM cells each carries a plurality of bytes, each byte representing one PCM signal of one channel, and wherein each of said plurality of composite ATM cells carries only a single byte of any channel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In accordance with the principles of this invention, Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) signal streams are converted into Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cells for switching and transmission across a telecommunications network. Each cell carries one PCM sample of up to 48 different voice connections, the voice connections selected from the PCM data streams because they have a common destination. The cells are transmitted over ATM virtual circuits, each circuit transmitting one cell every 125 μs. Advantageously, ATM transmission systems interface with PCM systems without adding appreciable delay and without requiring additional buffering. Advantageously, new voice paths can be established most of the time by using available slots in the cells of existing virtual paths. This application relates to the use of the principles of this invention for implementing a large switching system or a cluster of highly interconnected smaller systems.
283 Citations
4 Claims
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1. In a telecommunications switching system or cluster comprising a plurality of switching modules or switching systems, apparatus comprising:
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means for converting first output signals to second output signals, each said first output signal comprising a plurality of synchronous pulse code modulated (PCM) signals received from said switching modules or systems, each said first output signal for carrying a plurality of PCM channels, each said second output signal comprising a plurality of composite packets transmitted periodically, and each composite packet comprising bytes of a plurality of PCM channels of said first output signals, the PCM channels of each composite packet having a common means for converting third output signals into PCM signals as a destination; and means for switching each composite packet of said second output signals to one of a plurality of third output signals, each said third output signal for transmission to a means for convertning a third output signal into PCM signals for transmission to ones of said plurality of switching modules or systems; wherein each of said second and said third output signals comprise Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) signals and said plurality of periodically transmitted composite packets are a plurality of composite ATM cells; wherein said plurality of composite ATM cells each carries a plurality of bytes, each byte representing one PCM signal of one channel, and wherein each of said plurality of composite ATM cells carries only a single byte of any channel.
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2. In a telecommunications switching system or cluster comprising a plurality of switching modules or switching systems, apparatus comprising:
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means for convening first output signals to second output signals, each said first output signal comprising a plurality of synchronous pulse code modulated (PCM) signals received from said switching modules or systems, each said first output signal for carrying a plurality of PCM channels, each said second output signal comprising a plurality of composite packets transmitted periodically, and each composite packet comprising bytes of a plurality of PCM channels of said first output signals, the PCM channels of each composite packet having a common means for converting third output signals into PCM signals as a destination; and means for switching each composite packet of said second output signals to one of a plurality of third output signals, each said third output signal for transmission to a means for converting a third output signal into PCM signals for transmission to ones of said plurality of switching modules or systems; wherein each of said second and said third output signals comprise Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) signals and said plurality of periodically transmitted composite packets are a plurality of composite ATM cells; wherein said first output signals further comprise packetized data signals, and wherein said means for converting first output signals to second output signals further comprise means for converting said packetized data signals into variable bit rate (VBR) ATM cells of said second output signals. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
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Specification