FR2860116A1 - Information transmission system, has diplexer simultaneously transmitting streams representing respective characteristics of telephonic conversation and Internet information, towards respective circuit and packet switched networks - Google Patents

Abstract

The system has a network termination (44) simultaneously transmitting two streams representing respective characteristics of a telephonic conversation and Internet information. A diplexer (60) connected on a telephone line (52) between the termination and an auto switch in a circuit switched network transmits the respective streams, only towards the switch and an input point in a packet switched network. The termination implements a 2 binary 1 quaternary (2B1Q) coding technique for the transmission of information. An independent claim is also included for a process of transmission of information between a subscriber of a circuit switched network and a packet switched network.

Description

The invention relates to a transmission system and method

  information between a subscriber of a circuit-switched network, and a packet-switched network, and a stream separator for implementing the system.

  More specifically, the invention relates to an information transmission system comprising: a first point of entry on the circuit switched network formed by a switch, a second point of entry on the packet-switched network; terminating network located at the subscriber, and a wired link connecting this termination to the first entry point.

  Circuit-switched networks, such as PSTN (Switched Telecommunication Networks) or ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Networks), have been developed to establish telephone conversations between individuals. In these networks, telephone conversations are carried by telephone links. The resources of these networks used to establish and maintain a telephone link between two individuals are reserved for the exclusive use of these individuals for the duration of the telephone conversation.

  With this specificity in mind, circuit switched network operators size their network resources to achieve a specified quality threshold. This threshold is, for example, expressed as a percentage of successful phone calls at rush hour.

  For this purpose, the operators model the structure and operation of their networks as well as the characteristics of a telephone conversation. For example, a telephone conversation may be characterized by its average duration, the bandwidth of the signals transmitted, the average information rate, the silence times, etc. These models therefore allow operators to test whether the intended quality of service is achieved statistically and possibly to test improvements such as the addition of additional resources.

  Today, however, circuit-switched networks are increasingly used to convey information whose characteristics do not match those of a telephone conversation. For example, this information is an Internet information stream exchanged between an internet browser and the worldwide spider web better known as the World Wide Web (WEB). The global spider web will be here simply referred to as the "internet network".

  However, circuit-switched networks behave in relation to Internet information flows as they do to those corresponding to a telephone conversation. Thus, each connection to the Internet through a circuit switched network leads to reserving resources of this network for the exclusive use of this connection as it lasts.

  Now, more and more Internet service providers are offering packages that include 10, 20 or 100 hours of monthly internet connection at attractive prices. Thus users quickly become accustomed to staying connected for long hours to the Internet even though they exchange very little or no information with this network. These connections result in the reservation of resources of the circuit-switched network even though these resources are not exploited.

  With the advent of plans offering unlimited time connections to the Internet from circuit-switched networks, it is feared that the user will no longer take the trouble to disconnect from the Internet, which will magnify the problem considerably. the congestion of the resources of the circuit switched network even though these are not exploited. This unnecessary congestion circuit switched network resources mainly has the effect of making them unavailable for the establishment of telephone links between two individuals which rapidly deteriorates the quality of service offered by this operator.

  To overcome this problem, operators are now proposing new information transmission systems to the Internet through twisted pairs of wires connecting the subscriber to the circuit-switched network. Such a system is, for example, that using the ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) technology. In this system, the problem is solved by separating the information corresponding to a telephone conversation from the Internet information and transmitting only the information corresponding to the telephone conversations to an entry point of the circuit-switched network while the other information is directly routed. to an entry point on a packet-switched network. Indeed, in packet-switched networks, unlike circuit-switched networks, resources are shared by all users so that the operator can optimize the use of these resources. This is particularly suitable for Internet information flows generated by an Internet browser because these information flows include long periods of silence during which no information is exchanged.

  However these new systems are expensive and can not be installed on wired links more than 3 kilometers long.

  The invention aims to remedy this drawback by proposing an information transmission system that does not deteriorate the quality of service of circuit-switched networks and makes it possible to connect subscribers via wired links greater than 3 kilometers in length. .

  The subject of the invention is therefore a transmission system as described above, characterized in that the termination is able to simultaneously transmit a first stream having the characteristics of a telephone conversation and a second stream having different characteristics. of the first stream, the termination implementing for this purpose a coding technique 2B 1 Q, and - in that the system comprises a flow separator connected to said wired link between the termination and the first point of entry, this separator flow being able to transmit only the first information flow to the first entry point and only the second information flow to the second entry point.

  In the above system, the second information streams are transmitted to a packet-switched network even before they enter the circuit-switched network. Thus, the congestion of the resources of the circuit-switched network linked to the transport of these second information streams is avoided. Moreover, the coding technique 2B1 Q makes it possible to implement the above system over wired links much longer than 3 kilometers long. Therefore the system above does not have the disadvantages of information transmission systems using ADSL technology.

  According to other features: the termination is capable of implementing the 2B1Q coding technique to create at least a first and a second communication channel in the same wired link and to reserve the first channel for transporting the first signal stream. information and the second channel for the transport of the second information flow, the flow separator is able to transmit all the information transported by the first channel and only these to the first point of entry, and to transmit all the information transported by the second channel and only these to the second entry point, the system has several terminations, several flow separators each connected to a respective termination, and the second entry point is able to receive the flows information transmitted by a plurality of stream separators and to multiplex or compress these information flows on a single data transmission channel. the system has several terminations and the flow divider has a plurality of input interfaces each of which is connected to a respective termination, and a first output port connected to the second input point, and the stream separator is adapted to transmit the second information stream received via a plurality of said input interfaces to the second input point through the same first output port.

  the system comprises several terminations and the flux separator has several input interfaces capable of being each connected to a respective termination, and a second output port connected to the first entry point and the flux separator is capable of transmitting the first information streams received via said input interfaces to the first input point through the same second output port.

  said termination is a TNR (Digital Network Termination) termination of an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) network.

  said second termination is a TNRG (Generalized Digital Network Termination) termination of an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) network.

  The subject of the invention is also a flux separator, characterized in that it is capable of being implemented in a system and in that it is capable of transmitting only the first information flow to the first point of data. input and only the second information stream to the second input point.

  The invention also relates to a method for transmitting information between a subscriber of a circuit-switched network and a packet-switched network, in a system comprising: a first point; input to the circuit-switched network formed by a switch, a second point of entry on the packet-switched network, a subscriber-terminated network termination, and a wired link connecting said termination to the first point of the packet; input, characterized in that the termination transmits a first stream having the characteristics of a telephone conversation and a second stream having characteristics different from the first stream, implementing for this purpose a coding technique 2B1Q, and in that at a flow splitter connected to said wired link between the termination and the first entry point, the first information flow is only transmitted to the first entry point and the second information flow is only transmitted to the second entry point.

  The invention will be better understood on reading the following description given solely by way of example and with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the structure of a transmission system; information according to the invention, - Figure 2 is a flowchart of an information transmission method according to the invention, and - Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of the structure of a variant of the system of the figure 1.

  FIG. 1 shows a system, designated by the general reference 2, of transmission of information between, on the one hand, a subscriber 4 of a circuit switched network 6 and, on the other hand, a packet switched network 8.

  The system 2 will be described here in the particular case where the information transmitted to the network 8 corresponds to those exchanged between an internet browser 10 and an internet access provider 12.

  For example, the network 6 is here an ISDN network also known by the acronym ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), and the network 8 is an ATM network (Asynchronous Transfer Mode).

  The network 6 is formed of a large number of switches connected to each other so as to establish a telephone connection between the subscriber 4 and another individual. Here, only the switch 20 to which the subscriber 4 is directly connected has been shown. This automatic switch forms an entry point on the network 6 for the subscriber 4.

  The auto-switch 20 has several input ports 22 each adapted to receive an information flow to be carried on the network 6.

  The network 8 comprises in particular an entry point 30 in the vicinity of the switch 20. This entry point 30 is here a multiplexer equipped with several input ports 32 each intended to receive a flow of information. This entry point 30 is capable of multiplexing the different information streams received on the same output channel 34.

  The access provider 12 is connected directly to the network 8.

  The Internet browser 10 is implemented, for example, in a computer 40.

  This computer 40 is equipped with a conventional interface "RJ 45" 42 used at 64 kbit / s so as to connect this computer to a termination 44 installed in the subscriber 4. It is, for example, similar to the TNRg terminations ( Conventional Digital Network Termination) used to connect a subscriber to the ISDN network.

  The termination 44 includes an interface 46 known as the "SO interface" and at least one analog interface 48 known as the "Z-interface". The interface 46 makes it possible to connect digital terminals and in particular here the computer 40 via its interface 42.

  The interface 48 makes it possible to connect directly to the termination 46 an analog telephone such as here an analog telephone 50 of the subscriber 4.

  Terminator 44 is connected to the end of an ordinary telephone line 52. This telephone line 52 is formed of a pair of twisted telephone wires.

  The terminator 44 is capable of implementing a 2B1Q (2 Binary 1 Quaternary) coding technique standardized by ITU (International Telecommunication Union) to send information on line 52 with a bit rate of 160 Kbps. More specifically, this bit rate includes two channels 54, 56 of 64 Kbits / s, a data channel at 16 Kbits / s and a supervision channel at 16 Kbits / s. Thus, thanks to the simultaneous presence of the two channels 54 and 56, the termination 44 makes it possible to establish two simultaneous calls on the same line 52.

  Specifically, the termination 44 is here adapted so that the channel 56 is dedicated solely to the transmission of data while the channel 54 is only dedicated to telephony, that is to say the transport of telephone conversations. For this purpose, all the information flows received by the interface 46 is only transported via the channel 56, whereas all the information flows received by the interface 48 are only transported by the user. intermediate of the channel 54.

  Thus, the termination 44 is capable: at the time of transmission, to multiplex the information flows coming from the computer 40 and the telephone 50, and upon reception, to demultiplex the multiplexed information streams received by the intermediate of the line 52 to selectively direct them either to the computer 40 or to the telephone 50.

  The system 2 comprises a flow splitter 60 directly connected to the other end of the line 52. This splitter 60 is equipped with two ports 62 and 64 of output. The ports 62 and 64 are respectively connected directly to one of the ports 22 of the switch 20 and to one of the ports 32 of the entry point 30 to transmit information flows thereto.

  The splitter 60 is capable of separating the multiplexed information streams on the line 52 and directing the information flow conveyed through the channel 54 to the port 62 and only to it. The separator 60 is also able to direct the flow of information transported through the channel 56 to the port 64 and only to it.

  For this purpose, the separator 60 comprises a transcoder 66 capable of performing the coding operations that are the reverse of those performed to encode the information by the termination 44.

  In order to limit the costs, the separator 60 will, for example, be made in a manner similar to the termination 44.

  The operation of the system 2 will now be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2.

  The flowchart of Figure 2 mainly comprises two phases 70 and 72.

  Phase 70 is an information transmission phase. During this phase, the internet browser 10 transmits, during a step 74, an information flow corresponding to a data transmission, under the control of the subscriber 4.

  This flow of information is transmitted via the interfaces 42 and 46 to the termination 44. The termination 44 transmits, during a step 76, this information flow to the separator 60 using for this purpose the channel 56.

  The separator 60 separates, during a step 78, the flow of information carried by the channel 56 from the one carried by the channel 54 and transmits it during a step 80, to the point of entry 30 via the port 64. The information flow is then conveyed by the network 8 to the access provider 12.

  Steps 74 to 80 are repeated as long as the computer 40 has data to transmit.

  In parallel with steps 74 to 80, steps 82 to 88 are performed to process an information flow corresponding to a telephone conversation. More specifically, during step 82, the subscriber 4 establishes a telephone conversation with another individual using his telephone 50. In this step 82, the telephone generates an information flow corresponding to a telephone conversation. which is transmitted to the termination 44 via the interface 48.

  Then, in step 84, the termination 44 transmits the information flow received by the interface 48 to the splitter 60 via the channel 54.

  The separator then proceeds to step 78 of separating the flows. After step 78, the separator transmits, in step 88, the information flow carried by the channel 54 to the automatic switch 20.

  The network 6 carries this information flow to the phone of the correspondent.

  These steps 82 to 88 are repeated during each telephone conversation.

  The reception phase 72 takes place, for example, simultaneously with the phase 70 since here in the system 2 the information transmission links are bi-directional or "full duplex" links.

  During phase 72, the information flow sent by the internet access provider 12 is transported, during a step 90, by the network 8 to the port 64 of the separator 60. Then, the separator 60 transmits, when of a step 92, the information flow received at the termination 44 via the channel 56.

  The termination 44 separates, during a step 94, the flow of information carried by the channel 56 from the one carried by the channel 54, and transmits it, during a step 95, to the computer 40 via interfaces 46 and 42.

  Steps 90 to 95 are reiterated as long as a flow of information is received by the computer 40.

  In parallel with these steps 90 to 95, similar steps are performed for the telephone information flow generated by the telephone of a correspondent. More specifically, during a step 96, the network 6 transports the stream of telephone information to the splitter 60. Then, during a step 98, the splitter 60 transmits at the termination 44 the flow of telephone information by through the channel 54.

  The termination 44 then proceeds to the step 94 of separation of the flows and transmits, during a step 100, the flow of information transported by the channel 54 to the telephone 50.

  Thus, the information flows transmitted and received by the telephone 50 are only carried by the circuit-switched network 6 whereas the information flows transmitted and received by the computer 40 are only carried by the network 8 with switching over. packets.

  In addition, since the channels 54 and 56 can be simultaneously established, the system 2 has the advantage of allowing the simultaneous establishment of a telephone call and a connection for transmitting data.

  FIG. 3 represents a variant of the system 2 in which the separator 60 is replaced by a separator 110 equipped in addition to the transcoder 66 and the output ports 62 and 64, a concentrator 112 and several interfaces 114.

  Each of the interfaces 114 is capable of being connected to the end of a line such as the line 52 in order to be able to connect several terminations 44 to the same separator 110.

  The concentrator 112 is able to concentrate the information flows received via all the interfaces 114 before sending them to the entry point 30 via the port 64. The port 64 is common to all the interfaces 114. .

  The concentrator 112 is also able to concentrate on the port 62 all the information flows intended for the switch 20.

  In order for the switch 20 to be able to manage several streams of concentrated telephone information in the same wire link by the concentrator 112, the latter is equipped with a port 116 in accordance with the ITU V51 standard.

  This port 116 is connected to port 62.

  Thus, in this variant, the separator 110 is on one side connected to several terminations 44 and on the other side connected to the networks 6 and 8 only via two ports 62 and 64.

  The system 2 has been described here in the particular case where the termination 30 is a multiplexer. Alternatively, this termination 30 is a hub such as, for example, an IP concentrator capable of concentrating incoming information streams on a 2 mega bit link in accordance with ITU G 703.

Claims (11)

  An information transmission system between a subscriber of a circuit-switched network (6) and a packet-switched network (8), the system comprising: a first point of contact; input (20) on the circuit switched network formed by a switch, - a second input point (30) on the packet-switched network, a subscriber network termination (44), and - a wired connection (52) connecting said termination to the first entry point, characterized in that: the termination (44) is capable of simultaneously transmitting a first stream having the characteristics of a telephone conversation and a second stream having characteristics different from the first stream, the termination (44) implementing a coding technique 2B1Q for this purpose, and - in that the system comprises a stream splitter (60) connected to said wired link (52) between the termination (44). ) and the first the entry point (20), this flow separator being able to transmit only the first information flow to the first entry point (20) and only the second information flow to the second entry point ( 30).   2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the termination (44) is able: - to implement the coding technique 2B1Q to create at least a first and a second channel (54, 56) of communication in the same wire link (52), and - to reserve the first channel (54) for the transport of the first information stream and the second channel (56) for the transport of the second information stream.   3. System according to claim 2, characterized in that the flow separator (60) is able to transmit all the information transported by the first channel (54) and only these to the first point of entry (20), and transmitting all the information carried by the second channel (56) and only the latter to the second entry point (30).   4. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises: - several terminations (44), several flux separators (60) each connected to a respective termination, and - in that the second point d input (30) is adapted to receive the information streams transmitted by a plurality of stream separators (60) and to multiplex these information streams on a single information transmission channel (34) of the switched network (8) packets.   5. System according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises: - several terminations (44), - several flux separators (60) each connected to a respective termination, and - in that the second entry point (30) is adapted to receive the information flows transmitted by a plurality of stream separators (60) and to compress these information flows on a single information transmission channel (34) of the network (8). ) with packet switching.   6 System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises several terminations (44), and in that the flux separator (60) comprises: - several input interfaces (114) adapted to be connected Each at a respective termination, and - a first output port 64 connected to the second input point, and - the flow divider (60) is adapted to transmit the second information streams received via from a plurality of said input interfaces (114) to the second input point (30) through the same first output port (64).   7. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises several terminations (44), and in that the flow separator (60) comprises; a plurality of input interfaces (114) each adapted to be connected to a respective termination, and - a second output port (62) connected to the first input point (20), and in that the flow divider (60) ) is adapted to transmit the first information streams received through said input interfaces (114) to the first input point (20) through the same second output port (62).   8. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said termination is a termination TNR (Digital Network Termination) of an ISDN network (Integrated Services Digital Network).   9. System according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said second termination is a termination TNRG (Generalized Digital Network Termination) of an ISDN network (Integrated Services Digital Network).   10. Flow separator (60), characterized in that it is adapted to be implemented in a system according to any one of the preceding claims, and in that it is capable of transmitting only the first flow of information to the first entry point (20) and only the second information flow to the second entry point (30).   11. A method of transmitting information between a subscriber of a circuit-switched network (6) and a packet-switched network (8) in a system comprising: - a first point input signal (20) on the circuit switched network formed by a switch, - a second point of entry (30) on the packet network, a subscriber terminated network termination (44), and a wired connection (52) connecting said termination to the first entry point, characterized in that the termination (44) transmits (at 76) a first stream having the characteristics of a telephone conversation and a second stream having different characteristics of the first stream, by implementing for this purpose a coding technique 2B1Q, and - in that at a splitter (60) flow connected on said wired link (52) between the termination (44) and the first entry point (20), the first flow information is only transmitted (at 88) to the first input point (20) and the second information flow is only transmitted (at 80) to the second input point (30).