GB1596187A - Apparatus for processing information from a number of telephone channels - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has components (34-39) which are allocated collectively to all of the connected telephone channels, and a plurality of modules (40-47) to which a telephone channel is allocated in each case. Each of these modules (40-47) includes components for converting analog signals into digital pulses and vice versa. Furthermore, each group contains ringing signal transformers and ringing signal transmitters. Each of these modules (40-47) can be set independently of the others to one of a plurality of operating conditions, these operating conditions enabling the interaction of the device with different types of transmission devices. For this purpose, operating devices assigned to the individual modules are provided on the housing front panel (3). The modules (40-47) are disposed in the housing (1) of the device in such a way that they can be individually removed. <IMAGE>

Description

(54) APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION FROM A NUMBER OF TELEPHONE CHANNELS (71) We, ANSTALT EURO PAISCHE HANDELSGESELLSCHAFT, of Vaduz, Principality of Liechtenstein, a body corporate organised under the Laws of the Principality of Liechtenstein, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a Patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed to be particulary described in and by the following statement:- The present invention relates to apparatus for processing information from a number of telephone channels and, in particular, to apparatus operating with pulsecode modulation or similar digitizing techniques and according to the timedivision mutliplexing principle for processing the information from a number of telephone channels.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved construction of apparatus of the previously mentioned type which enables utilization fields of application without any structural changes.

According to the present invention we provide apparatus for handling telecommunications information, said apparatus comprising a housing; a plurality of information handling channels for handling telecommunications information received by or to be transmitted from said apparatus; connecting terminals accessible from the outside of said housing to enable coupling of a telecommunications device or devices to a selected one or ones of said information handling channels whereby telecommunications information can be transmitted from and received by the or each such device through the medium of a respective information handling channel of the apparatus; a first group of circuit elements located in said housing and forming electrical circuitry common to all of said information handling channels; and a plurality of second groups of circuit elements located in said housing and associated one group with each of said information handling channels so as to govern the manner in which the information is passed through the respective channel, each second group being controllable by means of a respective one of a plurality of human settable acuating elements in such a way that, according to the setting of each such actuating element, information handled by the respective channel passes through the channel unchanged or undergoes transformation, said actuating elements being accessible from the outside of saia housmg.

By virtue of the fact that the operating state of each channel can be adjusted independently of the operating state of the other channels, the apparatus can be employed in different ways without dismantling or exchanging groups of components and the components themselves.

The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above, will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for processing the information from a number of telephone channels; Figure 2 illustrates the apparatus of Figure 1 but with the front plate removed to reveal internal structure; Figure 3 is a perspective plan view of a terminal box or cabinet which can be connected with the apparatus of Figure 1; and Figure 4 schematically illustrates different fields of application of the apparatus shown in Figure 1.

The apparatus depicted by way of example in Figures 1 and 2 processes the information from a number of telephone channels in conventional manner according to the pulse-code-modulation technique or a similar digitizing technique (such as delta modulation) and according to the timedivision mutliplexing principle. All of the components or elements, such as the elements 34 to 47 shown by way of example in Figure 2, needed for the operation of the apparatus are accommodated in a watertight housing 1, as will be explained more fully in the following description. If the apparatus is employed at the transmitter end of the system, then the arriving analogue signals, in each channel are converted by means of an analogue-digital converter according to the pulse-code-modulation or a similar technique into digital pulses.The digital pulses of each channel are grouped into a pulse train according to the timedivision multiplexing principle with the aid of a multiplexer, which pulse train is then transmitted to the receiver station or receiver end of the system.

At the receiver end the received pulse train is again distributed at the individual channels with the aid of demultiplexer in the apparatus. In each channel the digital pulses are converted by means of a digitalanalogue converter again into analogue signals which are then further processed.

Circuitry suitable for this purpose has been disclosed in our Copending Patent application no 50423/77, serial no. 1,586,818, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

It is also possible to encipher the pulse train at the transmitter end, prior to transmission, by means of an enciphering device.

At the receiver end it is then necessary to carry out deciphering in a deciphering device, before the pulse train is delivered to the processing apparatus.

As will be apparent from Figures 1 and 2, the apparatus housing comprises a housing box or casing 2 at which there is attached a front plate 3. In the housing casing 2 there are accommodated the components or elements 34 to 47 needed for desired signal processing purposes, whereas at the front plate 3 there are arranged the operating elements, connections or terminals and indicator or display lamps.

The front plate 3 has an operating or control panel 4 having a number of operating or actuation elements 5-15, each coacting with schematically illustrated scale to indicate the setting of the element. This operating panel 4 can be covered by means of a cover member 16, as illustrated in Figure 2. The operating or control elements 5-15 can be actuated by means of a key (not shown) which is attached to the cover member 16. By means of the operating elements 5-12, each of which is associated with a telephone channel, it is possible to adjust or set in each channel, independent of the other channels, one of a number of operating states or conditions, as will be described more fully hereinafter. Since the illustrated apparatus is designed for a maximum of 8 telephone channels, there are provided 8 operating elements 5-12.

By means of the operating element 13 it is possible to adjust or set the number of the apparatus or device. This is of importance if a number of such apparatuses are connected together and each apparatus or device is associated with a different order number. If there is only used one apparatus or device, then the operating element 13 is adjusted to the number 1.

Of the 8 maximum possible channels it is also possible to only use a part thereof, for instance 4 channels. With the operating element 14 it is possible to adjust the number of channels with which the apparatus has been equipped.

The operating element 15 allows for an adjustment or setting of the bit rate per channel. With the illustrated apparatus the bit rate per channel can be set to, for instance, 16 k bits/s, 32 k bit/s, or 64 k bit/s.

Reference characters 17-22 designate different control lamps.

Furthermore, there are arranged at the front plate 3 the schematically illustrated connections or terminals 23-28 serving for the connection of cables.

At the terminal 23 there is connected the terminal box shown in Figure 3. By means of this terminal 23 there is accomplished the input of the analogue signals received from the telephone lines and the output of the analogue signals to the telephone lines.

If a number of apparatuses or devices are connected together, then the terminal 24 of the one device is connected with the terminal 25 of the next following device by means of a cable.

A direct-current voltage source is connected with the terminal 26, whereas the terminal 27 serves for connecting an alternating-current voltage source. A buzzer or equivalent structure can be connected with the terminal 28.

By means of the switch 29 both of the voltage sources are cut-in or cut-off. The lamp 30 illuminates when the voltage sources are turned-on. Further, there are provided two fuses 31 and 32 for the directcurrent voltage source and the alternatingcurrent voltage source.

The components of the front plate are connected by flat band cable 33 with the components or elements accommodated in the housing casing 2 (Figure 2).

In this housing casing 2 there are accommodated, on the one hand, all of the components which form electrical circuitry common to all of the channels, and, on the other hand, the components for each channel. As to these components or elements forming said common electricalcircuitry, in Figure 2 there have been illustrated a supply current transducer 34 for direct-current and alternating current operation, an alternating-current generator 35 for alternating-current voltage call, a synchronization circuit 36 for receiver operation, a clock generator 37 for receiver operation, a base cycle oscillator 38 and a clock generator 39 for transmitter operation.

These components or elements 35-39 are plug-in printed circuit boards which, when necessary, can be easily exchanged.

Each channel is associated with a single group of components or assembly 40-47, which likewise is constructed as an exchangeable printed circuit board. Each of these groups.of components or assembly 4047 contains all of the elements or components, for instance, analogue-digital converter and digital-analogue converter, which are needed for the conversion of the analogue signals into digital signals and digital signals into analogue signals. Each group of components 40-47 is connected with one of the operating elements 5-12 arranged at the front plate 3 so that by means of the associated operating element the operating state in each channel can be adjusted. Each group of components 40-47 additionally possesses call signal converters and call signals transmitters.

In the event that not all of the channels are needed, then the group of components 40-47 of the not required channels can be removed.

As already mentioned, the apparatus is connected both at an alternating-current voltage source and also at a direct-current voltage source. Normally, the apparatus operates with alternating-current. Now if the alternating-current voltage falls below a certain lower boundary or threshold value, then there automatically is accomplished in the apparatus switch-over to the directcurrent mode of operation. As soon as the alternating-current voltage again ascends to a value which is above the lower threshold value, then the apparatus is automatically again switched to the alternating-current mode of operation.

In Figure 3 there is shown a simple terminal box 48 with ground terminal 48a, wnich, as previously mentioned, can be connected by means of a cable 49 to the terminal 23 at the front plate 3 of the apparatus. The terminal box 48 contains for each channel a terminal board or block 50 at which there is connected the telephone lines leading to the telephone stations.

The above-discussed structuring of the apparatus enables connecting the telephone lines by means of the simple terminal box 48, shown in Figure 3, to the apparatus.

Now in Figure 4 there have been schematically shown different possible fields of use or application of the devices Sla, 51b, 5 I c and 51d in accordance with the equipment of Figures I and 2. The transmission between the individual devices or apparatus of the network shown in Figure 4 is accomplished by means of microwave or similar transmitting paths.

Based upon the possible fields of application the previously discussed possible operating modes of the individual channels will now be explained: Operating condition 1 is set by connecting a transmission unit for four-wire operation and external direct-current call.

In Figure 4 there is not shown any connection of such transmission unit.

Operating condition 2 is adjusted or set by connection with the public telephone network operating in a two-wire mode of operation, as the same has been illustrated in Figure 4 by the telephone exchange station or location 53. With the operating condition or state 2 the device 51 receives alternating-current call signals and delivers direct-current call signals.

Operating state 3 is selected if a telephone apparatus 54 for central battery system is connected with the device 51. The incoming direct-current call is converted in the device into an alternating-current call.

Operating condition 4 is set by connecting a field telephone 55 operating in a twowire operating mode, each of which field telephone 55 possesses a generator which can be operated by a hand crank 55a. The device 51 receives an alternating-current call and transmits an alternating-current call. In the operating state 4 it is also possible to connect a teleprinter 56 with the device 51. There is connected between the teleprinter 56 and the device 51 a "tone keyer" 57 which, depending upon the nature of the binary signals produced by the teleprinter 56, either does or does not generate a tone or sound.

In the operating condition 5 the incoming digital signals travel without change through the related channel to the output of the device. This is of advantage if the digital information is not processed at a node point of the device 51, rather only must be further transmitted. There can be avoided an unnecessary digital-analogue and analoguedigital conversion which is associated with losses. This operating condition 5 can be set at the device 51a of Figure 4 if in one or a number of channels the digital information received by the device Sic must be further transmitted to the device 51b or the device 51d.

The call signals are converted in each channel into digital pulses and again converted at the receiver end of the system into analogue signals. Therefore there are not required any additional components for the processing of the call signals.

With the described apparatus all of the components or elements needed for processing the information are housed in a watertight housing 1. Therefore, it is not necessary to initially assemble together different components of the equipment before placing the same into operation.

Since the operating state of each channel can be set by means of the operating elements 5-12 independent of the operating state of the other channels, the apparatus can be employed for different fields of use or application, without the groups of components having to be exchanged.

While there are shown and described present preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following

Claims (7)

claims. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Apparatus for handling telecommunications information, said apparatus comprising a housing; a plurality of information handling channels for handling telecommunications information received by or to be transmitted from said apparatus; connecting terminals accessible from the outside of said housing to enable coupling of a telecommunications device or devices to a selected one or ones of said information handling channels whereby telecommunications information can be transmitted from and received by the or each such device through the medium of a respective information handling channel of the apparatus; a first group of circuit elements located in said housing and forming electrical circuitry common to all of said information handling channels; and a plurality of second groups of circuit elements located in said housing and associated one group with each of said information handling channels so as to govern the manner in which the information is passed through the respective channel, each second group being controllable by means of a respective one of a plurality of human settable actuating elements in such a way that, according to the setting of each such actuating element, information handled by the respective channel passes through the channel unchanged or undergoes transformation, said actuating elements being accessible from the outside of said housing.

2. Apparatus as defined in Claim 1, wherein each of said second groups of circuit elements includes conversion means for converting analogue input signals applied to said connecting terminals into digital signals and for converting digital signals applied to said connecting terminals into analogue signals, said conversion means being inoperable when the respective actuating element is in a setting which allows the information to pass through the associated channel without charge.

3. Apparatus as defined in Claim 1 or 2, including a terminal box connectable with said connecting terminal to enable a plurality of telephone lines to be connected to said connecting terminals via the terminal box such that, in use, said telephone lines may input analogue signals to and may receive analogue signals from said connecting terminals.

4. Apparatus as defined in Claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein: said housing includes two further sets of connecting terminals for connection to a direct-current voltage source and for connection to an alternating-current voltage source rqspectively, and circuitry means located in said housing which, upon breakdown of said alternating-current voltage source, switches the apparatus for powering by said direct-current voltage source.

5. Apparatus as defined in any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein: said first and second groups of circuit elements are removably arranged in said housing.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5 wherein said housing comprises a water-tight housing structure.

7. Apparatus for processing information from a plurality of telephone channels, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.