The telephone network(PSTN) (Public switched Telephone
network)
Is the concatenation of the world's public telephone networks,
operated by various telephone companies .
PSTN is based on the circuit switching technique:
an end-to-end path must be established reserving resources
for a phone call
in PSTN free transmission resources must be reserved on each
link from switch-to-switch
These resources are entirely dedicated to this conversation for all
its duration
• In case that on a link there is no available resource
the call is blocked (provided that no resources are available also
on alternate paths) and refused;
the originating phone user receives a busy tone.
Figure 3.1. Classical telephone
network and involved resources for
a phone call from user A to user B.
• When telephony began,
a simple network architecture was used in which
only local exchanges with subscribers directly connected
The only possibility was to switch telephone calls between
subscribers who lived in the same town (i.e., connected to the same
local exchange).
As the need to communicate outside a town increased,
it became necessary to interconnect the local exchanges.
It was soon realized that it would be quite complicated to
interconnect a local exchange with any other local exchange (mesh
topology).
The solution to this problem was to introduce a hierarchy into the
network.
Nodes at different levels were conceived
As a result,not all nodes needed their own direct connections (direct
routes) to every other node.
ITU defines six levels of network hierarchy
from local exchanges, to different levels of transit exchanges and,
finally, to the exchange of international level.
1. International exchange,
2. National transit exchange,
3. Regional transit exchange,
4. Tandem exchange,
5. Local exchange.
• Local exchanges
are used to connect subscribers (local loops),
• Regional transit exchanges
is to transfer traffic upward in the hierarchy and to switch the
traffic between local exchanges.
• Tandem exchange
is needed in most cases in metropolitan areas to transfer traffic
between many different local exchanges.
A tandem exchange does not usually transfer traffic upward in the
network; only between adjacent local exchanges
• National transit Exchange
is needed to transfer traffic between countries
The local loop employs a twisted pair transmission medium
The other links at higher hierarchies are named trunks',
they are realized through
coaxial cables, optic fibers or microwave radio links.
Trunks use multiplexing to transport many signals.
The level of the multiplexing hierarchy increases as we
move from local to regional to national and
international levels.
Figure 4.2. Telephone network hierarchy
Features of PSTN
• Originally the telephone network was based on
analogue technologies and traffic and
on FDM multiplexing.
• At present, PSTN is almost entirely digital,
except for the signal from the user to the first local exchange
this signal in analogue and carried over twisted pairs.
The basic voice circuit in the digital PSTN is 64 kbit/s.
Multiplexing is achieved by means of TDM.
SIGNALING IN PSTN
• Signaling is
the mechanism that allows network entities (customer premises
or network switches)
to establish, maintain, and terminate sessions in a network.
Signaling is carried out with the help of specific signals or messages
that indicate to the other end what is requested of it by this connection
Signaling examples on subscriber lines are as follows:
• Off-hook condition: The exchange notices that the subscriber has
raised the telephone hook (dc loop is connected) and gives a dial tone to
the subscriber.
• Dial: The subscriber dials digits and they are received by the exchange.
On-hook condition: The exchange notices that the subscriber has
finished the call (subscriber loop is disconnected), clears the connection,
and stops billing.
Signaling is naturally needed between exchanges as well because most
calls have to be connected via more than just one exchange
Figure 4.3 Subscriber signaling.
Signaling Exchange Mechanism
• The control unit of the local exchange receives the subscriber
signaling,
such as dialed digits, from the subscriber line and makes
consequent actions according to its program.
Usually the call is routed via many exchanges and
the signaling information needs to be transmitted from one
exchange to another.
This can be done via channel associated signaling (CAS) or common
channel signaling (CCS) methods.
PUBLIC LAND MOBILE NETWORK (PLMN)
provides wireless access for cellular subscribers and
It is connected to the PSTN/ISDN network at the trunk exchange
level.
Public land mobile systems (PLMNs) include such as
GSM ,CDMA , cordless telephones, WLANs ,etc.
Note that all cellular networks are designed to act as access networks
Their main purpose is to make mobile subscribers accessible from the global
(fixed) telecommunications network.
The mobile cellular networks always rely on a fixed network.
They have no switching hierarchy similar to that of a fixed network
A simplified
cellular network
Figure 4.4 Basic structure of a cellular radio network
Features of PLMN
BSs are radio transmitter/receivers by which the mobile stations
(MSs, such as telephones)
are connected to the wire-line network.
The BSs are connected to the mobile switching center (MSC) by
primary rate digital connections.
The MSC acts as a local exchange in the fixed network.
The MSC also keeps track of the subscribers’ locations with
the help of location registers
CELLULAR STRUCTURE OF PLMN
Figure 4.5. Cellular structure
of a mobile radio network.
The area of a cellular network is divided into small cells of only
a few kilometers or less across as shown in Figure 5.2
Areas where subscriber density is high are covered by
smaller cells than areas where subscriber density is low
the cellular networks have two databases or registers,
a home location register (HLR) and a
visitors location register (VLR), and
=>with them the network is able to manage the mobility of its
subscribers
Radio Channels in Cellular Network
• Each BS provides two main types of channels
1. The common control channel and
2. The dedicated channels
In the downlink or forward direction (from network to mobile
stations) information such as network identification, location
information, designated power level, and paging for incoming calls is
sent on the common control channel of each cell.
When MSs are in idle mode (no ongoing call) they are continuously
listening to the common control channel of one cell.
In the uplink or reverse direction of the common control channel
the MSs send, for example, call-request messages in the case of
outgoing calls and
location update messages when they notice that they have arrived
in a new location area
The dedicated channels/Traffic Channel
• One dedicated user channel or a traffic channel
is allocated for each call.
During a call, a MS is said to be in dedicated mode.
Each dedicated channel requires the transmission of control
information in addition to speech transmission.
This is needed for transmission power control of mobile stations and
for transmission of performance monitoring information from MSs
to the network.
When the call is cleared the dedicated channel is released and
available for other users.
On this figure ,we see that BSs are
connected to the mobile switching
center by a radio relay system or by
a cable line (optical or copper cable)
Figure 4.6 The main types of radio channels.
