SUBSCRIBER LOOP

DESIGN

COMM. SYSTEM DESIGN

NOVEMBER 2015
Guided Transmission Media
the transmission capacity depends on the distance and on whether the
medium is point-to-point or multipoint
e.g.,
Twisted Pair
Coaxial cable
Optical fiber

2
Twisted Pair
consists of two insulated copper wires arranged in a
regular spiral pattern to minimize the electromagnetic
interference between adjacent pairs
often used at customer facilities and also over distances
to carry voice as well as data communications
low frequency transmission medium

3
Twisted Pair - Applications
Most common medium
Telephone network
Between house and local exchange (subscriber
loop)
Within buildings
To private branch exchange (PBX)
For local area networks (LAN)
10Mbps or 100Mbps

4
Twisted Pair - Pros and Cons
o Cheap
o Easy to work with
o Low data rate
o Short range

5
Twisted Pair - Transmission Characteristics
Analog
Amplifiers every 5km to 6km
Digital
Use either analog or digital signals
repeater every 2km or 3km
Limited distance
Limited bandwidth (1MHz)
Limited data rate (100MHz) using different modulation &
signaling techniques
Susceptible to interference and noise

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Unshielded and Shielded TP
Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
Ordinary telephone wire
Cheapest
Easiest to install
Suffers from external electromagnetic interference (EM)
Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
the pair is wrapped with metallic foil or braid to insulate
the pair from electromagnetic interference
More expensive
Harder to handle (thick, heavy)

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UTP Categories
Cat 3
up to 16MHz
Voice grade found in most offices
Twist length of 7.5 cm to 10 cm
Cat 4 (least common)
up to 20 MHz
Cat 5
up to 100MHz
Commonly pre-installed in new office buildings
Twist length 0.6 cm to 0.85 cm

8
Twisted Pair Advantages
inexpensive and readily available
flexible and light weight
easy to work with and install

9
Twisted Pair Disadvantages

susceptibility to interference and noise

attenuation problem
For analog, repeaters needed every 5-6km
For digital, repeaters needed every 2-3km
relatively low bandwidth

10
Coaxial Cable

11
Coaxial Cable Applications
Most versatile medium
Television distribution
Aerial to TV
Cable TV
Long distance telephone transmission
Can carry 10,000 voice calls simultaneously
Being replaced by fiber optic
Short distance computer systems links
Local area networks

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Coaxial Cable
Transmission Characteristics

Analog
Amplifiers every few km
Closer if higher frequency
Up to 500MHz
Digital
Repeater every 1km
Closer for higher data rates

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Coaxial Cable Advantages
higher bandwidth
400 to 600Mhz
up to 10,800 voice conversations
can be tapped easily (pros and cons)
much less susceptible to interference than
twisted pair

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Coax Disadvantages

high attenuation rate makes it

expensive over long distance
bulky

15
PSTN trunk connection
PSTN LONG HAUL NETWORK
Subscriber loop design
Subscriber Line connected to
the CO
Subscriber Loop Current Path
Average Wire Gauge vs. Loop
Length
 Subscriber Loop with
Repeater

Two wire to four wire

Hybrid Transformer
Subscriber Loop
 BASIC SUBSCRIBER LOOP DESIGN
REQUIREMENTS
When designing subscriber loops, there are four conditions that must be
met:
1. Enough power/current in the loop to operate the telephone set
transmitter and receiver as well as the switching equipment inside the
central office.
2. An adjustable gain or loss in the loop.
3. Minimum power loss.
4. A minimum amount of noise, echo, crosstalk, and any other form of
interference.
BASIC SUBSCRIBER LOOP DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

The telephone set is connected to the servicing central office by a

pair of wires that may be carried on poles (aerial) or buried
(underground).
The prime consideration in designing a subscriber loop is to
minimize the loss, the resistance, and the current used.
The total resistance of all the components of the subscriber loop,
including the resistance of the telephone set, must be small
enough to allow sufficient current to flow through the telephone
transmitter and switching equipment (Figure 3.2).
The operating current of a telephone set is between 24 and 60
mA, with an optimal value of 35 mA. The resistance of the early
telephones was found to be around 150 ohms. Today's telephone
resistance is around 600 ohms.
Subscriber Loop
Subscriber Loop
SWITCHING EQUIPMENT
(SUPERVISORY RELAYS)

When the telephone handset is in the

off-hook position (Figure 3.3), the
switch hook is closed and the transmit
and receive sides of the line are
connected by the telephone resistance,
thus allowing the current to flow back
to the central office.

This current must be between 24 and

60 mA to allow the relays in the central
office to operate in order to send a dial
tone and transmit and receive reversal
condition (tip = -48 V). Thus, from
Ohm's law, the maximum value of Rt
(total of all resistance) can now be
determined.
Subscriber Loop
DESIGN LIMITATIONS

There are three types of design:

(1) normal loop design,

(2) long loop design, and
(3) special service design.

Normal Loop Design

Normal loop design (Figure 3.4) is simple because there is no need to add
any device(s) to amplify or attenuate the transmitted signal or to boost the
current to meet the design requirements.

In this design the switching equipment's resistance limitation is 1300 ohms.

which means that the maximum value of RLoop (R,) must not exceed 1300
ohms. If it does, the switching center will not function properly.

RL < 1300 ohms

DESIGN LIMITATIONS
Long Loop Design

When R LOOP exceeds the 1300-ohm limit, the value

of the loop current (I loop) is reduced to less than 24 mA.
This results in a malfunction of the switching equipment
and the telephone transmitter.

To solve this situation, a device has to be added to

increase the - amount of current in the loop; there are
several devices on the market, all of which perform this
function (i.e., dial long line, loop range extender, voice
repeater, etc.).

These devices increase the switching equipment

limitation by 1500 ohms
Subscriber Loop

Dial long lines

This type of equipment is used to extend the center switching capability

through the use of sensitive relays between the subscriber and the central
office (Figure 3.5). The relays and their circuitry react to loop closures and act
as an intermediary to:
. Refresh the -48 V and regenerate the ringing signal from the central
office toward the subscriber
. Refresh the supervisory and pulsing signals from the subscriber end
toward the central office
Subscriber Loop
Subscriber Loop
SPECIAL SERVICES DESIGN

When R100p exceeds the 2800-ohm limit, special equipment

to permit proper voice transmission and proper performance of the
circuit is used. Some examples of the equipment required are:
foreign exchange units, off premises extensions, private-line circuits,
and wide-area telephone service.

CABLES USED IN THE SUBSCRIBER LOOP

For the purpose of transmitting electric signals, a cable

must consist of the equivalent of two electrical conductors. The
wires of cable are separated by some dielectric such as air for
overhead transmission lines or by other insulating material, as in
underground transmission cables.
Subscriber Loop
NONLOADED AND LOADED CABLES

A cable pair must be designed to carry both

direct current supplied by the central office (-48 V) and
alternating current supplied by the transmitter of the
telephone set. The direct current is dependent on the
resistance of the cable size and the length of the facility.
Four cable sizes of 19, 22, 24, and 26 gauge have been
standardized for use in subscriber loop designs and the
loop resistance can be found-using Table 3.1.

Voice frequency (300 to 3400 Hz) is affected by

resistance, capacitance, and inductance, all of which are
part of any transmission line and
Subscriber Loop
Subscriber Loop
Customer loop or cable longer than 5.5 km requires the addition
of loading coils at 1.8-km spacing in order to reduce attenuation
of voice frequency.

The effect of loading coils can be seen in Figure 3.14. Loading

coils are added to cancel the effect of the cable capacitance along
the transmission line (Figure 3.15).

The addition of loading coils stabilizes the signal attenuation

between 300 and 3400 Hz.

Typical H88 loading consists of adding 88-mH inductors located at

1.8-km intervals along the cable. The distance from the switching
center to the first load point must be 0.9 km (Figure 3.16).
A cable pair without a loading coil is called a nonloaded cable. The transmission
performance of this type of cable depends on the length of the wires; as the
length increases the loss increases accordingly (Figure 3.17).

Loaded Cable
The maximum length of a nonloaded cable was determined to be 5.5 km. For
cables longer than this, 88-, 66-, and 44-mH coils have to be added to the cable
pairs (Figure 3.18). Also, to eliminate the effect of the capacitance, these coils are
placed at a distance of 1.83 km from each other.
The best-quality voice-frequency
range for a subscriber is (300 to
3400 Hz), and cable-loss increase
with increase in frequency makes it
difficult to control the voice quality.

The non uniform attenuation of the

transmitted signal can cause
distortion.

It is evident that at some point from

the subscriber end, the transmission
wires have to be treated with
special devices to obtain satisfactory
response.

These devices are called loading

coils.
SUMMARY:

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR A SUBSCRIBER LOOP

DETERMINE THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE SUBSCRIBER AND THE CENTRAL
OFFICE:

(a) For a distance longer than 5.5 km, use loaded cable.
(b) For a distance shorter than 5.5 km, use nonloaded cable.
CHECK:
(a) That the current is not less than 24 mA or more than 60 mA. (b) If the
loop resistance is larger than 1300 ohms, use a special device loop range
extender, dial long line, or other special device to permit operation of the
switching equipment. (If resistance of the loop is less than 1300 ohms, no
additional device is necessary.)
(b) That the attenuation is not more than the design specification.

By taking these steps into consideration, a functional subscriber loop that

meets both the subscriber and central office requirements can be designed.
QUESTION

For the sake of this example, a central office resistance is

given as 450 ohms. The telephone set resistance is 600 ohms
and the minimum operating current is 14mA.
1. What is the loop resistance of the circuit (R1oop)?
2. Would the circuit work? Why or why not?
End of subscriber loop lecture

NEXT: FIBER OPTIC CABLE

 Fibre Optic Communication System

Introduction
Fiber optic system is a communication system that carries
information through a guided fiber optic cable
Light frequencies used in fiber optic systems are between
1014 and 4x1014 Hz
Thus, the higher the carrier the carrier frequency, the wider
the bandwidth and consequently, the greater the
information carrying capacity

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Optical Fiber

44
Optical Fiber - Benefits
o Greater capacity
o Data rates of hundreds of Gbps

o Smaller size & weight

o Lower attenuation
o Electromagnetic isolation
o Greater repeater spacing
10s of km at least

45
Optical Fiber - Transmission Characteristics

Act as wave guide for 1014 to 1015 Hz

Portions of infrared and visible spectrum

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

Cheaper
Wider operating temp range
Last longer

Injection Laser Diode (ILD)

More efficient
Greater data rate

Wavelength Division Multiplexing

46
Fibre optic - Basic elements
Fiber optics
Long thin strand of glass or plastic fiber used to signal in a form of light from a
point to another point

Fiber-to-detector coupler
Interface between fiber and light detector to couple as much light as possible
from the fiber cable into the light detector
Light detector
PIN (p-type-intrinsic-n-type) diode / an APD (avalance photodiode)

10/10/2017 47
Fibre optic - Basic elements
The main elements are:
Driving circuitry:
Serves as an electrical interface between the input circuitry and
light source and to drive the light source
Light source
LED / LASER
Convert electrical energy to optical energy, where the amount of
light emitted is proportional to the amount of drive current
Light source-to-fiber coupler
An interface to couple the light emitted by the source into the
optical fiber cable
Fiber optics
Long thin strand of glass or plastic fiber used to signal in a form
of light from a point to another point

10/10/2017 48
Fibre Optic Communication System
Elements in an optical fiber communication link

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Fiber Optic Types
multimode step-index fiber
the reflective walls of the fiber move the
light pulses to the receiver
multimode graded-index fiber
acts to refract the light toward the center
of the fiber by variations in the density
single mode fiber
the light is guided down the center of an
extremely narrow core

50
Optical Fiber Transmission Modes

51
Fiber Optic Signals
fiber optic multimode
step-index

fiber optic multimode

graded-index

fiber optic single mode

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Propagation Mode

Monomode fiber (core 8 ~ 12 um)

Only one path for the light to
propagate only one mode, no modal dispersion
along fiber
All light rays follow the same path
down
input pulse output pulse
the cable and take the same time to
travel the length of the cable
Monomode step-index fiber

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Propagation Mode
Multimode step index fiber (50
~200 um)
More than one path for light propagate
along fiber
Light ways are propagated down the
cable
in a zig-zag pattern and all the light rays
do not follow the same path with slowest mode fastest mode
different propagation time

input pulse output pulse

Multimode step-index fiber

10/10/2017 54
Propagation Mode
Multimode graded index fiber

Light is propagated down the

fiber
by refraction which result a
continuous bending at the
light rays,
Then the rays traveling near
the center,
so that all the rays arrive at input pulse output pulse
the end
point at the same time Multimode graded-index

10/10/2017 55
Fiber optic - Advantages
Wider bandwidth: have higher information to carry
Lower loss/attenuation: there is less signal attenuation over long
distance
Light weight: higher than copper cable and offer good benefit
where weight is critical (plane)
Small size: smaller diameter than electrical cable
Strength: as it has cladding, they offer more strength

10/10/2017 56
Fiber Optic Advantages
greater capacity (bandwidth of up to 2 Gbps)
smaller size and lighter weight
lower attenuation
immunity to environmental interference
highly secure due to tap difficulty and lack of
signal radiation (Security: cannot be tapped
easily as electrical cable)

57
Fiber Optic Disadvantages
expensive over short distance
requires highly skilled installers
adding additional nodes is difficult

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Attenuation
The attenuation in fiber optics are due mainly to:
1. Scattering losses
2. Absorption losses
3. Bending losses
4. Splicing loss
5. Coupling losses

10/10/2017 59
Attenuation standard fiber

1st window wavelength :0.85 um The lowest minimum loss: 5 to 10 db/km

2nd window 1.30 um 0.5 to 2 dB/km
3rd window 1.55 um 01. to 0.5 dB/km
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Application of fiber optic cable
Some of the applications of fiber optic
Long haul, backbone public and private networks
Local loop networks
Fiber backbone networks (LAN connectivity)
High resolution image and digital video
Computer networks, wide area and local area
Shipboard communications
Aircraft communications and controls
Interconnection of measuring and monitoring instruments in
plants and laboratories

10/10/2017 61
CRITERIA & CALCULATION FACTORS

BASIC ITEMS USED TO DETERMINE GENERAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

PERFORMANCE
Fiber Loss Factor
Type of fiber
Transmitter
Receiver Sensitivity
Number and type of splices
Margin
Transmission distance classifications

Very Short Reach : 300-600 m or less

Short: 2Km
Intermediate: 10-40 Km
Long: 40- 80 Km
Very Long Reach: 120 Km
Example:
Two operation centers are located about 8 miles apart based
on map distance. Assume that the primary communication devices at
each center are a wide area network capable router with fiber optic
communication link modules, and that the centers are connected by a
fiber optic cable.
The actual measured distance based on walking the route , is a
total measured length (including slack coils) of 9 miles. There are no
additional devices installed along the cable path. Future planning
provides for the inclusion of a freeway management system
communication link within 5 years.
Note:
All distance measurements must be converted to kilometers. Fiber
cable is normally shipped with a maximum reel length of 15,000 feet
(or 4.5km). 9 miles is about 46,000 feet or 14.5km. Assume that this
system will have at least 4 mid-span fusion splices.
From the Table: Fiber Loss Budget Calculation

Fiber Loss: 14.5 km 0.35 dB/km = -5.075

Fusion splice Loss: 4 0.2 dB = -0.8
Terminating Connectors: 2 1.0 dB = -2.0
Margin: -5.0
Total Fiber Loss = -12.875

The manufacturer of the router offers three transmitter/receiver options

for single mode fiber:
REACH TRANSMIT POWER RECEIVER SENSITIVITY
Short: -3 dBm -18 dBm
Intermediate: 0 dBm -18 dBm
Long: +3 dBm -28 dBm
To determine the correct power option add the transmit power to the
fiber loss calculation.

REACH Tx POWER FIBER LOSS LOSS BUDGET

Short: -3 -12.875 -15.875
Intermediate: 0 -12.875 -12.875
Long: +3 -12.875 -9.875

Compare this to the receiver sensitivity specification;

REACH RCVR SENSITIVITY LOSS BUDGET DIFFERENCE
Short: -18 -15.875 +3.0
Intermediate: -18 -12.875 +6.0
Long: -28 -9.875 +19.0
NOTE:
Because a loss margin of 5.0dB was included in the fiber loss
calculation, the short reach option will provide sufficient capability for
this system.

In fact, the total margin is 8.0db because the difference between the
loss budget and receiver sensitivity is 3.0 db.
PROBLEM:
Assume a system with the following specifications:

Light transmitter LED output power: 30 W

Light receiver sensitivity: 1 W
Cable Length: 6 km
Cable attenuation: 3 dB/Km, 3X6 = 18 dB total
Four connectors: Attenuation 0.8 dB = 3.2 dB total
LED-to-connector loss: 2 dB
Cable dispersion: 8 ns/km
Data rate: 3 Mbps
1. Calculate for all the losses.
2. What power gain is needed to overcome this loss?
Solution:
First calculate all the losses; add all the dB loss factors.
Total Loss, dB = 18 + 3.2 + 2 + 2 = 25.2 dB
Also add 4-dB contingency factor, making the total loss:
25.2 + 4 = 29.2 dB
What power gain is needed to overcome this loss?
dB = 10 log Pt/Pr
where Pt is the transmit power; Pr is the received power
29.2 dB = 10 log Pt/Pr

Pt/Pr = 831.8
Pt = 30/831.8 = 0.036 W
If the receiver sensitivity is 1 microwatt, 0.036 microwatt is below the
threshold of the receiver. The problem may be solved in one of the three
ways:

1. Increase transmitter power

2. Get a more sensitive receiver
3. Add repeater.

If the transmitter power is increased to 1 mW or 1000 W:

The Pr = 1000/831.8 = 1.2 W

PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATION:

The performance of a cable is indicated by the bit rate- distance

product. This rating is the fastest bit rate that can be achieved over a 1
km cable.

R = 1/5dD

R maximum data bit rate in Mbps for a given distance D in Km of the

cable with dispersion factor of d, given in s/km.
Problem :
A measurement is made on a fiber-optic cable 1200 ft long. Its upper
frequency limit is determined to be 43 Mbps. What is the dispersion
factor d?

1 km = 3274 ft.
D = 1200 ft = 1200/32274 0.367 km

R = 1/5dD

D = 1/5RD = 1/(43X10^6)(0.367) = 12.7 ns/km

Thank you