MERGING THE FUNCTIONS OF SWITCHING AND CROSS CONNECT IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS.

摘要

An apparatus and a method for establishing voice band telecommunications connections using a cross connect/switching system (CCSS) for establishing all or part of the connection segments required for individual calls. The CCSS contains bundles of provisioned paths and also has facilities for establishing individual per call paths which do not use these bundles. When a call is received, the CCSS switches the call through a combination of provisioned and unprovisioned paths. In the preferred embodiment, the CCSS is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switch enhanced with converters to communicate with pulse code modulation (PCM) facilities for communicating with other switches and with associated PCM switches. Terminal adapters are provided in either the CCSS or the associated switches or both for processing voice signals to perform function such as echo cancellation or speech quality enhancement. Advantageously, such a switch can support a very large node that carries extensive wideband and broadband signal traffic as well as the voice band traffic.