METHOD AND NETWORK COMPONENT OF A COMMUNICATION NETWORK FOR SWITCHING LOW BIT RATE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN INPUT MODULES AND OUTPUT MODULES

摘要

The invention relates to the switching of low bit rate connections between input modules and output modules of a network component (e.g. BSC, RNC, TRAU). In accordance with the invention, the input modules (ILIC) and the output modules (OLIC) form a first switching level. An ATM switching centre (ASW) placed between the input modules and the output modules form a second switching level. In the first switching level, several low bit rate connections (TDM-I) are respectively grouped in at least one ATM by the input module (ILIC), said low bit rate connections being situated in the input module (ILIC) and having to be transmitted to the same output module (OLIC). In the second switching level, the switching centre ATM (ASW) guarantees through-connection of the ATM connections in order to transfer information in ATM cells. Then, in the first switching level, the through-connected ATM connections are converted by the output module (OLIC) into the low bit rate connection (TDM-O) of at least one input module (ILIC). The combined switching in two switching levels represents a particularly economical solution for functions specific to mobile radio, while guaranteeing acceptable speech quality with good utilization of the ATM bandwidth.