Information transport system

摘要

A system for transporting data between equipment connected to a subscriber telephone line and a provider of services connects with subscriber telephone lines at a central office of a telephone company. The system includes a set of first multiplexers which are coupled to individual ones of the subscriber lines at a point between the cross-switching of the central office and the subscriber premises. Output signals of the first multiplexers fan into a second multiplexer. Bidirectional communication is provided between each of the multiplexers and the subscriber equipment, and also between the second multiplexer and the service provider via a line scanner which generates command signals for the operation of the first and second multiplexers. The first multiplexers, the second multiplexer, the line scanner and a host computer of the service provider can be located at a distance from each other and may be coupled together by communication links which permit the bidirectional flow of data.