ERICSSON

REVIEW Ericsson's Strategies and Technologies for the 1990s

Fibre Optic Token Ring System ZAT8
Slotted Core Optical Fibre Cable
New Generation of Optical Fibre Line Systems for 140 Mbit/s

3
Computer-Based Training in Ericsson's Training Program
Programmable PCM Multiplexer for the 30-Channel Hierarchy
1988
ERICSSON REVIEW
Number 3 1988 Volume 65

Responsible publisher Gosta Lindberg

Editor Goran Norrman

Editorial staff Martti Viitaniemi

S u b s c r i p t i o n Peter Mayr

S u b s c r i p t i o n one year $ 20

Address S-126 25 S t o c k h o l m , Sweden

Published in Swedish, English, French and Spanish with four issues per year

Copyright Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson

Contents
82 Ericsson's Strategies and Technologies for the 1990s
91 Fibre Optic Token Ring System ZAT8
100 Slotted Core Optical Fibre Cable
108 New Generation of Optical Fibre Line Systems for 140 Mbit/s
116 Computer-Based Training in Ericsson's Training Program
122 Programmable PCM Multiplexer for the 30-Channel Hierarchy

Cover
Optical fibre cables manufactured by Ericsson
Cables AB.
The picture shows, from the top, an armoured,
concentric cable and two slotted core cables, one
armoured and one unarmoured. In the slotted
core cables the secondary tubes are protected by
ridges along the central strength member
Ericsson's Strategies and Technologies
for the 1990s
LARS RAMQVIST
Lars Ramqvist was appointed Executive Vice Presi-
dent of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson in 1987
and is a member of the Corporate Executive Com-
mittee of Ericsson with special responsibility for the
coordination of technology, production and pur-
chasing. He is the chairman of Ericsson Compo-
nents AB, a subsidiary of Ericsson. From October 1,
1988, Lars Ramqvist is also head of the Radio Com-
munications Business Area and President of Erics-
son Radio Systems AB Lars Ramqvist joined Erics-
son in 1980 as the head of the Information Systems
Division In 1984 he was appointed President of the
subsidiary RIFA and head of the Components Busi-
ness Area.
Lars Ramqvist has studied at the universities of
Uppsala and Stockholm and has a PhD in solid state
physics and chemistry.
During the period 1962-1980 Dr Ramqvist held
prominent positions in several major Swedish in-
dustrial enterprises, working with technical, busi-
ness and market development matters
telecommunication
ISDN
t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n networks
cellular radio
private t e l e p h o n e exchanges
Fig1
Total number of AXE lines worldwide, Julyl, 1988
(Excluding cellular systems)
Lines installed and on order
Lines installed
After the divestments during 1987 and
early 1988 Ericsson can now focus on
the business concept of providing so-
phisticated systems, products and ser-
vices for telecom networks and provid-
ing electronic defence systems. Erics-
son's primary ambition and objective is
to be the leading international supplier
of advanced systems and services for
telecom networks. The justification for
this claim is Ericsson's extensive inter-
national expertise and broad operating
base.
This article will deal with
- Ericsson's market position in 1987
- international market and technology
development trends in the field of
telecommunications
- Ericsson's systems for telecom net-
works
- cutting-edge technologies of impor-
tance to the development of Erics-
son's systems.
Ericsson's market position in
1987
Ericsson's share of the public telecom-
munications market has grown steadily
during the last three years.
1987 was a very successful year for
Ericsson. 2.5 million AXE lines were in-
stalled worldwide and a further 4.8 mil-
lion lines on order, fig.1. Altogether
there are now 24 million lines already
installed or on order in 72 different
countries.
Lars Ramqvist
Table 1
NUMBER OF INSTALLED MAIN LINES (X1000)
1986 IN THE TEN COUNTRIES WITH THE
LARGEST NUMBER OF INSTALLED LINES
US 10000
Japan 3200
Soviet Union 2200
Great Britain 1 800
West Germany 1 600
France 1500
Italy 1300
Korea 1000
Canada 750
Spain 700
indicates an Ericsson market
In a very short time Ericsson has made
great progress in France, Great Britain
and the US. These countries represent
the sixth largest, fourth largest and
largest telecom markets in the world re-
spectively, table 1.
In the UK, Ericsson received its first
order for local exchanges in 1985 and
has since obtained a good share of the
market. Ericsson's factory in the UK has
an annual capacity of 700 000 lines.
The breakthrough in France came in
1987 when Ericsson, together with Ma-
tra, acquired CGCT, which has 16% of
the French market. This company starts
AXE deliveries in 1988 and production is
expected to reach 300,000 lines in 1991.
In the US, Ericsson obtained its first test
order in mid-1986. Hitherto, four region-
al Bell companies have ordered equip-
ment for a total of 178,000 lines.

Fig 2
Number of subscribers connected to cellular
Ericsson systems, J u l y l . 1988
Fig 3
Number of MD110 lines, installed and on order,
worldwide, December 1987
Fig 4
454 million main lines were in service in 1987
throughout the world (4.3 %)
% = avpraae annual arowth rate
In cellular telephony - a market ex-
pected to grow from less than 3 million
subscribers today to 100 million in the
year 2000 - Ericsson has established it-
self as the major supplier Almost half of
the world's cellular subscribers are
served by an Ericsson system, fig. 2.
There is no doubt that we will remain a
dominant force in this rapidly growing
market. This includes the US, where
Ericsson has won contracts to supply
five of the ten largest cities, table 2.
Business Communications is the name
of Ericsson's restructured Information
Systems Business Area. Its PABX MD110
represents state-of-the-art technology
in this field. At present Ericsson has al-
most two million lines installed or on
order and the number is growing
rapidly, fig. 3. In Europe, Ericsson is now
the largest supplier of digital PBX sys-
tems with a market share of 12%.
83
Table 2
THE TEN CITIES IN THE US WITH THE
LARGEST NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS CON-
NECTED TO CELLULAR SYSTEMS
New York
Los Angeles
Chicago
Philadelphia
Detroit
Boston
San Francisco
Washington DC.
Dallas
Houston
indicates systems supplied by Ericsson
The business areas for cable, network
engineering, defence products and
components have retained and
strengthened their positions. To sum-
marize, Ericsson's market position is
much bettertoday than it was a year ago.
International trends
Markets
Plain ordinary telephone services,
POTS, will be the driving force in the
further development of telecom net-
works for many years. Today a total of
450 million main lines are connected to
telecom networks around the world,
fig. 4. The annual growth is approx-
i m a t e ^ . 3 % . Thisgrowth, together with
the need to replace old lines, creates a
world market of approximately 40 mil-
lion lines per year.
84
In addition to speech, data will be dis-
tributed over different networks using
different techniques. Fig. 5 shows the
growth of public data traffic in Western
Europe. It may seem surprising that
fairly conventional technology - leased
lines and public data networks - will
dominate the data field for the next 5 - 8
years. ISDN (Integrated Services Digital
Network) will play a relatively minor role
during this period.
The real breakthrough for ISDN is ex-
pected when broadband services are in-
troduced, which will probably occur at
the end of this century, fig. 6. We believe
that ATM (Asynchronous Transfer
Mode) will be the technology used.
Much work is needed before then in
Fig 5
Public data traffic in Western Europe, distributed
among different networks and technologies
Fig 6
Introduction of broadband ISDN
order to realize these complex services;
specification, product development and
establishment of networks. Broadband
ISDN will provide subscribers with a
larger number of advanced services
than those available now, and voice,
data, text and image will admit of being
switched and distributed like today's
telephone calls.
However, the development in the field of
cellular mobile telephony will become of
interest long before broadband ISDN.
During recent years the Nordic coun-
tries have gained a world lead in the
expansion of cellular networks with a
telephone density of over 20 per 1000
inhabitants. The density in the US and
UK is five and in the rest of Europe less
 85

than one. The mobile telephone density phone system. The Pan-European sys-
in Japan is only a fraction of that in tem was standardized in 1987 and will
Scandinavia, fig. 7. provide service from 1991.

The market for mobile systems and tele-
phones is expected to expand dramat-
ically during the 1990s, fig. 8, mainly be-
cause the leading European telecom ad-
ministrations have decided on a stan-
dard for a common digital mobile tele-
Mobile telephony is likely to play a domi-
nant role in digital telecommunications
in the early 2000s. Why be tied to cables
when you can move freely and still have
access to all communications services?
The relevance of this question isempha-

Fig7
Number of subscribers connected to cellular
networks as a percentage of the population in
different countries,
January 1988

Fig.8
Development of the Personal Communications
market
Business Cordless Telephones
Telephones
Systems
86
Fig 9, right
The broadband network will be built up through
the integration of public telephone and data
networks. Optical fibre cable-TV networks a n d
local data networks will be integrated
a munications networks, fig. 9. Existing
b yers and doctors. Next come employees
Fig 10
Functions in the broadband ISDN network will be
distributed among the nodes
3 All subscribers can have access to all services
No node needs to contain all services
D Subscribers' view of the network
Fig 11
Public networks of the future will be built up
through the interconnection of existing networks,
such as public telephone and data networks. This
overlay preserves the value of existing invest-
ments and speeds up the introduction of the
service
Telephony
ISDN
Data c o m m u n i c a t i o n
FO-CATV B r o a d b a n d networks
TV d i s t r i b u t i o n f r o m
c o m m u n a l aerials
LAN
Data t e r m i n a l
communication
sized by the fact that the telephone sets, Further development of networks
the terminals, will be fairly cheap and of The broadband networks will grow from
convenient pocket size. present-day telephone and data com-
Which groups use mobile telephony? television and local data networks will
Ericssons experience indicates that the also be integrated. A future HDTV (High
first customers are executives. They are Definition Television) standard will be a
followed by professionals, such as law- milestone in the growth of broadband
networks.
of large companies and finally private
persons. Every subscriber in a broadband net-
work will have access to all services, but
In June 1985, users in the Nordic market the hardware and software necessary
were distributed among different cate- for the implementation of the services
gories as follows: will be distributed among several nodes
Transport 25% in the network, fig. 10. This is possible
Construction industry 16% thanks to the high transmission speeds
Wholesale and retail 15% obtainable with optical fibre circuils;
Manufacturing 13% >2.4Gbit/s.
Local authorities 12%
Finance and insurance 8% Physically the broadband networks will
Others 11 % be realized by linking the ordinary tele-
phone network to mobile and data net-
works, fig. 11. This interconnection al-
lows the investment in existing net-
works to be utilized and subscribers will
quickly and easily have access to the
new services.
The broadband network will be equip-
ped with ISDN nodes, which means that
subscribers can obtain different ser-
vices without having to reserve individu-
al digital lines for each service. For ex-
ample, virtual private networks can be
arranged. Thus ISDN provides flex-
ibility, fig. 12.
Another important and necessary de-
velopment stage, the introduction of
Feature Nodes, should also be men-
tioned. Such nodes are connected to the
telecom network via circuits using
CCITT signalling system no.7 for com-
mon channel signalling, fig. 13. The
databases and systems for the manage-
ment of services in the feature nodes will
make it easier to provide services and
will also bring intelligence into the net-
work, fig. 14. A prerequisite for the real-
Fig 12
A development trend. The public network is
equipped with ISDN nodes

Fig 13
Architecture of an intelligent network. Feature
nodes containing databases and systems for the
management of services are connected to the
network via circuits that use CCITT system no. 7
for common channel signalling
SSP Service Switching Point

ization of this network architecture is parts of the network whose Service

that the logic circuits required to imple-
ment the services are entirely separated
from the physical switching nodes.
When a new service is introduced, the
logic circuits for the service can at first
be placed in a Service Control Point,
SCP. The service is then accessible in all
Switching Points, SSP, are connected to
the SCP. When the use of the service
becomes more widespread a number of
SSPs can be replaced by Service
Switching and Control Points, SSCP,
which means that the logic for the ser-
vice is decentralized.

Fig 14
Functional representation of the architecture of
an intelligent network that makes it possible to
introduce new services quickly; utilizes existing
networks and permits the connection of all types
of subscriber equipment
SCP Service Control Point
SSCP Service Switching and Control Point
SMS Service Management System
VAS Value Added Service

Public switched telephone network

88
The databases offer an economical
means of providing a wider range of ser-
vices, for example those shown in tab-
les.
Ericsson's network systems
As has been mentioned already, Erics-
son supplies sophisticated products,
systems and services for telecom net-
works. These products, systems and
services must be modified and improved
continually so that, at any time, they
meet the requirements of the market.
Ericsson's ambition is to meet the mar-
ket requirements shown in table4.
There is a need for telecom networks
and systems that can provide reliable,
low-cost, ordinary telephone services
and which can also be adapted to meet
the rapidly increasing demand for new,
sophisticated services. By 1992 the new
Fig 15
Networks for business communications
and qualified services will require a
PSPDN Packet Switched Public Data Network
bandwidth of 2Mbit/s out to the sub-
CSPDN Circuit Switched Public Data Network scriber. It is expected that 140 Mbit/swill
MTDN Mobile Telephone Digital Network
CPN Customer Premises Network be needed in the second half of the
Table 3
SOME SERVICES AVAILABLE FROM FEATURE
NODES
- "800-service"
- Virtual N e t w o r k Services
- Credit c a r d v a l i d a t i o n
- Universal access n u m b e r for subscribers
- C h e c k i n g of n u m b e r c h a n g e s etc. by sub-
scribers
Table 4
FUTURE M A R K E T NEEDS
- reliable, l o w - c o s t POTS c o m b i n e d w i t h facili-
ties for m e e t i n g the d e m a n d for rapid expan-
sion of services
- s h o r t lead t i m e s
- p r o g r a m m i n g facilities for subscribers
- b r o a d b a n d s u b s c r i b e r lines:
- 2 M b i t / s in 1992
- 140 Mbit/s after 1995
1990s. Transmission systems will need
much higher bandwidth, at least
2.4Gbit/s.
Ericsson will base its future system
products for telecom networks on the
well-proven AXE technology. In addition
to the AXE exchanges used for Public
Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN),
 89

ISDN and public data networks, Erics- To summarize - and this is certainly of
Table 5 son will supply PABXs, MD110, packet- great importance for our customers to
CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES. ESSENTIAL
switched private data networks and sys- k n o w - the AXE technology will form
TO ERICSSON
tems for cellular mobile telephone and the basis for future Ericsson telecom-
- Microelectronics munications systems.
mobile radio networks, fig. 15. Erics-
- Computers
- Software and Artificial Intelligence son's overall Core Business Concept
- Fibre Optics comprises AXE, MD110and mobile tele-
- Radio phone systems together with cable,
- Networks
components and network engineering
- Standards
resources. Cutting-edge technology
Ericsson will continue to devote consid-
In order to meet the market require- erable resources, both human and eco-
ments forthe 1990s, future Ericsson net- nomic, to development in order to keep
works will most likely be designed as networks and systems at the forefront of
follows. The networks will contain ac- technology. Approximately 10% of the
cess nodes, transfer nodes, feature turnover is allocated to our R&D pro-
nodes and operations support nodes, grams, which are closely linked to our
fig. 16. The access nodes will ensure the market and product development.
flexibility of the networks through their
interfaces for such applications as The R&D programs cover many central
Fig 16 POTS and ISDN, basic systems for technical fields, table 5. The most impor-
Communications network of the 1990s
switching 64kbit/s data (or multiples of tant aspects are communications, VLSI,
AMX Connection via multiplexer
DCC Digital Cross Connect 64kbit/s) and signalling. fibre optics, systems and software.
FMS Facility Management System
90
As we all know, SPC (Stored Program
Table 6 Controlled) products rely heavily on the
SOFTWARE; METHODS AND TOOLS development and maintenance of soft-
Declarative programming languages (10-20 ware. Advanced system design and pro-
times shorter than Pascal) gramming need the best methods and
LISP tools available. Ericssons R&D pro-
PROLOG
ERLANG grams include system structures, de-
Natural languages clarative programming languages, new
New computer architectures computer architecture and artificial in-
RISC and Logic Machine telligence, table6.
Distributed
Parallelism
Artificial Intelligence. Techniques for software Microelectronics is another key area. At
and systems support present, the design and manufacture of
Efficient and consistent
systems on silicon chips is the most
- administration
- maintenance cost-effective way known. More and
- documentation more Application Specific Integrated
Programming environment (workstations) Circuits (ASIC), in VLSI technique, are
Man/machine interface
being designed for the AXE system. This
Computer graphics
Knowledge-based design systems poses a challenge: the VLSI technique is
UNIX, X/OPEN developing very rapidly. The ratio of pri-
ce to performance is improving 100-fold
in ten years, i.e. the yearly improvement
is 50-60%. Huge investments are nec-
essary to keep pace with the develop-
ment in this field. The development of
CMOS technique with a feature size of
less than 1 |.im requires billions.
Although Ericsson invests heavily in de-
velopment, such sums for the develop-
ment of areas that are not central to our
business concept are not feasible. Our
strategy calls for cooperation. In 1987
Ericsson signed a cooperation and al-
liance agreement with Texas Instru-
ments, Tl. When required, Tl provides
Ericsson with VLSI technology, includ-
ing design, CAD tools and relevant pro-
duction processes. Together with Tl we
can quickly develop advanced VLSI cir-
cuits for our telecom systems. A good
example of advanced application-spe-
cific circuits are those for the AXE line
board, SLIC (Subscriber Line Interface
Circuit) and SLAC (Subscriber Line Au-
dio processing Circuit), together with
the digital signal processors. Ericsson's
development program will undoubtedly
keep the AXE system competitive.
The cooperation agreement with Texas
Instruments within microelectronics,
and another with IBM in the Feature
Node area, are just some examples of
Ericsson's cooperation strategy. This
strategy states that, as a rule, we de-
velop basic systems for products such
as AXE, MD110and mobile telephony on
our own but that we actively seek collab-
oration to guarantee access to the best
tools for system design regarding basic
technologies, such as VLSI, CAD and
processors. At business area level,
Ericsson is also cooperating with other
companies as regards distribution, mar-
keting and development of special prcd-
ucts or subsystems. This strategy en-
sures a concentration on the areas
where Ericsson's strength lies - tele-
com systems.
Ericsson is well prepared to develop sys-
tems so that they remain competitive
and we will thus be able to supply the
systems demanded by customers also in
future.
Fibre Optic
Token Ring System ZAT8

Gunnar Nilsson
GUNNAR NILSSON
Ericsson Fiber Optics AB has developed equipment that makes it possible to Ericsson Business Communications AB
build fibre optic Token Ring networks. Token Ring is the name of local area
networks characterized by a ring structure and a special method of giving
computers etc. (nodes) access to the network. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers) has prepared a standard for this type of network. IEEE
802.5. The equipment is transparent to electrical signals that conform to this
WAN (Wide Area Network) is used to in-
standard.
terconnect workstations and databases
The author describes how local data networks built up of optical fibre circuits that are widely spread geographically.
obtain such essential characteristics as high data security, reliability and long The equipment can be placed in dif-
distances between nodes. The architecture and performance of the networks are ferent cities and even different c o u n -
also described as well as various applications. tries.

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) is

used for c o m m u n i c a t i o n between units
local area network
optical fibres During recent years a need has de- distributed t h r o u g h o u t a neighbour-
protocols veloped for various means of using a hood or a whole city. Intensive w o r k is
data communication systems workstation to fetch information from now in progress to standardize and de-
computer interfaces different databases and to send and re- velop this type of network, e.g. the FDDI
ceive messages between workstations. network. At present the X.25 network
Fig. 1 Three different types of network are can be used for both WAN and MAN ap-
An example showing different networks and their used to satisfy this need. plications.
interconnection
92
Box
Token Ring
A Token Ring network connects a number of
nodes into a ring-shaped network. Each node in
the network receives signals, removes jitter, re-
generates the signals and passes them on to the
next node. The nodes can consist of computers
such as PCs, workstations etc. The equipment
is adapted to the network by means of a plug-in
board; in the case of a PC a Token Ring board.
In a "conventional" network the connections
between the nodes are metallic, but when ZAT8
is used they can be replaced by optical fibre
cables.
Token Passing
A Token is a unique bit pattern which is trans-
mitted throughout the ring. Each node detects
and passes the Token on. When a node has to
transmit a message it waits for the next arrival of
the Token. The unique bit pattern is changed
and the node transmits the message. No other
node can then send any messages since the
Token has been distorted. The addressed node
reads the transmitted message and passes it on.
When the transmitting node receives the end of
its own message it sends out a correct Token
over the ring. Other nodes can then transmit
messages.
CSMA/CD
A node that wants to send a message senses the
bus to check whether another node is transmit-
ting. If this is the case it waits until the bus is free
and then transmits the message. The node con-
tinues to sense the bus during the transmission,
other nodes might have started transmitting si-
multaneously. If a collision has occurred, all
nodes will stop transmitting. Every node is
equipped with a random generator that con-
trols a waiting time. After the shortest waiting
time has elapsed, the node in question again
tries to transmit its message. Other nodes will
then find the bus occupied when their random
waiting times have elapsed and they are again
ready for transmission.
The third network, LAN (Local Area Net-
work), is used to connect workstations
and databases locally, within an office
or a factory, fig. 1. LAN has several ad-
vantages:
- messages and files can be transferred
between workstations
- databases and files can be utilized
jointly by several users; updating is
carried out in a single place; updates
become accessible to all users simul-
taneously
- hardware, such as printers, plotters,
modems and multiplexers, can also
be utilized jointly by several users.
This means savings resulting in the
network paying for itself.
The real breakthrough for LAN has been
long in coming. In the US its use has
grown markedly during the last two
years and it is expected that in Europe
the growth will start booming in 1988.
The reason for the slow start is the lack
of some prerequisites for the develop-
ment of efficient, low-cost LAN.
One of the problems has been the lack of
inexpensive and efficient workstations.
This problem has been solved by the
rapid development of personal compu-
ters, PC. IBM's personal computers
have come to constitute a de facto stan-
dard. Each office employee can now
have a personal workstation.
Another problem has been the difficulty
of achieving, at a low cost, the high bit
rates necessary to obtain the desired
performance for a LAN with many users,
nodes; for example sufficiently short
waiting times. This problem has been
solved through the development of
semiconductors, which has led to fast
integrated circuits with low power con-
sumption.
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to rapid
growth has been the lack of standards.
For more than ten years IEEE has work-
ed on different standards for LAN, and
during the last few years this work has
resulted in a breakthrough with three
different standards - IEEE 802.3, IEEE
802.4 and IEEE 802.5.
IEEE 802.3 describes a bus network hav-
ing a capacity of 10 Mbit/s. The access
method is designated CSMA/CD - see
the box. The most common 802.3 net-
work is called Ethernet.
IEEE 802.4 also describes a bus network,
but with a capacity of 4 Mbit/s. The net-
work is called Token Bus and uses the
Token Passing method for giving the
nodes access to the network - see the
box.
IEEE 802.5 describes a ring network
which also uses the Token Passing ac-
cess method. The network is called
Token Ring. It is supported by IBM,
which has also greatly influenced its de-
sign. It is the objective of IBM that the
majority of its equipment should be
compatible with Token Ring networks.
These three standards, which describe
the lowest level and parts of the second
level in the OSI (Open Systems Intercon-
nection) model, are linked to higher lev-
els in the OSI model via a common stan-
dard, IEEE 802.2, fig. 2. It is therefore
relatively easy to interconnect an Eth-
ernet and a Token Ring network. If two
nodes in a network are to be able to
communicate with each otherthey must
be compatible also at levels 3 - 7 in the
OSI model. Acceptance of all these stan-
dards has resulted in users now being
assured that there is and will be a large
amount of equipment which can be con-
nected to LAN.
Standardization has also made it eco-
nomically viable to develop network cir-
cuits with a high degree of integration.
With the support of IBM, Texas Instru-
ments has developed five circuits for
Token Ring networks. The circuits have
made it possible to accommodate on a
normal plug-in PC board all the func-
tions necessary to connect a PC as a
node in a Token Ring network. At the
same time the cost of such a connection
has become reasonable. Another con-
sequence of the cooperation is that
Texas Instruments' new circuits are
compatible with IBM's own, and
through agreements with Tl several
companies have obtained the right to
buy these circuits. Printed board assem-
blies for Token Ring networks can there-
fore be supplied by several manufac-
turers. Since all these boards meet the
requirements of IEEE 802.5 it is possible
to mix boards f r o m different manufac-
turers in nnp and the same network.

ZAT8; a system with high
data security
Most users have tightened the require-
ments for their computer networks as
computerization has spread. The impor-
tance of a certain characteristic is then
partly dependent on the application. It is
becoming increasingly c o m m o n to use
computer systems to handle secret in-
formation, ranging from military secrets
to information about individuals. In such
cases it is essential that the system is
protected. Costs due to a system fault, if
any, may be another important param-
eter.
Ericsson has developed a system, ZAT8,
that provides the data c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
parts of Token Ring networks based on
PCs The system gives a conventional
Token Ring network the f o l l o w i n g im-
portant characteristics:
- high reliability
- high security against interception
- possibility of longer distances be-
tween nodes.
The design of the c o m m u n i c a t i o n s net-
work greatly influences the possibilities
of achieving high reliability and security
in a computer network, but other parts
of the system must also have suitable
characteristics for the overall result to
be satisfactory. For example, the termi-
nals must be non-radiative and the soft-
ware must not allow unauthorized use.
The characteristics of ZAT8 offer great
advantages to many user groups, for ex-
ample
- banks and finance companies
- the defence establishment
Fig. 2
The figure shows the relationship between dif-
- manufacturing industry.
ferent IEEE standards and the OSI model
93
Banks and finance companies handle
large sums of money every day with the
aid of computers. A fault in a c o m p u t e r
system can very quickly be f o l l o w e d by
serious economic repercussions. These
users also store secret i n f o r m a t i o n , for
example e c o n o m i c data c o n c e r n i n g
companies and private persons.
The defence establishment has a vested
interest in data security. ZAT8 with opti-
cal fibre transmission can increase pro-
tection against interception consider-
ably. ZAT8 has been designed to meet
the stringent military TEMPEST require-
ments.
Manufacturing industry often has prob-
lems with interference in computer sys-
tems, for example f r o m electrical ma-
chines and motors. A fault in the c o m p u -
tersystem can - as in b a n k s a n d finance
companies - cause huge losses in a
short time.
Functional description of
ZAT8
Choice of design principles
As has been mentioned already, ZAT8 is
intended to provide the data c o m m u n i -
cations parts in Token Ring networks
based on PCs. Some of the advantages
of Token Ring networks are:
- the methods of providing access to
the networks for the nodes differ con-
siderably in networks in accordance
with IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.5. The
method used in IEEE 802.3 is called
CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Ac-
cess with Collision Detect) and in
IEEE 802.5 Token Passing. The two
methods are described in the box.
The Token Passing method guaran-
tees a value for the longest waiting
time f r o m the m o m e n t a transmission
requirement arises in a node until the
message can be transmitted. With
CSMA/CD the m a x i m u m waiting time
varies with the load on the network.
The time is often a very important pa-
rameter in real time applications, for
example in m a n u f a c t u r i n g industry -
since each node in a Token Ring net-
work f u n c t i o n s as a repeater it is easy
to introduce fibre optics in the f o r m of
optical transmitters and receivers. It is
much more c o m p l i c a t e d in a bus net-
w o r k of the Ethernet or Token Bus
type, where a certain amount of
94

power has to be tapped in each node. - the involvement of IBM guarantees

The use of fibre optics right out to the
subscriber is a prerequisite for in-
creased reliability, security against
tapping and long distances between
nodes
it was proposed in 1987 that IEEE
802.5 should be accepted in MAP
(Manufacturing Automatic Protocol).
If the proposal is accepted the stan-
dard will become even more wide-
spread in industry
not only that a large amount of IBM
equipment will be available for con-
nection to Token Ring networks but
also that many other manufacturers
will market products for such net-
works. This will probably mean that
Token Ring will become the dominant
network in the market in a few years.
The basic structure of a Token Ring net-
work is described in the box. The physi-

Fig.5
Several LANs interconnected by means of
bridges

Fig. 3
The Token Ring topology and a practical config-
uration

Fig. 4
An example of a Token Ring network in a building
cal structure of networks built up with
ZAT8 is ring-star, fig.3 Up to eight
nodes can be connected to a con-
centrator. FMAU (Fibre-optic Multi-sta-
tion Access Unit) The FMAUs are most
suitable installed in a cross c o n n e c t i o n
r o o m , placed centrally in a b u i l d i n g or
on each floor, fig. 4, 250 nodes can be
connected to one and the same net-
work, but limiting the network to less
than 100 nodes is preferable Otherwise
the network will be considered slow if all
users try to send messages at the same
time. With a large n u m b e r of users it is
better to build several small networks
and connect them by means of bridges,
fig 5.
One disadvantage of star-shaped net-
works is the relatively high cost of the
cabling. A cable is run between each
node and the FMAU, whereas in ring-
95
shaped networks the cable is run from
node to node However, the star shape
has several advantages w h i c h o u t w e i g h
the disadvantage of the somewhat more
expensive cabling. An important advan-
tage is that the cost of service and main-
tenance is reduced. At the same time the
availability increases since any fault can
be repaired more quickly.
Another reason for the greater avail-
ability of star-shaped networks is that
the majority of the cables only connect
the FMAU with one node each. If a fault
occurs in a cable it will only affect one
node. The remainder of the network
functions as before, w h i c h w o u l d not be
the case in ring-shaped networks
Data security is essential in many ap-
plications. An optical fibre network such
as ZAT8 increases the security level c o n -
96
Fig. 6
An FMAU with terminals for both optical fibre and
electrical connectors
Fig. 7
An FMAU with the front panel removed and
equipped with ring adapter and alarm boards. The
board in the centre of the unit is an FMAU board
siderably. One reason is that, unlike
metal cables, optical fibre cables are not
surrounded by a magnetic field that can
easily be detected. At present, tapping
information from optical fibre is so com-
plicated that any intruder will undoubt-
edly choose some other method of intru-
sion. This claim applies to large net-
works with many terminals and with a
large number of people having access to
the network. Another reason is that fibre
networks are insensitive to electromag-
netic disturbances caused by, for exam-
ple, lightning, electrical machines or
sabotage.
One prerequisite for a high level of se-
curity is that the electronic terminal
equipment is also under tight control.
This is yet another reason for choosing a
star-shaped network where all FMAUs
and cross connection panels are placed
in central, locked cross connection
rooms
System structure
A Token Ring network built up with
ZAT8 consists of two optical fibre rings
in which a number of FMAUs are con-
nected, fig. 9. Up to eight nodes can be
connected to each FMAU. The nodes
can consist of PCs, fig. 6. Connection
between an FMAU and a node is by
means of an optical fibre or an electric
communications link. In addition to the
FMAUs and the two types of communi-
cations link in ZAT8 a complete system
includes fibre and metal cables, optical
fibre connectors, electrical connectors
and cross connection equipment.
FMAU
A basic FMAU consists of power supply
equipment and three different types of
printed board assembly: ring adapter,
alarm board and back plane board. The
back plane board is equipped with 12
European type connectors. A European
standard board can be plugged into
each connector, fig. 7. Eight of the
board spaces are intended for connec-
tion of the nodes, fig.8. The part of a
communication link that is placed in the
FMAU is called an FMAU board. One
board space is used for the alarm board
and two for ring adapters. The hardware
is designed to meet the stringent re-
quirements regarding informative radia-
tion set down in ROS (Swedish Armed
Forces) and TEMPEST (the interna-
tional equivalent).
Each FMAU contains two ring adapters.
They connect the FMAU to the ring-
shaped network, fig. 8. Each ring adapt-
er is equipped with both a transmitter
and a receiver, and ZAT8 thus creates a
LAN with double rings for the transmis-
sion of information, fig. 9. In normal op-
eration, data is transmitted over the pri-
mary ring and only a tone of approx-
imately 5000 Hz over the secondary ring.
The ring adapter that receives data from
the primary ring is called Ring In and the
transmitting one is called Ring Out,
fig. 8. A Ring Out adapter must always be
connected to a Ring In adapter or not
connected at all.
If a fault occurs in the ring, for example a
cable break, a loop is automatically set
nn fin 9 The n u r n n s e nf the IOOD con-
Fig. 8
Block diagram of the FMAU
nection is to restore a complete ring so
that traffic can continue to all nodes
without interruption. The loop is set up
by means of a special modulation pro-
cess. The data signal is supplemented
by a tone of approximately 5000 Hz. The
ring adapter receiver detects the tone
and. if absent, the loop connection is
initiated, fig. 9.
The setting up of the loop starts with the
primary and secondary rings being in-
terconnected in that FMAU whose ring
adapter receiver detects the loss of the
Fig. 9 5000 Hz tone. At the same time this
Block diagram of a Token Ring system with four adapter stops sending the 5000 Hz tone.
FMAUs
In order to establish a complete loop,
the primary and secondary rings of the
adjacent FMAU must also be intercon-
nected. This happens w h e n the ring
adapter in that FMAU detects the loss of
the 5000 Hz tone.
Loop connection is essential to the re-
liability of the system. It means that an
individual fault can occur w i t h o u t any
node losing its c o n n e c t i o n with the net-
work. The loop is set up automatically
and so quickly that the users will not
notice that a fault has o c c u r r e d . A red
LED on the ring adapter indicates that a
loop has been set up.
When a fault has been c o r r e c t e d , the
disconnected ring segment must be re-
stored. Normally this is done automat-
ically when voltage is switched on or
after a power break, so that there is no
need to press buttons on all FMAUs in
case of a power failure.
However, a strap on the ring adapter will
disable the automatic restoration of ring
segments after a longer power failure.
This facility is of interest to users w h o
demand a high level of secrecy, for ex-
ample the defence establishment. An in-
truder could cause a power failure and
use it to connect tapping equipment.
The facility is most suitably c o m b i n e d
with an inspection of the segments be-
fore they are reconnected manually.
The alarm board in FMAU can transmit
three different alarms to an alarm panel
- in the simplest version a w a r n i n g lamp
or a siren - on the user's premises.
Alarms for power failures and breaks in
the Ring In and Ring Out segments are
initiated by means of relay closures. A
green LED indicates power alarm, fig. 6.
98
Fig. 10
SMbaud data signal with an added low-frequency
signal, f, = 2000 Hz, f2 = 5000 Hz
Fig.1t
The positions of the Token Ring board and the PC
board in the personal computer
Optical fibre communications link
The optical fibre c o m m u n i c a t i o n s link
between the FMAU and a PC consists of
three units:
- a fibre optic plug-in board for the
FMAU, the FMAU board
- a fibre optic plug-in board for the PC,
the PC board
- a short cable that connects the PC
board with the Token Ring board in
the PC.
The Token Ring board is a plug-in board
for connecting a PC as a node in a Token
Ring network. It does not form part of
ZAT8 but can be obtained from several
suppliers. It handles the whole protocol
and determines how data is sent to and
read from the network. The interface be-
tween the Token Ring board and the net-
work meets the IEEE 802.5 specification.
In electrical networks the signals are
normally transmitted via a cable consist-
ing of two screened pairs surrounded by
another screen. The output and input
signals to the board are balanced. In a
" c o n v e n t i o n a l " network the nodes are
connected to an MAU (Multi-station Ac-
cess Unit) which corresponds to the
FMAU in ZAT8.
When the Token Ring board is to con-
nect the node to the network a d.c. volt-
age of approximately 5V, the phantom
level, is added to the output signal. In the
conventional network the voltage from
the Token Ring board controls - via the
above-mentioned cable - a relay in
MAU that performs the connection. The
phantom level provides a check that the
cable between the PC and the MAU is
intact.
The PC board converts the electrical sig-
nals to and from the Token Ring board to
optical signals. The electrical signals
are transmitted to and from the PC
board via a short cable connected to the
rear of the PC, fig. 11. Optical transmis-
sion of the phantom level to the FMAU is
by means of a low-frequency signal
w h i c h is added to the data signal, fig. 10,
in the same way as between the ring
adapters. The signal is shifted between
2000 Hz and 5000 Hz. The PC board acts
in the f o l l o w i n g way:
Electrical input signal
from the Token Ring
board Optical output signal
to FMAU
High phantom level 5000 Hz and DATA
Low phantom level 2000 Hz and DATA
No signal 2000 Hz

Technical data
Electrical interface
Network topology
Number of nodes con-
nected to an FMAU
Max. number of nodes in a
network
Power budget
FMAU-FMAU, BER = 10- 9
50/125nm fibre
62.5/125nm fibre
Transmission span
FMAU-FMAU. BER = 10- 9
50/125 (im fibre
62.5.125nmfibre
FMAU -workstation
optical fibre circuit
50 125 urn fibre
62.5/125 (im fibre
electrical circuit
Optical interface
Connectors
Wavelength
Transmitter receiver
Electrical interface on the
"electrical" FMAU board
Connectors
Alarm interface
Relay outputs
Power supply
Voltage
Power consumption
fully equipped FMAU
Environment
99
Optical input signal in the FMAU. This board c o m m u n i c a t e s
to the Token Ring directly with t h e T o k e n Ring board in the
Transparent to board Electrical o u t p u t signal PC. It is possible to mix electrical and
signals con- from the FMAU
forming to IEEE
optical FMAU boards in one and the
5000 Hz and DATA Transmission same FMAU.
802.5
satisfactory
Two fibres in the
2000 Hz and DATA Transmission not
ring, automatic
reconfiguration, functioning
nodes connected No signal Transmission not Summary
to FMAU in star functioning
The purpose of ZAT8 is to form part of
configuration
local area networks of the Token Ring
The FMAU board is supplied together
8 type. The ZAT8 parts are transparent to
with the PC board and the cable for con-
signals that c o n f o r m to the IEEE 802.5
250 necting the PC board to the Token Ring
specification. Each concentrator,
board. The FMAU board, which is plug-
FMAU, has terminals for the c o n n e c t i o n
ged into the FMAU back plane, fig. 7,
*13dB of eight nodes. A network can contain
sl7dB contains an optical transmitter and an
up to 250 nodes. The circuit between an
optical receiver. They convert the opti-
FMAU and the nodes can be either opti-
cal signal on the fibre to an electrical
s= 2.0 km cal fibre or electrical.
s=2.5km
signal and the electrical signal from the
back plane to an optical signal. The
ZAT8 gives a conventional Token Ring
FMAU board has t w o functions. One is
s 2.0 km network greater reliability, higher se-
to connect the node to the ring when the
s 2.5 km curity and the possibility of longer dis-
300m Token Ring board sends high phantom
tances between nodes.
level. The other function is to set up a
F-SMA loop when the Token Ring board sends
850 nm In cases where security requirements
low phantom level, so that the data
LED/PIN are very stringent, fibre cable is used
transmitted by the node is returned to it.
throughout the network, even between
This means that the node can test itself
the FMAU and a PC. If the requirements
Four-pole data and the cable right up to the FMAU.
connector are less stringent, metal cable can be
When testing takes place the data on the
used between the FMAU and a PC un-
ring bypasses the node connection in
3 less the distance between them is long,
the FMAU. The FMAU board reacts in the
in w h i c h case fibre cable must be used.
220/110 V f o l l o w i n g way to different optical signals
50/60 Hz from the PC b o a r d :
A network built up with ZAT8 has the
<15W f o l l o w i n g advantages:
Optical input signal
0-45"C - if only fibre cable is used, it is insensi-
from the PC board
DATA and The node is c o n n e c t e d to tive to electromagnetic interference,
5000 Hz the ring DATA and e.g. from welding e q u i p m e n t and
5000 Hz is transmitted to electrical machines, and does not
the PC board give off any electromagnetic radia-
DATA and The node is d i s c o n - tion that can be detected by un-
2000Hz nected f r o m the ring authorized persons
DATA and 5000 Hz is - it has double rings. If a fault s h o u l d
transmitted to the PC
occur in a fibre or in an optical c o m -
board
No input signal The node is discon-
ponent the network is automatically
nected f r o m the ring. reconfigured so that c o m m u n i c a t i o n
2000 Hz is transmitted to with all nodes is maintained
the PC board - in the case of a fault an alarm is initi-
ated that pinpoints the faulty segment
Electrical communications link or FMAU
The electrical c o m m u n i c a t i o n s link be- - the distance between two FMAUs and
tween the FMAU and the workstation between an FMAU and a PC can be up
consists of an " e l e c t r i c a l " plug-in board to 2.5 km.
Slotted Core Optical Fibre Cable

Anders Larsson and Karin Nygard-Skalman

The Telecom Cables Division of Ericsson Cables AB has developed a series of
slotted core optical fibre cables that meet the requirements of the new
specification issued by the Swedish Telecommunications Administration. The
cables have very high mechanical strength. The same construction principle is
used for duct cable, armoured cable and submarine cable with between 4 and 36
fibres.
The authors describe the development work, the tests made and the performance
of the cables.
optical cables During the autumn of 1987 the Swedish
design engineering Telecommunications Adminstration
testing
installation purchased optical fibre cable for the
purpose of extending the long-distance
network during the period 1988-89. The
purchase comprises four different types
of cable: cable for running in ducts,
wire-armoured cable for burying, sub-
marine cable, and cable for indoor in-
stallation. Specification requirements
differ in several respects from those for
deliveries during the period 1986-87.
Recent development of optical fibre, in
this case single-mode fibre, has influ-
enced specification requirements. A
summary of the Administration's fibre
specifications is given in table 1.
Requirements for the mechanical prop-
Table 1 erties of the cable are now more strin-
Fibre data gent. The Administration has also spec-
Specification by the Swedish Telecommunica-
tions Administration
ified slotted cores for the cables. In a
Single-mode fibre with primary coating
slotted core cable the central strength
member has lengthwise ridges, which
give it a star-shaped cross section. Con-
centric and slotted core cable designs
are compared in fig. 1.
Experience from the laying of optical ca-
ble, for example by ploughing it into
road banks and running it in ducts, has
shown that optical fibre cable must be
able to withstand mechanical stresses.
In unfavourable cases a large radial
force may be transferred to the fibres
and cause extra attenuation oratworsta
crack in the fibre. In the slotted core
cable the fibres are well protected be-
tween the ridges.
Slotted core cable
Construction
Slotted core optical fibre cables can be
designed in different ways, for example
as regards the number of slots and the
construction of the fibre buffer. The ca
bles are manufactured with fibres that
have either tight or loose secondary
coating and in certain cases even none,
just the primary coating.
Optical fibres normally have a primary
coating made of acrylate or silicone to
protect the cladding. Many manufac-
turers of single-mode fibres have stan-
dardized the outer diameter of the prim-
ary coating to 250tim.

Tight secondary coating is obtained by

Duct, armoured Indoor
and submarine cable
extruding a polymer straight onto the
cable primary coating of the fibre. The tech-
Transmission data nique is similar to the one employed
1285-1330nm when insulating copper wire. Normally
Attenuation, mean for the cable S0.40 dB/km
the outer diameter of tight secondary
Attenuation, max. for individual fibres sS0.50 sSl.O dB/km
Chromatic dispersion - <10 ps/nm km coating is 0.5-0.9 mm.
zero transition 1300-1320 - nm
Slope at zero transition s=0.1 ps/nm 2 km Loose secondary coating consists of a
1550-1570nm
Attenuation, mean for the cable S0.30 dB/km
tube extruded around the primary coat-
Attenuation, max. for individual fibres 0.40 *1,0 dB/km ing. Several fibres are often placed in
Chromatic dispersion <19(1570) <20(1550) ps/nmkm the tube, a multifibre tube. Its dimen-
Cut-off wavelength 1250+100 120050 nm sions are dependent on the number of
Geometrical data
Mode field diameter 101 101 ).im
fibres. For example, a secondary tube
Cladding 1253 125+1 ( im
with four fibres has an outer diameter of
Sheath non-circularity S2 S2 % somewhat more than 2 mm and an inner
' Concentricity error, core/sheath =S1.0 S1.0 ^m diameter of 1-1.5 mm. When a loose
Primary coating
secondary coating is used in outdoor
Acrylate, diameter 25015 25015 ^m
Mechanical data cables the secondary tubes are filled
Screentest level, whole fibre 0.7 0.7 % with a thixotropic filler to make the ca-
bles lonaitudinallv waterDroof.

ANDERS LARSSON The properties of the cables vary some-
KARIN NYGARD-SKALMAN
what d e p e n d i n g on whether the fibres
Telecom Cables Division
Ericsson Cables AB have just primary coating or tight or
loose secondary coating. The manufac-
turing equipment and the prioritization
of manufacturing engineering problems
are also affected.
The Administration's
requirements specification
The new requirements specification is-
sued by the Swedish Telecommunica-
Fig. 1, below tions Administration comprises four
The structure of concentric and slotted core types of cable:
cables - cable to be run in ducts
- armoured cable to be buried
Fig. 2. far below
The core of a slotted core cable. Each of the six - submarine cable
slots holds a multifibre tube containing up to six - indoor cable.
fibres
101
According to the specification each type
of cable s h o u l d be available in versions
with 4, 8, 12, 24 and 36 fibres. In the
purchase negotiations it was stated that
the largest size considered was 12-fibre
cables. However, the possibility of fu-
ture orders including cables with up to
36 fibres greatly influenced the decision
to use a standardized cable body that
could hold the larger numbers of fibres.
Choice of design
The guiding principles and previous ex-
perience on w h i c h the development has
been based can be summarized as fol-
lows:
- the same core s h o u l d be used for
duct, armoured and submarine cable,
if possible
- materials with well d o c u m e n t e d prop-
erties should be used in order to avoid
compatibility problems
- different designs must be evaluated
by means of full mechanical testing
- know-how acquired in the f o l l o w i n g
areas should be utilized:
volume p r o d u c t i o n
management of excess fibre in the ca-
ble
installation and splicing of optical
fibre cable.
The core of the duct, armoured and sub-
marine cables consists of a strength
member with six slots, fig. 2. The slots
contain multifibre tubes. Each tube
holds four fibres in cables with up to 24
fibres and six fibres in the 36-fibre ca-
bles. In cables with fewer than 24 fibres
an appropriate number of d u m m i e s are
placed in the slots.
On the basis of previous experience
Ericsson Cables AB favours loose sec-
ondary coating. The fibres remain free
from mechanical stress as long as the
longitudinal expansion of the cable
stays within the expansion w i n d o w .
Experience gained d u r i n g installation of
optical fibre cable shows that it is an
advantage in cable splicing to have the
fibres mechanically protected when the
strength member of the cable has been
cut. This is another reason for using
fibre with secondary coating.
In a slotted core cable line either the
cabling unit or the take-up stand has to
102
Fig. 3
A slotted core being manufactured in an extru-
sion line
Fig. 4
The size of the expansion window is dependent
on the cable pitch (S), the distance of the fibres
from the centre of the cable (R), and the inner
radius of the secondary tube (r)
rotate. Both cases require a controlled
pay-off unit for each item placed in the
slots. Thus, a slotted core cable with 24
fibres having primary coating or tight
secondary coating needs 24 pay-off
units. If multifibre tubes with four fibres
are used instead, the same cable will
only need six pay-off units. Such a re-
d u c t i o n of the number of c o m p o n e n t s in
the cable is desirable, not least from the
point of view of quality and p r o d u c t i o n
engineering.
Petroleum jelly is often used to water-
proof cables. However, its low-tempera-
ture properties are not always such that
it can be used in direct contact with the
fibres. Various types of thixotropic gel
are therefore used in the secondary
tubes in the slotted core cables. The gel
is compatible with polyamide, the mate-
rial used for the loose secondary coat-
ing.
Cable construction
Optical fibres must be protected from
axial forces, micro- and macrobends.
This requirement must be met during
manufacture, installation and opera-
tion. In the slotted core cable the need
for radial protection is met partly by the
secondary coating of the fibres and
partly by the cable structure. All optical
cables are provided with a metallic or
non-metallic strength member in order
to protect the fibres from tensile forces.
The strength members have high me-
chanical strength and low temperature
coefficient.
Strength member
The purpose of the strength member is
to prevent axial deformation of the ca-
ble. It must also reduce the effect on the
fibre of the s u r r o u n d i n g plastics when
the cable is exposed to heat and cold.
The strength member in the slotted core
cable consists of temperature-stable
glass fibre reinforced plastics with a
high specific modulus of elasticity. The
slotted profile is made of polyethene
and is extruded onto the strength mem-
ber in an extrusion line with a rotating
nozzle in w h i c h the pitch of the cable is
 103

set. A multifibre tube is placed in each
slot. This applies to duct, armoured and
submarine cable. In indoor cable two
fibres with tight secondary coating are
placed in each slot, fig. 3.
Secondary coating
The secondary coating protects the
fibre from both axial and radial forces.
The material chosen for the secondary
coating is polyamide, because of its
high modulus of elasticity.
In loose secondary coating, the fibre
Fig. 5
O p t i c a l cable for i n d o o r i n s t a l l a t i o n
can remain free from tension when the
cable expands or contracts long-
Temperature range itudinally. The inner diameter of the tube
operation - 3 0 to +70 C
storage - 4 0 to +70 C is larger than the fibre diameter. In a
installation - 1 0 to +50 C cable with the secondary tube placed in
Smallest bend radius 15 x cable diameter
Diameter 14.5 mm a helix, spiralling round the strength
Net weight 180 kg km
Maximum tensile member, the fibre is nominally posi-
torce 1.0 kN tioned in the centre of the tube when the
Design cable is not under stress. When the ca-
1 Fibre with primary and tight secondary coating
2 Core, dielectric ble is extended, t h r o u g h pulling or tem-
3 PE insulation perature changes, the fibre will move
4 Sheath: PVC, green, nominal diameter 14,5mm
Colour coding of the secondary coating: RED BLUE in within the tube towards the centre of the
each slot
cable, fig. 4. When the cable contracts,
the fibre will move away from the centre.
This movement, w h i c h can be deter-
mined theoretically and w h i c h is called
the expansion w i n d o w , is important to
the behaviour of the cable during tem-
perature cycling and elongation. The
size of the w i n d o w is determined by the
inner diameter of the secondary tube,
the distance to the cable centre, and the
cable pitch. The size of the expansion
w i n d o w can easily be verified em-
pirically t h r o u g h tensile tests of the ca-
ble with simultaneous measurements of
the fibre length.
radial forces and must not affect the op-
tical characteristics of the fibre when
the temperature varies within a given
range Ericsson has chosen loose sec-
ondary coating in cables w h i c h are ex-
posed to great external stress.
Tight secondary coating is used for
fibres in indoor cables. The resultant
high flexibility and small dimensions are
advantageous in cable installation.
Moisture barrier
The secondary tubes are filled with a
thixotropic gel w h i c h serves as mechan-
ical protection as well as a moisture
barrier. The advantages of a t h i x o t r o p i c
gel compared with petroleum jelly or
polyisobutenes for optical cables are:
- relatively constant viscosity
t h r o u g h o u t large temperature ranges
- no melting point
- the gel can be p u m p e d at room tem-
perature
- the gel is soft and flexible even at low
temperatures.
Petroleum jelly is used in the slots
around the secondary tubes, where it
provides good protection against pen-
etration by moisture. Ericsson cables
meet the requirements for longitudinal
watertightness in a c c o r d a n c e with IEC
specification 794-1-F5.
Sheath
A sheath of LLDPE, linear low-density
polyethene, is extruded around the slot-
ted core. Linear polyethene gives a me-
chanically better sheath than LDPE,
low-density polyethene.

Loose secondary coating gives better The cores of all three o u t d o o r versions
mechanical performance than tight are identical out to and including the
coating. Materials for tight secondary first sheath. A r m o u r e d and submarine
coating must be able to withstand high cables contain a r m o u r i n g wires be-
tween the inner and outer sheaths, and
Fig. 6 the submarine cable is also equipped
Optical duct cable with an inner lead sheath.
Temperature range
operation - 3 0 to +70 C
storage - 4 0 to +70 C
installation - 1 0 to +50 C
Smallest bend radius 15xcable diameter
Diameter 13.5 mm
Net weight
Maximum tensile
160 kg/km Material properties
force 1 OkN
Compatibility
Design It is essential that the materials used in
1 Fibre with primary coating, red-blue-white-green
2 Loose secondary coating, polyamide the cable are compatible. For example,
3 Core, dielectric
4 PE insulation
the gel in the cable must not break d o w n
5 Filler the plastic and cause stress c r a c k i n g
6 Filler
7 chaaih nrtluthpnfi hlack nominal diameter 13.5mm and reduced strength.
Fig. 7, right
Armoured optical cable

Temperature range
operation - 3 0 to +70 C
storage - 4 0 to +70 C
installation - 1 0 to +50 C
Smallest bend radius 20 x cable diameter
Diameter 20.5 mm
Net weight 670 kg/km
Maximum tensile
force 3.5 kN

Design
1 Fibre with primary coating, red-blue-white-green
2 Loose secondary coating, polyamide
3 Core, dielectric
4 PE insulation
5 Filler
6 Filler
7 Inner sheath: polyethene, black
8 Armouring: galvanized steel wire
9 Outer sheath: Polyethene, black, nominal diameter
20.5 mm

Fig. 8, far right Ericsson Cables AB has studied the
Optical submarine cable
compatibility of polyethene and poly-
Temperature range
operation - 3 0 to + 70 C amide with t h i x o t r o p i c gel and pe-
storage - 4 0 to + 70 C troleum jelly. There are different ways of
installation - 1 0 to +50 C
Smallest bend radius 20 x cable diameter carrying out such an evaluation. Poly-
Diameter 40 mm
Net weight 4100 kg/km ethene is studied by measuring the ox-
Maximum tensile idation induction time, OIT, i.e. the time
force 25 kN
it takes oxygen to break d o w n a material
Design
1 Fibre with primary coating: red-blue-white-green at a certain temperature. Measurements
2 Loose secondary coating, polyamide are made before and after ageing in pe-
3 Core, dielectric
4 PE insulation troleum jelly and t h i x o t r o p i c gel for 14
5 Filler
6 Filler days at a temperature of 60C. HDPE,
7 Inner sheath: polyethene high-density polyethene, and LLDPE
8 Lead sheath
9 Wrapping: bituminous crepe paper, jute yarn, filler have the best properties as regards sta-
10 Armouring: galvanized steel wire
11 White wash: nominal outer diameter 40mm bility. Gel impairs the tensile strength of
LDPE. LLDPE is not affected to the same
extent.
The mechanical properties of the mate-
rial used for the secondary tubes, poly-
amide, is only marginally affected by the
gel.
The results of the compatibility test
show that stability problems may occur
if thixotropic gel is allowed in direct con-
tact with polyethene. This is one of the
reasons for choosing loose secondary
coating.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen diffuses quickly t h r o u g h all
known materials. The diffusion constant
for glass has been calculated to be
1.5 x 10 11 cm 2 /s at 20C. When a fibre is
surrounded by a hydrogen atmosphere,
hydrogen will diffuse into the fibre until
equilibrium with the partial pressure of
the environment is established. Hydro-
gen in a fibre increases its attenuation in
different ways:
Fig. 9
Apparatus for tensile test in accordance with IEC
794-1-E1
- Interstitial hydrogen. The effect is
fully reversible and has a limited
effect at the wavelengths 850, 1300
and 1550nm
- Absorption peak caused by OH
groups formed in chemical reactions
between the hydrogen and different
dopants in the glass, e.g. germanium.
The increase in attenuation is irrever-
sible and clearly noticeable at 1300
and 1550nm but negligible at 850 nm
- UV absorption caused by defects in
the glass that develop in interaction
between hydrogen and glass. UV ab-
sorption occurs at all wavelengths.
The increase in attenuation is greatly
dependent on temperature and barely
measurable at room temperature.
Hydrogen can occur in optical cables as
a result of
- diffusion from the materials used
- corrosion of metal in the presence of
water
- electrolytic phenomena.
In order to avoid attenuation increases
caused by hydrogen it is necessary to
- minimize the sensitivity of the fibre to
hydrogen
- choose the cable design and mate-
rials so that the amount of hydrogen
in the cable is low.
Ericsson Cables AB has studied the gen-
eration of hydrogen from all relevant
materials, at room temperature as well
as at temperatures up to 150C. The
amount of hydrogen generated is al-
ways very low and at room temperature
it is not measurable; less than 0.5|il/g.
Fig. 10
The results of tensile tests on armoured cables
The change in attenuation as a function of tensile
force for concentric and slotted core cables. The
slotted core cable shows no increase in attenua-
tion for forces up to 10 kN
Concentric cable 1550nm
Concentric cable 1300nm
Slotted core cable 1300 and 1550nm
The requirements of the Swedish Telecom-
munications Administration
According to the Administration's spec-
ification the supplier must show how
large the attenuation increase will be in
the fibre after 40 years at 10C and 0.01
atmH 2 . This is considered a reasonable
choice of temperature and pressure.
Ericsson's fibres have the following very
low values:
At 1300 nm - 0.004 dB/km
At 1550 nm - 0.02 dB/km
Electrolytic phenomena do not occur in
cables built up of dielectric materials.
The armoured and submarine cables
contain armouring wires, but the
strength member is dielectric and the
risk of galvanic action is thereby elimi-
nated.
Type testing
Type testing is performed in order to
evaluate the transmission charactristics
and mechanical properties of the cable.
The new specification of the Swedish
Telecommunications Administration re-
quires:
- tensile test
- crush test
- repeated bend test
- bend test
- torsion test
- impact test
- temperature cycling from - 4 0 to
+ 70C.
The tests are to be carried out in accor-
dance with IEC 794-1. In all tests the set
Fig. 11
Equipment in accordance with IEC 794-1-E1 for
performing crush tests on cables. The cable is
pressed between two circular plates having a
diameter of 100mm. In a variant of the test the
cable is pressed between a circular plate and a
i i ,: n /<omotar t\t OCmm
requirements must be met at both 1300
and 1550 nm.
Tensile test
In the tensile test the fibres in the cable
are spliced to form three loops. Two are
used for measuring the attenuation at
1550 and 1300 nm respectively. The
third loop is used to determine the rela-
tive elongation of the fibre, fig. 9.
Requirements and results
- The attenuation must be less than
0.1 dB/km at the specified force,
which is dependent on the type of ca-
ble
- No resulting fibre elongation when
the tensile force has been removed.
Fig. 10 shows the change in attenuation
for armoured cable of the concentric
and slotted core types respectively. The
increase in attenuation must be less
than 0.1 dB/km at 3.5 kN, which the slot-
ted core cable meets with a good mar-
gin.
Crush test
The cable is placed between two circu-
lar plates having a diameter of 100mm,
fig. 11. In a variant of the test the cable is
pressed around a rod with a diameter of
25mm. All fibres in the test object are
spliced to form two loops, and the
change in attenuation over the loops
when the cable is subjected to pressure
is measured. The deformation of the
sheath during the test is observed.
106

Fig. 12
The change in attenuation for duct cables as a
function of the pressure. Circular plates in accor-
dance with fig. 11 were used for this test

Concentric cable 1550nm

Concentric cable 1300nm

Slotted core cable 1550nm

Slotted core cable 1300nm

Administration's requirements 1987

Administration's requirements 1988

Requirements and test results
In all crush tests the increase in attenua-
tion must be less than 0.1 dB at the spec-
ified force. This is 3000N for duct cable
and 6000N for armoured cable when
plates with a diameter of 100 mm are
used. These requirements are more
stringent than the c o r r e s p o n d i n g ones
in the previous specification.
When a 25 mm rod is used, duct cable
must be able to withstand 1000N and
armoured cable 2000N. No such re-
quirements were stipulated before 1988.
Figs. 1 2 - 1 3 show the results for duct
cable, both slotted core and concentric.
The slotted core cable meets the re-
quirements with a g o o d margin, which
confirms the theoretical assumption
that the slotted core design has good
resistance to pressure.
Temperature test
The Telecommunications Administra-
tion's specification states that outdoor
cables must be able to function
t h r o u g h o u t the temperature range - 3 0
to +60C w i t h o u t the attenuation chang-

Fig. 13
Change in attenuation and deformation of duct
cables as a function of pressure. The test consis-
ted in pressing the cables against a 2 5 m m rod

Deformation

Duct cable 1550nm

Duct cable 1300nm

The Administration's requirements as regards
attenuation

Fig. 14
Typical results of temperature cycling tests on
Ericsson's slotted core cables. In this case the
change in attenuation was measured on a duct
cable

Slotted core cable 1550nm

Slotted core cable 1300nm

The Administration's requirements

Fig. 15
Armoured slotted core cable being buried
through ploughing
ing more than 0.1 d B / k m . The cables un-
dergo temperature cycling ten times in a
temperature chamber between - 4 0 and
+70C. The fibre attenuation is mea-
sured d u r i n g the cycling. Each fibre is
measured individually and a mean value
for six fibres is calculated. Fig. 14 shows
a typical result of temperature cycling;
in this case a duct cable. The cable
meets the A d m i n i s t r a t i o n s require-
ments with a good margin.
Conclusion
Test results show that the slotted core
cable has very g o o d mechanical proper-
ties and meets the requirements of the
Swedish Telecommunications A d m i n -
istration very satisfactorily. The slotted
core cable withstands external pressure
better than concentric cables. Other-
wise the t w o types of cable design are
comparable.
Installation of slotted core
cable
The optical fibre network in Sweden has
been built up very quickly. By the end of
1987 the Swedish Telecommunications
Administration had installed approx-
imately 6000 km of optical fibre cable.
The first one, a m u l t i m o d e fibre cable,
was laid in S t o c k h o l m in 1979 1 and the
first single-mode fibre cable in 1984 2 .
The first installation of slotted core ca-
ble was a 22 km route in southern Swe-
den, laid in March 1988. The cable was a
duct cable from Ericsson Cables AB and
installation went according to plan. Dur-
ing 1988 Ericsson will supply approx-
imately 1500 km of slotted core cable to
the Swedish Telecommunications Ad-
ministration. The majority will consist of
12-fibreduct cable, w h i c h is often run in
plastic tubes. A r m o u r e d cable is nor-
mally buried t h r o u g h p l o u g h i n g , fig. 15.
During the next few years the Swedish
Telecommunications Administration
will lay approximately 2500 km of cable
per year. All of these cables will be of the
slotted core type and contain between 4
and 36 fibres. Approximately 9 0 % of the
cable laid in 1988 will be 12-fibre cable.
24-fibre cable is mainly used in urban
areas. The Administration plans to start
using 36-fibre cable in 1989.
References
1. Gobi, G. and Hogberg, S.: Field Trial
with Optical Communication. Ericsson
Review 57(1980):3, pp. 109-116.
2. Hellstr6m, B., Hogberg, S. and Stens-
land, L.: Field Trial with 140 Mbit/s Sys-
tem over Single-Mode Optical Fibre.
Ericsson Review 62 (1985):1, pp. 2 8 -
40.
New Generation of Optical Fibre Line
Systems for 140 Mbit/s

Pierluigi Ciacci, Eva Scherp and Lars-Gote Svenson

c o m b i n e d with a protection switch,
Ericsson Telecom AB has developed a new 140Mbit s optical fibre line system for
which enables line terminals to be used
single-mode fibres. Its transmission capacity corresponds to 1920 speech as 1 + 1 or 1 + N systems.
channels. The system is available in two versions for long-haul transmission,
using a wavelength of 1300 and 1550nm respectively. The two versions can span Powerful CAD tools have been used
50 and 80km respectively without any intermediate repeaters. Another version consistently in the component, circuit
has also been developed, a full dynamic system designed for short-haul and system d i m e n s i o n i n g . As a result
transmission and prepared for duplex communication over one fibre. The most the system has such large safety mar-
common applications are in urban and junction networks. The transmitting gins that the specified performance can
device is a laser and the receiving device a PIN-FET hybrid. The Italian company be maintained t h r o u g h o u t t h e useful life
FATME, a member of the Ericsson Group, has developed a version of the system of the equipment.
that meets Italian market reguirements.
The system is suitable for urban, junc-
The authors describe the structure and function of the system.
tion and long-distance networks, rail-
way networks and radio relay link con-
nections.

System structure
The system, fig. 1, consists of
optical fibres A new generation of 140 Mbit/s systems, - line terminals w h i c h encode the sig-
telephone lines ZAM 140-4, has been developed. The nal, attenuate jitter, supervise the line
maintenance e n g i n e e r i n g new system is more compact and re- system and initiate alarms if a fault is
design e n g i n e e r i n g
quires less power than the earlier type detected
and operates at a wavelength of either - locally powered, two-way intermedi-
1300 or 1550nm. The m a x i m u m repea- ate repeaters w h i c h are installed
ter span is 50 and 80 km respectively. In along the cable in o r d e r t o regenerate
addition to a fault location channel and the optical signal.
a service channel, ZAM 140-4 can trans-
mit two data channels with interface The basic version of the line terminal,
RS422. The electrical interface of the fig. 2, contains four units:
Fig. 1
system meets CCITT Recommendation - transmit unit
Two-way optical fibre line system ZAM 140-4 with G.703.9. Ericsson's fault location sys- - receive unit
supplementary equipment for fault location and tem ZAN 201 can be used in c o n j u n c t i o n - alarm unit
service channel with ZAM 140-4. The line system can be - d.c./d.c. converter.
TR Transmit unit
FDU Fault detector unit
REC Receive unit
FLM Fault location magazine
ST Service telephone
 PIERLUIGI CIACCI When necessary, the line terminal can
FATME S.p.A, Italien
EVA SCHERP
be supplemented with a fault detector
LARS-GOTE SVENSON unit. Each unit comprises one printed
Ericsson Telecom AB board assembly
Three different types of transmit unit are
available. Two are designed for long-
haul transmission at 1300nm and
1550nm respectively and the third for
short-haul full dynamic systems. The
same type of receiver is used in all cases.
The basic version of the intermediate
repeater, fig. 9, contains five units:
- two transmit units
- two receive units
- d.c./d.c. converter.
The intermediate repeater can also be
equipped with afault detector unit when
required.
The new magazine construction prac-
tice BYB88 was used for both the line

Fig. 2
Block diagram of the line terminal
D4 Digital electrical interlace for 140 Mbit s in accor-
dance with CCITT Recommendation G.703
F4 Optical interface. 178 Mbauds
DCH Two data channels (RS422). accessible at the
front of the receiver board

Fig. 3
Line terminal magazine equipped with two line
110
Fig. 4
Line terminal magazine with the two line termi-
nals, mounted in a rack. The equipment below is
two line terminals of the previous generation,
ZAM 140-2
Fig. 5. below left
Transmit board with two surface-mounted ASICs
Fig. 6, below right
The receive board contains the same type of ASIC
as the transmitter. The PIN-FET hybrid is clearly
visible
terminals and the intermediate repea-
ters. The line terminal magazine, fig.3,
holds two line terminals and the inter-
mediate repeater magazine one two-
way repeater. The magazines have
the same dimensions, (hxwxd)
244x244x223 mm.
Line terminal
Transmitter
The 140 Mbit/s transmit unit, fig.5, will
- detect the electrical signal at the D4
interface
- multiplex service channels and traf-
fic-carrying channels
- encode the signal to a format suitable
for transmission over the fibre
- send an optical signal over the fibre.
An electrical CMI (Coded Mark Inver-
sion) coded signal is fed in to the D4T
interface of the transmitter and equal-
ized, which means that the frequency-
dependent attenuation of the cabling is
compensated. The equalization is fol-
lowed by timing recovery, and the signal
is then detected and converted to NRZ
(Non Return to Zero) code. Next the sig-
nal format is converted to parallel five-
bit words. The jitter is attenuated in a
FIFO (First In First Out) circuit and fixed
bit sequences are broken up in a
scrambler. Fixed sequences can occur
in both data and telephone traffic.
Scrambling is necessary to ensure that
it is always possible to synchronize the
receiver. The traffic signal is multiplex-
ed with the service channels by inserting
a service channel w o r d as every six-
teenth word in the bit stream. Service
channel is the c o m m o n designation for
the four channels for the service tele-
phone, fault supervision and data trans-
mission (RS422).
In the line coder the five-bit words are
converted to six-bit words (5B/6B code).
The 5B/6B code is such that the d.c.
c o m p o n e n t of the signal is constant and
the redundancy permits fault detection
in the receiver. The coded signal under-
goes parallel/series conversion and
modulates the laser, which sends out
the signal at the optical interface F4T.
The optical output power is kept con-
stant by a regulating circuit that controls
a bias current t h r o u g h the laser.
140 Mbit/s systems are often used on
short routes. In o r d e r t o make it possible
to receive the signal direct, without any
optical a t t e n u a t o r o n the receiver board,
which is a characteristic of full dynamic
systems, a variant of the transmitter
board has been developed whose out-
put power is 10dB less than the power in
the high-performance equipment.
The logic circuits on the board consist
of an ECL array for processing data in
series format and a CMOS standard cell
circuit for processing parallel data and
service channels.
Receiver
The 140 Mbit/s receive unit, fig. 6, will
- detect the optical signal at the F4 in-
terface
- extract the service channels from the
traffic-carrying channels

Fig. 7
Opto-electrical conversion takes place in a her-
metically sealed PIN-FET module. The pho-
todetector is a PIN diode with low leakage current
and high responsivity. The amplifier contains a
GaAs-FET having high transconductance. The
output stage of the module is a monolithic,
controllable amplifier AGC (Automatic Gain Con-
trol). Like the PIN diode and FET. the whole
module has been developed by Ericsson Compo-
nents AB, the module in close collaboration with
Ericsson Telecom AB
Fig. 8
CMOS standard cell circuit
The majority of the digital functions have been
assembled in CMOS circuits built up of standard
cells. The circuit includes a ROM in which the
code tables for the line code are stored. A 2 \.im
comirnnriiictor Drocess was used
- decode the signal
- transmit an electrical signal at the D4
interface
- supervise the transmission quality.
The incoming signal at the optical inter-
face F4R is converted to an electrical
signal and amplified in a thick-film
hybrid. The signal level in to the receiver
may be very low and. consequently, the
signal is sensitive to disturbances. The
PIN diode. FET, input amplifier, equal-
izerand a monolithic con tro liable am pi i-
fier AGC (Automatic Gain Control) have
therefore been c o m b i n e d into a hybrid
placed in a screened metal package
The level of the output signal from the
hybrid is so high that the signal is not
sensitive to disturbances.
The signal is filtered so that it has the
m a x i m u m signal/noise ratio at the deci-
sion point. The t i m i n g information is re-
covered in a crystal-controlled phase-
locked loop.
111
The detected signal is converted to par-
allel six-bit words, w h i c h are decoded in
the line decoder, where the service
channels are extracted and the bit error
rate is supervised. After the decoder the
jitter is attenuated in a FIFO circuit and
descrambling takes place before the
signal is parallel/series converted, CMI
coded and matched to the D4R inter-
face.
The logic circuits on the receiver board
are divided in the same way as the trans-
mitter board circuits. Fig. 8 shows the
CMOS standard cell circuit.
There are four service channels, two of
which are used for fault location and the
service telephone. Two are accessible at
the front of the receiver board and have
an RS422 interface. The service chan-
nels have a c o m m o n clock with a fre-
quency in the range 2 0 0 - 1 8 5 7 kHz. If no
external clock has been connected a
clock signal at 1857 kHz, extracted from
112
Fig. 9
Block diagram of the intermediate repeater
the F4 timing, is used. It can be utilized
to oversample a low-frequency signal or
to transmit one or more service chan-
nels which are synchronous with the F4
timing.
Alarm unit
The alarm unit will
- collect primary alarms from the other
boards
- generate secondary alarms
- control the AIS generation.
The traffic is supervised by the transmit-
ter and the receiver. Alarms for loss of
input signal to the transmitter and re-
ceiver are fed to the alarm unit, which
controls the transmission of alarm in-
dication signals (AIS) in the relevant di-
rection. An alarm is also sent to the al-
arm unit if the bit error rate in the re-
ceiver exceeds 1x10 6 and 1x10 3 re-
spectively. In addition, the laser bias
current is supervised and an alarm is
initiated when the laser diode has de-
graded to such an extent that the bias
current is 50% above its initial value. In
the case of a power failure an alarm is
initiated through a make function to
earth. These alarms, the primary alarms,
are accessible at the front of the alarm
unit and will also result in secondary
alarms such as system and bay alarms.
Fault detector unit
The fault detector unit, FDU, will
- adapt fault location, service tele-
phone and alarm signals for transmis-
sion via the line terminal service chan-
nels over the fibre
Fig. 10 - measure the bit error rate at the line
Duplex communication over one fibre terminal.
The fault detector board links the line
system to fault location system ZAN 201.
The instructions issued by the fault loca-
tion magazine, FLM, in ZAN 201 are pro-
cessed and acknowledged by FDU. The
processing consists of FDU, when re-
quested, carrying out such operations
as bit error rate measurement for the
receiver and sending the result to FLM.
Communication within system ZAN201
is in the form of 300 baud FSK signals. In
order to make it possible to send fault
location, alarm and service telephone
signals on a single service channel, the
three signals are allowed to frequency
modulate a 30 kHz carrier, which is then
inserted using the service channel
clock. The high sampling rate of
1857 kHz ensures low quantizing noise
on the demodulated signal.
Intermediate repeater
The two-way intermediate repeater,
fig. 9, regenerates the optical 178
Mbaud signal. Each repeater contains a
receive unit and a transmit unit for each
direction. The optical line signal is con-
verted to an electrical signal which is
regenerated and decoded. The service
channels are extracted, processed in
the repeater and inserted again whereas
the traffic-carrying channel isfed outvia
the D4 interface. The signal is then en-
coded and converted to an optical sig-
nal. The intermediate repeater also in-
cludes a d.c./d.c. converter and a fault
detector unit equipped with an interface
for a service telephone.
Duplex communication over
one fibre
ZAM 140-4 can be used for simultaneous
duplex communication over one fibre,
fig. 10. The receiver and transmitter at
each end of the circuit are then con-
nected to the transmission fibre via
single-mode couplers. These couplers
introduce additional attenuation which
reduces the maximum transmission dis-
tance.
In theory, all the light from the transmit-
ter should go out on the transmission
fibre so as to reach the receiver at the
other end, but in practice some light is
Fig. 11
The picture shows surface-mounted components
- transistors, diodes, capacitors, resistors on
the secondary side of the printed board
reflected in couplers and connectors
and reaches the near-end receiver. In
the case of a break in the transmission
fibre there are also reflections in the
fracture In many cases the reflections
may be so strong that they are detected
faultlessly in the near-end receiver.
However, loss of the signal from the far
end must admit of being detected. This
is achieved by inverting the line code in
one direction of transmission. Normally
the signal from the far end is so strong
that reflections do not interfere with the
reception. If the incoming signal is lost
the receiver will detect the reflected sig-
nal. The receiver can distinguish be-
tween a normal and a reflected signal
and can thus initiate alarms.
Construction
Printed circuit boards
The printed circuit boards in the line ter-
minal are two-layer boards with hole-
mounted components and four-layer
boards with both hole-mounted and sur-
face-mounted components. The sur-
face-mounted components are mainly
placed on the secondary side of the
board, fig. 11, but application specific
integrated circuits (ASIC) are mounted
on the primary side. The purpose of the
four-layer boards in the transmitter and
receiver is to avoid disturbances and in-
crease the packing density. Heat dis-
sipation has been improved by making
the internal conducting layers - for sup-
ply voltages and earth - of extra thick
copper foil.
Application specific integrated circuits
The majority of the digital functions in
the transmitter and receiver are as-
sembled in four application specific in-
tpnratoH nrcuits. This construction has
a number of advantages compared with
discrete circuits. The main advantages
are:
- high reliability
- low power consumption
- small physical dimensions
- low electromagnetic interference
level.
ECL gate arrays are used for high speed
functions and CMOS standard cell cir-
cuits, fig.8, for moderate speed func-
tions, which constitute the main part of
the logic. All ASICs are surface-mounted
on the primary side and are packaged in
68-pin PLCCs (Plastic Leaded Chip Car-
rier). Because of their fairly high power
dissipation the ECL arrays have been
equipped with internal copper plates
that improve the heat transfer from the
chip to the pins.
Opto components
The transmitting device is an FP (Fabry-
Perot) laser working at a wavelength of
1300 nm or a DFB (Distributed Feed-
back) laser working at 1550 nm. The rea-
son for using a DFB laser is that, at
1550 nm, the light source has to have a
very small spectral width in order to
keep the dispersion at an acceptable
level. The lower fibre attenuation at
1550 nm means that the repeater span
can be considerably larger than at short-
er wavelengths.
Opto-electrical conversion is performed
by a PIN photodiode of the InGaAs type.
This diode is characterized by low input
capacitance, low leakage current and
high sensitivity. The signal from the PIN
diode is amplified in a GaAs FET The
PIN diode, FET and AGC amplifier have
been combined in a hybrid circuit de-
signed for the application, fig. 7. The in-
 put stage is of the integrating type which
Fig. 13 ensures optimum sensitivity. Automatic
Optical connector FATME gain control is used in the input stage to
improve the dynamic range. The PIN-
FET hybrid needs to be hermetically
sealed for maximum life. The most crit-
ical part is the sealing between the fibre
and the PIN-FET package. The package
and the technique used inZAM 140-4 are
the same as in ZAM 140-2 and ZAM 565,
well tried and reliable. Gold is vacuum
vaporized onto the fibre, which can then
be soldered to the package, a method
that gives perfect and durable sealing.
Fault location system
The fault location system, ZAN201,
fig. 1, makes it possible to supervise
ZAN201 without interfering with the
traffic. ZAN201 is controlled via a fault
location magazine, FLM, installed in one
of the line terminals. The fault detector
in the terminal repeater, FDU, is used to
Fig. 12
ZAMF 140 mounted in a slim rack
send signals from FLM via the traffic-
carrying fibre. Each repeater along the
line has a unique address and, hence,
FLM can send individual instructions to
any of them, for example to order bit
error rate measurement. The requested
information is then sent back to FLM
over the fibre.
ZAN 201 also provides a service tele-
phone channel for telephone communi-
cation between repeater stations. The
service telephone jack is in the fault de-
tector unit. Communication functions in
a way similar to that of the fault location
channel.
FATME's 140Mbit/s optical
fibre line system
FATME has developed a version of line
system ZAM 140-4. It has been desig-
nated ZAMF140 and meets the special
demands of the Italian market. The main
difference between ZAMF140 and
ZAM 140-4 is that the former uses a slim
rack in the N2 construction practice for
the line terminal. The slim rack, fig.12,
has the dimensions (hxwxd) 2600 (alter-
natively 2200) x 225 x 120 mm and holds
four line terminals with a maximum
power consumption of 80W.
An operator sub-rack with a service tele-
phone is mounted in the middle of the
rack. This sub-rack contains an inter-
face unit for service lines and serial
alarms. The interface unit is common to
and collects primary alarms from all four
line terminals in the rack.
When required, the rack can be equip-
ped with a sub-rack for fault location.
The bit error rate and the occurrence of
any alarms can be monitored automat-
ically for a whole line or for an individual
intermediate repeater.
Each terminal contains all necessary
functions. It differs from the BYB ver-
sion not only mechanically but also as
regards available alarms and test points,
which meetthedetailed requirementsof
the Italian market. The front of the
equipment contains
- test points that take standard IEC con-
nectors, both for coaxial and paired
rahlp

Technical data
Electrical interface
Bit rate
Code
Impedance
Pulse amplitude
Return loss
7-210MHZ
Permissible cable attenuation
at 70MHz
Optical interface
Symbol rate
Code
Modulation format
1300 nm
wavelength
spectral width (FWHM)
output power
1300 nm. full dynamic system
wavelength at 25X
spectral width (FWHM)
output power
1550 nm
wavelength
spectral width (FWHM)
spectral width
(15 dB off max.)
sidemode suppression
output power
Input sensitivity
Max. input signal
Connector losses
Maximum permissible system
attenuation S-R in accordance
with CCITT at BER = 1x10 9
(guaranteed throughout system
life)
High-performance laser
Full dynamic system
Transmission medium
Optical fibre
External diameter
Mode field diameter
Cut-off wavelength
Power supply
Battery
Power consumption
Line terminal including fault
detector and alarm unit
Environment
Temperature
Line terminal
Intermediate repeater
Humidity
Line terminal
Intermediate repeater
Fault location
Fault location system
Transmission medium
Service telephone
Type
Transmission medium
115
- LEDs that indicate alarms from faulty teristics that are important to the user: it
units and line sections as required by is compact and robust and offers ease of
D4
CCITT handling and installation. This has been
139.264 Mbit's
CMI - two splitting coaxial links at the D4 achieved t h r o u g h
75 ohms, interface. - using k n o w - h o w from the design and
unbalanced installation of other digital line sys-
0 5V
IEC symbols are used t h r o u g h o u t to in- tems such as ZAM 140-2 and ZAM 34-4
>15dB dicate the various functions. - simulating and optimizing the perfor-
mance of the system and the f u n c t i o n
<12dB All connections between sub-racks and of its circuits by means of computer
F4 between a sub-rack and the exchange programs
178.2579 Mbauds cable are made at the rear of the sub- - collecting all digital functions in
5B6B, scrambled
racks using three types of plug-in con- ASICs
. NRZ
nector: - building up a compact structure with
- an optical connector, fig. 13 all transmission functions assembled
1285-1330nm
<5 nm - a 1.6/5.6 coaxial plug on two circuit boards, one for each
?-4dBm - a fifty-pin wirewrap connector for direction of transmission
low-frequency signals. - placing all sensitive low-level signals
1285-1330nm in a screened PIN-FET hybrid
<5 nm The intermediate repeater can also be - transmitting fault location and ser-
5>-14dBm
mounted in a slim rack and used in- vice line signals over the actual fibre
doors. In o u t d o o r installations it is and using Ericsson's general-pur-
1530-1570nm
placed in a suitable container. pose fault location system Z A N 2 0 1 .
<0.25 nm
w h i c h permits fault detection d u r i n g
<1 nm operation
>30 dB Summary - high service channel capacity
?-4dBm
The optical fibre line system ZAM 140-4 - designing printed board assemblies
<-38 dBm has g o o d technical performance and so that the radiated electromagenetic
>-12 dBm
high reliability. It has several charac- interference is reduced to a m i n i m u m .
<1.0 dB
33 dB
23dB
single-mode
125 2 (im
5 0.5 nm
1100-1270 nm
References
-20 to -60 V
1. Silvergran, U. and Woldegiorgis, K.:
Fault Location System ZAN201. Erics-
son Review 61 (1984):4 pp 162-169.
<17W 2. Kvarnemo, A. and Landberg, C : Opti-
cal Fibre Line System for 8Mbit/s.
Ericsson Review 64 (1987):1 pp. 3 0 -
0 to +45C
34.
-20 to +55C 3. Stjernlof. B. and Wallers, A.: Optical
Fibre Line System for 140 Mbit/s. Erics-
son Review 60(1983):3 pp. 144-150.
<90% 4. Hellstrom, B., Hogberg, S. and Stens-
<95% land, L.: Field Trial with 140 Mbit/s Sys-
tem over Single-Mode Optical Fibre.
ZAN 201 Ericsson Review 62 (1985):1 pp. 2 8 -
the optical fibre 40.
5. Johansen, B. and Stjernlof, B.:
565 Mbit/s Optical Fibre Line System.
four-wire Ericsson Review 62(1985) :3 pp. 130-
the optical fibre 137.
6. Hansson, A-K. and Linden, K.: Optical
Fibre Line System for 4x140 Mbit/s, a
New 565 Mbit/s Application. Ericsson
Review 64 (1987):3 pp, 102-109.
Computer-Based Training in Ericsson's
Training Program

Per-Olof Nerbrant and Diarmuid O'Colmain

A large number of people - employees of Ericsson working In different places Box1

around the world, and customers as well - need training, and the need is
continuous. It would be difficult to provide the required courses when and where
they are needed using just traditional training methods. The use of self-
instructing, Computer-Based Training (CBT) greatly increases the feasibility of
providing the required training.
The authors describe some CBT products, the reasons for their development and
new technology that will have a decided impact on training methods.
The demand for training adapted to the
education
computer aided instruction specific needs of different groups has
electronic switching system grown and is difficult to meet using just
conventional training methods. Erics-
son's training policy requires close inte-
gration of training with normal opera-
tion and a high degree of personal re-
sponsibility and initiative. Computer-
based training, together with other self-
instructing methods, has enhanced the
possibility of providing training accord-
ing to this policy. Efficient customer
training is a prerequisite for the correct
handling of our products and also has a
marketing advantage. A training strat-
egy founded on the use of media-based,
self-instructing courses offers advan-
DEVELOPMENT OF CBT BY ERICSSON
Ericsson Expertise Ltd, EXI, in Ireland con-
stitutes the largest resource and is responsible
for the development of CBT within Ericsson
Telecom AB. The company is an Irish subsidiary
of Ericsson and works solely with training. EXI
has been deeply involved in computer-based
training, CBT, since it was formed in 1984.
CBT products are also being developed by ETX
and other business areas, particularly EBC
(Ericsson Business Communication AB).5 EBC
has developed a number of products for MD110
training. ETX has developed several CBT mod-
ules, the SIMAX system4 and is at present work-
ing on a pilot project involving interactive video.
Box 7 gives a list of products that are now ready
for use.
tages in the distribution of training. It
also enables users to easily revise
knowledge that they do not use reg-
ularly in their daily work. In addition, the
provision of high-quality training that
uses the most up-to-date technology in-
creases customers' appreciation of our
company. Ericsson has developed a
numberof CBT packages, andtheuseof
this method - together with others like
video and expert systems - will spread.

Fig 1
Computer graphics is used in CBT programs. The
student gives an answer in the space indicated. In
this case the program control functions are
implemented by means of function keys F1, F2,
F6 and F9

PER-OLOF NERBRANT
Ericsson Telecom AB
DIARMUIDO COLMAIN
Ericsson Expertise Ltd. Ireland
Box 2
SOME TYPES OF STUDENT DIALOGUE
Tutorial dialogue
This dialogue, fig. 5, attempts to imitate the In-
terchange between a teacher and a student and
is guided by a well-defined training objective.
The tutorial dialogue has become almost syn-
onymous with programmed instruction.
The response of the student determines the
path taken through the program. Thus, the di-
alogue is adapted to the individual require-
ments of the student.
Drill and practice
This type of dialogue is similar to the tutorial
dialogue but, as a rule, no new information is
presented. Drill and practice is actually a form
of testing previously acquired knowledge, fig. 5.
Simulation and games
The student changes the input data to a pre-
programmed model of a process and can study
the consequences of these changes. Games
represent a special case in which an element of
excitement is introduced while seeking to
achieve a set objective.
Inquiry dialogue
The student has access to an information en-
vironment. The purpose of this dialogue may be
to achieve a set objective or simply to provide
experience. The inquiry is closely related to
problem solving. Expert system dialogues, see
box5, may often be of the inquiry type. Some-
times the term Socratic dialogue is used, refer-
ring to the natural language used.
Tfie computer as a tool
The computer is used as a tool for problem
solving. Some examples may be mentioned:
computer programs for complex numerical cal-
culations, programs which enable the student
to build models and test them, programs for text
analysis, etc.
Tfie computer as a means of communication
The computer is used to set up communica-
tions networks. These can be used to establish
systems for distance learning, enabling the stu-
dent to communicate with the teacher, an ex-
pert or other students, to perform tests and ex-
periments etc. An interesting possibility is to
use the network to access centrally stored mod-
ules for self-instructing, computer-based train-
ing.
Examples
The following case studies describe
some p r o d u c t s for computer-based
training and the training problems they
solve. Box 7 lists the CBT products hith-
erto developed by Ericsson and now
ready for use.
Principles of digital transmission of
speech
Training problems
The transmission of speech in digital
form by means of PCM is of fundamental
importance to all modern telephone sys-
tems. A knowledge of PCM technique is
now required of all technical staff em-
ployed by t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s c o m -
panies and is also a prerequisite for par-
ticipation in most technical courses.
Many students do not have the required
basic knowledge and it has therefore
been necessary to revise the subject of
PCM for 4 - 5 hours on many of our
courses. This is inefficient since the
level of prior knowledge of PCM among
the students varies considerably. The
following problems have been identi-
fied:
- loss of student time
- loss of instructor time
- loss of course time planned for other
activities
- loss of motivation a m o n g students
who meet the entry requirements
- inconsistent quality and content of
the presentation.
Solution
A computer-based, self-instructing
course on the subject of PCM principles
was developed. By taking the course the
students could ensure that they met the
prerequisites for other training pro-
grams. The course was developed by
EXI, Ireland ( b o x l ) .
Product description
The course package, w h i c h consists of
computer-based lessons and tests, was
implemented on a microcomputer. It is
of the tutorial type (box 2) and the stu-
dent communicates with the system by
means of a keyboard. B o x 3 describes
how the computer/student interface can
be arranged. Tests are used to verify that
the training objectives are achieved.
Results and evaluation
The different staff categories learn what
thev reallv need. They do it w i t h o u t the
117
Box 3
STUDENT/COMPUTER INTERFACE
The interface can be implemented in both hard-
ware and software.
Input/output devices
A keyboard is used to enter answers, put ques-
tions, select menu items
A mouse/trackball is a device that controls the
position of a cursor on the display, often an
arrow. It can be used to select menu items or
indicate an object for which extra information is
required.
Touch screen is a display that is sensitive to
touch. The student can indicate objects, menu
items or alternatives in a multiple choice ques-
tion.
Lesson information
The information is presented on the display and
provides the student with a sense of awareness
of the lesson. The information consists of
graphic lesson overviews, an indicator defining
where in the program the student is working
etc.
Program control functions
The student should be able to decide when to
go on to the next display - f o r example after
having finished reading a text segment- to
page forward and backward through the mate-
rial, and to skip to the end of a section and
return to the originating menu. It should also be
possible to control the program sequence
through free selection of items in a menu. A
high level of student control is usually prefer-
able to rigid program control.
aid of any instructor and in less time
than w o u l d be required for a classroom
course.
Introduction to digital switching
Training problems
Ericsson has an extensive range of train-
ing courses to cater for the needs of AXE
staff in various specialist areas such as
maintenance, testing and design. The
first step towards the advanced courses
on the AXE system is a one-week course
" I n t r o d u c t i o n to A X E " . Consequently,
this is the course with the highest n u m -
ber of participants. For some staff cate-
gories it is the only training in the AXE
system, for others it is the start of an
intensive training p r o g r a m . The follow-
ing problems have been observed:
- training needs for different staff cate-
gories vary considerably, but existing
courses are not sufficiently versatile
- basic training is needed immediately
for new employees, but the course
" I n t r o d u c t i o n to A X E " is not always
available
Fig 3
The work flow in the designing of CBT programs
and the types of documents produced
- the instructors are located centrally
Revision whereas the staff requiring training
are spread all around the world
- some staff categories, e.g. managers,
are unable to take time off work to
attend a one-week course.
Solution
A course with the following characteris-
tics has been developed:
- the course is self-instructing, which
makes it available when and where
needed
- the course uses computer-managed
learning, which makes it possible to
automatically adapt the subjects to
the needs of each staff category
- several media are used to provide va-
riety and exploit the strength of each
medium.
Product description
The course was developed by EXI, Ire-
land, in collaboration with Ericsson
Telecom. The course package includes
a set of floppy discs and a textbook. The
course consists of five main sections:
- Introduction to AXE
- AXE system structure
- AXE applications
- AXE. from marketing to installation
- Operation and maintenance of AXE.
Each section is modular and consists of
a number of lessons dealing with dif-
ferent aspects of the subject. In order to
clarify concepts, many lessons are pre-
sented by means of computer graphics,
particularly those concerning dynamic
processes in the AXE system. The text-
book provides supplementary reading.
Other lessons consist of only reading,
followed by a test administered by the
computer. Fig. 2 shows the work en-
vironment for this course.
Results
The course is very popular and is now
used in 20 countries around the world. A
major reason for the interest this course
has met with is that it makes it possible
to provide high-quality training at the
desired time without any extra load on
the training unit.
SIMAX, a program for simulation of
AXE operations
Training problem
The training of operation staff for AXE
exchanges combines theory with practi-
cal work in exchanges in operation. The
exchanges constitute a limited resource
which must be used optimally.
Solution
A simulator has been designed which
gives the students basic operational
skill. The training is completed in a real
exchange, which can then be utilized
\/ar\i offii^iontlw
 AXE 10
Introduction to AXE System structure Applications From marketing to
installation
Subscriber
Processor Structure Hardware Group switch APZ
switch
Overview Space switch Synchroniza-
Time switch 64K switch
tion
Fig 4
Hierarchic diagram of the CBT course AXE 10
summary"
Product description
The simulator is implemented on micro-
computers. It consists of a student pre-
sentation part and a development en-
vironment. The latter is designed so that
no programming expertise is required
for the development of new exercises.
Essentially, AXE commands are simul-
ated in such a way that the responses
from the simulator are exactly the same
as those obtained from an AXE system.
In addition, the designer can add infor-
mation, advice etc. to aid the student.
The simulator has been designed by
ETX.4
What do we mean by
interaction?
The concept of interaction is fundamen-
tal to all media-supported, self-instruct-
ing training. Such terms as student in-
teraction, interactive video etc. are com-
mon. But what is meant by interaction?
Generally speaking it means that stu-
dents can adapt training to suit their
needs and capabilities. The student be-
comes an active participant instead of a
passive observer. Box 2 describes the
characteristics of some types of interac-
tion or dialogues. Interaction requires a
means for the student to communicate
with the training system, i.e. a student/
computer interface. Some methods of
implementing such interfaces are sum-
marized in box 3.
Fig 2
Work environment for the course "Introduction to
AXE"
Development of computer-
based training
The following method has been used by
EXI in a number of projects in which
courses for computer-based training
have been developed. The projects have
not included any video production,
which would require a number of addi-
tional stages. Ericsson has now ac-
quired considerable experience
through using this method in the design
of courses.
Operation and
maintenance
Addressing
I/O systems Cabinets
method
Design of course material
The design process follows the work
flow shown in fig. 3 and is based on an
analysis of the target group. The docu-
mentation produced initially includes a
general course description and an over-
all objective. The subjects to be covered
are structured into a hierarchic diagram,
fig.4.
Objectives are specified for each part of
the diagram, down to lesson level. Tests
are then devised for these objectives
and the content of the lessons defined.
Once the content has been established
the subjects that require development of
computer-based material are defined.
The computer-based material is pre-
pared, which results in the following
documents for each lesson, fig. 3:
- objective of the lesson
- a list of tests with answers
- a sequential list of items to be learned
- layout of the display for each item to
be learned
- an answer analysis sheet for each
question; it lists all the answers that
can be expected, together with the
program's response to each answer
- a lesson flow chart showing how the
different displays are linked together.
The documentation for each lesson is
examined by other course designers
and subject matter experts, and any nec-
essary modifications are made before
programming starts.
Programming of CBT material
When a lesson has been designed and
approved, it is programmed; if possible
by the person who designed it. Program-
ming can be done in a general high-level
language or by means of an "authoring
language". The latter is explained in
box 4.
When the programming has been com-
pleted, each lesson is tested by the pro-

Fig 5
The structure of a tutorial dialogue. Drill and
practice is the special case when no new informa-
tion is presented and the student uses previously
acquired knowledge to answer questions
Box4
AUTHORING SYSTEM
Coding the computer control program in accor-
dance with the design documents is a major
piece of work. Any suitable high level computer
language can be used. This makes for great
flexibility in the programming to tackle a variety
of design problems. One disadvantage is that
programming knowledge is required and that
programmers often do not have the pedagogi-
cal knowledge essential for a good result.
Special "authoring systems" are developed in
order to enable a wider group of people to carry
out the coding. The syntax used is adapted to
the type of coding involved in the design of
training programs. The disadvantage of these
systems is a certain loss of flexibility and a nar-
rowing of the class of design problems that can
be tackled effectively. Fig. 6 shows a program
segment written in the authoring language Ten-
CORE.
Box 5
EXPERT SYSTEM
An expert system is a computer program that
- can acquire expert knowledge of a certain
field and
- enables non-experts to consult the system
for advice and recommendations.
Some characteristics of expert systems are:
- they can be rule based and are then built up
of a set of rules and facts. The rules are ex-
pressed as IF ... THEN clauses
- they can query the user in order to obtain
additional information on which to base a
conclusion
- they can handle heuristic data and, in some
sense, accommodate uncertain information
and include a measure of confidence in the
conclusion
- they can usually describe to the users how
they arrived at a conclusion.
Box 6
BRIEF HISTORY1
Two concepts in particular have influenced the
development of computer-based teaching: the
teaching machine and programmed instruc-
tion.
The teaching machine, developed during the
1920s by the psychologist Sidney Pressey, pre-
sented multiple choice questions and kept
track of the students' answers.
By the late 1950's two basic approaches to pro-
grammed instruction could be identified. The
first, often associated with the educational psy-
chologist B.F. Skinner, organized the material
in a linear sequence of small segments called
frames. Transition from one frame to another
was simple and contained minimal additional
information. Because of the simplicity of each
frame the students were expected to be able to
complete the instruction on their own.
The second approach is typified by N.E.
Crowder and his "scrambled textbook". This
approach was based on a branching model that
allowed different paths through the material.
The path taken by a student depended on his
answers to multiple choice questions. This
made it possible to adapt training to the pre-
vious knowledge and learning profile of each
student. The computer became the ideal tool
for implementation and refinement of both the-
se approaches.
Efforts to computerize instruction began
around 1960. Basic research and key innova-
tions by universities paved the way for commer-
cial computerized educational systems that
started to appear in the late 1960s. The intro-
duction in 1975 of the microcomputer has had
greater impact on education than any pre-
viously available type of machine.
The first demonstration of the optical long-play
videodisc was made in 1972. This event was the
start of a very interesting development which
has also affected training. The videodisc, see
figs. 7 and 8, is characterized by short search
times, high capacity and high quality. It can be
used to enrich training with concrete examples.
John McCarthy of Stanford University coined
the term Artificial Intelligence in 1956 to de-
scribe an emerging field of research. In 1970 the
grammer and then again examined by
the subject matter experts and course
designers. The implementation is com-
pared with the design on paper, and
modifications are suggested.
When all lessons, tests and control pro-
grams have been completed all pro-
grams are compiled onto floppy discs
and tested as a complete package. All
possible paths through the course re-
sulting from various combinations of
staff categories and test results are then
checked.
When the testing and subsequent modi-
fications have been completed the
course is ready for evaluation.
Costs and benefits
It is difficult to make economic compari-
first large "expert system" was developed at
Stanford University. The system, named MYCIN,
is a computer program designed to provide at-
tending physicians with advice comparable to
that which they would otherwise get from a con-
sultant specialist in infections.
Expert systems can be expected to influence
training in at least two ways. First, the pos-
sibility for a user to study the underlying rules
and facts used by an advisory system to reach
its conclusion will in itself result in learning.
Second, the possibility of building intelligent
tutoring systems modelling the student's learn-
ing characteristics and consequently adapting
his training. Expert systems are briefly de-
scribed in box 5.
Box 7
CBT PRODUCTS MARKETED BY ERICSSON
Products developed by EXt (in collaboration
with ETX)
PCM principles
AXE Telecom Concept
AXE Introduction
64 K Group Switching System
AXE Addressing Principles
AXE Subscriber Switching Subsystem
AXE Dictionary of Abbreviations
ISDN Overview (under development)
Telecommunications Networks Overview
(under development)
Modems: Theory and Practice (under
development)
Products developed by ETX
SIMAX (a program for simulation of AXE
commands)
Language practice (the program is under
development but is used internally)6
Products developed by EBC
MD110 Data Switching
MD110 Call Information logging
MD110 Traffic Recording
MD110 Paging Facility
MD110 New Commands in UPA7
MD110 Multinet
MD110 CAC 3274 and CAC 3278
X.25 Survey Course
MD110/FS Dealer System
Ericsson Hotel System
sons between media-based and tradi-
tional training. There are no generally
accepted principles for the evaluation of
costs and benefits in this context.
However, some models have been pro-
posed.3 A few comments may be appro-
priate.
Firstly, some training problems can be
solved by means of media-based meth-
ods but in practice not by traditional
methods.
Because of the absence of standards foi
cost evaluation there is a tendency to
overlook certain key costs when com-
paring media-based and traditional
methods, e.g. the student's wages dur-
ing the training period. Media-based
training can reduce the training period
and thus reduce the cost considerably.
The cost is real and reflects a loss of
production.
Fig 6
A segment from a CBT program written in the write What is the name of the switch in LSM which links LIC to KR ?
authoring language TenCORE" calc try = 0 $$ initialise variable storing number of attempts
long 40 $$ accepts a maximum input of 40 characters
arrow 21,120 $$ draws arrow and accepts student's answer
calc try <= try + 1 $$ increments the try variable by 1
putlow $$ converts input to lower case for analysis
okspell $$ allows 1 deviation in spelling by student
okextra $$ accepts extra unrecognised words in answer
at 21,100
answer (emts,ts) $$ a recognised correct answer
write Yes, it is called the Extension Module Time Switch (EMTS).
do dEMTS $ $$ calls a routine
calc score <= score + 1 2 $$ increments the student score by 12
endarrow

Moreover, media-based training offers
several value added benefits whose eco-
nomic value is difficult to assess. One
example is the fact that media-based
training methods can eliminate the wait-
ing time for essential training.
Future prospects
Computer-based training has proved to
be an efficient form of teaching. B o x 6
gives a brief history. The next major step
in the development will be the use of
videodiscs. A pilot project has been
started by EXT.
Research has started into how intel-
ligent t u t o r i n g systems (ITS) should be
designed. This work falls within the
scope of artificial intelligence. Such sys-
tems are characterized by their integrat-
ing learning strategies - w h i c h state
how and when information should be
presented to the student - with a model
of the student that reflects the student's
capability. The systems tend to become
very large and require powerful c o m p u -
ters for their execution.

Existing authoring systems are rela-

Fig 7. below
12" videodisc. The durable videodisc has a capac-
ity of 324 Mb on each side, corresponding to
54 000 stills or a playing time of 35 minutes. The
mean access time is 1 second. Lasers are used
for the engraving and playback
Fig 8, bottom
The videodisc is placed in a special videodisc
player. When the drawer is pushed in, the optical
scanning equipment is automatically aligned
tively undeveloped and labour-intensive
compared with what w o u l d be possible
if newer methods for software develop-
ment were used: w i n d o w technique, the
use of icons, expert systems. For exam-
ple, expert systems (box 5) can facilitate
the integration of pedagogic rules with
the development environment and thus
simplify the difficult task of p r o d u c i n g
pedagogically sound products.
Summary
Self-instructing training that uses CBT
and related methods is an important ed-
ucational tool - invaluable in many ap-
plications. It is easy to envisage, in the
near future, a network of Learning Cen-
tres within Ericsson and customer orga-
nizations, providing the staff with a wide
range of courses that is just not feasible
today.

References
1 Introduction to Computer-Based Edu-
cation Digital Equipment Corporation,
1985.
2 Weller, H. G.: Interactivity in Micro-
computer-Based Instruction: Its Es-
sential Components and How It Can Be
Enhanced. Educational Technology,
February 1988.
3 Kearsley, G.: Costs. Benefits, & Prod-
uctivity In Training Systems. Addison-
Wesley Publishing Company, 1982.
4 Mattsson, H. Ericsson Telecom AB
5 Ringh, B. Ericsson Business Com-
munication
6 Nickson, P. Ericsson Telecom AB
Programmable PCM Multiplexer for the
30-Channel Hierarchy
Sixten Ekelund and Anders Samuelsson
Ericsson Telecom AB has developed a new programmable PCM multiplexer for
the 30-channel hierarchy. It has a very flexible structure in order to facilitate the
connection of equipment with different signalling systems and protocols now in
existence and also envisaged in the future. Connection is via channel units to a
digital, processor-controlled bus. Free allocation to time slots in the 2Mbit/s
stream is possible. The multiplexer includes a signalling processor which
handles the various signalling diagrams. Several VLSI circuits have been
developed specially for the key functions in the multiplexer.
The authors describe applications for, the characteristics of and the technology
behind the new system, which forms an important part of Ericsson s new
generation of transmission systems; series 7000."
multiplexing equipment The world of t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s is
pulse-code modulation characterized by changes. Realization
maintenance engineering of the information society demands that
telecommunication networks
the quality of telecom services is in-
creased while costs are reduced. These
demands can only be met by means of
new technology. The foundation for the
modern, Integrated Services Digital Net-
work (ISDN) is the digital technology. It
is a prerequisite for a flexible and ra-
tional transport network as well as for
the control, supervision and manage-
ment of the whole telecommunications
network with its services.
When digital technology was intro-
duced in the telecommunications net-
w o r k in the 1960s the first-order multi-
plexer had a major role. Its purpose was
then to increase the capacity of existing
Fig.1
Point-to-point connection between analog ex-
changes
Digital path
Fig. 2
The multiplexer provides flexibility in the connec-
tion of analog exchanges to the digital network
paired cables in the junction networks
of cities. The cables were sensitive to
interference, so robust modulation and
multiplexing techniques were neces-
sary. The introduction of the first-order
multiplexer with PCM and the associ-
ated multiplexing and signal conversion
solved these capacity problems in a
manner that was both economical and
held future potential.
Ericsson has long-term experience of
first-order multiplexers 1 for both the 24-
channel and the 30-channel hierarchies.
In this article the fifth generation is de-
scribed, a completely new multiplexer
for the 30-channel hierarchy.
The range of use for first-order multi-
plexers has g r o w n considerably. New
applications are envisaged that will re-
quire a high degree of flexibility and
ability to meet future demands. These
factors have guided the development of
the new multiplexer. In addition, the jus-
tified demands for simplified handling
and broader maintenance functions
have been given high priority, and the
volume and power consumption have
been greatly reduced.
Applications
Applications for first-order multiplexers
are f o u n d in public, industrial and mili-
tary networks. Industrial users include

SIXTEN EKEIUND railway and power companies. They
ANDERS SAMUEUSSON
Ericsson Telecom AB
need to be able to multiplex different
speech and data channels. The pos-
sibility of branching an optional number
of channels along a transmission route
facilitates efficient use of the transmis-
sion capacity, e.g. along railway lines.
The first-order multiplexer is also a cost-
efficient network component in compa-
ny and public telecommunications net-
works. It is an efficient means of con-
necting basestationsforanalog and dig-
ital mobile telephone systems to nodes
in the network.
Connection of analog exchanges
Digital point-to-point circuits between
analog exchanges, fig. 1, are introduced
in order to increase the capacity and
quality of the network. A prerequisite is
that the interface for speech and signal-
ling as encountered by the exchanges is
not altered. This means that the multi-
plexer must be able to handle a large
number of analog interfaces and signal-
ling diagrams.
The combination of digital switching
and transmission systems provides
highly cost-efficient solutions when a
standardized digital interface can be
used between the switching and the
transmission equipment. Adaptation is
necessary for the digital exchanges to
be able to communicate with the large
variety of analog exchanges with dif-
ferent signalling systems and protocols.
The first-order multiplexer provides an
efficient and flexible solution, fig. 2. It
Fig. 3 can be placed either in the digital or the
The multiplexer used as a network terminal analog exchange, and it permits adapta-
tion to different signalling systems and
the use of the standardized digital inter-
face in the network.
Fig. 4
Multiplexer system structure
The second control unit is used in special ap-
plications, tor example drop/insert
QucYpm b u s
123
Network terminal
The multiplexer is being increasingly
used as a network terminal for the con-
nection and adaptation of equipmentfor
different services to the digital transport
network, fig. 3. This aspect is par-
ticularly important in analog ex-
changes, where the multiplexer is often
the only terminal for the digital network.
Present applications include use as
RSM2, data connections with different
rates for permanent and switched data
networks, PBX connections and pro-
gram channels for sound distribution.
All these applications require an open
and flexible system structure.
System characteristics
Ericsson has developed an entirely new
multiplexer in order to meet future de-
mands for flexibility, supervision facili-
ties and performance and also provide
trouble-free lining up and operation.
The desired features have been
achieved by using a processor-control-
led system bus, fig. 4. Existing - and fu-
t u r e - analog and digital equipment
with different interfaces is easily con-
nected to the bus via channel units of
varying capacity. The system bus is also
used to set transmission parameters
and transfer supervision information.
Flexibility
The flexibility of the new multiplexer is a
prominent feature that has made it pos-
sible to create a versatile network com-
ponent with great potential for the fu-
ture. The need for flexibility has influ-
enced every aspect from the mechanical
construction to the signalling function
but has not been allowed to complicate
handling.
124
The possibility of free allocation of the
time slots, fig. 5, is very important. It
means that more channels can be con-
nected to the multiplexer than the ca-
pacity of the 2Mbit/s stream would
otherwise permit. The logic connection
of the desired channel to a time slot is
arranged by means of simple com-
mands. Consequently, many changes in
the traffic need can be handled without
having to change hardware.
Signalling
The analog side of the multiplexer can
be connected to several exchanges,
each of which may have different sig-
nalling requirements.
Signal matching has been integrated
with other functions in order to make the
equipment rational and compact. This
Fig. 5
Allocation of time slots
At time t, the channels transmitted in the time
slots are no. 1 from channel unit A,, no.6 from
channel unit A, etc.
At time t2 other channels have been allocated to
the time slots
Time slots
means that, in the most frequent cases,
speech and signalling are handled by
the same channel unit. The channel unit
for 4-wire speech and E&M signalling
operates in this way, as does the chan-
nel unit for 2-wire speech with d.c. sig-
nalling.
The control unit includes a dedicated
processor for signal conversion. It is ca-
pable of handling several different sig-
nalling diagrams simultaneously. The
operation of the signalling processor is
supervised with the aid of well-designed
algorithms. Software adapted to the re-
quirements of different countries is
available. The selection of signalling di-
agram in the processor for a certain
channel is made automatically on the
basis of information from the associated
channel unitorby meansof simple com-
mands.
 125

When separate signalling equipment is Up to 29 time slots can be extracted at a

used it is connected to time slot 16 in the
multiplexer via a 64 kbit s interface.
Drop and insert
Drop and insert requires that the multi-
plexer is equipped with an additional
control unit. Drop insert can then be
controlled by means of simple com-
mands. The signalling bits in time slot 16
are automatically processed together
with the associated time slots
multiplexer and the same number inser-
ted in the continuing 2Mbit/s stream to
replace the terminated time slots. Time
slots that are not dropped are through-
connected from one control unit to the
other, fig.6.
This facility can also be used to provide
an exchange with double "exits and
thereby increase protection against
breaks in the 2Mbit/s link by duplicating

Fig. 6
Drop and insert
Drop and insert takes place in multiplexer B.
where 17 time slots are terminated. 14 time slots
are through-connected from A to C and 5 time
slots are inserted in B
a

Fig. 7
Drop and insert is used to increase the security of
routes
a Without drop and insert
h With a direct route and drop and insert
126
Fig, 8
The magazine holds two separate multiplexers
a The two systems are used separately
b The system buses in the two systems have been
connected together. Many channel units can be
connected to the system in this configuration
it, fig. 7. The circuit between A and B can
also be used as a transverse route of
course.
Structure
The BYB packaging structure is used for
the multiplexer. A magazine of
244 x244 x220 mm holds two multiplex-
ers and a d.c./d.c. converter. The maga-
zine is a mechanical and functional unit
that can be installed in the various racks
and cabinets of the packaging structure
In the most common applications the
magazine holds equipment for two inde-
pendent systems. There is also space for
extra channel units so that the free time
slot allocation facility can be utilized
efficiently.
The two independent buses in the maga-
zine can be interconnected, fig. 8. In this
way the system is adapted for applica-
tions in which many channel units need
to be connected.
Technology
In spite of the greater functional content
and improved handling, the volume and
power consumption of the new multi-
plexer have been reduced considerably.
A common version is built up of four
printed board assemblies, one of which
is a d.c./d.c. converter. In comparison
the previous generation comprised ten
boards plus d.c./d.c. and signalling con-
version equipment. Consistent use of
surface-mounting and standard cell cir-
cuits developed by Ericsson has con-
tributed to the reduction of volume, but
the most important factor has been the
integration of the attenuation, filtering
and A/D conversion in a CMOS circuit.
Operation and maintenance,
handling, lining up
The handling facilities in connection
with lining up, operation and mainte-
nance of the new PCM multiplexer have
been improved considerably. The sys-
tem includes a large amount of software
for handling functions. Some of these
functions are controlled from a terminal
connected to the multiplexer. This has
almost wholly eliminated trimming by
means of manual straps. The functions
controlled via the terminal are parame-
ter setting and maintenance.
Parameter setting is used during lining
up, reconfiguration of equipment and
check of set parameters.
The following functions can be per-
formed via the terminal during config-
uration or test of the multiplexer:
- channel allocation; the time slots can
be freely allocated
- channel setting; the level and balance
can be set individually for each chan-
nel
- signalling; the appropriate program
can be selected
- timing selection; internal or external
r o f o r o n r D r\r\ri< ran h o Qplpcted
Fig. 9
The magazine equipped with two separate multi-
plexers. The hand-held terminal is used for pa-
rameter setting and maintenance
- maintenance: the desired con-
sequent alarm actions can be se-
lected for given fault states, the status
of internal supervision and alarm
states can be read, the 2 M b i t / s signal
can be looped at the far end by means
of a c o m m a n d transmitted via a free
bit
- performance measurement; in addi-
tion to detection of the bit error rate
1 x 1 0 3, CRC-4 (Cyclic Redundancy
Check) can be used to select another
threshold, e.g. 1 x 1 0 6.
System construction
The main function of a 30-channel PCM
multiplexer is to convert 30 channels for
speech or 64 kbit/s data into a 2048
kbit/s digital bit stream and vice versa.
This has been described previously in
Ericsson Review.
The system is built up of the f o l l o w i n g
units:
- a control board for a 2048 kbit/s digi-
tal interface. The board carries out
frame alignment, multiplexes the 30
channels and processes the signal-
ling information
- channel boards w h i c h carry out A/D
conversion, convert signalling infor-
mation and connect data circuits
- a d.c./d.c. converter
- a system bus. w h i c h transports
speech/data, signalling and control
information between the control
board and the channel boards.
The transmit and receive functions of
the control board are performed by a
standard cell circuit. The functions are:
line coding, frame alignment, multi-
frame alignment, multiplexing, de-
multiplexing, alarm detection, cyclic re-
dundancy check CRC-4, insertion and
extraction of free bits and time slot 16
from the 2048 kbit/s frame.
Speech and data information is trans-
mitted in serial form between the control
and channel boards. Control and inser-
tion in time slots are administered by a
microprocessor w h i c h also controls pa-
rameter setting and alarm handling. The
parameters are stored in a memory,
EEPROM, w h i c h preserves the informa-
tion in case of a power failure.
The control board contains another pro-
cessor which handles the signalling in-
f o r m a t i o n , i.e. it carries out e n c o d i n g
and time measurement of the informa-
tion between the channel boards and
the 2 M b i t / s side.
The composite, HDB3 coded 2048 kbit/s
signal is sent out to the digital line. The
control t i m i n g is obtained from an os-
cillator on the control board or f r o m an
external source, the received 2048 kbit/s
signal or a 64 kbit/s tributary. The re-
ceive control t i m i n g is recovered f r o m
the i n c o m i n g 2048 kbit/s signal in the
normal way.
All variants of the channel board for
speech and signalling contain a c o m -
128

Fig. 10
Putting the new multiplexer into operation

mon core. It consists of a standard cir- - 4-wire speech with E&M signalling,
cuit, COMBO, w h i c h carries out level ad- A-channel, 15 channels/board
justment, filtering and e n c o d i n g . It also - 2 or 4-wire speech with E&M signal-
provides the balance in two-wire ap- ling, A + B channel, 10 channels/
plications. A standard cell circuit routes board
the signalling information to the correct - 2-wire speech with loop signalling,
channel. d.c. voltage, 5 channels/board
- 64 kbit/s codirectional or contradirec-
The equipment specific to each type of tional interface in accordance with
channel board consists of transformers, CCITT G.703, 5 channels/board
Technical data interfaces towards the VF side and cir- - 64 kbit/s access to time slot 16, con-
Nominal bit rate 2048kbit/s cuits for signalling conversion. The tradirectional interface.
Performance and complexity and power requirements are
interfaces CCITT G.703, G.711,
dependent on the number of channels Summary
G.712, G.713. G.714,
G.732 accommodated on a board. Different The simplified handling and greater
Number of systems units for subscriber connection are functional content of the new PCM mul-
per magazine 1-2 being developed, resulting in a sub- tiplexer, together with its small volume,
Magazine dimen- scriber multiplexer (RSM). In addition,
sions
low power c o n s u m p t i o n and high re-
HxWxD 244 x244 x220 mm
the following variants are available: liability, make it a very attractive module
- 4-wire speech without signalling, 15 in telecom networks, now as well as in
Comparison of Performance channels/board future.
30-CHANNEL MULTIPLEXERS WITH SIGNAL
CONVERSION
Present New
gener- gener-
ation ation
Functions
internal supervision - yes
CRC-4 yes
function trimming straps program
control-
led
Number of boards when
equipped for
E&M signalling 13 4 References
d.c. signalling 21 9 1. Einarsson, G.: An Experimental 24-
Number of systems per Channel System with Pulse Code Mod-
rack when equipped for ulation. Ericsson Review 43 (1966):2,
E&M signalling 12 32 pp. 42-48.
d.c. signalling 8 16 2. Davidsson S., Ohlsson E. and Johans-
Power consumption from son L.: Subscriber Multiplexers in the
battery when equipped Swedish Network. Ericsson Review 65
for E&M signalling, W 22 11 (1988):2, pp. 51-55.
 ERICSSON

ISSN 0014-0171 Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson 75288 Ljungforetagen, drebro 1988