Automatic telephone system activated by stored programs and including circuits to indicate busy-idle states of system components

Claim 2

An electronic controlled space division switching system of the stored program type having a plurality of peripheral elements and a common control equipment, each said element producing a status signal representing the busy and the idle states, said equipment producing a reservation signal for reserving, for subsequent use, a desired one of said elements, wherein the improvement comprises state circuits, substantially equal in number to said elements, associated with said elements, respectively, and with said equipment for reception of said status and said reservation signals, each said circuit storing the busy and the idle states of the associated one of said elements in compliance with the logic sum of said status and said reservation signals to supply said equipment with a state signal representing the busy and the idle states of said associated element.

Claim 3

A switching system according to claim 1 wherein the peripheral elements include lines, links and trunks, each associated with at least one state circuit, and the state circuit signal used for the reserved state is the same as that used for the busy state.

Claim 4

A switching system according to claim 1, wherein the improvement further comprises a rotating magnetic memory device in said equipment for accessing successively to the relevant ones of said circuits and said elements as a result of rotation to make said equipment supply signals to said desired element and receive signals therefrom.

Claim 5

A switching system according to claim 1, said elements including selectable information paths, said equipment processing the data for selecting the desired path and establishing said desired path in compliance with the processed data, wherein the improvement further comprises two central controllers in said equipment, each associated with said state circuits, and each operable cyclically in the data processing mode and in the path establishing mode, and both operating simultaneously, one in the data processing mode of a call and the other in the path establishing mode of another call.

Claim 6

A switching system according to claim 1, one of said elements serving as an active element in processing of a call, another of said elements serving as a passive element in processing of said call, said elements including selectable information paths, said equipment processing the data for selecting one of said paths that interconnects said active and said passive elements and establishes said one path in compliance with the processed data, wherein the improvement comprises a central controller in said equipment, said controller reserving a desired one of said elements as said passive elements, said controller including an idle test circuit for checking the actual state of said active and said reserved passive elements before establishing said information path.

Claim 7

A switching system according to claim 4, wherein one of said controllers is operable cyclically in said data processing and said path establishing modes while the other of said controllers is operable cyclically in said path establishing and said data processing modes, respectively, during the time said two controllers operate cyclically in said processing and path establishing modes and are subject to trouble, and one of said controllers operates cyclically in said data processing and said path establishing modes during the time the other of said controllers is activated out of said data processing and said path establishing modes in response to a trouble signal to provide an indication thereof.

Claim 8

A switching system according to claim 1 and adapted for telephone switching, said elements including a plurality of numerical signals processing trunks, each of said numerical signals consisting of a plurality digits, each represented by a corresponding series of pulses, an interdigit pause provided between two consecutive series of pulses representing two consecutive digits; said series of pulses representing said numerical signal and serving to identify a called party, wherein said state circuits include pulse processing trunk state circuits associated with said processing trunks, respectively, each of said processing trunks state circuits comprising means for dealing pulse series-by-pulse series with said series of pulses and for producing flag signals in said pauses, respectively, each said flag signal representing completion of processing of one of said series of pulses that precedes each said pause.

Claim 9

A switching system according to claim 1, said system containing a memory for storing programs including a plurality of microcommands and a plurality of macrocommands, each said macrocommand covering several individual commands of the class of said microcommands to be executed in succession causing said equipment to control the operation of desired ones of said elements in a manner specified thereby, wherein the improvement further comprises signal producing means and an aggregate of wired logics in said equipment, said means producing macrocommand signals one at a time in compliance with said programs stored in said memory, said macrocommand signals representing said respective macrocommands, said aggregate associated with said means, said circuits, and said elements for executing said macrocommands in response to said macrocommand signals.

Claim 10

A switching system according to claim 1, said system adapted to telephone switching, said elements including a plurality of links, each having input and output terminal pairs, each said pair adapted for connection with one each of preselected line and trunk terminals of said system, respectively, wherein the improvement further comprises a memory track, a register, and wired logic in said equipment, said track associated with said logic and having a plurality of memory areas which are assigned to said links, respectively, and which store for nondestructive readout by said logic data relating to said link input and output terminal pairs, respectively, said register serving as a temporary store for information relating to said link input and output terminal pairs for said preselected line and trunk terminal connection, said logic associated with said circuits and said register for finding an idle path via that one of said circuits which is associated with said idle path, in consideration of said data received from said track memory areas and said information received from said register.

Claim 11

A switching system according to claim 1, said equipment comprising at least one central controller, wherein the improvement further comprises a memory device in said equipment, said device associated with said controller and storing for nondestructive readout by said controller the substantially permanent data related to said elements, respectively, said controller receiving the data derived from said device as a result of said nondestructive readout to utilize such data for accessing to successive relevant ones of said circuits and to make said relevant circuits in turn supply said state signals.

Claim 12

An electronic controlled space division telephone switching system of a stored program type having peripheral equipment and common control equipment; said peripheral equipment comprising a plurality of unit equipments including a multiplicity of subscriber line circuits and a plurality of trunks, and a main link including a plurality of links; said common control equipment comprising a first storage device storing substantially permanent programs of call processing routines and a central controller; said controller reading out from said device the programs providing the call processing routines specifying the operation of said controller, respective data related to said unit equipments and said links, and translation data for determining which of said routines is to be followed by said controller; said controller carrying out a call processing operation in a call processing mode of identifying a pair of said unit equipments with reference to a call being served by the sYstem and specifying one of said routines to be followed for such call; said controller causing said main link to carry out a link setting operation in a link setting mode of interconnecting said identified unit equipment pair in accordance with said specified one routine; wherein the improvement comprises a multiplicity of state circuits interposed between said peripheral and common control equipments and associated with said unit equipments and said links, respectively, and with said controller for temporarily storing for readout by said controller those states of service of the respective associated ones of said unit equipments and said links in which such respective ones are left at a given time; a second storage device of quicker access for temporarily storing data relative to the progress of said specified one routine excluding said states of service; said first and second devices having means associated with said circuits for successive access thereto; another central controller which is a duplicate of said first central controller; each of said controllers comprising first means associated with said circuits and said devices for receiving state signals from successively accessed ones of said circuits as a result of said data readout from said respective storage devices to carry out said specified call processing operation; each of said controllers further comprising second means associated with said first means and said main link for supplying control signals to said main link to activate said main link to carry out said link setting operation; each of said controllers cyclically operable in said call processing and link setting modes in reverse to said call processing and link setting modes of the other of said controllers.

Claim 13

An electronic controlled space division telephone switching system of a stored program type having peripheral equipment and common control equipment; said peripheral equipment comprising a plurality of unit equipments including a multiplicity of subscriber line circuits and a plurality of trunks, and a main link including a plurality of links; said common control equipment comprising a first storage device storing substantially permanent programs of call processing routines and a central controller; said controller reading out from said device the programs providing the call processing routines specifying the operation of said controller, respective data related to said unit equipments and said links, and translation data for determining which of said routines is to be followed by said controller; said controller carrying out a call processing operation in a call processing mode of identifying a pair of said unit equipments with reference to a call being served by the sYstem and specifying one of said routines to be followed for such call; said controller causing said main link to carry out a link setting operation in a link setting mode of interconnecting said identified unit equipment pair in accordance with said specified one routine; wherein the improvement comprises a multiplicity of state circuits interposed between said peripheral and common control equipments and associated with said unit equipments and said links, respectively, and with said controller for temporarily storing for readout by said controller those states of service of the respective associated ones of said unit equipments and said links in which such respective ones are left at a given time; a second storage device of quicker access for temporarily storing data relative to the progress of said specified one routine excluding said states of service; said first and second devices having means associated with said circuits for successive access thereto; another central controller which is a duplicate of said first central controller; each of said controllers comprising first means associated with said circuits and said devices for receiving state signals from successively accessed ones of said circuits as a result of said data readout from said respective storage devices to carry out said specified call processing operation; each of said controllers further comprising second means associated with said first means and said main link for supplying control signals to said main link to activate said main link to carry out said link setting operation; each of said controllers cyclically operable in said call processing and link setting modes in reverse to said call processing and link setting modes of the other of said controllers.