Call distributing system

Claim 2

A time division call distributing system including four-wire time division bus means for connecting trunks to operator positions, means for permanently associating each of said trunks and said positions with an individual time slot for transmitting over said bus means, and means including a further pair of bus means independent of said four-wire time division bus means for transmitting from said trunks to said positions and from said positions to said trunks respective time slot information to be used for receiving over said four-wire time division bus means.

Claim 3

A time division call distributing system in which any of a plurality of trunks may request a connection to any of a plurality of operator positions comprising a first transmission bus for transmitting signals from said trunks to said positions, a second transmission bus for transmitting signals from said positions to said trunks, a time slot generator for generating pulses defining distinct time slots of a repetitive cycle, means for distributing said pulses to said trunks and said positions so as to uniquely associate each of said trunks with a different one of said time slots and to also uniquely associate each of said positions with a different one of said time slots, means responsive to a connection request signal from a trunk for selecting an idle position, and time slot identity means responsive to a position selection by said selecting means for transmitting to the requesting trunk a pulse in the time slot associated with the selected position and for transmitting to the selected position a pulse in the time slot associated with the requesting trunk, said selecting means including a plurality of trunk lockout circuits each associated with one of said trunks for generating said connection request signal and arranged so that only one of said trunk lockout circuits can generate said connection request signal at any given time.

Claim 4

A time division call distributing system in which any of a plurality of trunks may request a connection to any of a plurality of operator positions comprising a first transmission bus for transmitting signals from said trunks to said positions, a second transmission bus for transmitting signals from said positions to said trunks, a time slot generator for generating pulses defining distinct time slots of a repetitive cycle, means for distributing said pulses to said trunks and said positions so as to uniquely associate each of said trunks with a different one of said time slots and to also uniquely associate each of said positions with a different one of said time slots, means responsive to a connection request signal from a trunk for selecting an idle position, and time slot identity means responsive to a position selection by said selecting means for transmitting to the requesting trunk a pulse in the time slot associated with the selected position and for transmitting to the selected position a pulse in the time slot associated with the requesting trunk, said selecting means including a plurality of trunk lockout circuits each associated with one of said trunks for generating said connection request signal and arranged so that only one of said trunk lockout circuits can generate said connection request signal at any given time.

Claim 5

The system of claim 2 wherein each of said trunks includes detector means associated with the associated trunk lockout circuit and responsive to the generation of said connection request signal by the associated trunk lockout circuit for generating an output signal, means responsive to said output signal for receiving said selected position time slot pulse from said time slot identity means, and a time slot memory circuit responsive to the reception of said selected position time slot pulse for thereafter generating pulses in said selected position time slot.

Claim 6

The system of claim 3 wherein each of said trunks further includes means responsive to said output signal and the reception of said selected position time slot pulse for disabling the associated trunk lockout circuit.

Claim 7

The system of claim 3 wherein each of said trunks further includes means utilizing the time slot pulses distributed to said each trunk for transmitting signals from each trunk over said first transmission bus, and means responsive to said output signal for utilizing said pulses generated by said time slot memory circuit to receive signals from said second transmission bus.

Claim 8

The system of claim 2 wherein said selecting means further includes a plurality of position lockout circuits each associated with one of said positions, said plurality of position lockout circuits being connected together so that only one of said position lockout circuits operates in response to said connection request signal.

Claim 9

The system of claim 6 wherein each of said positions includes detector means associated with the associated position lockout circuit and responsive to the operaTion of the associated position lockout circuit for generating an output signal, means responsive to said output signal for receiving said requesting trunk time slot pulse from said time slot identity means, and a time slot memory circuit responsive to the reception of said requesting trunk time slot pulse for thereafter generating pulses in said requesting trunk time slot.

Claim 10

The system of claim 7 wherein each of said positions further includes means responsive to said output signal and the reception of said requesting trunk time slot pulse for disabling the associated position lockout circuit.

Claim 11

The system of claim 7 wherein each of said positions further includes means utilizing the time slot pulses distributed to said each position for transmitting signals from each position over said second transmission bus, and means responsive to said output signal for utilizing said pulses generated by said time slot memory circuit to receive signals from said first transmission bus.

Claim 12

A time division call distributing system in which any of a plurality of trunks may request a connection to any of a plurality of operator positions comprising a first plurality of transmission buses for transmitting signals from said trunks to said positions, each individual one of said trunks being connected to only one of said first plurality of transmission buses, a second plurality of transmission buses for transmitting signals from said positions to said trunks, each individual one of said positions being connected to only one of said second plurality of transmission buses, a time slot generator for generating pulses defining distinct time slots of a repetitive cycle, means for distributing said pulses to said trunks and said positions so as to uniquely associate each of said trunks on each bus of said first plurality of transmission buses with a different one of said time slots and to also uniquely associate each of said positions on each bus of said second plurality of transmission buses with a different one of said time slots, means responsive to a connection request signal from a trunk for selecting an idle position, and identifying means responsive to a position selection by said selecting means for transmitting to the requesting trunk a pulse in the time slot associated with the selected position and position bus identity signals identifying to which bus of said second plurality of transmission buses said selected position is connected and for transmitting to said selected position a pulse in the time slot associated with the requesting trunk and trunk bus identity signals identifying to which bus of said first plurality of transmission buses said requesting trunk is connected, said selecting means including a plurality of trunk lockout circuits each associated with one of said trunks for generating said connection request signal, said plurality of trunk lockout circuits being connected together so that only one of said trunk lockout circuits can generate said connection request signal at any given time.

Claim 13

A time division call distributing system in which any of a plurality of trunks may request a connection to any of a plurality of operator positions comprising a first plurality of transmission buses for transmitting signals from said trunks to said positions, each individual one of said trunks being connected to only one of said first plurality of transmission buses, a second plurality of transmission buses for transmitting signals from said positions to said trunks, each individual one of said positions being connected to only one of said second plurality of transmission buses, a time slot generator for generating pulses defining distinct time slots of a repetitive cycle, means for distributing said pulses to said trunks and said positions so as to uniquely associate each of said trunks on each bus of said first plurality of transmission buses with a different one of said time slots and to also uniquely associate each of said positions on each bus of said second plurality of transmission buses with a different one of said time slots, means responsive to a connection request signal from a trunk for selecting an idle position, and identifying means responsive to a position selection by said selecting means for transmitting to the requesting trunk a pulse in the time slot associated with the selected position and position bus identity signals identifying to which bus of said second plurality of transmission buses said selected position is connected and for transmitting to said selected position a pulse in the time slot associated with the requesting trunk and trunk bus identity signals identifying to which bus of said first plurality of transmission buses said requesting trunk is connected, said selecting means including a plurality of trunk lockout circuits each associated with one of said trunks for generating said connection request signal, said plurality of trunk lockout circuits being connected together so that only one of said trunk lockout circuits can generate said connection request signal at any given time.

Claim 14

The system of claim 10 wherein each of said trunks includes detector means associated with the associated trunk lockout circuit and responsive to the generation of said connection request signal by the associated trunk lockout circuit for generating an output signal, means responsive to said output signal for receiving said selected position time slot pulse from said identifying means, a time slot memory circuit responsive to the reception of said selected position time slot pulse for thereafter generating pulses in said selected position time slot, and means responsive to said output signal for receiving said position bus identity signals from said identifying means.

Claim 15

The system of claim 11 wherein each of said trunks further includes means responsive to said output signal and the reception of said selected position time slot pulse for disabling the associated trunk lockout circuit.

Claim 16

ThE system of claim 11 wherein each of said trunks further includes means utilizing the time slot pulses distributed to said each trunk for transmitting signals from said each trunk over the one of said first plurality of transmission buses to which said each trunk is connected, and means responsive to said output signal for utilizing said pulses generated by said time slot memory circuit and said position bus identity signals to receive signals from the one of said second plurality of transmission buses to which said selected position is connected.

Claim 17

The system of claim 10 wherein said selecting means further includes a plurality of position lockout circuits each associated with one of said positions and arranged so that only one of said position lockout circuits operates in response to said connection request signal.

Claim 18

The system of claim 14 wherein each of said positions includes detector means associated with the associated position lockout circuit and responsive to the operation of the associated position lockout circuit for generating an output signal, means responsive to said output signal for receiving said requesting trunk time slot pulse from said identifying means, a time slot memory circuit responsive to the reception of said requesting trunk time slot pulse for thereafter generating pulses in said requesting trunk time slot, and means responsive to said output signal for receiving said trunk bus identity signals from said identifying means.

Claim 19

The system of claim 15 wherein each of said positions further includes means responsive to said output signal and the reception of said requesting trunk time slot pulse for disabling the associated position lockout circuit.

Claim 20

The system of claim 15 wherein each of said positions further includes means utilizing the time slot pulses distributed to said each position for transmitting signals from said each position over the one of said second plurality of transmission buses to which said each position is connected, and means responsive to said output signal for utilizing said pulses generated by said time slot memory circuit and said trunk bus identity signals to receive signals from the one of said first plurality of transmission buses to which said requesting bus is connected.

Claim 21

A time division switching system comprising a plurality of first communication paths and a plurality of second communication paths, a first time division multiplex transmission means for transmitting signals from said first communication parts to said second communication paths in time slot uniquely associated with each of said first communication paths, a second time division multiplex transmission means for transmitting signals from said second communication paths to said first communication paths in time slots uniquely associated with each of said second communication paths, a first time slot identity bus, a second time slot identity bus, and means including said first time slot identity bus for transmitting to said first time division multiplex transmission means the identity of the second communication paths to be connected to said first communication paths and including said second time slot identity bus for transmitting to said second time division multiplex transmission means the identity of the first communication paths to be connected to said second communication paths.

Claim 22

A time division switching system comprising a plurality of first communication paths and a plurality of second communication paths, a first time division multiplex transmission means for transmitting signals from said first communication parts to said second communication paths in time slot uniquely associated with each of said first communication paths, a second time division multiplex transmission means for transmitting signals from said second communication paths to said first communication paths in time slots uniquely associated with each of said second communication paths, a first time slot identity bus, a second time slot identity bus, and means including said first time slot identity bus for transmitting to said first time division multiplex transmission means the identity of the second communication paths to be connected to said first communication paths and including said second time slot identity bus for transmitting to said second time division multiplex transmission means the identity of the first communication paths to be connected to said second communication paths.

Claim 23

A time division switching system in accordance with claim 18 wherein said last-mentioned means includes means for transmitting a pulse in the time slot uniquely associated with each said second communication path to said first time slot identity bus and for transmitting a pulse in the time slot uniquely associated with each said first communication path to said second time slot identity bus.

Claim 24

A time division switching system in accordance with claim 19 wherein there are a plurality of first time division multiplex transmission means and a plurality of second time divisiOn multiplex transmission means, further comprising a first communication path identity bus and a second communication path identity bus.