Communications switching network

Claim 2

A communications switching network comprising: M number of input terminals for receiving M number of multi-block communications signals in parallel, M being any predetermined integer, M number of output terminals for delivering M number of signals in parallel, first and second time-space-time (TST) switching networks each having M/2 input terminals and M/2 output terminals, a first set of M/2 number of 2×2 switches connected between the input terminals of the TST switching networks and the M input terminals with each switch in said first set having a first output connected to the first TST switching network and a second output connected to the second TST switching network, a second set of M/2 number of 2×2 switches connected between the output terminals of the TST switching networks and the M output terminals with each switch in said second set having a first input connected to the first TST switching network and a second input connected to the second TST switching network.

Claim 3

A communications switching network as in claim 1, wherein each TST switching network comprises first and second sets of M/2 time-slot-interchangers (TSI) interconnected by a reconfigurable space switch network having M/2 inputs and M/2 outputs.

Claim 4

A communications switching network as in claim 1, wherein each TST switching network comprises a functional equivalent of a reconfigurable space switch network with first and second sets of time slot interchangers, the equivalent comprising a distributed collection of interconnected switches and delay lines.

Claim 5

A communications switching network as in claim 2, wherein each TSI is an N timeslot interchanger, where N is the number of timeslots per frame in each of the signals delivered to the M input terminals of the communications switching network.

Claim 6

A communications switching network as in claim 2, wherein each TSI is an N/2 timeslot interchanger.

Claim 7

A communications switching network as in claim 5, wherein each TST switching network further comprises: a third set of M/2 number of 2×2 switches connected between the first set of timeslot interchangers and the first set of switches with each switch in said third set having one of its outputs directly connected to a predetermined TSI of the first set of timeslot interchangers and the other of its outputs connected to a different TSI of the first set of timeslot interchangers via a delay line, and a fourth set of M/2 number of 2×2 switches connected between the second set of timeslot interchangers and the second set of switches with each switch in said fourth set having one of its inputs directly connected to a predetermined TSI of the second set of timeslot interchangers and the other of its inputs indirectly connected to a different TSI of the second set of timeslot interchangers via a delay line.

Claim 8

A communications switching network as in claim 6, wherein to preserve frame integrity of the multiblock communications switching signals at the M output terminals of the communications switching network, each TST switching network further comprises: a fifth set of M/2 number of 2×2 switches connected between the first set of timeslot interchangers and the third set of switches with each switch in said fifth set having one of its outputs directly connected to a predetermined TSI of the first set of timeslot interchangers and the other of its outputs connected to a different TSI of the first set of timeslot interchangers via a delay line, and a sixth set of M/2 number of 2×2 switches connected between the second set of timeslot interchangers and the fourth set of switches with each switch in said sixth set having one of its inputs directly connected to a predetermined TSI of the second set of timeslot interchangers and the other of its inputs indirectly connected to a different TSI of the second set of timeslot interchangers via a delay line.

Claim 9

A communications switching network as in claim 1 and which is adapted to handle optical communications signals with said switches in the form of optical directional coupler switches or their functional equivalent.