TABLE OF CONTENTS Many of the basic principles of the original telephone operation and nomenclature are still in existence today. Broadband technology and home networking brings about radical changes in the existing infrastructure and operation of the standard telephone and the various types of signals that will be delivered along with voice, including high-speed data for use with the Internet and other applications, music, video including high-definition television (HDTV) and other new applications. As the ways and methods that information is delivered to the subscriber is changing rapidly, enhancements to the standard public switched telephone network (PSTN) and other means to connect the subscribers, including wired and wireless solutions are being put into place.
This chapter reviews the basic principles of telephony and points of interest to aid a basic understanding of how the telephone operates and how the emerging new technologies affect telephony today Discussed are telephony circuitry, the basic infrastructure, and alternatives to running the signals to the home.
The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. For several years, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) owned nearly all of the telephone services. The telephony research was conducted by Bell Labs. The AT&T monopoly was eventually broken up and regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs) were created. The central service organiza tion (CSO) became responsible for developing new technologies and perform the research and development for all of the RBOCs. Bell Labs continued their research for AT&T and was later renamed Lucent Technologies. Currently. Since...
