Call collision

Last updated

In the field of telecommunications, a call collision, commonly referred to as a glare, can occur in two situations: [1]

  1. Terminal and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment (DCE) Contention: This type of call collision arises when both a terminal and a data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE) simultaneously designate the same communication channel to initiate a call request and handle an incoming call. In such cases, the DCE prioritizes the call request and proceeds with it, resulting in the cancellation of the incoming call.
  2. Trunk or Channel Seizure at Both Ends: The second scenario involves a call collision when a trunk or channel is seized simultaneously at both ends. This situation can lead to conflicts and disruptions in the communication flow.

Glare can sometimes be experienced when attempting to make an outgoing call on a private branch exchange (PBX) system but getting connected to an incoming call instead. This occurrence can also happen in residential settings if an outgoing call is initiated at the precise moment when an incoming call is about to start ringing.

To mitigate the risk of glare, Multi-line hunting techniques are employed. These techniques involve selecting circuits in the opposite preference order, ensuring that the highest numbered line, which is typically the last choice for incoming calls, becomes the first choice for outgoing calls. The following example illustrates the sequence:

incoming -->1             2             3             4             5             6             7             8<-- outgoing

With PRI circuits, the channel selection sequence is specified when the circuit is provisioned. Common practice is to have the PBX use descending channel selection, and the carrier to use ascending. Glare is not common on PRI circuits because the signaling is so fast, however it is not impossible (especially if there are subtle differences in the timers at either end, and the circuit is being used at near-capacity). The users will not experience a connection to an unexpected call (as would be the case with analog circuits), because glare causes protocol errors that generally prevent any sort of successful connection. Instead, one or both of the call attempts might fail, and ideally an error would appear in the logs (this depends on the logging capabilities of the systems at either end of the circuit). Glare is quite rare on PRI circuits, and can be difficult to troubleshoot.

For old, analog PBX trunks, glare can be reduced by using ground start signaling, which offers a better answer and disconnect supervision. IE: Nortel BSP discouraged using loop start trunks for this and other reasons. Long Distance exchanges in the 1950s and 60s incorporated Glare Detectors to alleviate the problem.

Related Research Articles

The Digital Private Network Signalling System (DPNSS) is a network protocol used on digital trunk lines for connecting to PABX. It supports a defined set of inter-networking facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Integrated Services Digital Network</span> Set of communication standards

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. Work on the standard began in 1980 at Bell Labs and was formally standardized in 1988 in the CCITT "Red Book". By the time the standard was released, newer networking systems with much greater speeds were available, and ISDN saw relatively little uptake in the wider market. One estimate suggests ISDN use peaked at a worldwide total of 25 million subscribers at a time when 1.3 billion analog lines were in use. ISDN has largely been replaced with digital subscriber line (DSL) systems of much higher performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RS-232</span> Standard for serial communication

In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a DTE such as a computer terminal, and a DCE, such as a modem. The standard defines the electrical characteristics and timing of signals, the meaning of signals, and the physical size and pinout of connectors. The current version of the standard is TIA-232-F Interface Between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange, issued in 1997. The RS-232 standard had been commonly used in computer serial ports and is still widely used in industrial communication devices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">X.25</span> Standard protocol suite for packet switched wide area network (WAN) communication

X.25 is an ITU-T standard protocol suite for packet-switched data communication in wide area networks (WAN). It was originally defined by the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee in a series of drafts and finalized in a publication known as The Orange Book in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone call</span> Connection between two or more people over a telephone network

A telephone call or telephone conversation, also known as a phone call or voice call, is a connection over a telephone network between the called party and the calling party. Telephone calls started in the late 19th century. As technology has improved, a majority of telephone calls are made over a cellular network through mobile phones or over the internet with Voice over IP. Telephone calls are typically used for real-time conversation between two or more parties, especially when the parties cannot meet in person.

In telecommunications, trunking is a technology for providing network access to multiple clients simultaneously by sharing a set of circuits, carriers, channels, or frequencies, instead of providing individual circuits or channels for each client. This is reminiscent to the structure of a tree with one trunk and many branches. Trunking in telecommunication originated in telegraphy, and later in telephone systems where a trunk line is a communications channel between telephone exchanges.

In communications systems, robbed-bit signaling (RBS) is a scheme to provide maintenance and line signaling services on many T1 digital carrier circuits using channel-associated signaling (CAS). The T1 carrier circuit is a type of dedicated circuit currently employed in North America and Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business telephone system</span> Telephone system typically used in business environments

A business telephone system is a telephone system typically used in business environments, encompassing the range of technology from the key telephone system (KTS) to the private branch exchange (PBX).

Direct inward dialing (DID), also called direct dial-in (DDI) in Europe and Oceania, is a telecommunication service offered by telephone companies to subscribers who operate a private branch exchange (PBX) system. The feature provides service for multiple telephone numbers over one or more analog or digital physical circuits to the PBX, and transmits the dialed telephone number to the PBX so that a PBX extension is directly accessible for an outside caller, possibly by-passing an auto-attendant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E and M signaling</span>

E and M signaling is a type of supervisory line signaling that uses DC signals on separate leads, called the "E" lead and "M" lead, traditionally used in the telecommunications industry between telephone switches. Various mnemonic names have been used to memorize these letters, such as Ear and Mouth, the most common variation.

Signalling System R2 is a signalling protocol for telecommunications that was in use from the 1960s mostly in Europe, and later also in Latin America, Asia, and Australia, to convey exchange information between two telephone switching systems for establishing a telephone call via a telephone trunk. It is suitable for signaling on analog as well as digital circuits.

Loop start is a telecommunications supervisory protocol between a central office or private branch exchange (PBX) and a subscriber telephone or other terminal for the purpose of starting and terminating a telephone call. It is the simplest of the telephone signaling systems, and uses the presence or absence of loop current to indicate the off-hook and on-hook loop states, respectively. It is used primarily for subscriber line signaling. An extension of the protocol that adds disconnect supervision is often called kewlstart.

In telephony, ground start is a method of signaling from a terminal of a subscriber local loop to a telephone exchange, where one side of a cable pair is temporarily grounded to request dial tone. Most middle 20th-century American payphones used coin-first ground start lines, with the starting ground connection provided by the coin itself, bridging a set of contacts as it passes through the coin chute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AT&T Merlin</span> Corporate telephone system

AT&T Merlin is a corporate telephone system by American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) that was introduced in late 1983, when it was branded American Bell Merlin. After the breakup of AT&T in 1984, it was rebranded and later also supplied by Lucent and Avaya.

In telecommunication, supervision is the monitoring of a telecommunication circuit for telephony to convey to an operator, user, or a switching system, information about the operational state of the circuit. The typical operational states of trunks and lines are the idle and busy states, seizure, and disconnect. The states are indicated by various electrical signals and electrical conditions depending on the type of circuit, the type of terminating equipment, and the type of intended service.

The Number Five Crossbar Switching System is a telephone switch for telephone exchanges designed by Bell Labs and manufactured by Western Electric starting in 1947. It was used in the Bell System principally as a Class 5 telephone switch in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) until the early 1990s, when it was replaced with electronic switching systems. Variants were used as combined Class 4 and Class 5 systems in rural areas, and as a TWX switch.

The Number One Crossbar Switching System (1XB), was the primary technology for urban telephone exchanges served by the Bell System in the mid-20th century. Its switch fabric used the electromechanical crossbar switch to implement the topology of the panel switching system of the 1920s. The first No. 1 Crossbar was installed in the PResident-2 central office at Troy Avenue in Brooklyn, New York which became operational in February 1938.

Compelled signalling is a class of telecommunications signalling protocols that acknowledge the receipt of each discrete signal before the next signal can be sent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone exchange</span> Interconnects telephones for calls

A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital systems to establish telephone calls between subscribers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panel switch</span>

The Panel Machine Switching System is a type of automatic telephone exchange for urban service that was used in the Bell System in the United States for seven decades. The first semi-mechanical types of this design were installed in 1915 in Newark, New Jersey, and the last were retired in the same city in 1983.

References

  1. "call collision – Glossary". Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions . Archived from the original on 2023-08-13. Retrieved 2022-06-05.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from Federal Standard 1037C. General Services Administration. Archived from the original on 2022-01-22. (in support of MIL-STD-188).