Harris Corporation

Pierce, Ben A.

Curtin, Leonard E.

Coffelt, Steven R.

Chan, Aaron

Aaron Chan

Ben A Pierce

Michael F Kennedy

Michael D Horton

Leonard E Curtin

Steven R Coffelt

Leslie Shafto

Michael Kennedy

A remotely controlled line conditioning apparatus is installed in the terminal where access to the telephone loop to be tested is readily available. Although a metallic bypass pair from the central office to the (remote) terminal may also be available, its presence and/or condition does not affect the ability of the apparatus to condition the line under test. The line conditioning apparatus includes a telephone line termination unit and an intelligent control unit. The telephone line termination unit has a telephone line access port to which a telephone line pair is selectively coupled, and is operative to controllably impart a selected one of a plurality of electrical signalling conditions to the telephone line pair under test. The control unit has a communication modem through which communication signals containing telephone line conditioning messages are coupled to and from the central office/remote terminal communication link. The control unit also includes a micro-controller, which is coupled to the modem, for generating telephone line unit control signals in response to line conditioning messages from a host unit located at the central office. Control signals generated by the micro-controller control the operation of the telephone line termination unit which conditions the telephone line pair.

Remotely controlled apparatus for conditioning telephone line exclusive

A direct access test unit for enabling a craftsperson at a telephone facility remote with respect to a central office to test subscriber lines comprises a first access port coupled to an access line circuit, by way of which the remote telephone facility communicates with the telephone office in the course of testing subscriber lines, and a second access port coupled to a test trunk circuit by way of which a subscriber line is to be tested by the test unit. Coupled between the first and second access ports is a processor-controlled subscriber line test/interface arrangement which is responsive to (tone) dial signals, generated by the remote telephone facility, and representative of a command to conduct a test of a selected one of a plurality of subscriber line circuits that are accessible by the test unit from the second access port, including the line circuit to which said remote telephone facility is connected, for accessing the subscriber line circuit via the second access port and conducting tests of the subscriber line circuit by way of the test trunk circuit. Stored within the memory of the processor which controls the operation of the test unit are voice message menus, each in a respectively different language (e.g. English, Spanish) the contents of which are controllably accessed and synthesized for transmission to the craftsperson via the first access port. The voice messages include instructions for guiding the craftsperson in the course of carrying out a test of a selected subscriber line.

Direct access test unit for central office

A direct access test unit for testing subscriber lines is located in the central office and is accessable from a remote location through a standard ground start line circuit. The field technician involved in a troubleshooting problem dials the number of the ground start line circuit followed by a security code to gain access to the test unit which then returns dial tone. Dialing the number of a subscriber line to be tested provides for access to that line via the test unit and a test trunk connected thereto. Various tests may be performed on the subscriber line thus accessed by dialing a selected digit to identify the test. The test unit provides voice messages to the field technician to instruct in the use of the test unit and explain the available test operations and how they may be initiated.

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Moorpark, CA, United States of America

Aaron Chan