Telephone system diagnostic measurement system including a distant

Abstract

In a telephone system wherein a number of distant terminals are each connected to a remote terminal and in which a number of remote terminals are each connected to a central office, a distant terminal includes a drop testing circuit for making sequential measurements on a plurality of customer telephones. The drop test circuit is included in a measurement system for providing condition responsive signals describing parameters of the telephone system, The drop test circuit includes circuitry such as scaling resistors, voltage sources, switching elements, and a multiplexed analog to digital voltage-sensing converter for providing digital data for transmission to the remote terminal or other more central location. The remote terminal comprises a computer based analyzer for interpreting, processing, and storing the data transmitted to it. The analyzer, servicing hundreds or thousands of telephones, may accumulate historical data and sophisticated measurements as well as pass-fail data indicating whether the drops to each customer meet conventional standards. The analyzer is further capable of providing all results to conventional drop test survey equipment or to service personnel in a variety of formats.