telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

, metering pulses are telephone signals sent by

telephone exchanges A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...

to metering boxes and

payphones A payphone (alternative spelling: pay phone or pay telephone or public phone) is typically a coin-operated public telephone, often located in a telephone booth or in high-traffic public areas. Prepayment is required by inserting coins or tele ...

aimed at informing the latter of the cost of ongoing telephone calls. Metering pulses are also known as ''billing pulses'' and ''tax pulses''. The properties of metering signals differ between the telephone administrations in various countries. Some systems use alternating current pulses superimposed on the direct current (battery) levels of the local loop, while others may use a reversal of tip-ring polarity of the wire pair. Common frequencies of the A.C. pulses are 50 Hz, 12 kHz, and 16 kHz, with typical durations of the signal varying from several tens to hundreds of milliseconds. 50 Hz pulses are applied to the telephone circuit as

common-mode signal In electrical engineering, a common-mode signal is the identical component of voltage present at both input terminals of an electrical device. In telecommunication, the common-mode signal on a transmission line is also known as longitudinal volta ...

s with respect to ground, as applying them differentially would make them audible for the talking parties as buzzing tones. The pulse amplitude (RMS voltage) is high enough to distinguish them from signals induced from

mains electricity Mains electricity, utility power, grid power, domestic power, wall power, household current, or, in some parts of Canada, hydro, is a general-purpose Alternating current, alternating-current (AC) electric power supply. It is the form of electri ...

. 12- and 16 kHz metering pulses are applied differentially across the telephone circuit, as these frequencies cannot be heard by listeners with conventional telephone instruments. Each pulse represents an incremental cost. For calls with higher billing rates, the exchange equipment generates metering pulses at a higher rate than during calls to cheaper destinations, or during periods of lower billing rates. On residential telephone lines, metering pulses are not used to generate billing records, but serve to inform the calling subscriber with a visual display in form of a counter or advancing dial connected to the telephone instrument. In commercial pay station telephones and coin collectors, A.C. signaling pulses operate coin control.J.G. Pearce, ''Telecommunications Switching'', Plenum Press & Springer Science, N.Y. (1981), , p.96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metering Pulse Telephony signals

See also

References