4ESS TM Architecture and Applications

This lecture will be presented as part of the AT&T Bell Laboratories Department 55111 Affirmative Action Program. It will be one of several classes taught in the Howard University Computer Science department as part of the Engineering Management Sciences (EMS) curriculum. This talk concerns the 4 ESS switch, a high capacity electronic switch used in today's telecommunications network. The architecture of the switch is exployed and typical applications are examined. The talk stresses the processing and computing techniques employed by the switch call processing. This talk is based on articles in two Bell System Technical Journals, the September 1977 "No. 4ESS" edition (Vol. 56, No. 7) and the July/ August 1981 "4ESS System Evolution" edition (Vol. 60, No. 6, Part 2). Also, some information is drawn from articles in the December 1977 Bell Laboratories Record.