Pulse code modulation for automatic switching of a military network

Describes a military tactical telephone network which permits combat-zone units to be automatically interconnected regardless of their position or partial destruction of the network. Pulse code modulation permits useful communication with signal-to-noise ratio of only 10 db and the use of wide-band transmission with time-division channels allows very rapid signalling. A mesh network in which each exchange is connected to several adjacent exchanges is used. An electronic memory controls the propagation of a call throughout the entire network until it reaches the exchange serving the called line. A breakdown in any part of the network will be bypassed and, in a network of useful size, about 200 calls can be processed per second so that blocking is not important, despite the many paths over which each call is sent to find the destination.