Patent GB-834624-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to code converting arrangements for pulse code modulationsystems
Inventor: STARR ARTHUR TISSO
IPC: H03K3/45
Filed: 1958-03-27
Abstract: 834,624. Electric selective signalling systems. STANDARD TELEPHONES & CABLES Ltd. March 27, 1958, No. 9812/58. Addition to 806,397. Class 40 (1). [Also in Group XL (c)] Relates to pulse code modulation systems in which coding or decoding is effected by bistable saturable core inductors. Amplitude compression is included in the coding process, with corresponding amplitude expansion during decoding. A coder, Fig. 1, using a five-digitbinary code, comprises 31 cores of a magnetic material having a substantially rectangular hysteresis loop as described in the parent Specification. Each core carries a bias winding 51, a signal winding 52, a reading pulse winding 53, and one or more digit pulse windings 57. The windings 52, 53, and 57 are wound in the same direction, but the bias windings 51 are wound in the opposite direction, are series connected, and are supplied with a bias current from a D.C. source 54. The signal wave to be coded is supplied from the source 55 to all the windings 52 in series, and a source 56 supplies reading or sampling pulses to the windings 53 in series. The digit windings 57 are arranged on each of the 31 cores according to the pattern of the binary code selected, and the arrangement is such that between each quantizing level of the signal wave the reading pulse produces a flux change to the region of positive saturation in only one corresponding core. If the digit pulses are to be supplied in sequence instead of simultaneously to separate conductors, they are applied via limiters 58 to 62 to a delay network 63. Amplitude compression is introduced by dividing the quantizing steps into a number of groups, in this case four, the steps being equal in each group but being greater in successive groups, and this is achieved by arranging the numbers of turns of the respective bias and signal windings according to a table given in the Specification, the reading pulse windings 53 all having the same number of turns. The number of turns on the cores shown are indicated in circles. Auxiliary bias windings 68 ensure that the cores are at their correct working point. When the condition of the core is switched by the reading pulse to positive saturation it is necessary for the reading pulse to be preceded or followed by a negative resetting pulse as described in the parent Specification. The apparatus may be modified to deal with both positive and negative signal levels by using 63 cores carrying windings according to a six-digit code. In a decoder, Fig. 4, incoming digit pulses on a conductor 74 are supplied to a converting device 75 including a delay line distributer for delivering either a positive or negative current pulse of amplitude C to each of the digit conductors I to V, according to the presence of absence of a digit pulse on the corresponding conductor. Each of the 31 cores has five digit windings 76 to 80, all having the same number of turns but wound in one direction (straight) or the reverse according to the binary code used, the windings of corresponding digits being connected in series. Each core also carries a bias winding 81, all bias windings having the same number of turns, and being wound " reverse." The bias windings are connected in series to a bias source 82 whereby the bias current flowing through the windings is 4C. Each of the cores also has an output winding 83 wound " straight " and each winding having the same number of turns as the corresponding bias winding of the coder shown in Fig. 1. The output windings are connected in series in four separate groups which are connected to a weighting network comprising a shunt resistor 84 and four series resistors R R R 85 to 88 having values of R, -, - and - res- 2 8 32 pectively, providing amplitude expansion to correspond with the compression introduced in the coder. A rectifier 94 allows positive pulses to pass to the output terminal 93 but suppresses negative pulses. Only the digit windings arranged in correspondence with the received code will produce a counter-flux which will exceed the biasing flux due to the current 4C, and therefore only one core will be switched to the region of positive saturation to produce an output pulse which will be proportional to the number of turns in the output winding. An alternative form of weighting network utilizes transformers having step-up ratios proportional to 1, 2, 8 and 32 respectively. The decoder may be modified to deal with both positive and negative values by duplicating the cores and by providing two weighting networks, one for the negative values and the other for the positive values. Each core will have six digit windings instead of five.