Automated Repair Service Bureau: Mechanized Loop Testing strategies and techniques

The Mechanized Loop Testing (MLT) system overcomes two long-standing inadequacies in the administration of loop repair: the lack of a single comprehensive automated testing device capable of analyzing the problems of loops having a wide variety of central office, outside plant, and terminating equipment installed; and the lack of a device of that type that could be integrated into the repair process in such a way as to provide for efficient administrative procedures. The MLT system meets these needs by means of a novel linkage with the Loop Maintenance Operations System (LMOS), which is the backbone support system for the repair process. The MLT system is unique in the way it makes use of information in the customer line records to configure tests and analyze their results. This paper outlines the means by which customer line record information is selected and processed for use in the test algorithms of MLT. It then discusses the general strategies used in the algorithms described, with some attention to the problems posed by inaccurate or incomplete records.