Switched Communications for the Department of Defense

The Department of Defense, in response to its unique telecommunications needs and in an effort to take advantage of advances in technology, has embarked on an evolutionary, systematized program to develop and procure electronic, software controlled circuit switches. Two development programs presently underway will result in the fielding of two kinds of state-of-the-art circuit switches; a large hybrid circuit switch which will accommodate the existing analog telecommunication environment and provide the means to evolve into the digital world of the future, and a pair of smaller digital circuit switches which, while providing limited accommodation of analog equipment, are primarily intended for the later stages of the digital evolution. The characteristics and capabilities of the circuit switches are described in terms of both architecture and implementation.