{{Unreferenced, date=April 2018
Automated main distribution frame (AMDF), (automated switching matrix, automated distribution frame, loop management system (LMS)), a technology to provide connectivity between subscriber ( local loop,
outside plant
In telecommunication, the term outside plant has the following meanings:
*In civilian telecommunications, outside plant refers to all of the physical cabling and supporting infrastructure (such as conduit, cabinets, tower or poles), and any associ ...
) – and office equipment (
inside plant In telecommunication, the term inside plant has the following meanings:
*All the cabling and equipment installed in a telecommunications facility, including the main distribution frame (MDF) and all the equipment extending inward therefrom, such as ...
) lines in a
telephone exchange
A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syst ...
(central office, CO) main distribution frame (MDF).
At the beginning of the 21st century the connections (n-subscriber lines and m-office equipment lines) are established or removed manually using a twisted pair of copper wires (jumper).
An automated main distribution frame provides, after an initial installation of all relevant subscriber- and office equipment lines, remote controlled and locally performed connectivity by switching via the switching matrix of an AMDF.
Advantages of automated main distribution frame include reduced switching time, reduced errors in execution and documentation, no truck-roll for each subscriber connection to be established, and reduction of operational expenditures (OPEX). These advantages are typically only off-setting the initial investment in the AMDF equipment in places with relatively high labour cost and an "active" telephony market where subscribers have a choice of multiple service providers leading to many MDF changes.
See also
*
Digital cross-connect system
A digital cross-connect system (DCS or DXC) is a piece of circuit-switched network equipment, used in telecommunications networks, that allows lower-level TDM bit streams, such as DS0 bit streams, to be rearranged and interconnected among highe ...
*
Loop management system
In local telephone networks, a loop management system (LMS) is a kind or a part of network management system
Network monitoring is the use of a system that constantly monitors a computer network for slow or failing components and that notifies t ...