telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

, an interface standard is a

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

that describes one or more functional characteristics (such as code conversion, line assignments, or protocol compliance) or physical characteristics (such as electrical, mechanical, or optical characteristics) necessary to allow the exchange of

information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

between two or more (usually different) systems or pieces of equipment.

Communications protocol A communication protocol is a system of rules that allows two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information via any variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax, semantics (computer science), sem ...

s are an example. An interface standard may include operational characteristics and acceptable levels of performance. In the military community, interface standards permit command and control functions to be performed using communication and

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

systems.

Telephones

There are many interface standards between analog telephone central office equipment and

customer-premises equipment In telecommunications, a customer-premises equipment or customer-provided equipment (CPE) is any terminal and associated equipment located at a subscriber's premises and connected with a carrier's telecommunication circuit at the demarcation p ...

. Single

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound produ ...

paths generally include analog audio connections, either a

two-wire circuit In telecommunication, a two-wire circuit is characterized by supporting Signal transmission, transmission in two directions simultaneously, as opposed to four-wire circuits, which have separate pairs for transmit and receive. The subscriber local ...

four-wire circuit In telecommunications, a four-wire circuit is a two-way circuit using two paths so arranged that the respective signals are transmitted in one direction only by one path and in the other direction by the other path. The four-wire circuit gets its ...

plus signaling paths to indicate call progress and status information, such as ringing, answer supervision, etc. Some of the known interface types are: * FXO foreign exchange office * FXS foreign exchange station * DPO dial pulse originate * DPT dial pulse terminate *

E and M signaling E and M signaling is a type of supervisory line signaling that uses DC signals on separate leads, called the "E" lead and "M" lead, traditionally used in the telecommunications industry between telephone switches. Various mnemonic names have been ...

* KS Kewlstart * Loop start * Ground start

References

* Telecommunications standards {{telecomm-stub

Telephones

See also

References