The PSTN

This chapter talks about the public switched telephone network (PSTN). It discusses what comprises the PSTN, what sorts of technologies have been used to complete the connections, how the signaling systems operate, and the typical components and transmission capacities of the basic backbone architecture. This chapter also discusses what intelligent networks (INs) provide in terms of service logic and feature availability. Finally, this chapter describes some of the trends in the evolution of the PSTN that will support the new generation of applications.