A Unigauge Design Concept for Telephone Customer Loop Plant

The unigauge concept permits the extension of both supervisory and transmission range in areas served by No. 5 crossbar and electronic switching system (ESS) from 1300 to 2500 ohms. This will be accomplished by placement of gain and range extension equipment in line links of the No. 5 equipment and the "B" links of the ESS equipment. The extension of range to 2500 ohms permits the exclusive use of 26-gauge cable in customer loops up to 30 kft (98 percent of all loops) in length and the ability to serve loops as long as 50 kft (99.5 percent of all loops) with a combination of 26 and 22 gauge. Advantages of this concept include reductions in facility costs, conduit and loading coil requirements, and maintenance expense.