Conference Nonblocking Switching Networks

Conferencing in three-stage nonblocking switching networks is investigated. Clos\´s results are extended to consider networks in which conference connections are made at the cross points rather than through the use of separate conference bridges. If conferencing is allowed only in the center stage, it is shown that the cross-point count is multiplied by approximately , where is the number of conferees (for normal calls, ). If conferencing is allowed in all stages, then it is shown that the Clos nonblocking network is conference nonblocking for arbitrarily large conferences. Similar results for Bowers\´ folded networks are also presented.