Chapter 427: Taking Big Steps

Gao Zhendong almost laughed out loud. He knew that we liked to cross the river by following the lead of the Eagle Sauce, but he never expected to see this.

When Citigroup's International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) was developing program-controlled digital switches, its European company planned four specifications of switches: ITT1220, 1230, 1240, and 1280.

The capacity ranges from 500 lines to 60000 lines, covering from long-distance international exchanges to large local telephone exchanges, small local telephone exchanges, and rural exchanges. It is truly a wide layout and comprehensive coverage.

After working on it for more than a year, I realized that it was a disaster and I had thought too much, so I immediately narrowed my focus and concentrated on ITT1240.

The reason is that they found that there is no need for so many types. The architecture of the programmable switching system adopts a multi-level network and is equipped with different numbers of cabinets, which can cover the needs from 60 to 100000.

It's so funny, you don't even need all four!

For the Institute of Communications, in addition to this reason, the more realistic reason is that it simply cannot afford to set up this stall, and it would be too wasteful to forcibly split it into three sets.

Gao Zhendong did not object outright, but asked them a question: "What do you think about big, medium and small?"

“大型的6000~20000门，中型的800~6000门，小型的100~800门。”

Their plan is not as exaggerated as ITT's, mainly because the country does not dare to imagine such a large telephone network at present.

"What are their specific structures? What are the differences?"

The comrades of the Telephone Research Institute are confident: "Use multi-level network and distributed control. The small 800-door only uses a two-level network. The medium-sized one increases the network depth and uses a three-level network based on the small one. The large one increases the network width based on the medium one. The medium and large network units use the same structure. Each network unit is controlled by a DJS-60D, which is convenient for universal production. The difference is..."

Having said that, looking at Gao Zhendong's smiling face, he seemed to feel that something was wrong.

Chief Engineer Feng looked at Gao Zhendong's smile and glanced at his comrade.

"Mr. Gao, what do you mean?"

After studying Gao Zhendong's materials, the comrades from the Telephone Research Institute thought that distributed control could effectively solve the shortcomings of centralized control in terms of scale expansion.

When the scale of the centralized control network increases to a certain extent, the control center computer must be replaced. With current computer technology, it is not convenient to expand it by clustering or other means.

There is only one problem.

Gao Zhen smiled and said, "What I mean is that the three of you are actually the same type, a three-level network switch with 100 to 20000 ports. The only difference is the number of units in the third-level network. For modular cabinets, it's just a matter of addition and subtraction, just like a gun that can hold 8 bullets or 30 bullets, but the gun is still the same gun."

But when Gao Zhendong said this, the comrades at the Telephone Research Institute blushed a little. In fact, he did not completely understand the problem, but...
Gao Zhendong did not go too far here and added: "I think it's okay to divide it into three models, but don't divide it into three stalls, that would be a waste."

There is a huge difference between dividing it into three models and dividing it into three stalls.

If there are three models, the researchers can actually still be managed and divided by the same team. There will just be two more models, which will make the Institute of Communications look better when reporting the results.

"Last year, the whole institute worked hard and exhausted all its efforts to complete the development of XXX large-scale program-controlled switch, YYY medium-sized program-controlled switch, and ZZZ small-scale program-controlled switch, which fully covered the telephone exchange needs of various cities, towns, and rural areas across the country."

This sounds so nice, and Gao Zhendong understands this.

As for dividing it into three stalls, that would be a big problem. Apart from anything else, the management fee would at least double, not to mention other expenses, such as testing fees and material fees, which would definitely triple because the same test would be done three times.

Moreover, when three groups of people study the same thing, not only does it dilute their strength, but it is also very likely that these three groups will not be able to form a synergy. Instead, they are more likely to fight with each other, hinder each other and cause obstacles.

That’s why Gao Zhendong said that three models are fine, but three stalls are not.

Chief Engineer Feng breathed a sigh of relief at Gao Zhendong's words. They are divided into three models, large, medium and small. Apart from the inertia caused by not being used to modularization, this is actually the idea. Having more models will make things look better and bring better returns.

Chief Engineer Gao obviously understood their idea, but he drew a line: three brands, one team, and they should work together. There should not be duplication and waste from three brands and three teams.

As for after the research is successful, if you want to combine several models to report the good news, that's up to you. In fact, it won't cause any loss or waste. If you have to say, it's probably just the difference of making one set of materials into three sets.

As for the fact that the Institute of Communications has already obtained the ideas and basic principles, and the DJS-60D is also a publicly available device, why not leave Gao Zhendong alone and do it on his own? Wouldn't that mean he can do whatever he wants?
They are not stupid.

Putting aside the moral issues, technology and resources are indispensable, and they have been registered with the higher-ups, so if they go too far, they will definitely not be the ones who suffer.

If we use the darkest psychology and make predictions from a purely technical perspective, if they set up a new project one day, Mr. Gao will be able to gather another team the next day, and do it faster than them.

Just looking at the basic knowledge Gao Zhendong gave them, and the various control signals, software and hardware structures, and processing procedures derived from it, they felt overwhelmed and had no clue at all for a moment.

You have to lean on a big tree to enjoy the shade. Mr. Feng smiled and said, "Well, Mr. Gao's suggestion is good. The matter can be divided into three parts, and the strength should be put into one place."

We have received your suggestion and your good intention, and will act accordingly.

Chief Engineer Feng was praising in his heart as he spoke. He heard that Chief Engineer Gao had been an excellent commander before going to college, and he was indeed worthy of the reputation.

We should focus on what needs to be done and let go of what can be let go, fully taking into account the emotions and actual needs of all parties without destroying the essence of the work.

Sure enough, anyone who can achieve this level is not simple.

Everyone praised Chief Engineer Gao for his correct ideas and the atmosphere was extremely harmonious.

Under this circumstance, comrades from the Telephone Research Institute continued to report their ideas and problems.

“We are ready to adopt.”

The comrades at the telephone office were very well prepared. Gao Zhendong nodded as he listened, "Well, they are indeed professional and have quite insightful ideas about the general direction."

"We have investigated the situation of the remaining spring relays according to your arrangement. Combined with the materials you provided, we are now inclined to use electronic switches directly instead of relays."

When Gao Zhendong heard this, he was like, wow, he is worthy of being an information technology professional, he is taking big steps, really big steps.

Electronic switches have no metal contacts and have many advantages, including low power consumption, fast switching speed, long life, small size and light weight.
Optocouplers are one of the most common electronic switches.

There is only one problem: at this time, the electronic switch is not very reliable. It is not that the switch state is unreliable, but that it has a great impact on the signal. After inserting the switching circuit, it will have a great impact on the transmission of the signal.

Although relays have a thousand flaws, their metal contacts are far superior to electronic switches.

In the 60s, when electronic technology was not yet developed and signal processing technology was also relatively lagging, it was a bit far-fetched to want to make a leap to electronic switches given the domestic technological environment.

Even if semiconductor technology improves and electronic switches themselves can be used, it is hard to say how much semiconductor production capacity can be allocated to electronic switches in a short period of time.

To illustrate how big a step the Telephone Research Institute took, let's take an example. It was not until 1981 that the Gauls completely stopped purchasing electromechanical switches and used only electronic switches.

Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "Which type of electronic switch do you prefer to use initially?"

Ga~~~~~~It's stuck.

“I haven’t found a suitable one yet.”

Gao Zhendong knew that he couldn't use vacuum tubes. They could also form electronic switches, but the unreliability of these things was basically the sum of the shortcomings of relays and transistor electronic switches.

Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "If we can't find a suitable one, then we should just use the relay first. It's not good to take a big step."

I won’t say any more nonsense, it’s not popular nowadays.

In fact, very few air separation systems use fully electronic switches, and relays are the majority. For air separation exchanges, the high switching speed and long life of electronic switches are not very useful, and air separation exchanges only switch a few times in one call.

However, time-division programmable switches are all electronic switches. Without this thing, there is no way to achieve time-division switching. The number of switches in one second for time-division or digital switching can easily be tens of thousands. Not to mention whether the speed of the relay is sufficient, even if you simply calculate the lifespan of the number of switches, it can only last for a few seconds.

After hearing Gao Zhendong's words, the comrades from the Telephone Research Institute felt a little embarrassed, but General Manager Feng didn't care. This was not even a plan, it could only be said to be a preliminary idea. It was normal to have some problems. Otherwise, what was the leader for?

It’s just that the comrades at the Telephone Research Institute couldn’t even find a suitable model but they just stuffed it into the project. This is a problem. I have to talk to them about it when I get back.

Gao Zhendong said: "The electronic switch is not suitable. Let's go back and talk about the residual spring relay mentioned earlier. How is it?"

The comrades at the telephone office have done a solid job in their basic work.

"We haven't found a ready-made one, but based on the principle you mentioned, we are confident that we can make one, at least to achieve the effect of maintaining the state."

"Well, in that case, let's go down this path. The key is miniaturization and meeting the requirements of electrical performance and service life. As for state retention, it's best to have it, but it's not a big problem if it doesn't. At most, we can just use a little electricity to solve it."

Gao Zhendong once again reiterated the key points of the relay. Don't miss the point again.

(End of this chapter)