This is a list of equipment, accessories, etc. that I would like to have for my DMS-100 family switches. While some of this equipment is common on the secondhand market, much of it is not and what is may be prohibitively expensive. If you can get anything on this list, please reach out to me and we'll see if we can work something out.
This list will contain information on the equipment I'm looking for. It will explain what it is, what it does, what it looks like, and how it can be located (particularly when it's a card in a switch).
I have placed what I consider to be the highest priority items at the top of the list.
The clock controller card and its paddleboard act as the local timing reference for the whole DMS switch. It can lock to external references or it can operate in a standalone manner.
Normally there are only two sets of card and paddleboard in the switch, one in each plane of the message switch. I have both sets of cards, however I believe one of my clock controllers is broken so I am looking for a replacement in case I cannot repair it.
It has more recently become unclear to me if these are the same as the clock controllers used in the local message switches used in LPP cabinets. I'm not sure if certain variants of the clock controller cards are only suitable for certain applications or if the cards must be matched pairs between the two message switches.
This is a supernode architecture card, longer and narrower than a typical DMS card. Typically the faceplate is brown and appears to be plastic with one ejector lever at each end. The card will have one LED on the front.
The paddleboard is located on the back side of the shelf behind the clock controller card. It has several connectors on it's brown plastic faceplate. The two ejector levers at each end allow for it to be removed.
These cards are always located in the message switch shelves, which should always be located in the DPCC cabinet. To confirm and locate the cards, you can check table MSCDINV:
MSCDKEY SLOTINFO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 0 2 CLOCK NT9X53AD NT9X54AC
1 0 2 CLOCK NT9X53AD NT9X54AC
Note that logical slot 2 is physical slot 8 on the normal MS shelf.
You can locate the message switch shelves by checking table MSINV:
MSINVKEY FLOOR ROW FRAMEPOS FRTYPE FRAMENO FRINFO
---------------------------------------------------------------
0 0 AA 0 DPCC 0 NT9X01BA NT9X04AA 39
1 0 AA 0 DPCC 0 NT9X01BA NT9X04AA 26
This table will list the two message switch shelves. We check their location in the FRTYPE, FRAMENO, FRINFO, FLOOR, ROW, and FRAMEPOS columns. The message switch shelves are housed in the DPCC cabinet (FRTYPE, FRAMENO) at shelf positions 26 and 39 (FRINFO), which is located on floor 0 (FLOOR), row AA (ROW), and frame position 0 (FRAMEPOS).
It is worth noting that I am now in possession of a number of LIU7 card sets with DS0 and V.35 interface paddleboards. However, I do not have any HLIU, nor do I have any NIU and matching paddleboards and I'm still looking for some of those (though the 'need' is less urgent since I have other means to do SS7).
First off, here's the complete list of cards covered in this section as all of the info is a bit long:
All of the equipment in this section are supernode architecture cards and their associated paddleboards. These cards are longer and narrower than typical DMS cards. Typically the faceplates are brown and appear to be plastic with one ejector lever at each end.
SS7 equipment consists of NIUs and LIUs. LIUs can be located by checking the LIUINV table:
LIUNAME LOCATION LOAD PROCINFO
CARDINFO
---------------------------------------------------------------
LIU7 100 LIM 1 1 8 ACC36CA NT9X13CA
NT9X75AA NT9X76AA NTEX26AA $ 56000 ABI
LIU7 200 MS 12 0 1 8 LPX36BB NTEX22BA
NT9X76AA NT9X78BA FBUS 56000 NIL
HLIU 300 LIM 2 1 8 HCA04BD NTEX22CA
NTEX76AA FBUS 1536 96_125
HSLR 400 LIM 2 1 10 HCA04BD NTEX22CA
NILSTPEC
The first entry is for a 3-board LIU7 in a normal link interface shelf (LIS), located in LIM 1 shelf 1. The second is for a 2-board LIU7 in a fiberized LIS attached directly to the message switches, attached to MS card 12 port 0. The third is for an HLIU in a normal LIS, located in LIM 2 shelf 1. The fourth is for an HSLR in a normal LIS, also located in LIM 2 shelf 1.
To find the LIS, we can check table SUSHELF:
SHELFKEY FLOOR ROW FRAMEPOS FRAMETYP FRAMENUM SHELFPOS SHELFPEC
CARDINFO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIM 1 19 0 1 1 AA 2 LIM 1 0 NT9X72BA
(7 NT9X74DA NT9X79BA) (30 NIL NTEX20AA) (1 NTDX16AA NIL)
(4 NTDX16AA NIL) $ (32 NT9X74DA NT9X79BA) (8 NIL NTEX20BA)
(33 NTDX16AA NIL) (36 NTDX16AA NIL) $
MS NIL 12 0 1 1 AA 4 MCNI 0 26 NT9X72CA
(7 NT9X96AA NT9X98AA) (30 NIL NTEX20AA) (1 NT9X31AB NIL)
(4 NT9X30AB NIL) $ (32 NT9X96AA NT9X98AA) (8 NIL NTEX20BA)
(33 NT9X31AB NIL) (36 NT9X30AB NIL) $
LIM 2 18 0 1 1 AA 6 LIM 1 0 NT9X72BA
(7 NT9X74DA NT9X79BA) (30 NIL NTEX20AA) (1 NTDX16AA NIL)
(4 NTDX16AA NIL) $ (32 NT9X74DA NT9X79BA) (8 NIL NTEX20BA)
(33 NTDX16AA NIL) (36 NTDX16AA NIL) $
The first entry is for LIM 1 shelf 1, the second for the fiberized LIS attached to MS card 12 port 0, and the third for LIM 2 shelf 1. We can tell this from the information embedded in the SHELFKEY. For the LIM entries, the first and fourth numbers designate LIM and shelf. For the MS entry, the first and second numbers designate the card and port the LIS is connected to. That allows us to pair up the info in LIUINV to the shelf.
From here, we can check the info in FLOOR, ROW, and FRAMEPOS to find the position of the actual cabinet the shelf resides in, as well as SHELFPOS to see what vertical level the shelf is positioned at within the cabinet.
It is worth noting that I am now in possession of a number of LIU7 card sets with DS0 and V.35 interface paddleboards. However, I do not have any NTEX26 paddleboards for using LIU7s with an NIU (nor do I have an NIU), but the 'need' is less urgent since I do have the means to do SS7 without them.
This LIU7 is a 3-card LIU used in LIS shelves for interfacing SS7 circuits. The NT9X13 is a processor card, the NT9X75 is an interface to the LIS F-bus, and the NT9X76 is the interface to the signaling link itself. The NT9X76 gets paired with a paddleboard, detailed in the next section.
Behind the NT9X76, there will be a paddleboard installed. The NT9X77, NT9X78, and NTEX26AA are different possible interfaces for the LIU7. The first two are for V.35 and DDS, while the third interfaces with a channel bus to nail up a DS0 to a digital trunk elsewhere in the switch.
The NTEX26 paddleboards require an NIU to work.
It is worth noting that I am now in possession of a number of LIU7 card sets with DS0 and V.35 interface paddleboards. However, I do not have any NTEX26 paddleboards for using LIU7s with an NIU (nor do I have an NIU), but the 'need' is less urgent since I do have the means to do SS7 without them.
This LIU7 is a 2-card LIU used in LIS shelves for interfacing SS7 circuits. This is similar to the 3-card version, except the processor and F-bus interface are combined into the single NTEX22 card. I believe either the NTEX22AA or NTEX22BA processor card is suitable. I am not sure about the NTEX22CA processor card, which may only be suitable for other applications such as the HLIU (covered later).
The NT9X76 is still used for the signaling interface, along with the same paddleboards as the 3-card LIU.
The paddleboards for the 2 board LIU7 are the same as those for the 3 board LIU7. See the section on those paddleboards for more information.
The HLIU is a newer SS7 LIU capable of higher speed links than the older LIU7s, which only support up to 64k links. The NTEX22CA is a processor card with 32MB of memory and the NTEX76AA is the higher speed version of the signaling interface board. The NTEX76AA gets paired with a paddleboard for the physical interface, described in the next section.
The NTEX78AA paddleboard is a DS-1 interface for the HLIU. The NTEX26BA paddleboard intefaces with the channel bus to nail up DS0s to a digital trunk elsewhere in the switch.
The NTEX26 paddleboards require an NIU to work.
The HSLR is a high speed link router using the same processor card as the HLIU. I think it accomplishes SS7 routing without having any interfaces of it's own.
The NTEX22BA is a processor board and F-bus interface card. The NTEX25 is used to provide the channel bus within a LIS in order to interface NTEX26 paddleboards to the network in order to nail up DS0s between LIUs and digital trunks elsewhere in the switch. This hardware is required for those paddleboards to work correctly. The NTEX25 also requires it's own paddleboard, the NTEX28AA, to interface with DS-30s from the network.
The NIU cards can be located by checking the NIUINV table:
NUMBER LOCATION LOAD U0INFO
UN1INFO NETLINKS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 LIM 3 1 NRS34AA NTEX22BB NTEX25AA NTEX28AA +
NTEX22BB NTEX25AA NTEX28AA 1 2 1 3 $
In this example, the NIU units are in LIM 3, shelf 1. As detailed above, the LIS can be located by using table SUSHELF.
The SMA peripheral allows vendor-independent remote digital terminals utilizing the GR-303 protocol to be attached to the DMS-100 family of switches. While many of the components of an SMA are shared with DTCs/LTCs/LGCs, some components are less common or nonexistent in these roles.
The NTAX74AA Cellular Access Processor is the only processor which can be used for an SMA peripheral. They are used in the RCCs as well, and can be used in DTCs but seem to be uncommon in that application (vs. e.g. NTMX77 or NTSX05).
The NTAX74AA will always be present in slot 12 of the peripheral shelf. To locate the cards in an active system, you can check the LTCINV table, or the RCCINV table:
LTCNAME
ADNUM FRTYPE FRNO SHPOS FLOOR ROW FRPOS EQPEC LOAD
EXECTAB
CSLNKTAB
OPTCARD
TONESET PROCPEC
EXTLINKS
E2LOAD
OPTATTR
PEC6X40 EXTINFO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DTC 1
26 DTE 0 51 1 C 1 6X02AA ECL14BC
( ABTRK FXODTC)$
(0 10 16 0) (0 10 16 1) (0 10 16 2) (0 10 16 3) (0 10 16 4) (0 10 16 5)
(0 10 16 6) (0 10 16 7) (0 10 16 8) (0 10 16 9) (0 10 16 10) (0 10 16 11)
(0 10 16 12) (0 10 16 13) (0 10 16 14) (0 10 16 15) $
( UTR15 ) ( UTR16 ) ( MSG6X69 )$
NORTHAA AX74AA AX74AA
0
UPFWNV03
$
6X40FA N
The processor type is listed under PROCPEC, and the location is in FRTYPE, FRNO, SHPOS, FLOOR, ROW, and FRPOS. In the case of RCCs, the fields to be used from RCCINV are largely the same.
The NTAX78AB Enhanced Time Switch is used in the SMA and possibly some other peripherals. It's not 100% clear if this is the only time switch allowed for use in an SMA, but it is what is listed in the SMA manuals. While there are definitely some other peripherals it is allowed to be used with, it appears to be relatively uncommon outside of SMAs.
It can be found in the LTCINV table (and related tables for other XPM/series II peripherals) by checking for NTAX78AB in the OPTCARD list. Alternatively, it should always be located in slot 14 of the SMA peripheral.
The NT6X80BA PCM loss addition card is used in the SMA. It is not clear to me if it is required for a working SMA.
The card does not get listed but will be present in slot 19 of the SMA.
There are a variety of analog trunk, tone generator, special service circuit, test access, and test equipment cards which go in TM and MTM shelves (listed in TMINV). In general, I'm interested in a lot of these cards and it would probably be more productive to grab an inventory of these cards from the switch or by taking pictures of the shelves.
The TMs and MTMs can be located by using the TMNM, FRTYPE, FRNO, SHPOS, FLOOR, ROW, and FRPOS fields inside the TMINV table.
There are a few different types of line card for the DMS-100 family LCMs:
At present, I have more than enough NT6X17, NT6X19, NT6X20, and NT6X21 line cards. I could use some more of the other types: NT6X18, NT6X71, NT6X76, NTBX25/26/27.
The line cards may be located using the LNINV table:
LEN CARDCODE PADGRP STATUS GND BNV MNO CARDINFO
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HOST 00 0 00 00 6X17AC STDLN HASU N NL N NIL
HOST 00 0 00 02 6X21AC PPHOL HASU N NL Y NIL
HOST 00 0 01 00 6X20AA STDLN HASU N NL N NIL
HOST 00 0 01 04 6X19AA STDLN HASU N NL N NIL
The CARDCODE field indicates the type of line card present in the slot. The LEN field will locate which SITE the card is in (HOST for all these examples), which LCE frame (the first number), which LCM in the frame (the second number), which line subgroup (third number, labeled on the front of the drawer, two LSG per drawer), and which slot inside the line subgroup (the last number). From there, to locate the LCM, the LCMINV table can be used:
LCMNM FRTYPE SHPOS FLOOR ROW FRPOS EQPEC LOAD CSPMNO
BICTST ADNUM MEMSIZE
LCMTYPE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOST 00 0 LCE 4 1 B 4 6X04AA XLCM18AW LGC 0
N 1 256K 256K
LCM Y C HLCM ( 2) ( 3) ( 6) ( 7) (10)$
The LCM site, frame, and LCM number are in the LCMNM field. The location information is encoded in FRTYPE, SHPOS, FLOOR, ROW, and FRPOS.
DMS-100 attendant consoles are used with Centrex customer groups on the switch. This means the hardware related to attendant consoles may be present in almost any DMS-100 family switch. A couple elements of the hardware is also used for TOPS, so it may be present even in switches that don't serve customer lines directly.
Together, these cards act as modems to communicate with an attendant console or TOPS system. The two cards will generally be installed next to each other as I understand it, and both are required for attendant consoles.
They are cards in the usual DMS form-factor, generally brown metal faceplate with ejector levers at either end. They are often installed in a DMS MTM shelf, housed in a TME frame. Alternatively, they may be installed in an ISM shelf or MTM shelf housed in an MCAM or ISME cabinet.
To locate the cards in an active system, you can first check the DMODEM table:
EXTRKNM TMTYPE TMNO TMCKTNO CARDCODE
------------------------------------
0 MTM 5 0 3X02AA
4 MTM 9 0 3X02AA
Checking columns TMTYPE and TMNO, you can see from this example that there are two NT3X02AA cards installed, one in MTM 5 and one in MTM 9. To find those MTMs, you can check TMINV:
TMNM FRTYPE FRNO SHPOS FLOOR ROW FRPOS LKDATA EQPEC
LOAD EXECS SCTMLOC
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MTM 5 TME 1 51 1 B 0 0 31 2 0 2X58AC
MTMKA02 MTMEX SHELF
MTM 9 TME 2 51 1 B 1 0 31 4 0 2X58AC
MTMKA02 MTMEX SHELF
We find the TM using the TMNM column. Then we check it's location in the FRTYPE, FRNO, SHPOS, FLOOR, ROW, and FRPOS columns. You can see here that MTM 5, for example, is located in the TME 2 frame (FRTYPE, FRNO) at shelf position 51 (SHPOS), which is in turn located on floor 1 (FLOOR), row B (ROW), frame position 1 (FRPOS).
The NT3X68AB is a DTMF Sender card. It allows the attendant console to send DTMF to a distant endpoint for signaling purposes. Normally the attendant console does not use DTMF for dialing purposes, but it may become necessary to use the attendant console for e.g. navigating an IVR.
They are cards in the usual DMS form-factor, generally brown metal faceplate with ejector levers at either end. They are often installed in a DMS MTM shelf, housed in a TME frame. Alternatively, they may be installed in an ISM shelf or MTM shelf housed in an MCAM or ISME cabinet.
To locate the cards in an active system, you can first check the SVRCKT table:
SVCTKEY TMTYPE TMNO TMCKTNO CARDCODE
------------------------------------------------------------
SVDTMF 1 MTM 5 21 3X68AB
Checking columns TMTYPE and TMNO, you can see from this example that there is an NT3X68AB card installed in MTM 0. To find those MTMs, you can check TMINV:
TMNM FRTYPE FRNO SHPOS FLOOR ROW FRPOS LKDATA EQPEC
LOAD EXECS SCTMLOC
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MTM 5 TME 1 51 1 B 0 0 31 2 0 2X58AC
MTMKA02 MTMEX SHELF
We find the TM using the TMNM column. Then we check it's location in the FRTYPE, FRNO, SHPOS, FLOOR, ROW, and FRPOS columns. You can see here that MTM 5, for example, is located in the TME 2 frame (FRTYPE, FRNO) at shelf position 51 (SHPOS), which is in turn located on floor 1 (FLOOR), row B (ROW), frame position 1 (FRPOS).
It is worth noting that I am now in possession of a single attendant console. I am unable to prove that it works since I am still lacking the NT3X02/NT3X03 cards required to make it work on the DMS.
The Attendant Console is a brownish-beige console phone intended to be used with a headset. If you have one of these laying around, it's probably at a reception desk or on a shelf somewhere disused.
The Spectrum Peripheral Modules (SPMs) are used for OC-3 and media gateway functionality in the DMS and CS-2k switches. My SPME is set up with a single media gateway SPM, but it might be fun to set the other SPM up for OC-3.
I need to do some more research on what cards I am missing to do this, but if you have an SPM set up for OC-3, I'm sure we could figure out what parts are required.