Abstract: A two-wire telephone line is supplied with d.c. feed from a drive circuit including two amplifiers via which a transmission signal is supplied to the line. Output potentials of the two amplifiers determine a loop current on the line, which is monitored and used to control a supply voltage for the drive circuit, the amplifier output potentials being offset from the supply potentials by headroom voltages to accommodate the transmission signal. The resulting current limiting voltage control acts iteratively to converge the supply voltage and a target voltage which is inversely dependent on an amount by which the loop current exceeds a predetermined value, the rate of convergence being fast for high loop currents for rapid response and slow for small differences to provide stable operation. The headroom voltages can be increased to nearly the supply voltage to reverse the polarity of the d.c. feed while maintaining current limiting.

Abstract: An automatic protection and recovery method for a telephone line interface circuit is described. The interface circuit monitors current on the line, and in the event of a fault producing an excessive current a protection relay interrupts a connection of the interface circuit to the line, and the interface circuit monitors common mode voltage on the line. The interface circuit is reconnected in response to the monitored voltage being below a relatively high threshold. If a second interruption results, the interface circuit is then reconnected in response to the monitored voltage being below a lower threshold. If a further interruption results, the interface circuit enters a ground fault recovery process. The method facilitates protection and rapid recovery from arbitrary fault conditions on the telephone line.