Cold Cathode Gas Tubes for Telephone Switching Systems

Cold cathode gas tubes perform both switching and memory functions in telephone switching systems. One measure of the performance of a switching diode is the switching voltage gain, defined in terms of the characteristics of the device. Some of this gain must be sacrificed in order to increase the switching speed in a way which is analogous to the gain-bandwidth property of a conventional amplifier. In this paper, methods of achieving a high switching-voltage gain are described in terms of the gas discharge processes. An example is given of an application of these principles to a tube for use as a switch in series with the talking path in an electronic telephone switching system.