i

TMF Encoding and Deeoding

I" Thanks to new low-cost DTMF encoders and decoders, the world of DTMF signalling now is
available for use in your next project.
I
1 DALE NASSAR
L
I DTMF (I)LIAI--TONE MULTI-FKEQLIENCY) possible DTMF signals that can be en- one. The designers of the DTMF system
signalling was developed about two dc- coded with the eight frequencies. The four used a great deal of care in selecting the
1
1 c d e s ago by Bell Labs as a faster (by a standard low frequencies are 697. 770, particular frequencies. Other tones that
1 lactor of about lo), more versatile. and 852, and 941 Hz, and are referred to as may appear on the telephone line such as
a more reliable telephone-dialing, scheme row fi-equencies R1, R2, R3, and R4. re- dial tones and power-line nc ise nust not
than the old pulse or rota~y-diallngtectl- spectively. The four standard high fre- . fall in the DTMFfrequency band. Further.
nique. The DTMF method is often re- quencies are 1209, 1336, 1477, and 1633 the standard frequencies must have r ~ o
ferred to as tone dialing or Touc-h-7i)ire Hz, and are referred to as column frequen- harmonic interaction, thus the highest
(note that 7h~cc.h-Toilcis a trademark of cies CI, C 2 , C3. and C4, respectively. stan&ard frequency (1633 Hz) is lower
AT&T) and is ~isedwith push-button tele- Any combination of DTMF tone can be than the third harmonic of the lowest stan-
phones and other equipment. generated using a 4 x 4 keypad switch dard Srequency (697 Hz).
A standard DTMF signal consists of a matrix as shown in Fig. 1 . The DTMF Conventional telephones that use
pait- of audio tones chosen fro111 a group of frequencies and the keypad layout of Fig. DTMF signalling are usually equipped
eight standard frequencies. Those fl-e- 1 are international standards. The frequen- with a standard 3 X 4 keypad matrix for
q~lenciesare divided into two groups: a cies produced by DTMF generators are representing the digits 0-9, anct two spare o
m
symbols, :I: (star or asterisk), and # o
low-tone group of four frequencies and a
high-tonc group of Sour frequencies. A
allowed a i- 1.5%' deviation from the
listed standards. Note that all of those (pound or octothorpe), which can bc used "
valid DTMF signal consists of the ~ 1 1 - tones are well within the telephone sys- for various purposes. That 3 x 4 matrix
gebraic suin of one tone fiom the low tem's voice band. represents all four row frequencies 3
qroup and one tone from the high group. The choice of the standard DTMF fre- (R1-R4), and the three lowest colunin fre- G
w
?here are therefore 16 ( 4 low x 4 high) quencies was by no means an arbitrary quencies (CILC3). Sotnc special-purpose m
 ~'rcquc~ic! LI\CLI. li)r :I IO[:II o ~ ~ c i g h. \[L .I C ~ I - 111:1,lc:In ; ~ I I . ~ : I L I > co~iipI;\ cIr~,ti1(c \ c n
HIGH TONES (Hz)
t~onall!,. c.;~clit o ~ ~(Ic[cc[or
c h;~d to hc I I I O ~ L . \O
C1 c2 C3 C4 tunc.J 17) 2ritic:~lcu~c.~-n;tl tinling ~ O I I I ~ ~ II.~)IIIIII:IIL>~!. - tl~o\ctl;t!,, :ire ; C ) I I L , I;)?-
LOW (1209) i1336) (1477) (1633)
TONES I I I I nents. B ~ L , : I I C;IL.II
I < ~ Il'l'kll-. >iglt~tlrc- ever. \i'~tli[ t ~ cnc\\ iYrJll' I("\ x \ ; I I I : I I > I ~
ru,~ I cci\cd ;~cti\~l[cd [ \ Y O c ! c t ~ ' ~O~LoI [r~ I I I I\ ~ I I L , [ocl:~v,:I ~.onipi~~[c. :IIILI ~~i1re111el\ rcli:~blt
for each frequency received), a logic cir- DTMF-encohing and -decoding system
cuit had to be added to convert those out- can be breadboarded in less than 10 min-
puts into a usable format. The net result utes. Also, the built-in features of those
was a co~nplexcircuit that was time-con- decoding IC's usually include pre-filter-
suming to build and difficult to align. ing, colnplex processing, signal valida-
Also, performance was often unsatisfac- tion, etc., making possible a high degree
tory. True, perfonnance could be im- of efficiency and reliability. In addition,
proved with the addition of pre-filtering at no external tuning components are re-
the inputs of each tone detector. But the quired, keeping the parts count minimal.
active-filter circuitry required for that DTMF IC's are manufactured by Nation-

DTMF row and column frequencies are as

shown.

telephones use the fourth column (C4) to

represent four additional symbols (shown
as A , B, C , and D in Fig. I ) in order to
encode all of the sixteen possible DTMF
signals.
If you have a tone-dial phone you can
listen to a DTMF signal by simply picking
up the telephone handset and pressing one
of the buttons. For example. pressing the
8 key generates a 852-Hz tone (R3) and a
1336-Hz tone (C2) simultaneously. Those
signals are processed and decoded by a
DTMF receiver at the telephone compa-
ny's central office.
The central office contains the switch-
ing equipment that provides local-ex-
change telephone service for a given OUT
GIH
geographical area. That area is designated
by the first three digits of the telephone FIG. 2-INSIDE A OTMF ENCODER. The S2559E DTMF generator IC is shown here in block-diagram
form.
number. After the connection is estab-
lished between the called and the calling
parties, the DTMF receiver (at the central
office) is no longer active and the con-
nected parties are free to use the keypad-
generated signals for station-to-station
(end-to-end) signalling.
Until very recently, the DTMF en-
coders used by the telephone companies
exclusively used large and bulky tran-
sistorized LC-tuned oscillator circuits to
generate the tones. Many such LC circuits
are still in use. Such rugged circuits were
used by the telephone company because
they were extremely dependable. They
were designed to withstand the worst of
operating conditions. For the hobbyist,
limited parts availability nlakes building
that type of circuit almost in~practical.
Fortunately it is also unnecessary, as
DTMF generators are available in IC
form.
Further, until just a few years ago the
experimenter had to settle for a not-so-
reliable 1C decoding (receiving) system.
The decoding circuitry had to be built up
using a number of simple 1C's. For in-
stance, a separate 567 phase-locked-loop
tone-detector IC was required for each keypad and uses simple SPST switches, but it can not be used with all encoder IC's.
al, Silicon Systems, Mostek, Motorola,
AMI, and Teltone.
Although the DTMF system was origi-
nally designed for telephone dialing, it is
extremely useful as the basis for rernote-
control systems. In this article we'll de-
scribe some of the DTMF-encoding and
-decoding 1C's that ai-e comn~ercially
available, and how they can be used in
remote-control applications. After read-
ing this article, you should have no trouble
choosing and sucessfully using the
DTMF IC's that best fit your needs.
DTMF encoding
The hearl of a DTMF encoder is a a
DTMF tone-generator IC. Those 1C's are
extremely easy to use and are very low in
cost. Some DTMF tone generators are
available for less than $2.00 in single
quantities! They generate the desired
DTMF signals by dividing a crystal-gen-
erated reference frequency. The oscillator
is on-board the IC; the crystal is si~nply
connected across two terminals of the IC.
The inost-common crystal frequency is
3.579545 MHz; that's the TV color-burst
frequency, so those crystals are readily
available and low in cost. However, as we
will see shortly, other frequency refer-
ences may be used for special purposes.
A block diagram of a typical tone-en-
coder IC is shown in Fig. 2. The IC illus-
trated there is a Gould AM1 (3800
Homestead Rd., Santa Clara, CA 95051)
S2559E. The desired DTMF signals are
activated by a twelve-key (3 x 4) or six-
teen-key (4 X 4) matrix keypad that is
connected directly to the row- and col-
umn-input pins of the tone-generator IC.
Two major types of keypads are used: One
is the standard telephone pushbutton key-
pad. They are used with IC's that generate
tones whenever the corresponding row
and column pins are pulled high. As
shown in Fig. 3.~1, that keypad consists of
a series of DPST momentary switches
with a common line that sin~ultaneo~isly
pulls the corresponding row and colu~nn
outputs high when pressed. Note that
solne encoders are active low. For those.
the keypad common line is connected to
ground. Then, the appropriate row and
common outputs are grounded when a ltey
is pressed. The other, and simpler, keypad
arrangement is shown in Fig. 3-b. Re-
ferred to as a calculator-type or X-Ykey-
pad, it consists of SPST momentary
switches and can be built easily. However,
it can only be used with tone generators
that use calculator-type scanning circuitry
to detect switch closures. The S2559E
contains such circuitry. Generally, the supply or by a conventional 9-volt battery. Encoder output
data sheet of a particular tone encoder will Because the S2559E is a CMOS device, The output of the encoder consists of o
specify the type of keypad required. power consumption is low. Typically, the two of the eight DTMF frequencies. Fig- $:
A simple DTMF encoder is shown in circuit shown will draw 5 mA during en- ure 5 shows an oscilloscope display of the $
Fig. 4. It mainly consists of a 16-key coding and 7 FA when idle. Since the row-3 signal (852 Hz) and Fig. 6 shows ;
SPST keypad like the one shown in Fig. device is CMOS, be sure to observe all of the column-2 signal (1336 Hz). The n
3-0, and the S2559E tone-encoder IC. the standard precautions when handling DTMF output is produced by adding the
Power can be supplied by a small power the IC. two signals together. The resulting signal, %
 taneously pressing the 4 and 5 keys (in source current to an external load. When a
row 2) wiil result in a 770-Hz outpu~.The key is pressed, the x ~ routput
r goes into a
single-frequency mode is used primarily high-impedance state and the M U T E
for testing. output goes high. Those pins are used in
The S2559E. as well as most other en- telephone applications. For instance. the
coder IC's, have rnute and transmit pins MUTE pin is used to mute the telephone
( M U T E and XMIT). In the S2559E. when receiver during dialing so that the user
no keys are pressed, the MU-repin is low does not hear the DTMF signals at ti111
and the x ~ n output
- is enabled and can volume. The enterprising experimenter
will doubtless find-many other uses for
those handy outputs.
To make the output of the encoder cir-
cuit audible, a speaker or some other
transducer rnust be driven by the output
signal. The S2559E output must be buff-
ered to drive an 8-ohm speaker, but other
quires just a keypad, an encoder IC, a crystal, high-impedance speakers can be driven
and two additional components. by the IC directly. For example, the author
has driven the earpiece from an old tele-
phone headset by adding a 330-ohm re-
sistor in series with the earpiece to prevent
loading the encoder's output as well as to
increase battery life.
We've been discussi~igthe S2559E
thus far, but there are three other members
of that IC family. They are the S2559F, G,
keypad, the encoder generaies the signal
and H. Those four devices have replaced
shown here. It consists of the sum of the row 3 the earlier A , B , C. and D versions and
(Fig. 5) and the column-2 (Fig. 6) signals. feature extended operating voltage (2.5 to

-- -

RG. 5-A ROW 3,852 Hz, DTMF signal.

TIME SEGMENTS
FIG. 8-THE OUTPUT OF THE S2559E is not a pure sinewave. Instead it is a digitally synthesized
waveform. The stairstep-shape of such a waveform is shown here.

which would be generated by pressing the

"8" key, is shown in Fig. 7. Note that the
output of the S2559E is not a pure sine-
wave. Instead the outp~ttis adigitally syn-
thesized approximation, as shown in Fig.
8.
The S2559E also is capable of generat-
ing single-frequency tones. To place the
IC in the single-frequency mode, pin 15.
the mode-select pin (MDSL), is either tied
high or left floating; for DTMF operation,
that pin is grounded. Once in the single- J. A A
frequency mode, a single frequency is -gF-itHlp--
output by pressing rwo keys in the appro- VP Vno V N A
priate row or column. For instance, simul- FIG. 9-INSIDE A DTMF DECODER. The M-957 DTMF decoder IC is shown here in block- diagram form.
 verify that the encoder and decoder are operat-
ing correctly.

coder can be built as easily and as simply as

a 16-digit encoder.
DTMF decoders are often referred to by
manufacturers as DTMF receivers. Those
devices have only recently become com-
monly available at affordable prices. Some
can be purchased for under $15 .OO in single-
unit quantities. Just a few years ago, when
the first 1C encoders became available, those
devices cost about $100, and required exter-
nal filters. The IC's on the market today are
extremely sophisticated signal-processing
devices with switched-capacitor filtering
FIG. 10-USING THE M-957, building a DTMF decoder requires just the IC, a crystal, and a that use digital frequency-detection tech-
capacitor. niques. They can reliably detect DTMF sig-
nals with no need for pre-filtering.
10 volts), improved tone fidelity, and an DTMF decoding The decoder that we'll use in our circuit is
on-chip oscillator bias-resistor. In the DTMF decoding is considerably more the M-957 from Teltone (P.O. Box 657,
S2995F. the MUSL function of pin 15 is complex than DTMF encoding. The most 10801-120th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA
replaced by a chip disable (CD) function involved function of the detector is to deter- 98033). That CMOS device can be powered
that is active high. When that pin is tied mine whether a received signal within the by a DC power supply or batteries. There are
high, the row and column inputs are DTMF frequency band (697-1633 Hz) is a two versions of the M-957: the M-957-01,
placed in a high-impedance state, the tone true DTMF signal or merely noise or which can accept voltages of 5 to 12. and the
output is tied to ground, the oscillator is speech. The detector must also be capable of M-957.-02, which is designed for 5-volt op-
inhibited, the MUTE pin is tied high, and detecting a DTMF signal that is combined eration only.
the X M I T pin is enabled. Essentially, the with such noise. The DTMF detector should A block diagram of the M-957 is shown in
effect is that the IC is electronically dis- recognize any valid DTMF signal that is Fig. 9 . The function of each pin is outlined
connected from the keypad. That allows within t 2% of the standard value. The de- in Table 1. The pre-processing stages of the
one keypad to be shared by several dif- tector's job is made somewhat easier by the M-957 filter out noise and split the received
ferent devices. fact that a DTMF signal must have a mini- DTMF signal into its high and low-frequen-
The S2559G and H are identical to the mum duration of 40 ms, and that each cy-group components, and limit each com-
S2559E and F, respectively, except that DTMF signal must be separated from others ponent to provide automatic gain control.
the output transistor has been replaced by by at least 35 ms. The individual tones are then detected. The
a Darlington pair. In some applications Somewhat surprisingly, most of the cir- decoded output of the M-957-01 is a 4-bit
that eliminates the need for an external cuitry required to decode DTMF signals is binary code appearing at the D@D3 out-
transistor amplifier stage in the telephone now available in IC form. Therefore, despite put. The output code format can be se-
-ircuit. its greater complexity, an entire 16-digit de- lected via pin 2, HEX. When that pin is
 high (logic I), the output format is 4-bit for remote reset. That is done by eliminat-
hexadecimal; when the pin is low (logic ing the switch and the 2.2K resistor (RI)
0),the output format is binary-coded 2- and tying one of the mornentary outpi~tsof
of8. the 74C154 to the c ~ u pin, of the 74C73.
For example, if pin 17 of the 74C154 is
Putting it together connected to pin 2 of the 74C73, the latch
It takes very little in the way of external will be reset anytime a DTMF C is re-
circuitry to put the M-957 to work. ceived. If no reset function is desired, (he
Adding just a single capacitor and a crys- CLI< pin must be tied high.
tal as shown in Fig. 10 yields a functional Up to sixteen devices may be indepen-
DTMF receiveridecoder. dently controlled by the outputs of the
Now that we have an encoder and a circuit in Fig. 12. If the controlled device
decoder, the next step is to verify that both is digital and if it is voltage-compatible
work as intended. The easiest way to do with the decoder output, direct connec-
that is to wire the output of the encoder tion to that device is possible. If heavy
(Fig. 4) to the input of the decoder. If you driving currents are required, that current
are using separate sources (batteries or multiplexer, it provides I6 separate output can be supplied by transistor switches lo-
DC power supplies) to power the circuits. lines. Each of the 16 DTMF signals will cated at the decoder outputs. If the volt-
be sure to tie their grounds together. enable only one of the circuit's normally ages are not directly c o m p a t i b l e ,
To monitor the output states of the en- high outputs. For instance, if a DTMF 9 is matching can be done using optocouplers
coder during testing you can build a sim- received, only the sooutput, pin 10 of ICI, or power-driver IC's. Also solid-state re-
ple monitor circuit like the one shown in will go low. That output will remain low as lays may be t~sedto interface the digital
Fig. I I. That circuit uses % of a 4049 hex long as a valid DTMF 9 is being received signals with high-voltage, high-current
inverter as a buffer to drive five indicating by the circuit. loads. such as 117-volt AC household ap-
LED'S. Those five LED'S show the states Another useful enhancement would be pliances, or even industrial devices with
of the four data outputs as well as state of to add some type of latched output. That larger power requirements.
the STROBE output. Table 2 shows the cor- means that once the appropriate DTMF
respondence between the DTMF signal signal is received, the output would re- Going farther
received and the state of the data outputs. main either high or low until the next time If a wireless data link is desired. any
The strobe output should be high, as indi- the same DTMF signal is received. Such simple, single-channel radio or infrared
cated by a lighted LED, any time that a operation approximates the onioff action communications link may be used. For
valid DTMF signal is received and de- of a toggle or pushbutton switch. example, a toy walkie-talkie set or a low-
coded by the circuit. A circuit for adding latched outputs is cost FM wireless-microphoneiFM radio
Once you are sure that the decoder is shown in Fig. 13. It is built around half of system may be used.
operational it is time to think about adding a 74C73 dual flip-flop that is configured to Many DTMF tone generators can be
to its usefulness and versatility. For one act as an edge-triggered binary divider driven by logic-level signals. That allows
thing, the outputs could be further de- (divide-by-2). When the circuit is used as direct control of DTMF signalling by a
coded to provide a I-of-16 output. A cir- shown, no external debounce circuitry is microprocessor or ROM circuit. The
cuit for doing that is shown in Fig. 12. required. The input is shown as a DTMF S2559E requires active high logic-levels
D, but it could be any of the DTMF sig- at all of its row and column inputs. That
nals. Two complementary latched outputs means that an 8-bit signal or some type of
are available. Use whichever output is ap- external driving circuitry is required for
propriate for your application. Tie all of digital control of the IC. Other DTMF
the IC's unused inputs (ICI-b) to ground devices are better suited to digital control.
to prevent oscillation and unnecessary One such device is AMI's S2579 DTMF
current drain. tone generator with binary input. That
Switch S1 is used to clear both outputs device is designed so that a 4-bit digital
to zero. That switch is not needed for all signal can be used to encode all 16 DTMF
applications and can be eliminated if de- signals.
sired. Conversely, the circuit can be set up The DTMF IC's will function with
crystal frequencies other than those spec-
ified for DTMF operation. However, the
frequencies that will be generated or de-
coded will differ from the standard DTMF
ones. If a higher crystal frequency is used,
all tones will be correspondingly higher in
frequency: if a lower crystal frequency is
used, all tones will be lower in frequency.
,That effect can be useful for applications
such as when a private con~munications
code is desired.
In this article we've presented some of
the basics of DTMF communications.
We've also presented some possible ap-
plications of that technology. For the en-
terprising experimenter there are count-
less more. Now that the cost of the
required encoding and decoding IC's is so
E! decoded using this circuit. With it, each DTMF
low, the only limit to their use is your own
code can be used to address one of the 16 out-
II: puts. using this circuit. imagination. R-E