Phantom circuit

In telecommunication, a phantom circuit is a third circuit derived from two suitably arranged pairs of wires, called side circuits, with each pair of wires being a circuit in itself and at the same time acting as one conductor of the third circuit.

Note: The side circuits are coupled to their respective drops by center-tapped transformers, usually called "repeat coils." The center taps are on the line side of the side circuits. Current from the phantom circuit is split evenly by the center taps. This cancels crosstalk from the phantom circuit to the side circuits.

Source: from Federal Standard 1037C and from MIL-STD-188

See also: Phantom loop