Assignment # 1 Group 2

SUBNETWORK CONNECTION PROTECTION (SNCP)

In a Sub-Network Connection Protection (SNCP) ring, identical copies of the traffic are transmitted simultaneously over both the working line and the protection line, one in a clockwise direction, and the other in a counterclockwise direction. The better signal is always selected by the receiver to be the working line. If there is an interruption between network elements A and B, the receiver switches to the protection path and immediately takes up the connection. This is the same as 1+1 protection. Thus, the K1-K2 protocol is not needed, and the switchover is very fast because it is done locally only. Only one of the two rings is used in case of a failure--this is also an example of unidirectional switching.

Figure 1.SNCP over ring topology.

Virtual Ring Interconnection

The main difference with SNCP is that each direction of the connection uses two different paths (1+1) following opposite direction and using different gateways.

Drop and Continue (D&C)

In drop and continue an inter-ring connection is bridged in the gateway node on the source ring and continues along the ring to leave the ring also through another interconnection gateway, whereas a gateway node on the destination ring selects the best of both copies. D&C could be used to connect SNCP rings, MS-SP rings or to connect SNCP and MS-SP rings.

Figure 2. Drop and Continue (SNCP rings).

Figure 3. D&C SNCP and MS-SP rings connection.

MSP vs SNCP
The MSP ring is more complex to handle than the sub network connection protection (SNCP) ring, but it also has more flexible capacity, and the advantages of MSP make it very efficient in terms of the use of network infrastructure. This is especially true if there is a lot of traffic between adjacent nodes on the ring. Unlike an SNCP ring, to perform proper protection switching in the case of failure on an MSSP ring, coordination is required between the add/drop multiplexers (ADMs) so that the switchover to the protection path is harmonious at both ends. The most important advantage of the MSP ring is that bandwidth can be reused on non-overlapping segments of the ring.

Another major advantage of this technology is that low priority traffic can be transported on the unused protection channels, whereas this feature is impossible in the SNCP technology. This lower order traffic is discarded in cases where the protection channel is needed. Sub-Network Connection Protection (SNCP) is a per path protection. Is a mechanism for SDH networks providing path protection (end-to-end protection). The data signal is transmitted in a ring structure via two different paths and can be implemented in line or ring structures. A protection protocol is not required. SNCP is a 1+1 protection scheme (one working and one protection transport entity). Input traffic is broadcasted in two routes (one being the normal working route and the second one being the protection route). The advantage of the SNCP architecture is the simplicity of operation. No extra signaling protocol is needed to perform protection switching in case of failure. The protection switching mechanism is working autonomously in each node, always selecting the signal with the better quality. In the case of a failure, SNCP provides fast switchover, independent of the rest of the network. The main disadvantage of this system is that the bandwidth needed for the protection traffic cannot be used for anything else, and therefore increases the costs of the network infrastructure.

ITU-T Recommendations
All The definitions of protections architecture are defined on the ITU-T recommendation G.841 with the name Types and characteristics of SDH network protection architectures.