SYNCHRONOUS

DIGITAL HIERARCHY
OVERVIEW

Outline

Background (analog telephony, TDM, PDH)

SONET/SDH history and motivation
Architecture (path, line, section)
Rates and frame structure
Payloads and mappings
Protection and rings
VCAT and LCAS
Handling packet data

Background

The Present PSTN

tandem switch
last mile
subscriber line
class 5 switch

PSTN Network
class 5 switch

Analog voltages and copper wire used only in last mile,

Time Division Multiplexing of digital signals in the
network

Extensive use of fiber optic and wireless physical links T1/E1,

PDH and SONET/SDH synchronous protocols

Signaling can be channel/trunk associated or via separate network

(SS7)
4

TDM Timing

Time Domain Multiplexing relies on all channels

(timeslots) having precisely the same timing

(frequency and phase)

In order to enforce this, the TDM device itself
frequently performs the digitization
digital
signals
analog
signals
5

If The Inputs Are Already Digital

If the TDM switch does not digitize the analog signals

then there can be a problem
the clocks used to digitize do not have identical
frequencies

we get byte slips!

(well, actually, we can get bit slips first )

exaggerated pictorial example

Numerical example:
clock derived from 8000 Hz. quartz crystal
typical crystal accuracy = 50 ppm
So 2 crystals can differ by 100 ppm
i.e. 0.8 samples / second
So difference is 1 sample after 1 seconds

component
signals

TDM
6

The Fix

We must ensure that all the clocks have the same frequency
Every telephony network has an accurate clock called a
stratum 1, or Primary Reference Clock
All other clocks are directly or indirectly locked to it (master
slave)
A TDM receiving device can lock onto the source clock based
on the incoming data (FLL, PLL)
For this to work, we must ensure that the data has enough
transitions

(special line coding, scrambling bits, etc.)

1
0
transitions

no transitions

Comparing Clocks

A clock is said to be isochronous (isos=equal, chronos=time)

if its ticks are equally spaced in time

2 clocks are said to be synchronous (syn=same chronos=time)

if they tick in time, i.e. have precisely the same frequency

2 clocks are said to be plesiochronous (plesio=near chronos=time)

if they are nominally with the same frequency
but are not locked

PDH principle

If we want yet higher rates, we can mux together TDM

signals (tributaries)

We could demux the TDM timeslots and directly remux

them

but that is too complex

The TDM inputs are already digital, so we must

insist that the mux provide clock to all tributaries

(not always possible, may already be locked to a network)

somehow transport tributary with its own clock across a higher

speed network with a different clock (without spoiling remote clock
recovery)
9

4:1 Multiplexer

10

1:4 Demultiplexer

11

PDH Justification
In addition to FAS, PDH overhead includes
justification control (C-bits) and justification opportunity stuffing (S-bits)
Assume the tributary bitrate is B T
Positive justification
payload is expected at highest bitrate B+T
if the tributary rate is actually at the maximum bitrate
then all payload and S bits are filled
if the tributary rate is lower than the maximum
then sometimes there are not enough incoming bits
so the s-bits are not filled and C-bits indicate this
Negative justification
payload is expected at lowest bitrate B-T
if the tributary rate is actually the minimum bitrate
then payload space suffices
if the tributary rate is higher than the minimum
then sometimes there are not enough positions to accommodate
so S-bits in the overhead are used and the C-bits indicate this
Positive/Negative justification
payload is expected at nominal bitrate B
positive or negative justification is applied as required

12

PDH Hierarchies
level

64 kbps
*

E1 2.048 Mbps
*

2
3

E3

E4 139.264 Mbps
CEPT

24

T1 1.544 Mbps
*

T2 6.312 Mbps

34.368 Mbps
*

E2 8.448 Mbps
*

30

T3

44.736 Mbps
*

T4 274.176 Mbps
N.A.

24
J1 1.544 Mbps
*

J2 6.312 Mbps
*

J3 32.064 Mbps
*

J4 97.728 Mbps
Japan

13

PDH Multiplex / Demultiplex

2048 kbit/s (+/-50ppm)
1

64 kbit/s
Data Signals

30

8448 kbit/s (+/-30ppm)

1

DSMX
64k/2

34 368 kbit/s (+/-20ppm)

1

0.3 to 3.1 kHz

AF signals

139264 kbit/s (+/-15ppm)

30

PCMX 30
15 kHz
Sound Program
Signals

1
5

PCMX 30
64
4

DSMX
2/8

DSMX
34/140

DSMX
8/34
Channel Capacity:
64 x 30 = 1920

14

2 Mbit/s Frame Structures

2.048 kbit/s frame: 32x8 bit=256 bit in 125s
signalling
information
encoded voice / data signals
0

4 5

encoded voice / data signals

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 6 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

time
slots

15

2 Mbit/s Frame Structures

2.448 kbit/s frame: 32x8 bit=256 bit in 125s
signalling
information
encoded voice / data signals
0

1 2

7 8

Si

Si
(M)

A Sa Sa Sa Sa Sa
4
5 6 7 8

encoded voice / data signals

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

time
slots

FAS
(frames 0,2,4...)
NFAS
(frames 1,3,5...)

Si: Reserved for international use

Sa4: Non urgent Alarm (0=Alarm)
A: Remote alarm (1=urgent Alarm)

Sa4 to Sa8: Spare bits or used for message based

data links (point-to-point applications)
FAS: Frame alignment signal (0011011)
NFAS: Non frame alignment signal

16

2 Mbit/s Frame Structures

2.048 kbit/s frame: 32x8 bit=256 bit in 125s
signalling
information
encoded voice / data signals
0

1 2

Si

Si
(M)

4 5

A Sa Sa Sa Sa Sa
4 5
6 7 8

encoded voice / data signals

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

FAS
(frames 0,2,4...)

NFAS
(frames 1,3,5...)

MFAS
b

frame 0

frames 1... 15 & 17...31

time
slots

NMFAS
c

signalling
subscr. n

signalling
subscr. n+15

Si: Reserved for international use

Sa4: Non urgent Alarm (0=Alarm)
A: Remote alarm (1=urgent Alarm)
Y: Remote MF alarm (1=Alarm)
E: CRC error indication (0=Error)
Sa4 to Sa8: Spare bits or used for message based
data links (point-to-point applications)
FAS: Frame alignment signal (0011011)
NFAS: Not frame alignment signal
17

2 Mbit/s Frame Structures

2.048 kbit/s Multiframe, ITU-T G.704

multiframe

fr 15

fr 0

fr 1

fr 2

fr 3

fr 4

fr 5

fr 6

fr 7

fr 8

fr 9

fr 10

sub multiframe 1

2.048

1 2

Si

Si
(M)

FAS
(frames 0,2,4...)

NFAS
(frames 1,3,5...)

Sa Sa Sa Sa Sa
4 5 6 7 8

fr 12

fr 13

fr 14

fr 15

sub multiframe 2

kbit/s frame: 32x8 bit=256 bit in 125s signalling

information
encoded voice / data signals

fr 11

encoded voice / data signals

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

MFAS
b

frame 0

frames 1... 15 & 17...31

time
slots

NMFAS
c

signalling
subscr. n

signalling
subscr. n+15

Si: Reserved for international use

Sa4: Non urgent Alarm (0=Alarm)
A: Remote alarm (1=urgent Alarm)
Y: Remote MF alarm (1=Alarm)
Sa4 to Sa8: Spare bits or used for message based
data links (point-to-point applications)
FAS: Frame alignment signal (0011011)
NFAS: Not frame alignment signal
18

2 Mbit/s Frame Structures

2.048 kbit/s Multiframe, ITU-T G.704

multiframe

fr 15

fr 0

fr 1

fr 2

fr 3

fr 4

fr 5

fr 6

fr 7

fr 8

fr 9

fr 10

sub multiframe 1

fr 11

fr 12

fr 13

fr 14

fr 15

sub multiframe 2

2.048 kbit/s frame: 32x8 bit=256 bit in 125s signalling

information
encoded voice / data signals
0

1 2

Si

sub multiframe 2 sub multiframe 1

Si
(M)

FAS
(frames 0,2,4...)

NFAS
(frames 1,3,5...)

Sa Sa Sa Sa Sa
4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Time slot 0 of CRC multiframe:

0

FAS

encoded voice / data signals

C1

FAS

C4

NFAS

FAS

1
C1

1
0

A
0

Sa Sa Sa Sa Sa
1
1 0 1 1

NFAS

Sa Sa Sa Sa Sa

14

FAS

C4

15

NFAS

E2 1

Sa Sa Sa a Sa

256 X 8 bit = 2048 bit

1

256 X 8 bit = 2048 bit

frame 0

frames 1... 15 & 17...31

NMFAS
c

signalling
subscr. n

NFAS

MFAS

Sa Sa Sa Sa Sa

time
slots

signalling
subscr. n+15

Si: Reserved for international use

Sa4: Non urgent Alarm (0=Alarm)
A: Remote alarm (1=urgent Alarm)
Y: Remote MF alarm (1=Alarm)
E: CRC error indication (0=Error)
M: Transmitting CRC multiframe alignment signal
( CRC MFAS: 001011 )
Sa4 to Sa8: Spare bits or used for message based
data links (point-to-point applications)
FAS: Frame alignment signal (0011011)
NFAS: Not frame alignment signal
19

Plesiochronous Hierarchies Frame Structures

8.448 kbit/s; frame length 848 bit; 100.4 us; ITU-T G.742
10 2

200

208

1a 2a 3a 4a

1 1

1 0 1 0

0 0

208

4 4

1b 2b 3b 4b

204

1c 2c 3c 4c s1 s2 s3 s4

0 A N

A: Alarm Bit
N: National Spare Bit
1a: Stuffing Control Bit
S: Stuffing Bit

34.368 kbit/s; frame length 1536 bit; 44.7 us; ITU-T G.751
10 2

372

380

1a 2a 3a 4a

1 1 1 1

0 1

0 0

380

1b 2b 3b 4b

376

1c 2c 3c 4c s1 s2 s3 s4

0 A N

20

Plesiochronous Hierarchies Frame Structures

139.264 kbit/s; frame length 2928 bit; 21 us; ITU-T G.751
12 4

472

484

1a 2a 3a 4a

484

1b 2b 3b 4b

1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 A N N N

484

1c 2c 3c 4c

484

1d 2d 3d 4d

4 4

480

1e 2e 3e 4e s1 s2 s3 s4

A: Alarm Bit
N: National Spare Bit
1a,b,c,d: Stuffing Control Bit
S: Stuffing Bit

21

Framing and Overhead

In addition to locking on to bit-rate, we need to recognize

the frame structure

We identify frames by adding Frame Alignment Signal

The FAS is part of the frame overhead (which also includes

"C-bits", OAM, etc.)

Each layer in PDH hierarchy adds its own overhead

For example

E1 2 overhead bytes per 32 bytes overhead 6.25 %

E2 4 E1s = 8.192 Mbps out of 8.448Mbps

so there is an additional 0.256 Mbps = 3 %

altogether 4*30*64 kbps = 7.680 Mbps out of 8.448 Mbps or 9.09% overhead

22

PDH overhead
digital
signal

data rate

voice

(Mbps)

channels

overhead
percentage

T1

1.544

24

0.52 %

T2

6.312

96

2.66 %

T3

44.736

672

3.86 %

T4

274.176

4032

5.88 %

E1

2.048

30

6.25 %

E2

8.448

120

9.09 %

E3

34.368

480

10.61 %

E4

139.264

1920

11.76 %

Overhead always increases with data rate !

23

OAM

Analog channels and 64 kbps digital channels

Do not have mechanisms to check signal validity and quality

major faults could go undetected for long periods of time

hard to characterize and localize faults when reported
minor defects might be unnoticed indefinitely

Solution is to add mechanisms based on overhead

As PDH networks evolved, more and more overhead
was dedicated to
Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM)
functions
including:

monitoring for valid signal

defect reporting
alarm indication/inhibition (AIS)
24

PDH Systems Worldwide

USA

Japan
5.

Europe

397200 kbit/s

564992 kbit/s

x4

4.

x4

97728 kbit/s

274176 kbit/s

139264 kbit/s
x3

x3

3.

32064 kbit/s

44736 kbit/s

x5

2. order

34368 kbit/s
x4

x7

8448 kbit/s

6312 kbit/s
x3

x4

primary rate

x4

x6

x4

2048 kbit/s

1544 kbit/s

x 24

x 30/31

64 kbit/s
25

PDH ITU Standards

26

Signals PDH Maintenance

LOS
LOF
AIS

PDH
Equipment

AIS

D-Bit

BER 10-3
BER 10-6

PDH
Equipment

AIS

D-Bit
N-Bit

27

Plesiochronous Drop & Insert

140 Mbit/s

140 Mbit/s

main
OLTU

OLTU

OLTU

OLTU

34 - 140

34 - 140

34 - 140

34 - 140

8 - 34

8 - 34

8 - 34

8 - 34

2-8

2-8

2-8

2-8

stand-by

1,2 ................. 64

Line Terminating
Unit

1,2 ................. 64

Drop & Insert Station

28

Line Terminating
Unit

PDH limitations

Rate limitations

Copper interfaces defined

Need to mux/demux hierarchy of levels (hard to pull out a single
timeslot)
Overhead percentage increases with rate

At least three different systems (Europe, NA, Japan)

E 2.048, 8.448, 34.348, 139.264

T 1.544, 3.152, 6.312, 44.736, 91.053, 274.176
J 1.544, 3.152, 6.312, 32.064, 97.728, 397.2

So a completely new mechanism was needed

29

SONET/SDH Motivation and

History

30

Idea Behind SONET

Synchronous Optical NETwork
Designed for optical transport (high bitrate)
Direct mapping of lower levels into higher ones
Carry all PDH types in one universal hierarchy
ITU version = Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
different terminology but interoperable
Overhead doesnt increase with rate
OAM designed-in from beginning

31

Standardization !

The original Bellcore proposal:

Many other proposals were merged into 1987 draft document (rate
49.920)
In summer of 1986 CCITT express interest in cooperation

needed a rate of about 150 Mbps to carry E4

wanted byte oriented mux

Initial compromise attempt

hierarchy of signals, all multiple of basic rate (50.688)

basic rate about 50 Mbps to carry DS3 payload
bit-oriented mux
mechanisms to carry DS1, DS2, DS3

byte mux
US wanted 13 rows * 180 columns
CEPT wanted 9 rows * 270 columns

Compromise!

US would use basic rate of 51.84 Mbps, 9 rows * 90 columns

CEPT would use three times that rate - 155.52 Mbps, 9 rows * 270 columns
32

SDH and SONET - International

Standards
ATM: 149.760 kbit/s
xN
STM-N
STS-3N

x1
AUG

AU-4

VC-4

STS-3C

STS-3C
SPE

C-4

E4: 139.264 kbit/s

x3

x3
x1
STM-0
STS-1

AU-3

VC-3

STS-1

STS-1
SPE

TU-3

x1

TUG-2
VT
group

ITU-T G.707

x3
x4

SONET

BELLCORE GR.253
ANSI T1.105

ATM: 48,384 kbit/s

VC-3

x7

x7

SDH

x1

TUG-3

TU-2

VC-2

VT-6

VT-SPE

TU-12

VC-12

VT-2

VT-SPE

TU-11

VC-11

VT-1.5

VT-SPE

C-3

DS3: 44.736 kbit/s

E3 : 34.368 kbit/s

C-2

DS2: 6.312 kbit/s

C-12

E1: 2.048 kbit/s

C-11

DS1: 1.544 kbit/s

33

Rates and Frame Structure

34

SONET / SDH Frames

Framing

Synchronous Transfer Signals are bit-signals (OC are optical)

Like all TDM signals, there are framing bits at the beginning of the frame
However, it is convenient to draw SONET/SDH signals as rectangles

35

SONET STS-1 frame

90 columns

9 rows

Framing

Each STS-1 frame is 90 columns * 9 rows = 810 bytes

There are 8000 STS-1 frames per second
so each byte represents 64 kbps (each column is 576 kbps)
Thus the basic STS-1 rate is 51.840 Mbps
36

SDH STM-1 frame

9 rows

270 columns

Synchronous Transport Modules are the bit-signals for SDH

Each STM-1 frame is 270 columns * 9 rows = 2430 bytes
There are 8000 STM-1 frames per second
Thus the basic STM-1 rate is 155.520 Mbps
3 times the STS-1 rate!

37

Higher SDH Bitrates

STM-1 #1

11111

STM-1 #2

22222

STM-1 #3

33333

STM-1 #4

STM-4
12341234123412 . . . .

44444
B1
B2
SOH termination

B1
B2
New SOH

The STM-4/16/64 bit rate is obtained as integer multiples of the

STM-1 tributary bit rate.
Clock offset at the tributary side is taken into consideration by
pointer adaptation on the STM-n output signal.
38

STS, OC, etc.

A SONET signal is called a Synchronous Transport Signal
The basic STS is STS-1, all others are multiples of it - STS-N
The (optical) physical layer signal corresponding to an STS-N is an OC-N

SONET

Optical

rate

STS-1

OC-1

51.84M

STS-3

OC-3

155.52M

*3

STS-12

OC-12

622.080M

*4

STS-48

OC-48

2488.32M

*4

STS-192

OC-192

9953.28M

*4
39

SONET/SDH Rates
SONET

SDH

STS-1

columns

rate

90

51.84M

STS-3

STM-1

270

155.52M

STS-12

STM-4

1080

622.080M

STS-48

STM-16

4320

2488.32M

STS-192

STM-64

17280

9953.28M

STS-N has 90N columns STM-M corresponds to STS-N with N = 3M

SDH rates increase by factors of 4 each time
STS/STM signals can carry PDH tributaries, for example:
STS-1 can carry 1 T3 or 28 T1s or 1 E3 or 21 E1s
STM-1 can carry 3 E3s or 63 E1s or 3 T3s or 84 T1s
40

SONET/SDH tributaries
SONET

SDH

STS-1

T1

T3

E1

E3

28

21

E4

STS-3

STM-1

84

63

STS-12

STM-4

336

12

252

12

STS-48

STM-16

1344

48

1008

48

16

STS-192

STM-64

5376

192

4032

192 64

E3 and T3 are carried as Higher Order Paths HOPs)

E1 and T1 are carried as Lower Order Paths (LOPs)
(the numbers are for direct mapping)
41

Frame Structure

42

STS-1 frame structure

9 rows

6 rows

3 rows

90 columns

Transport
Overhead
TOH

Synchronous Payload Envelope

Section overhead is 3 rows * 3 columns = 9 bytes = 576 kbps

framing, performance monitoring, management
Line overhead is 6 rows * 3 columns = 18 bytes = 1152 kbps
protection switching, line maintenance, mux/concat, SPE pointer
SPE is 9 rows * 87 columns = 783 bytes = 50.112 Mbps
Similarly, STM-1 has 9 (different) columns of section+line overhead !

43

STS-1 Overhead
section
overhead

line
overhead

A1

A2

J0

The STS-1 overhead consists of

B1

E1

F1

D1

D2

D3

H1

H2

H3

B2

K1

K2

D4

D5

D6

D7

D8

D9

D10 D11 D12

S1

M0

E2

3 rows of section overhead

frame sync (A1, A2)
section trace (J0)
error control (B1)
section orderwire (E1)
Embedded Operations Channel (Di)
6 rows of line overhead
pointer and pointer action (Hi)
error control (B2)
Automatic Protection Switching signaling (Ki)
Data Channel (Di)
Synchronization Status Message (S1)
Far End Block Error (M0)
line orderwire (E2)
44

STM-1 Frame Structure

270 Columns (Bytes)
270

transmit
row by row

RSOH
3
4

AU Pointer

Payload
(transport capacity)

MSOH
9

RSOH: Regenerator section overhead

MSOH: Multiplex section overhead
Payload: Area for information transport
Transport capacity of one Byte: 64 kbit/s
Frame capacity: 270 x 9 x 8 x 8000 = 155.520 Mbit/s
Frame repetition time: 125 s
45

STM-1 Frame Structure

270 Columns (Bytes)

1
3
4

270

RSOH

AU-4

AU Pointer
VC-4
MSOH

VC-4 POH

C-4

46

STM-1 frame structure

270 columns
RSOH

MSOH

Section
Overhead
SOH

STM-1 has 9 (different) columns of transport overhead !

RS overhead is 3 rows * 9 columns
Pointer overhead is 1 row * 9 columns
MS overhead is 5 rows * 9 columns
SPE is 9 rows * 261 columns

47

Even Higher Rates

9*N
columns

9 rows

270*N columns

3 STS-1s can form an STS-3

4 STM-1s (STS-3s) can form an STM-4 (STS-12)
4 STM-4s (STS-12s) can form an STM-16 (STS-48)
etc. for STM-N (STS-3N)
The procedure is byte-interleaving

48

Byte-interleaving

...

49

Byte Interleaving
Each frame sent in
125 us

50

STM-1 Overhead
RSOH

A1

A1

A1

A2

A2

B1

E1

D1

D2

A2

J0

res

res

F1

res

res

D3

m
media
dependent
(defined for
SONET radio)

AU pointers
B2

MSOH

B2

B2

K1

K2

D4

D5

D6

D7

D8

D9

D10

D11

D12

S1

M1

SOH

res
reserved for
national use

E2

51

A1, A2, J0 (Section Overhead)

A1, A2 - framing bytes
A1 = 11110110
A2 = 00101000
SONET/SDH framing always uses equal numbers of A1 and A2 bytes

J0 - regenerator section trace (in early SONET - a counter called C1)

enables receiver to be sure that the section connection is still OK
enables identifying individual STS/STMs after muxing
J0 goes through a 16 byte sequence
MSBs are J0 framing (100000)
Cs are CRC-7 of previous frame
S are 15 7-bit characters
section access point identifier

C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7

52

B1, E1, F1, D1-3 (Section Overhead)

B1 Byte Interleaved Parity-8 byte
even parity of bits of bytes of previous frame after scrambling
only 1 BIT-8 for multiplexed STS/STM
E1 section orderwire
64 kbps voice link for technicians
from regenerator to regenerator
F1 64 kbps link for user purposes
D1 + D2 + D3 192 kbps messaging channel
used by section termination as Embedded Operations Channel (SONET)
or Data Communications Channel (SDH)
53

Pointers (Line Overhead)

In SONET, pointers are considered part of line overhead
For STS-1, H1+H2 is the pointer, H3 is the pointer action
H1+H2 indicates the offset (in bytes) from H3 to the SPE
(i.e. if 0 then J1 POH byte is immediately after H3 in the row)

4 MSBs are New Data Flag, 10 LSBs are actual offset value (0 782)
When offset=522 the STS-1 SPE is in a single STS-1 frame
In all other cases the SPE straddles two frames
When offset is a multiple of 87, the SPE is rectangular

To compensate for clock differences

we have pointer justification
When negative justification
H3 carries the extra data
When positive justification
byte after H3 is stuffing byte

54

SONET Justification
If tributary rate is above nominal, negative justification is needed
When less than 8 more bits than expected in buffer
NDF is 0110
offset unchanged
When 8 extra bits accumulate
NDF is set to 1001
H1 H2 extra
extra byte placed into H3
offset is decremented by 1 (byte)

If tributary rate is below nominal, positive justification is needed

When less than 8 fewer than expected bits in buffer
NDF is 0110
offset unchanged
When 8 missing bits
NDF is set to 1001
H1 H2 H3 stuff
byte after H3 is stuffing
offset is incremented by 1 (byte)

55

B2, K1, K2, D4-D12 (Line Overhead)

B2 BIP-8 of line overhead + previous envelope (w/o

scrambling)

N B2s for muxed STM-N

K1 and K2 are used for Automatic Protection Switching (see

later)
D4 D12 are a 576 Kbps Data Communications Channel

Between multiplexers
Usually manufacturer specific OAM functions

56

S1, M0, E2 (Line Overhead)

S1 Synchronization Status Message
indicates stratum level (unknown, stratum 1, , do not use)
M0 Far End Block Error
indicates number of BIP violations detected
E2 line orderwire
64 kbps voice link for technicians
from line mux to line mux

57

Payloads and Mappings

58

STS-1 HOP SPE Structure

We saw that the pointer the line overhead points to the STS path overhead POH
(after re-arranging) POH is one column of 9 rows (9 bytes = 576 kbps)
59

STS-1 HOP
1

30

59

87

1 column of SPE is POH

2 more (fixed stuffing) columns are reserved
We are left with
84 columns = 756 bytes = 48.384 Mbps for payload
This is enough for a E3 (34.368M) or a T3 (44.736M)
60

STS-1 Path overhead

J1
B3
C2
G1
F2
H4
F3
K3
N1

1 column of overhead for path (576 Kbps)

POH is responsible for
path type identification
path performance monitoring
status (including of mapped payloads)
virtual concatenation
path protection
trace

POH

61

J1, B3, C2 (Path Overhead)

J1 path trace
enables receiver to be sure
that the path connection is still OK
B3 BIP-8 even bit parity of bytes

C2
(hex)

Payload type

00

unequipped

01

nonspecific

02

LOP (TUG)

04

E3/T3

12

E4

13

ATM

16

PoS RFC 1662

18

LAPS X.85

1A

10G Ethernet

1B

GFP

CF

PoS - RFC1619

(without scrambling)

of previous payload
C2 path signal label
identifies the payload type
(examples in table)

62

G1, F2, H4, F3, K3, N1 (Path Overhead)

G1 path status
conveys status and performance back to originator
4 MSBs are path FEBE, 1 bit RDI, 3 unused
F2 and F3 user specific communications
H4 used for LOP multiframe sync and VCAT (see later)
K3 (4 MSBs) path APS
N1 Tandem Connection Monitoring
Messaging channel for tandem connections

63

LOP
7 VTGs
1

30

87

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

To carry lower rate payloads, divide the 84 available columns into 7 * 12

interleaved columns, i.e. 7 Virtual Tributary (VT) Groups

59

VT group is 12 columns of 9 rows, i.e. 108 bytes or 6.912 Mbps

VT group is composed of VT(s)

there are different types of VT in order to carry different types of payload

all VTs in VT group must be of the same type (no mixing)

but different VT groups in same SPE can have different VT types

A VT can have 3, 4, 6 or 12 columns

64

SONET/SDH : VT/VC types

VT/STS

LOP

HOP

VC

column
rate

payload

VT 1.5

VC-11

1.728 DS1 (1.544)

4 per group

VT 2

VC-12

2.304 E1

(2.048)

3 per group

3.456 DS1C (3.152)

2 per group

6.912 DS2

1 per group

VT 3
VT 6

VC-2

12

STS-1

VC-3

48.384 E3

STS-1

VC-3

48.384 DS3 (44.736)

STS-3c

VC-4

149.760 E4 (139.264)

(6.312)
(34.368)

standard PDH rates map efficiently into SONET/SDH !

65

LO Path Overhead
LOP OH is responsible for timing, PM, REI,
LO Path APS signaling is 4 MSBs of byte K4

H4=XXXXXX00

V1 pointer
125 msec

H4=XXXXXX01

V5
VC11 25B
VC12 34B

V2 pointer

J2

500 msec
H4=XXXXXX10

H4=XXXXXX11

V3 pointer

V4 pointer

N2

VC11 27B
VC12 36B

K4
66

Payload Capacity
VT1.5/VC-11 has 3 columns = 27 bytes = 1.728 Mbps
but 2 bytes are used for overhead (V1/V2/V3/V4 and V5/J2/N2/K4)
so actually only 25 bytes = 1.6 Mbps are available
Similarly
VT2/VC-12 has 4 columns = 36 bytes = 2.304 Mbps
but 2 bytes are used for overhead
So actually only 34 bytes = 2.176 Mbps are available

67

LOP Overhead

V5 consists of

BIP (2b)
REI (1b)
RFI (1b)
Signal label (3b) (uneq, async, bit-sync, byte-sync, test, AIS)
RDI (1b)

J2 is path trace

N2 is the network operator byte

may be used for LOP tandem connection monitoring (LO-TCM)

K4 is for LO VCAT and LO APS

68

SDH Containers

Tributary payloads are not placed directly into SDH

Payloads are placed (adapted) into containers
The containers are made into virtual containers (by adding
POH)

Next, the pointer is used the pointer + VC is a TU or AU

Tributary Unit adapts a lower order VC to high order VC
Administrative Unit adapts higher order VC to SDH
TUs and AUs are grouped together until they are big
enough
We finally get an Administrative Unit Group
To the AUG we add SOH to make the STM frame
69

Formally
C-n n = 11, 12, 2, 3, 4
VC-n = POH + C-n
TU-n = pointer + VC-n (n=11, 12, 2, 3)
AU-n = pointer + VC-n (n=3,4)
TUG = N * TU-n
AUG = N * AU-n
STM-N = SOH + AUG

70

Multiplexing

An AUG may contain a VC-4 with an E4

or it may contain 3 AU-3s each with a VC-3s with an E3

In the latter case, the AU pointer points to the AUG

and inside the AUG are 3 pointers to the AU-3s

J1
B3
C2
G1 H1 H1 H1 H2 H2 H2

H3 H3 H3

F2
H4
F3
K3
N1

71

More Multiplexing

Similarly, we can hierarchically build complex

structures

Lower rate STMs can be combined into higher rate

STMs
AUGs can be combined into STMs
AUs can be combined into AUGs
TUGs can be combined into high order VCs
Lower rate TUs can be combined into TUGs
etc.

But only certain combinations are allowed by

standards
72

All SDH Mappings

AUG
STM-N

AUG

AUG

STM-0

AU-4

VC-4

C-4

E4 139.264 M
ATM 149.760M

*3
TUG-3

*3

AU-3

TU-3

VC-3

VC-3

C3
*7

E3 34.368 M
T3 44.736 M
ATM 48.384 M

*7
TUG-2

VC-2

C2

TU-12

VC-12

C12

TU-11

VC-11

C11

TU-2

T2 6.312 M
ATM 6.874M

*3
*4

E1 2.048 M
ATM 2.144 M

T1 1.544 M
ATM 1.6 M73

All SONET Mappings

STS-N
*N

STS-3 SPE

STS-3c

STS-1

E4 139.264 M
ATM 149.760M

E3 34.368 M
T3 44.736 M
ATM 48.384 M

STS-1 SPE
*7
VTG

VT6

VT6 SPE

VT-2

VT2 SPE

VT1.5

VT1.5 SPE

T2 6.312 M
ATM 6.874M

*3
pointer processing

E1 2.048 M
ATM 2.144 M

*4
T1 1.544 M74
ATM 1.6 M

Tributary Mapping Types

When mapping tributaries into VCs, PDH-like bit-stuffing

is used

For E1 and T1 there are several options

Asynchronous mapping (framing-agnostic)

Bit synchronous mapping
Byte synchronous mapping (time-slot aligned)

E4 into VC-4, E3/T3 into VC-3 are always asynchronous

T1 into VC-11 may be any of the 3

(in byte synchronous the framing bit is placed in the VC overhead)

E1 into VC-12 may be asynchronous or byte

synchronous

75

Tributary Mapping TypeExample

Mapping 3 x E3 onto 1 STM-1

76

Tributary Mapping TypeExample

Mapping 3 x E3 onto 1 STM-1

77

SONET/SDH Architecture

78

Layers

SONET was designed with definite layering concepts

Physical layer optical fiber (linear or ring)

when exceed fiber reach regenerators

regenerators are not mere amplifiers,
regenerators use their own overhead
fiber between regenerators called section (regenerator section)

Line layer link between SONET muxes (Add/Drop

Multiplexers)

input and output at this level are Virtual Tributaries (VCs)

actually 2 layers

lower order VC (for low bitrate payloads)

higher order VC (for high bitrate payloads)

Path layer end-to-end path of client data (tributaries)

client data (payload) may be

PDH
ATM
packet data

79

SONET architecture
Path
Termination

ADM

regenerator

ADM

Line
Termination

Section
Termination

Line
Termination

Path
Termination

path
line
section

line
section

line
section

section

SONET (SDH) has at 3 layers:

path end-to-end data connection, muxes tributary signals path section

there are STS paths + Virtual Tributary (VT) paths

line protected multiplexed SONET payload

section physical link between adjacent elements

multiplex section
regenerator section

Each layer has its own overhead to support needed functionality

SDH terminology

80

SDH Network Elements

81

SDH Network Elements

Terminal Multiplexer
PDH &
STM-m
Tributaries
m<n

STM-n

Applications:
Point-to-Point
Transmission Systems
(STM-1, STM-4, STM-16)

SDH Repeater
STM-n

STM-n

Applications:
Line Signal Regeneration
in Point-to-Point and Ring
Networks
82

Terminal Multiplexer

Terminal multiplexer

Input: Low bit rate or PDH tributaries

Output: High bit rate SDH signals

83

Regenerator

Terminal regenerator

Input: STM-N synchronous signals

Output: STM-N synchronous signals
Reconditions transmission to minimize jitter,
dispersion,

84

Add Drop Multiplexer

WEST

ADM

EAST

STM-1/4

STM-1/4

......

Tributary Ports : n x 2 Mbit/s ( 34 Mbit/s)

85

Synchronous Cross Connect

2.4 Gbit/s
622 Mbit/s

155

VC12

2
2

140 Mbit/s

VC12

2
2

VC4
34

34 (45)Mbit/s

VC 4
VC 3
VC 12

140

140 Mbit/s

140 Mbit/s

VC3

34 (45)Mbit/s

VC3
VC12

140

VC4

VC11
VC12

2 (1.5)Mbit/s

34
2

VC12

34 Mbit/s

2
2

VC12

140

140 Mbit/s

155 Mbit/s

VC4

34 Mbit/s

140

622 Mbit/s

155 Mbit/s

155 Mbit/s

34

2.4 Gbit/s

SDH
16x
Multiplexer
4x
4x

16x

2 (1.5)Mbit/s

86

Synchronous Line Equipment

4

16 x 140 Mbit/s
or
16 x STM-1

Optical
Transmit
Unit

Sync
MUX

PC / TMN (Q)

Management
Communication Unit

Service
Channels
Data
Channels

Service Channel Unit

STM-16

SLX 1/16

Overhead
Processing Unit
4

16 x 140 Mbit/s
or
16 x STM-1

Optical
Receive
Unit

4
4

Sync
DEMUX

87

STM-16

Hybrid Networks Connect Old

and New Technologies
140Mbit/s

STM-1

TM

2Mbit/s

ADM
STM-1, STM-4
2Mbit/s
34Mbit/s

ATM
Switch

ADM

STM-4/-16 ADM

140Mbit/s
34Mbit/s
8Mbit/s

STM-1

DXC

2Mbit/s

LAN
ADM : Add Drop Multiplexer
DXC : Digital Cross Connect
TM : Terminal Multiplexer

2Mbit/s
STM-1 / STS-3c Gateway to SONET
34Mbit/s
140Mbit/s
STM-1
STM-4

SDH
88

SDH Network Topology

STM-4

Trunk
Network L 2

Trunk Network
L1
STM-16

STM-1

Trunk Network
L2

Exchange

Local Network
Local
Exchange

FlexMux

Subscriber
Access

Mux
64/2M

89

SDH Equipment: Example

Tributary Card

Base Product with 2 STM-1

FTU

PSU

16 x
E1/DS1

90

SDH Equipment: Example

Protection Slot 0

Protection Slot 1

PSU # 1 (Slot 1)

OAM (Slot 2)

Tributary Card 2 (Slot 5)

System Card #1 (Slot 6)
System Card #2 (Slot 7) for redundancy sup`port
Tributary Card 3 (Slot 8)

Fan (Slot 10)

Tributary Card 1 (Slot 4)

PSU # 1 (Slot 3)
Tributary Card 4 (Slot 9)

91

Taxonomy of SONET/SDH
networks

92

Network Resilience

93

Protection and Rings

94

What is protection ?
SONET/SDH need to be highly reliable (five nines)
Down-time should be minimal (less than 50 msec)
So systems must repair themselves (no time for manual intervention)
Upon detection of a failure (dLOS, dLOF, high BER)
the network must reroute traffic (protection switching)
from working channel to protection channel
The Network Element that detects the failure (tail-end NE)
initiates the protection switching
The head-end NE must change forwarding or to send duplicate traffic
Protection switching is unidirectional
Protection switching may be revertive (automatically revert to working channel)
working channel

head-end NE

protection channel

tail-end NE
95

How Does It Work?

Head-end and tail-end NEs have bridges (muxes)
Head-end and tail-end NEs maintain bidirectional signaling channel
Signaling is contained in K1 and K2 bytes of protection channel
K1 tail-end status and requests
K2 head-end status

head-end bridge

tail-end bridge

working channel

protection channel

signaling channel
96

Linear 1+1 protection

Simplest form of protection
Can be at OC-n level (different physical fibers)
or at STM/VC level (called SubNetwork Connection Protection)
or end-to-end path (called trail protection)
Head-end bridge always sends data on both channels
Tail-end chooses channel to use based on BER, dLOS, etc.
No need for signaling
If non-revertive
there is no distinction between working and protection channels
BW utilization is 50%
channel A

channel B

97

Linear 1:1 protection

Head-end bridge usually sends data on working channel
When tail-end detects failure it signals (using K1) to head-end
Head-end then starts sending data over protection channel
When not in use
protection channel can be used for (discounted) extra traffic
(pre-emptible unprotected traffic)

May be at any layer (only OC-n level protects against fiber cuts)

working channel

extra traffic
protection channel
98

Linear 1:N protection

In order to save BW
we allocate 1 protection channel for every N working channels
N limited to 14
4 bits in K1 byte from tail-end to head-end

0
protection channel
1-14 working channels
15 extra traffic channel

working channels
protection channel
99

Linear Protection (G.783)

W
P

1 + 1 Protection scheme

W
P

1 : 1 Protection scheme

W
W

1 : N Protection scheme

100

Linear Protection (G.783)

W
P

1 + 1 Protection scheme

W
P

1 : 1 Protection scheme

W
W

1 : N Protection scheme

P
101

Unidirectional Operation

Bidirectional Operation

Two Fiber vs. Four-Fiber Rings

Ring based protection is popular in North America (100K+ rings)
Full protection against physical fiber cuts
Simpler and less expensive than mesh topologies
Protection at line (multiplexed section) or path layer
Four-fiber rings
fully redundant at OC level
can support bidirectional routing at line layer
Two-fiber rings
support unidirectional routing at line layer

2 fibers in opposite directions

104

Unidirectional vs. bidirectional

Unidirectional routing
working channel B-A same direction (e.g. clockwise) as A-B
management simplicity: A-B and B-A can occupy same timeslots
Inefficient: waste in ring BW and excessive delay in one direction
Bidirectional routing
A-B and B-A are opposite in direction
both using shortest route
spatial reuse: timeslots can be reused in other sections
A-B

A-B

B-C

B-A
A

A
C-B
B-A

105

Unidirectional and Bidirectional

Rings
Traffic A -> B

Traffic A ->
B

ADM
A
ADM

ADM B

Traffic B -> A

ADM

B ->
A
ADM B

ADM
A
ADM

ADM

longer
path

Unidirectional Ring

Bidirectional Ring

traffic between A-B

uses the entire length of ring

- use the shorter or longer

path
- increase number of paths
- short path : traffic
long path : protection
106

UPSR vs. BLSR (MS-SPRing)

UPSR

Unidirectional

Path switching

Two-fiber

BLSR

Bidirectional

Line switching

Four-fiber

Of all the possible combinations, only a few are in use

Unidirectional Path Switched Rings
protects tributaries
extension of 1+1 to ring topology
Bidirectional Line Switched Rings (two-fiber and four-fiber versions)
called Multiplex Section Shared Protection Ring in SDH
simultaneously protects all tributaries in STM
extension of 1:1 to ring topology

107

UPSR
Working channel is in one direction
protection channel in the opposite direction
All traffic is added in both directions
decision as to which to use at drop point (no signaling)
Normally non-revertive, so effective two diversity paths
Good match for access networks
1 access resilient ring
less expensive than fiber pair per customer
Inefficient for core networks
no spatial reuse
every signal in every span
in both directions
node needs to continuously monitor
every tributary to be dropped

108

Unidirectional Path-Switched
Ring (UPSR)
Fiber 1 : unidirectional

Fiber 2 : unidirectional

Tributary

Tributary

109

Unidirectional Path-Switched
Ring
Fiber 1 : unidirectional

Fiber 2 : unidirectional

Tributary

Tributary

D
110

Unidirectional Path-Switched
Ring
Fiber 1 : unidirectional

Fiber 2 : unidirectional

Tributary

Tributary

D
111

Unidirectional Line-Switched
Ring
Working

Protection

Tributary

Tributary

Working

112

Unidirectional Line-Switched
Ring
Working

Protection

Tributary

Tributary

Working

113

Unidirectional Line-Switched
Ring
Working

Protection

Tributary

Tributary

Working

114

BLSR
Switch at line level less monitoring
When failure detected tail-end NE signals head-end NE
Works for unidirectional/bidirectional fiber cuts, and NE failures
Two-fiber version
half of OC-N capacity devoted to protection
only half capacity available for traffic
Four-fiber version
full redundant OC-N devoted to protection
twice as many NEs as compared to two-fiber

Example
recovery from unidirectional fiber cut
115

Two fiber Bidirectional LineSwitched Ring (BLSR)

Fiber 1

Fiber 2

Tributary

Tributary

working
protection

116

Two fiber Bidirectional LineSwitched Ring (BLSR)

Fiber 1

Fiber 2

Tributary

Tributary

working
protection

117

Two fiber Bidirectional LineSwitched Ring (BLSR)

Fiber 1

Fiber 2

Tributary

Tributary

working
protection

D
118

Four fiber Bidirectional LineSwitched Ring (BLSR)

Working Fiber 1 + 2
Prot.Fiber 3 + 4

Tributary

Tributary

119

Four fiber Bidirectional LineSwitched Ring (BLSR)

Working Fiber 1 + 2
Prot.Fiber 3 + 4

Tributary

Tributary

120

Four fiber Bidirectional LineSwitched Ring (BLSR)

Working Fiber 1 + 2
Prot.Fiber 3 + 4

Tributary

Tributary

121

Four fiber Bidirectional SpanSwitched Ring

Working Fiber 1 + 2
Prot.Fiber 3 + 4

Tributary

Tributary

122

Four fiber Bidirectional SpanSwitched Ring

Working Fiber 1 + 2
Prot.Fiber 3 + 4

Tributary

Tributary

123

Four fiber Bidirectional SpanSwitched Ring

Working Fiber 1 + 2
Prot.Fiber 3 + 4

Tributary

Tributary

124

Monitoring, Maintenance and

Control Function in SDH

125

HP-TIM
HP-PLM
TU-LOP
TU-NDF
TU-AIS
TU-LOM
BIP-2/B3
LP-RDI
LP-REI
LP-RFI

HO Path Trace Ident. Mismatch

HO Path Payload Label Mism.
Loss Of TU Pointer
New Data Flag TU Pointer
TU AIS
Loss Of Multiframe
LO Path BIP Errors
LO Path Remote Defect Ind.
LO Path Remote Error Ind.
LO Path Remote Failure Ind.

LP-TIM
LP-PLM

LO Path Trace Ident. Mismatch

LO Path Payload Label Mism.

ATM Path

LCD
HCOR
HUNC
VP-AIS
VP-RDI
VC-AIS
VC-RDI
Vx-AIS
Vx-RDI
LOC

Line (L) Phys./Section

Loss Of Signal
Test Sequence Error (Bit Err.)
Loss of Sequence Synchron.
Loss of incoming Timing Ref.
Out Of Frame
Loss Of Frame
Regenerator Section BIP Err.
Multiplex Section BIP Err.
Multiplex Section AIS
Mux Sect. Remote Defect Ind.
Mux Sect. Remote Errro Ind.
Loss Of AU Pointer
New Data Flag AU Pointer
AU Alarm Ind. Signal
AU Pointer Just. Event
HO Path BIP Errors
HO Path Unequipped
HO Path Remote Defect Ind.
HO Path Remote Error Ind.

STS Path (SP)

LOS
TSE
LSS
LTI
OOF
LOF
B1
B2
MS-AIS
MS-RDI
MS-REI
AU-LOP
AU-NDF
AU-AIS
AU-PJE
B3
HP-UNEQ
HP-RDI
HP-REI

EVENTS SONET

VT Path (VP)

Lower Order Path

Higher Order Path Mux Sect.

Phys./Reg.
Sect.

EVENTS SDH

Loss of Cell Delineation

I.610
Correctable Header Errors
Uncorrectable Header Errors
Virtual Path AIS
I.610
Virtual Path Remote Defect Indication
I.610
Virtual Channel AIS
I.610
Virtual Channel Remot Defect Indication
I.610
Virtual Channel AIS & Virtual, Path AIS simultan.
(O.191)
Virtual Channel RDI & Virtual, Path RDI simultan.
(O.191)
Loss Of Continuity
I.610

LOS
TSE
LSS
LTI
OOF
LOF
B1
B2
AIS-L
RDI-L
REI-L
LOP-P
NDF-P
AIS-P

Loss Of Signal
Test Sequence Error
Loss of Sequence Synchr.
Loss of inc. TimingRef
Out Of Frame
Loss Of Frame
Section BIP Errors
Line BIP Errors
Line AIS
Line remote Defect Ind.
Line Remote Error Ind.
SP Loss Of Pointer
SP New Data Flag
SP AIS

B3
UNEQ-P
RDI-P
REI-P
PDI-P
TIM-P
PLM-P
LOP-V
NDF-V
AIS-V
LOM
UNEQ-V
RDI-V
REI-V
RFI-V
PDI-V
TIM-V
PLM-V

SP BIP Errors
SP Unequipped
SP Remote Deect. Ind.
SP Remote ERrro Ind.
SP Payload Defect Ind.
SP Trace Ident. Mismatch
SP Payload Label Mismatch
VP Loss Of Pointer
VP New Data Flag
VP AIS
Loss Of Multiframe
VP Unequipped
VP Remote Defect Ind.
VP Remote Error Ind.
VP Remote Failure Ind.
VP Payload Defect Ind.
VP Trace Ident. Mismatch
VP Payload Label Mism.

126

SDH Defects:
Signaling in Forward and Backward Direction

127

Frame Areas Covered by Parity

Bytes
Parity bytes providing a means to supervise the transmission
quality of a life STM-N signal !
RSOH
Payload
MSOH

RSOH
AU-PTR

Payload

B1:
- Supervision of the
whole STM-1 frame
- Covers the regenerator
sections of a transmission system
B2:
- Covers the multiplex
sections (from network
node to network node)

MSOH

RSOH
Payload
Payload
MSOH

B3:
- Covers the transmission
paths from beginning to
the end (tributary to
tributary)
128

Transmit Side

Parity Supervision Procedure

frame n+1

frame n

Receive Side

BIP-8
frame n+1

B1

frame n

recalculation at Rx side

Comparison
with the Tx side value

BIP-8

B1

129

How to Built a Parity Byte ?

Bit interleaved data field structure of the area covered

BIP-24: 24 bits
(B2)
Field width:
BIP-8: 8 bits
(B1, B3)

BIP-2: 2 bits
(V5)

Column by column parity check for even numbers of "1"

Example: 24 bit interleaved parity check (BIP-24)
Byte 1

Byte 2

Byte 3

1
1 11 1 11 11 1 11 10 11 1 01 11 1 11 1
0 1 01 0 1 1

2
3

0
0

1
0

0
0

0
0

1
1

1
0

1
1

0
0

0
1

1
0

0
0

1
0

even numbers of "1"

801
BIP-24

1
1

1
0

0
0

1
1

0
0

1
0

0
0

1
0

1
1

0
0

1 1
11300

130

SDH Maintenance Interactions

LOS/LOF
RS-TIM
(J0)
BIP Err.
(B1)
(K2)
(B2)
(M1)
(K2)

(C2)
(J1)
(B3)
(G1)
(G1)

(H4)
(C2)
(V5)
(J2)
(V5)
(V5)
(V5)
(V5)

Regenerator
Section
"1"

Multiplex
Section

Higher Order
Path

Lower Order
Path

AIS

"1"

MS-AIS
MS-BIP Err.
MS-REI
MS-RDI

AIS

AU-AIS
AU-LOP

"1"
"1"

HP-UNEQ
HP-TIM
HP-BIP Err.
HP-REI
HP-RDI

AIS

TU-AIS
TU-LOP
LOM
HP-PLM

"1"

LP-UNEQ
LP-TIM
LP-BIP Err.

"1"

LP-REI
LP-RDI
LP-PLM

AIS

"1"
AIS

131

Maintenance Signal Definitions

LOS
worse
OOF
LOF
B1 Error
MS-AIS
B2 Error
MS-RDI
MS-REI
AU-AIS
AU-LOP
HP-UNEQ
HP-TIM
HP-SLM
HP-LOM
B3 Error
HP-RDI
HP-REI

Drop of incomming optical power level causes BER of 10-3 or

A1, A2 incorrect for more than 625 us
If OOF persists of 3ms
Mismatch of the recovered and computed BIP-8
K2 (bits 6,7,8) =111 for 3 or more frames
Mismatch of the recovered and computed BIP-24
If MS-AIS or excessive errors are detected, K2(bits 6,7,8)=110
M1: Binary coded count of incorrect interleavedbit blocks
All "1" in the entire AU including AU pointer
8 to 10 NDF enable or 8 to 10 invalid pointers
C2="0" for 5 or more frames
J1: Trace identifier mismatch
C2: Signal label mismatch
H4 values (2 to 10 times) unequal to multiframesequence
Mismatch of the recovered and computed BIP-8
G1 (bit 5)=1, if an invalid signal is received in VC-4/VC-3
G1 (bits 1,2,3,4) = binary coded B3 errors

132

Maintenance Signal Definitions

TU-AIS
TU-LOP
LP-UNEQ
LP-TIM
LP-SLM
BIP-2 Err
LP-RDI
LP-REI
LP-RFI

All "1" in the entire TU incl. TU pointer

8 to 10 NDF enable or 8 to 10 invalid pointers
VC-3: C2 = all "0" for >=frames;
VC-12: V5 (bits 5,6,7) = 000 for >=5 frames
VC-3: J1 mismatch; VC-12: J2 mismatch
VC-3: C2 mismatch; VC-12: V5 (bits 5,6,7) mismatch
Mismatch of the recovered and computed BIP-2 (V5)
V5 (bit 8) = 1, if TU-2 path AIS or signal failure received
V5 (bit 3) = 1, if >=1 errors were detected by BIP-2
V5 (bit 4) = 1, if a failure is declared

Abbreviations:
AU
Administration
unit
HP
High path
LOF
Loss of frame
LOM
Loss of
miltiframe
LOP
Loss of pointer
LOS
Loss of signal

LP
OOF
REI
RDI
RFI
SLM

Low path
Out of frame
Remote error indication (FEBE)
Remote defect indication (FERF)
Remote failure indication
Signal label mismatch

TIM
identifier
TU
UNEQ
VC
C

Trace
Tributary unit
Unequipped
Virtual
container
133

Perfomance Parameter
ITU-T G.821
ES
Errored Second
SES

Second with > 1 bit error

Severely Errored Second

Second with BER > 1 x

10E-3

ITU-T G.826
ES

Errored Second

Second with> 1errored block

SES

Severely Errored Second

Second with > 30% errored

blocks
or > 1 defect

BBE Background Block Error

Errored block, not occuring

as
UAS

part of SES

Unavailable Seconds:
10 sec
Unavailability
detected
Unavailable Seconds

Time

10 sec
< 10
sec

Availability
detected

134

Synchronization Architecture in
SDH

135

Synchronization Network
Primary Reference Clock
long term:

PRC

requ : 1 x 10-11
typ : 5 x 10-12
Rubidium (Stratum 2) requ : 1.6 x 10-8 , 1 x 10-10
typ : 4 x 10-11 , 2 x 10-11

Caesium (Stratum 1)

SSU

SSU

holdover 24h:

SEC

SEC

SEC

SDH
Equip
.

SDH
Equip
.

SDH
Equip
.

Synchronization Supply Unit

SDH Equipment Clock

136

Synchronization Reference
Model
G.811
PRC

G.812
TNC

G.813
SEC

SSU

G.813
SEC

G.812
TNC

SSU

G.813
SEC

Limits:
Max.
Max.

10 x G.812 TNC
60 x G.813 SEC,
though no more than
20 between 2 TNCs

137

Synchronization of SDH
Network Elements
SDH Network Element
Internal
Oscillator
4.6 ppm

155 Mbit/s
Data Signal

2 Mbit/s
Data Signal

Osc.

Synchronous
SDH Signal

2 048 kHz
Central Clock

138

Hold-over Mode
Phase error [ ns]

100000
10000
1000
100
10
0.01

100

10000

Observation interval [s]

139

Hold-over Measured Values

(TIE)

140

Recommendations define
Synchronization Networks

Definitions
Network
Primary Reference Clocks
Synchron. Supply Clocks (ST2)
Equipment Clocks (ST3)

ITU-T

ANSI / Bellcore

ETSI

G.810
G.825
G.811
G.812
G.813 (G.81s)

T1.101 / GR-253
T1.105 / GR-253
T1.101
T1.101
GR-253

ETS 300 462-1

ETS 300 462-3
ETS 300 462-6
ETS 300 462-4
ETS 300 462-5

141

Jitter and Wander

142

Jitter and Wander Definitions

Jitter: Jitter is the short-term phase variations of the significant

instants of a digital signal from their ideal positions in time. It is the
deviation of the significant instants of a digital signal from the ideal,
equidistant values. The significant instant can be any convenient,
easily identifiable point on the signal such as the rising or falling
edge of a pulse. Otherwise stated, the transitions of a digital signal
invariably occur either too early or too late when compared to a
perfect square wave.

Wander: A second parameter closely related to jitter is wander.

Wander similarly refers to long-term variations in the significant
instants. ITU-T G.810 classifies jitter frequencies below 10 Hz as
wander and frequencies at or above 10 Hz as jitter.

143

Jitter and Wander Definitions

Ideal Signal (NRZ)

Jittered Signal

Jitter

144

Source of Jitter and Wander

Interference Signal

Pattern dependent jitter

Phase noise
Delay variation
Stuffing and wait time jitter
Mapping jitter
Pointer jitter

l
145

Jitter and Wander Measurement

Method
Clock
Input

Signal
Input

Pattern

Clock

Pattern-Clock
Converter
Ext. Reference Clock Input
(Wander Measurement)

HP

N
1

Frequency
Divider

Jitter
and
Wander

LP

Result
Evaluation

Phase Detector

Filters

Peak-to-Peak
Detector

~ 1 Hz

f
V

Phase Detector

Low Pass Filter

VCO

Reference Clock Generator (PLL)

146

Jitter Measurement Filters

Amplitude / dB

Values according to ITU-T Rec. G.825 and G.813

STM-1: 500 Hz
STM-4: 1 kHz
STM-16: 5 kHz

Wander

65 kHz
250 kHz
1 MHz

1.3 MHz
5 MHz
20 MHz

10 Hz
Frequency / Hz

Total
Jitter

Jitter
including
lower
Frequency
Components

Max. Jitter Amplitude:

1,5UI

High
Frequency
Jitter

0,15UI
147

Definition of Jitter Peak-to-Peak

Amplitude
Jitter / UIpp

Jitter
Amplitude
(PP)

Time

Measurement Period

148

Jitter and Wander

Measurements

Network output jitter (G.825)

Network element output jitter (G.783, G.813)

Jitter transfer function (G.958)

Jitter and Wander tolerance (G.825, G.813)

149

WANDER Definitions
Wander

Long-term timing variation (below 10 Hz)

TIE

"Time Interval Error"

MTIE

"Max. Time Interval Error"

TDEV
"Time Deviation", timing variation as a
function of
integration time. Provides
information about the
spectral content.
TVAR "Time Variation", square of TDEV
ADEV

"Allen Deviation"

MADEV

"Modified Allen Deviation"

Definitions specified in ITU-T Rec. G.810
150

TIE and MTIE Definitions

Time variation against reference

Wander / UI

TIE max

MTI
E

TIE at t End

TIE min

Time
Observation Period
Start

End
151

Results (MTIE) compared to

Standards

152

TMN in SDH Network

153

Network Management
Basic tasks of network management:
Administrative functions:
Operation:

Network supervising
Network linking

(anomalies, defects)
(reserve links, additional

links)
Maintenance:

Identifing and elimination of impairments

Planning and commissioning: Network configuration

Operative functions:

Supervision of network functions

Repair
Installation
Self test

154

TMN Overlay
Q

Central
OS
Q
Q

Local

OS
Q
Q

CC

ECC

CC

Q ECC
ADM
ADM

ADM
ADM

155

Telecommunication
Management Network
Management of :
Central
OS

Central
OS
Q3

NE
Manager

Q3
STM-N

Q3

Local
NE
Manager OS
Q3

Q ECC

Q ECC

DXC

STM-N

STM-N

DXC

ADM

ADM

ADM

Performance
Faults
Configuration
Accounting
Security

ADM

Data Communication Network : X.25, ISDN, LAN

156

TMN Reference Configuration

Operating
System

OS

Workstation

Q3
Data Communication
Network

DCN
Q3
Q3

Mediation
Device

MD

Q2 or Q1

Workstation

Local Communication Network

LCN

F
Qx

Network
Element

NE

Network
Element

NE

Workstation

MD: Conversion between different interfaces

(Information Conversion Function ICF:
manufacturer-specific information model ->
operator specific information model)
157

Interoperability in TMN
Interoperability problems because of
X

TMN
Operations
System

TMN
Operations
System

multi vendor networks

heterogenous technology
different standards for protocols and
management information

Q3
Q3

QMonitor provides

easy adaptation to the interface

(autoconfiguration)

decoding of protocols and

management information

automatic detection of errors in

management information

SDH/SONET Qecc access with

transmission analyzers .

QMonitor
based on
DominoWAN
DominoLAN
DA-30
Qecc

Qecc

Qecc

158

Next Generation SDH (NGSDH)

159

VCAT and LCAS

160

Concatenation
Payloads that dont fit into standard VT/VC sizes can be accommodated
by concatenating of several VTs / VCs
For example, 10 Mbps doesnt fit into any VT or VC
so w/o concatenation we need to put it into an STS-1 (48.384 Mbps)
the remaining 38.384 Mbps can not be used
We would like to be able to divide the 10 Mbps among
7 VT1.5/VC-11 s = 7 * 1.600 = 11.20 Mbps or
5 VT2/VC-12 s = 5 * 2.176 = 10.88 Mbps

161

Concatenation (cont.)
There are 2 ways to concatenate X VTs or VCs:
Contiguous Concatenation (G.707 11.1)
HOP STS-Nc (SONET) or VC-4-Nc (SDH)
or LOP 1-7 VC-2-Nc into a VC-3
since has to fit into SONET/SDH payload
only STS-Nc : N=3 * 4n or VC-4-Nc : N=4n
components transported together and in-phase
requires support at intermediate network elements

Virtual Concatenation (VCAT G.707 11.2)

HOP STS-1-Xv or STS-Nc-Xv (SONET) or VC-3/4-Xv (SDH)
or LOP VT-1.5/2/3/6-Xv (SONET) or VC-11/12/2-Xv (SDH)
HOP: X 256
LOP: X 64 (limitation due to bits in header)
payload split over multiple STSs / STMs
fragments may follow different routes
requires support only at path terminations
requires buffering and differential delay alignment

162

Contiguous Concatenation:
STS-3c
270 columns
9 rows

258 columns of SPE

9 columns of
section and
line overhead

3 columns of
path overhead

258 columns * 0.576 = 148.608 Mbps

STS-3

270 columns
9 rows

260 columns of SPE

9 columns of
section and
line overhead

1 column of
path overhead

260 columns * 0.576 = 149.760 Mbps

STS-3c
163

STS-N vs. STS-Nc

Although both have raw rates of 155.520 Mbps
STS-3c has 2 more columns (1.152Mbps) available
More generally, For STS-Nc gains (N-1) columns
e.g. STS-12c gains 11 columns = 6.336Mbps vis a vis STS-12
STS-48c gains 47 columns = 27.072 Mbps
STS-192c gains 191 columns = 110.016 Mbps !

However, an STS-Nc signal is not as easily separable

when we want to add/drop component signals

164

Virtual Concatenation

H4

VCAT is an inverse multiplexing mechanism (round-robin)

VCAT members may travel along different routes in SONET/SDH network
Intermediate network elements dont need to know about VCAT
(unlike contiguous concatenation that is handled by all intermediate nodes)

165

SDH virtually concatenated

VCs
VC
VC-11-Xv

Capacity (Mbps)

if all members in one VC

1.600, 3.200, 1.600X in VC-3 X 28 C 44.800

in VC-4 X 64 C 102.400

VC-12-Xv

2.176, 4.352, 2.176X in VC-3 X 21 C 45.696

in VC-4 X 63 C 137.088

VC-2-Xv

6.784, 13.568, , 6.784X in VC-3 X 7

C 47.448

in VC-4 X 21 C 142.464

So we have many permissible rates

1.600, 2.176, 3.200, 4.352, 4.800, 6.400, 6.528, 6.784, 8.000,

166

SONET virtually concatenated

VTs
VT

Capacity (Mbps)

VT1.5-Xv 1.600, 3.200, 1.600X

If all members in one STS

in STS-1

X 28 C 44.800

in STS-3c X 64 C 102.400
VT2-Xv

2.176, 4.352, 2.176X

in STS-1

X 21 C 45.696

in STS-3c X 63 C 137.088
VT3-Xv

3.328, 6.656, 3.328X

in STS-1

X 14 C 46.592

in STS-3c X 42 C 139.776
VT6-Xv

6.784, 13.568, 6.784X

in STS-1

X 7 C 47.448

in STS-3c X 21 C 142.464
So we have many permissible rates
1.600, 2.176, 3.200, 3.328, 4.352, 4.800, 6.400, 6.528, 6.656, 6.784,
167

Efficiency Comparison
rate

w/o VCAT

efficiency

with VCAT

efficiency

10

STS-1

21%

VT2-5v

92%

VC-12-5v
100

STS-3c

67%

VC-4
1000

STS-48c
VC-4-16c

STS-1-2v

100%

VC-3-2v
42%

STS-3c-7v

95%

VC-4-7v

Using VCAT increases efficiency to close to 100% !

168

PDH VCAT
VCAT
overhead
octet

1st
frame
of
4 E1s
TS0

Recently ITU-T G.7043 expanded VCAT to E1,T1,E3,T3

Enables bonding of up to 16 PDH signals to support higher rates
Only bonding of like PDH signals allowed (e.g. cant mix E1s and T1s)
Multiframe is always per G.704/G.832 (e.g. T1 ESF 24 frames, E1 16 frames)
1 byte per multiframe is VCAT overhead (SQ, MFI, MST, CRC)
Supports LCAS (to be discussed next)
each E1

time
169

PDH VCAT Overhead Octet

VCAT
overhead
octet

frames
of an
E1

TS0

There is one VCAT overhead octet per multiframe, so net rate is

T1: (24*24-1=) 575 data bytes per 3 ms. multiframe = 191.666 kB/s
E1: (16*30-1=) 495 data bytes per 2 ms multiframe = 247.5 kB/s
T3 and E3 can also be used
We will show the overhead octet format later
(when using LCAS, the overhead octet is called VLI)

170

Delay Compensation
802.1ad Ethernet link aggregation cheats

each identifiable flow is restricted to one link

doesnt work if single high-BW flow

VCAT is completely general

works even with a single flow

VCG members may travel over completely separate paths

so the VCAT mechanism must compensate for differential delay

Requirement for over second compensation

Must compensate to the bit level
but since frames have Frame Alignment Signal
the VCAT mechanism only needs to identify individual frames

171

VCAT Buffering

Since VCAT components may take different paths

At egress the members
are no longer in the proper temporal relationship
VCAT path termination function buffers members
and outputs in proper order (relying on POH sequencing)
(up to 512 ms of differential delay can be tolerated)

VCAT defines a multiframe to enable delay compensation

length of multiframe determines delay that can be accommodated
H4 byte in members POH contains :
sequence indicator (identifies component) (number of bits limits X)
MFI multiframe indicator (multiframe sequencing to find differential delay)

172

Multiframes and Superframes

Here is how we compensate for 512 ms of differential delay
512 ms corresponds to a superframe is 4096 TDM frames (4096*0.125m=512m)
For HOP SDH VCAT and PDH VCAT (H4 byte or PDH VCAT overhead)
The basic multiframe is 16 frames
So we need 256 multiframes in a superframe (256*16=4096)
The MultiFrame Indicator is divided into two parts:

MFI1 (4 bits) appears once per frame

and counts from 0 to 15 to sequence the multiframe
MFI2 (8bits) appears once per multiframe
and counts from 0 to 255

For LOP SDH (bit 2 of K4 byte)

a 32 bit frame is built and a 5-bit MFI is dedicated
32 multiframes of 16 ms give the needed 512 ms

173

Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme

LCAS is defined in G.7042 (also numbered Y.1305)
LCAS extends VCAT by allowing dynamic BW changes
LCAS is a protocol for dynamic adding/removing of VCAT members
hitless BW modification
similar to Link Aggregation Control Protocol for Ethernet links
LCAS is not a control plane or management protocol

it doesnt allocate the members

still need control protocols to perform actual allocation
LCAS is a handshake protocol

it enables the path ends to negotiate the additional / deletion

it guarantees that there will be no loss of data during change
it can determine that a proposed member is ill suited
it allows automatic removal of faulty member
174

LCAS how does it work?

LCAS is unidirectional (for symmetric BW need to perform twice)
LCAS functions can be initiated by source or sink
LCAS assumes that all VCG members are error-free
J1
LCAS messages are CRC protected
B3
LCAS messages are sent in advance
C2
sink processes messages after differential compensation
G1
message describes link state at time of next message
F2
receiver can switch to new configuration in time
H4
LCAS messages are in the upper nibble of
H4 byte for HOS SONET/SDH
F3
K4 byte for LOS SONET/SDH
K3
VCAT overhead octet for PDH VCAT and LCAS Information
N1
LCAS messages employ redundancy
POH
messages from source to sink are member specific
messages from sink to source are replicated
175

LCAS control messages

LCAS adds fields to the basic VCAT ones
Fields in messages from source to sink:
MFI
MultiFrame Indicator
SeQuence indicator (member ID inside VCAT group)
SQ
ConTRoL (IDLE, being ADDed, NORMal, End of Sequence, Do Not Use)
CTRL
Group Identification (identifies VCAT group)
GID
Fields in messages from sink to source (identical in all members):
MST
Member Status (1 bit for each VCG member)
RS-Ack ReSequence Acknowledgement
Fields in both directions
CRC
Cyclic Redundancy Code
The precise format depends on the VCAT type (H4, K4, PDH)
Note: for H4 format SQ is 8 bits, so up to 256 VCG members
for PDH SQ is only 4 bits, so up to 16 VCG members
176

reserved fields

0
0
0

0
0
0
0

MFI2 bits 1-4

MFI2 bits 5-8
CTRL
0
0 GID
0
0
0
0
0
0
CRC-8 bits 1-4
CRC-8 bits 5-8
MST bits
more MST bits
0
0 RS-ACK
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
SQ bits 1-4
SQ bits 5-8

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

MFI1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1

0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1

16 frame multiframe

reserved fields

H4 format

177

H4 Format
CRC-8 (when using K4 it is CRC-3)
covers the previous 14 frames (not synced on multiframe)
polynomial x8 + x2 + x + 1
MST

each VCG member carries the status of all members

so we need 256 bits of member status
this is done by muxing MST bits
there are MST bits per multiframe
and 32 multiframes in an MST multiframe
no special sequencing, just MFI2 multiframe mod 32

GID

single bit indentifier

all members of VCG share the same bit
cycles through 215-1 LFSR sequence
different VCGs use different phase offsets of sequence
178

LCAS Adding a Member (1)

When more/less BW is needed, we need to add/remove VCAT members
Adding/removing VCAT members first requires provisioning (management)
LCAS handles member sequence numbers assignment
LCAS ensures service is not disrupted
Example: to add a 4th member to group 1
Initial state:

GID=g SQ=1 CTRL=NORM

GID=g SQ=2 CTRL=NORM
GID=g SQ=3 CTRL=EOS

Step 1: NMS provisions new member

source sends CTRL=IDLE for new member GID=g SQ=1 CTRL=NORM
GID=g SQ=2 CTRL=NORM
sink sends MST=FAIL for new member
GID=g SQ=3 CTRL=EOS
GID=g SQ=FF CTRL=IDLE

179

LCAS Adding a Member (2)

Step 2: source sends CTRL=ADD and SQ
sink sends MST=OK for new member
if it has been provisioned
if receiving new member OK
if it is able to compensate for delay
otherwise it will send MST=FAIL
and source reports this to NMS

GID=g SQ=1 CTRL=NORM

GID=g SQ=2 CTRL=NORM
GID=g SQ=3 CTRL=EOS
GID=g SQ=4 CTRL=ADD

Step 3: source sends CTRL=EOS for new member GID=g SQ=1 CTRL=NORM
new member starts to carry traffic
sink sends RS-ACK
Note 1: several new members may be added at once

GID=g SQ=2 CTRL=NORM

GID=g SQ=3 CTRL=NORM
GID=g SQ=4 CTRL=EOS

Note 2: removing a member is similar

Source puts CTRL=IDLE for member to be removed and stops using it
All member sequence numbers must be adjusted

180

LCAS Service Preservation

To preserve service integrity if sink detects a failure of a VCAT member
LCAS can temporarily remove member (if service can tolerate BW reduction)
GID=g SQ=1 CTRL=NORM
GID=g SQ=2 CTRL=NORM

Example: Initial state

GID=g SQ=3 CTRL=NORM

GID=g SQ=4 CTRL=EOS

Step 1: sink sends MST=FAIL for member 2

source sends CTRL=DNU (special treatment if EoS)
and ceases to use member 2
Note: if EoS fails, renumber to ensure EoS is active

GID=g SQ=1 CTRL=NORM

GID=g SQ=2 CTRL=DNU
GID=g SQ=3 CTRL=NORM
GID=g SQ=4 CTRL=EOS

Step 2: sink sends MST=OK indicating defect is cleared

source returns CTRL to NORM
and starts using the member again
Note: if NMS decides to permanently remove the member, proceed as in previous slide

181

Handling Packet Data

182

Packet over SONET

Currently defined in RFC2615 (PPP over SONET)
obsoletes RFC1619

SONET/SDH can provide a point-to-point byte-oriented

full-duplex synchronous link

PPP is ideal for data transport over such a link

PoS uses PPP in HDLC framing to provide a byte-oriented
interface to the SONET/SDH infrastructure

POH signal label (C2)

indicates PoS as C2=16 (C2=CF if no scrambler)
183

PoS Architecture
IP
PPP
HDLC
SONET/SDH

PoS is based on PPP in HDLC framing

Since SONET/SDH is byte oriented, byte stuffing is employed
A special scrambler is used to protect SONET/SDH timing
PoS operates on IP packets
If IP is delivered over Ethernet

the Ethernet is terminated (frame removed)

Ethernet must be reconstituted at the far end
require routers at edges of SONET/SDH network
184

PoS Details
IP packet is encapsulated in PPP
default MTU is 1500 bytes
up to 64,000 bytes allowed if negotiated by PPP
FCS is generated and appended
PPP in HDLC framing with byte stuffing
43 bit scrambler is run over the SPE
byte stream is placed octet-aligned in SPE
(e.g. 149.760 Mbps of STM-1)
HDLC frames may cross SPE boundaries

185

POS Problems
PoS is BW efficient
but POS has its disadvantages

BW must be predetermined
HDLC BW expansion and nondeterminacy
BW allocation is tightly constrained by SONET/SDH
capacities

POS requires removing the Ethernet headers

e.g. GBE requires a full OC-48 pipe

so lose RPR, VLAN, 802.1p, multicasting, etc

POS requires IP routers

186

LAPS

In 2001 ITU-T introduced protocols for transporting

packets over SDH

Built on series of ITU LAPx HDLC-based protocols

X.85 IP over SDH using LAPS

X.86 Ethernet over LAPS
Use ISO HDLC format

Implement connectionless byte-oriented protocols

over SDH
X.85 is very close to (but not quite) IETF PoS
187

GFP Architecture
A new approach, not based on HDLC
Defined in ITU-T G.7041 (also numbered Y.1303)
originally developed in T1X1 to fix ATM limitations
(like ATM) uses HEC protected frames instead of HDLC

Ethernet

IP

HDLC

other

GFP client specific part

GFP common part
SDH

OTN

other

Client may be PDU-oriented (Ethernet MAC, IP)

or block-oriented (GBE, fiber channel)
GFP frames
are octet aligned
contain at most 65,535 bytes
consist of a header + payload area
Any idle time between GFP frames is filled with GFP idle frames

188

GFP Frame Structure

Every GFP frame has a 4-byte core header

2 byte Payload Length Indicator

PLI = 01,2,3 are for control frames

core
header

2 byte core Header Error Control

X16 + X12 + X5 + 1

entire core header is XORed with B6AB31E0

Idle GFP frames

have PLI=0
have no payload area
Non-idle GFP frames
have 4 bytes in payload area
the payload has its own header
2 payload modes : GFP-F and GFP-T
optionally protect payload with CRC-32

payload
area

PLI (2B)
cHEC (2B)
payload header
(4-64B)

payload
optional payload
FCS (4B)

189

GFP Payload Header

GFP payload header has
type (2B)
PTI (3b) PFI EXI (3b)
type HEC (CRC-16)
UPI (8b)
extension header (0-60B)
either null or linear extension (payload type muxing)
extension HEC (CRC-16)
type consists of
Payload Type Identifier (3b)
PTI=000 for client data
PTI=100 for client management (OAM dLOS, dLOF)
Payload FCS Indicator (1b)
PFI=1 means there is a payload FCS
Extension Header ID (3b)
User Payload Identifier (8b)
values for Ethernet, IP, PPP, FC, RPR, MPLS, etc.

type (2B)
tHEC (2B)
extension header
(0-60B)
eHEC (2B)

190

GFP Modes
GFP-F - frame mapped GFP
Good for PDU-based protocols (Ethernet, IP, MPLS)
or HDLC-based ones (PPP)
Client PDU is placed in GFP payload field
GFP-T transparent GFP
Good for protocols that exploit physical layer capabilities
In particular
8B/10B line code
used in fiber channel, GbE, FICON, ESCON, DVB, etc
Were we to use GFP-F would lose control info, GFP-T is transparent to these codes
Also, GFP-T neednt wait for entire PDU to be received (adding delay!)

191