GFP Eth Frame

Chapter 2:
SONET/SDH and GFP

TOPICS
– T1/E1
– SONET/SDH - STS 1, STS -3 frames
– SONET devices
– Self-healing rings
– Generic frame protocol, and Data over SONET
Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 1
T1/E1
• Time division multiplexing allows a link

to be utilized simultaneously by many
users
1 1
D
2 M E 2
U link
M
X U
N X N
N input N output
links links

• The transmission is organized into frames.
• Each frame contains a fixed number of time slots.
• Each time slot is pre-assigned to a specific input
link. The duration of a time slot is either a bit or a
byte.
• If the buffer of an input link has no data, then its
associated time slot is transmitted empty.
• A time slot dedicated to an input link repeats
continuously frame after frame, thus forming a
channel or a trunk.

Pulse code modulation
• TDM is used in telephony

• Voice analog signals are digitized at the
end office using Pulse Code Modulation.
• A voice signal is sampled 8000 times/sec,
or every 125 µsec.
• A 7-bit or 8-bit number is created every
125 µsec.
The Digital Signal (DS) and
ITU-T standard
• A North American standard that specifies how to
multiplex several voice calls onto a single link.
• The DS standard is a North American standard and
it is not the same as the international hierarchy
standardized by ITU-T.
• Both standards are independent of the transmission.

T carrier / E carrier
• The DS signal is carried over a carrier system
known as the T carrier.
– T1 carries the DS1 signal,
– T2 carries the DS2 signal etc
• The ITU-T signal is carried over a carrier system
known as the E carrier.
• The DS and ITU-T hierarchy is known as the
plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH). (Plesion
means “nearly the same”, and chronos means
“time” in Greek).
Digital signal number Voice channels Data Rate (Mbps)
DS0 1 0.064
DS1 24 1.544
DS1C 48 3.152
DS2 96 6.312
DS3 672 44.736
DS3C 1344 91.053
DS4 4032 274.176
Table 2.1: The North American Hierarchy
Level number Voice channels Data Rate (Mbps)

0 1 0.064
1 30 2.048
2 120 8.448
3 480 34.368
4 1920 139.264
5 7680 565.148
Table 2.2: The international (ITU-T) hierarchy

The DS1 signal
Time Time Time Time
F ...
slot 1 slot 2 slot 3 slot 24
• 24 8-bit time slots/frame

– Each time slot carries 8 bits/ 125 µsec, or the channel
carries a 64 Kbps voice.
– Every 6th successive time slot (i.e, 6th, 12th, 18th,
24th, etc), the 8 bit is robbed and it is used for
signaling.
• F bit: Used for synchronization. It transmits the
pattern: 10101010…
• T1:
– Total transmission rate: 24x8+1 = 193 bits per 125 µ
sec, or 1.544 Mbps
• E1
– 30 voice time slots plus 2 time slots for
synchronization and control
– Total transmission rate: 32x8 = 256 bits per 125 µsec,
or 2.048 Mbps

Fractional T1/E1
• Fractional T1 or E1 allows the use of only

a fraction of the T1 or E1 capacity.
• For example: if N=2, then only two time
slots are used per frame, which corresponds
to a channel with total bandwidth of 128
Kbps.

Unchannelized frame signal
• The time slot boundaries are ignored by the

sending and receiving equipment.
• All 192 bits are used to transport data followed by
the 193rd framing bit.
• This approach permits more flexibility in
transmitting at different rates.
• This scheme is implemented using proprietary
solutions.

The synchronous optical network
(SONET)
• Proposed by Bellcore (Telecordia).
– It was designed to multiplex DS-n signals and
transmit them optically.
• ITU-T adopted the synchronous digital
hierarchy (SDH), as the international
standard.
– It enables the multiplexing of level 3 signals
(34.368 Mbps)
STS, STM, OC
• The electrical side of the SONET signal is

known as the synchronous transport signal
(STS)
• The electrical side of the SDH is known as
the synchronous transport module (STM).
• The optical side of a SONET/SDH signal is
known as the optical carrier (OC).
The SONET/SDH hierarchy
Optical SONET SDH Data rate Overhead Payload
level level level (Mbps) rate rate
(electrical) (electrical) (Mbps) (Mbps)
OC-1 STS-1 - 51.840 1.728 50.112
OC-3 STS-3 STM-1 155.520 5.184 150.336
OC-9 STS-9 STM-3 466.560 15.552 451.008
OC-12 STS-12 STM-4 622.080 20.736 601.344
OC-18 STS-18 STM-6 933.120 31.104 902.016
OC-24 STS-24 STM-8 1244.160 41.472 1202.688
Oc-36 STS-36 STM-12 1866.240 62.208 1804.932
OC-48 STS-48 STM-16 2488.320 82.944 2405.376
OC-96 STS-96 STM-32 4976.640 165.888 4810.752
OC-192 STS-192 STM-64 9953.280 331.776 9621.504
OC-768 STS-768 STM-256 39813.120 1327.104 38486.016
OC-N STS-N STM-N/3 N*51.840 N*1.728 N*50.112

• SONET/SDH is channelized.
– STS-3 consists of 3 STS-1 streams, and each STS-
1 consists of a number of DS-1 and E1signals.
– STS-12 consists of 12 STS-1 streams
• Concatenated structures (OC-3c, OC-12c, etc)
– The frame of the STS-3 payload is filled with
ATM cells or IP packets packed in PPP or HDLC
frames.
– Concatenated SONET/SDH links are commonly
used to interconnect ATM switches and IP routers
(Packets over SONET).
The STS-1 frame structure
1 2 3 4 5 6 … 90
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 … 90
2 91 92 93 94 95 96 … 180
3 181 182 183 184 185 186 … 270
4 271 272 273 274 275 276 … 360
5 361 362 363 364 365 366 … 450
6 451 452 453 454 455 456 … 560
7 561 562 563 564 565 566 … 630
8 631 632 636 634 635 636 … 720
9 721 722 723 724 725 726 … 810

• Main features
– The frame is presented in matrix form and it is
transmitted row by row.
– Each cell in the matrix corresponds to a byte
– The first three columns contain overheads
– The remaining 87 columns carry the
synchronous payload envelope (SPE), which
consists of user data, and additional overheads
referred to as the payload overhead (POH)

An SPE may straddle between
two successive frames
1 2 3 4 5 6 . . . 90
1 ...
2 ...
3 ...
4 276 ...
5 ...
Frame i
...
6
...
7
8 ...
...
9
1 ...
2 ...
3 ...
4 275 276 ...

Frame i+1 ...
5
...
6
...
7
...
8
...
9

The section, line, and path overheads
A1 B1
STS-1 regenerator regenerator STS-1

A B
... ...
STS-12 STS-12
A12 B12
STS-1 STS-1
Section Section Section Section Section
Line Line Line
Path

• Section: a single link with a SONET device
or a regenerator on either side of it.
• Line: A link between two SONET devices,
which may include regenerators
• The section overhead in the SONET frame
is associated with the transport of STS-1
frames over a section, and the line
overhead is associated with the transport of
SPEs over a line.
The SONET stack
Path Path
Line Line Line Line
Section Section Section Section Section Section
Photonic Photonic Photonic Photonic Photonic Photonic
A Regenerator Regenerator
Ai B Bi

STS-1: Section and line overheads
Column
1 2 3
1 A1 A2 J0
SOH
2 B1 E1 F1
3 D1 D2 D3
4 H1 H2 H3
5 B2 K1 K2
6 D4 D5 D6
7 LOH
D7 D8 D9
8 D10 D11 D12
9 Z1 Z2 E2

• The following are some of the bytes in the
section overhead (SOH) :
– A1 and A2: These two bytes are called the
framing bytes and they are used for frame
alignment. They are populated with the value
1111 0110 0010 1000 or 0xF628, which
uniquely identifies the beginning of an STS-
frame.
– J0: This is called the section trace byte and it
is used for to trace the STS-1 frame back to its
originating equipment.

– B1: This byte is the bit interleaved parity byte
and it is commonly referred to as BIP-8. It is
used to perform an even-parity check on the
previous STS-1 frame after the frame has been
scrambled. The parity is inserted in the BIP-8
field of the current frame before it is scrambled
– E1: This byte provides a 64 Kbps channel can
be used for voice communications by field
engineers.

• The following are some of the bytes in the line
overhead (LOH) that have been defined:
– H1 and H2: These two bytes are known as the pointer
bytes, and they contain a pointer that points to the
beginning of the SPE within the STS-1 frame. The
pointer gives the offset in bytes between the H1 and
H2 bytes and the beginning of the SPE.
– B2: This is similar to the B1 byte in the section
overhead and it is used to carry the BIP-8 parity check
performed on the line overhead section and the
payload section. That is, it is performed on the entire
STS-1 frame except the section overhead bytes.

The path overhead bytes
J1 J1
B3 B3
C2 C2
G1 G1
F2 F2
H4
H4
Z3
Z3
Z4
Z4
Z5
Z5
Location of the POH The POH bytes

• The following are some of the bytes that have
been defined:
– B3: This byte is similar to B1 used in the section
overhead and B2 used in the line overhead. It is used to
carry the BIP-8 parity check performed on the payload
section. That is, it is performed on the entire STS-1
frame except the section and line overhead bytes.
– C2: This byte is known as the path signal label and it
indicates the type of user information carried in the
SPE, such as, virtual tributaries (VT), asynchronous
DS-3, ATM cells, HDLC-over-SONET, and PPP over
SONET.

The STS-1 payload
• The payload consists of user data and the

path overhead.
• User data:
– Virtual tributaries: sub-rate synchronous data
streams, such as DS-0, DS-1, E1, and entire
DS-3 frames
– ATM cells and IP packets

Virtual tributaries
• The STS-1 payload is divided into seven

virtual tributary groups (VTG).
• Each VTG consists of 108 bytes (12 columns)
• Each VTG may carry a number of virtual
tributaries, i.e., sub-rate streams.

• The following virtual tributaries have been
defined:
– VT1.5: This virtual tributary carries one DS-1
signal and it is contained in three columns, that
take up 27 bytes. Four VT1.5’s can be
transported in a single VTG.
– VT2: This virtual tributary carries an E1 signal
of 2.048 Mbps. VT2 is contained in four
columns, that is it takes up 36 bytes. Three
VT2’s can be carried in a single VTG.

• VT3: This virtual tributary transports the
unchannelized DS-1 signal. A VT3 is
contained in 6 columns that takes up 54 bytes.
This means that a VTG can carry two VT3s.
• VT6: This virtual tributary transports a DS-2

signal, which carries 96 voice channels. VT6 is
contained in 12 columns, that is it takes up 108
bytes. A VTG can carry exactly one VT2.

ATM cells
4 10 90
1 Cell 1 Cell 2
2 Cell 2 Cell 3
3
POH
8 Cell 14 Cell 15
9 Cell 15
• Mapped directly onto the SPE. An ATM

cells may straddle two SPEs.
IP packet over SONET
• IP packets are first encapsulated in HDLC and

the resulting frames are mapped into the SPE
payload row by row as in the case above for
ATM cels. 4 10 90
1
2 7E 7E 7E
3
POH
8 7E 7E 7E
9

• IP packets can also be encapsulated in PPP
instead of HDLC.
• A frame may straddle over two adjacent SPEs, as
in the case of ATM.
• The interframe fill 7E is used to maintain a
continuous bit tstream

1st STS-1
1
270
2nd STS-1
3rd STS-1 2
1st STS-1
3
2nd STS-1
3rd STS-1
4
Overhead section
1st STS-1
2nd STS-1
5
3rd STS-1
1st STS-1
Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros

6
2nd STS-1
3rd STS-1
7
8
...
9
Payload section
10
1st STS-1
11
2nd STS-1
The STS-3 frame structure
3rd STS-1
12
35
• The channelized STS-3 frame is constructed by
multiplexing byte-wise three channelized STS-1
frames. As a result:
– Byte 1, 4, 7, … , 268 of the STS-3 frame contains byte
1, 2, 3, … , 90 of the first STS-1 frame.
– Byte 2, 5, 8, …, 269 of the STS-3 frame contains byte
1, 2, 3, … , 90 of the second STS-1 frame
– Byte 3, 6, 9, …, 270 of the STS-3 frame contains byte
1, 2, 3, … , 90 of the third STS-1 frame.
• This byte-wise multiplexing, causes the columns
of the three STS-1 frames to be interleaved in the
STS-3 frame

• The first 9 columns of the STS-3 frame
contain the overhead part and the
remaining columns contain the payload
part.
• Error checking and some overhead bytes
are for the entire STS-3 frame, and they are
only meaningful in the overhead bytes of
the first STS-1 frame.

SONET/SDH devices
• Several different equipment exist:

– Terminal multiplexer (TM)
– Add/drop multiplexer (ADM)
– Digital cross connect (DCS)

The terminal multiplexer (TM):
• It multiplexes a number of DS-n or E1 signals
into a single OC-N signal
• It consists of a controller, low-speed interfaces
for DS-n or E1 signals, an OC-N interface, and a
time slot interchanger (TSI)
• It works also as a demultiplexer
DS-n
OC-N
... TM
DS-n

The add/drop multiplexer (ADM)
• It is a more complex version of the TM
• It receives an OC-N signal from which it can
demultiplex and terminate (i.e., drop) any
number of DS-n or OC-M signals, where M<N,
while at the same time it can add new DS-n and
OC-M signals into the OC-N signal.
OC-N OC-N
ADM
...
DS-n. OC-M

SONET rings
ADM OC3 ADM
1 2
OC3 OC3
ADM ADM
4 3
OC3
• SONET/SDH ADM devices are typically connected to

form a SONET/SDH ring.
• SONET/SDH rings are self-healing, that is they can
automatically recover from link failures.

An example of a connection
TM ADM OC12 ADM

1
A 1 2
DS1 OC3
OC12 OC12
OC3 DS1
ADM ADM TM
4 3 2
OC12 B

• A transmits a DS-1 signal to TM 1
• TM 1 transmits an OC-3 signal to ADM 1
• ADM 1 adds the OC-3 signal into the STS-
12 payload and transmits it out to the next
ADM.
• At ADM 3, the DS-1 signal belonging to A
is dropped from the payload and
transmitted with other signals to TM 2.
• TM 2 in turn, demultiplexes the signals and
transmits A’s DS-1 signal to B.

• Connection setup:
– Using network management procedures the
SONET network is provisioned appropriately.
This is an example of a permanent connection.
– It remains up for a long time.
• The connection is dedicated to user A
whether the user transmits or not.

A digital cross connect (DCS)
• It is used to interconnect multiple SONET rings
• It is connected to multiple incoming and outgoing OC-N
interfaces. It can drop and add any number of DSn and/or
OC-M signals, and it can switch DSn and/or OC-M
signals from an incoming interface to any outgoing one.
ADM ADM
Ring 1 Ring 2
ADM DCS ADM
ADM ADM

Self-healing SONET/SDH rings
• SONET/SDH rings have been specially

architected so that they are available 99.999% of
the time (6 minutes per year!)
• Causes for ring failures:
– Fiber link failure due to accidental cuts, and
transmitter/receiver failure
– SONET/SDH device failure (rare)

Automatic protection switching (APS)
• SONET/SDH rings are self-healing, that is, the

ring’s services can be automatically restored
following a link failure or degradation in the
network signal.
• This is done using the automatic protection
switching (APS) protocol. The time to restore the
services has to be less than 50 msec.

Protection schemes: point-to-point
• Schemes for link protection

– dedicated 1+1
– 1:1
– Shared 1:N
Working
ADM ADM
Protection

Working/protection fibers
• The working and protection fibers have to
be diversely routed. That is, the two fibers
use separate conduits and different physical
routes.
• Often, for economic reasons, the two fibers
use different conduits, but they use the
same physical path. In this case, we say
that they are structurally diverse.
Classification of self-healing rings
• Various ring architectures have been
developed based on the following three
features:
– Number of fibers
• 2 or 4 fibers
– Direction of transmission:
• Unidirectional bidirectional
– Line or path switching

Number of fibers: 2- or 4-fiber rings
1
ADM 1 ADM 2 ADM 1 ADM 2
5
4 8 6 2
7
3
Two-fiber ring: fibers 1, 2, 3, and 4 are

used to form the working ring (clockwise),
and fibers 5, 6, 7, and 8 are used to form
the protection ring (counter-clockwise).
1
5
4 8 6 2
7
3
• In another variation of the two-fiber ring, each set of fibers

form a ring which can be both a working and a protection
ring. In this case, the capacity of each fiber is divided into
two equal parts, one for working traffic and the other for
protection traffic.
• In a four-fiber SONET/SDH ring there are two working
rings and two protection rings, one per working ring.

Direction of transmission
• Unidirectional ring:
– signals are only transmitted in one
direction of the ring.
• Bidirectional ring:
– signals are transmitted in both directions.

Line and path switching
• Path switching: Restores the traffic on the

paths affected by a link failure (a path is an
end-to-end connection between the point
where the SPE originates and the point where
it terminates.)
• Line switching: Restores all the traffic that
passes through a failed link.

Based on these three features, we have the
following 2-fiber or 4-fiber possible ring
architectures:
– Unidirectional Line Switched Ring (ULSR)
– Bidirectional Line Switched Ring (BLSR)
– Unidirectional Path Switched Ring (UPSR)
– Bidirectional Path Switched Ring (BPSR)

Of these rings the following three are
used:
– Two-fiber unidirectional path switched ring
(2F-UPSR)
– Two-fiber bidirectional line switched ring
(2F-BLSR)
– Four-fiber bidirectional line switched ring
(4F-BLSR)

Two-fiber unidirectional
path switched ring (2F-UPSR)
1
A ADM 1 ADM 2 B
5
Working ring
4 8 6 2
Protection ring
7
ADM 4 ADM 3
3

• Features:
– Working ring consists of fibers 1, 2, 3 and 4,
and the protection ring of fibers 5, 6, 7, and 8.
– Unidirectional transmission means that traffic
is transmitted in the same direction. A
transmits to B over fiber 1 of the working ring,
and B transmits over fibers 2, 3, and 4 of the
working ring.
– Used as a metro edge ring to interconnect
PBXs and access networks to a metro core ring

• Self-healing mechanism:
– Path level protection using the 1+1 scheme. The
signal transmitted by A is split into two. One
copy is transmitted over the working fiber 1, and
the other copy is transmitted over the protection
fibers 8, 7, and 6.
– During normal operation, B receives two
identical signals from A, and selects the one
with the best quality. If fiber 1 fails, B will
continue to receive A’s signal over the
protection path. The same applies if there is a
node failure.
Two-fiber bidirectional line switched
ring (2F-BLSR)
ADM 1 ADM 2 2 ADM 3
1
A B
7 8
6 12 9 3
11 10
C
5 4
ADM 6 ADM 5 ADM 4

• Features:
– Used in metro core rings.
– Fibers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 form a ring, call it ring 1, on
which transmission is clockwise. Fibers 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,
and 12 form another ring, call it ring 2, on which
transmission is counter-clockwise.
– Both rings 1 and 2 carry working and protection traffic.
This is done by dividing the capacity of each fiber on
ring 1 and 2 to two parts. One part is used to carry
working traffic and the other protection traffic.
– A transmits to B over the working part of fibers 1 and
2 of ring 1, and B transmits to A over the working part
of fibers 8 and 7 of ring 2.

• Self-healing mechanism:
– The ring provides line switching. If fiber 2 fails
then the traffic that goes over fiber 2 will be
automatically switched to the protection part of
ring 2.
– That is, all the traffic will be re-routed to ADM
3 over the protection part of ring 2 using fibers
7, 12, 11, 10, and 9. From there, the traffic for
each connection will continue on following the
original path of the connection.

Four-fiber bidirectional line switched
ring (4F-BLSR)
ADM 1 ADM 2 ADM 3
A B
Working rings
Protection rings
ADM 6 ADM 5 ADM 4

• Features
– Two working rings and two protection rings.
The two working rings transmit in opposite
directions, and each is protected by a
protection ring which transmits in the same
direction.
– The advantage of this four-fiber ring is that it
can suffer multiple failures and still function.
In view of this, it is deployed by long-distance
telephone companies in regional and national
rings.

• Self-healing operation (span switching):
– If a working fiber fails, the working traffic will
be transferred over its protection ring. This is
known as span switching.
ADM 1 ADM 2 ADM 3 ADM 1 ADM 2 ADM 3
Normal operation Span switching

• Self-healing operation (ring switching):
– Often, the working and protection fibers are
part of the same bundle of fibers. When the
bundle is cut the traffic will be switched to the
protection fibers. This is known as ring
switching.
ADM 1 Working ADM 2 ADM 3 ADM 1 Working ADM 2 ADM 3

A A
Protection Protection
B B
ADM 6 ADM 5 ADM 4 ADM 6 ADM 5 ADM 4

Generic Framing Procedure (GFP)
• This is a light-weight adaptation scheme

that permits the transmission of different
types of traffic over SONET/SDH and in
the future, over G.709.

• GFP permits the transport of
a) frame-oriented traffic, such as Ethernet, and
b) block-coded data for delay-sensitive storage
area networks (SAN) transported by networks
such as Fiber Channel, FICON, and ESCON
over SONET/SDH and G.709.
• GFP is a result of joint standardization
effort by ANSI committee T1X1.5 and ITU-
T.
• It is described in ITU-T recommendation
G.7041
Existing and GFP-based transport options
for end-user applications
Voice Data (IP, MPLS, IPX) SAN Video
Private Fiber
Ethernet ESCON FICON DM
lines Channel
Frame Relay POS
HDLC
ATM GFP
SONET/SDH
WDM/OTN

The GFP stack
Ethernet IP over PPP SAN data
GFP client-dependent aspects
GFP
GFP client-independent aspects
SONET/SDH G.709

GFP frame structure
Payload length
Payload length • GFP core header
Core header
Core HEC – Payload length indicator
Core HEC
(PLI) - 2 bytes. It gives the
size of the payload.
Payload header
– Core HEC (cHEC) - 2
Payload bytes. It protects the PLI
field. Standard CRC-16
Payload enables single bit error
correction and multiple bit
error detection.
Payload FCS

The GFP payload structure
Payload type PTI PFI EXI
Payload type UPI
Type HEC
Payload header Type HEC
0-60 bytes
Payload
of
extension header
Payload FCS
Payload FCS
Payload FCS
Payload FCS
Payload FCS

GFP payload header
variable-length area from 4 to 64 bytes.
• Payload type - 2 bytes
– Payload type identifier (PTI) - 3 bits.
Identifies the type of frame:
PTI PFI EXI • User data frames , Client mgmt frames
Payload type – Payload FCS indicator (PFI) - 1 bit.
UPI
Payload type Identifies if there is a payload FCS
Type HEC
– Extension header identifier (EXI) - 4 bits.
Identifies the type of extension header.
Type HEC – User payload identifier (UPI) - 8 bits.
Identifies the type of payload
0-60 bytes • Frame-mapped Ethernet
Of • Frame-mapped PPP (IP, MPLS)
Extension header • Transparent-mapped Fiber Channel
• Transparent-mapped FICON
• Transparent-mapped ESCON
• Transparent-mapped GbE
• Type HEC (tHEC) - 2 bytes. It protects the
payload header. Standard CRC-16.

GFP payload trailer
Payload header
• Optional 4-byte FCS.

Payload
– CRC-32
– Protects the contents of
the payload
Payload FCS
information field.
Payload FCS
Payload FCS
Payload FCS
Payload FCS

GFP-client independent functions
• The client independent sublayer supports

the following functions:
– Frame delineation
– Client/frame multiplexing
– Payload scrambler
– Client managment

Frame delineation
• The frame Non-correctable

core header error
delineation hunt Sync
mechanism is similar No 2nd

cHEC
to the one used in Correct 2nd
cHEC cHEC match
ATM.
• The cHEC is used to Presync
assure correct frame

boundary
identification
• Operation:
– Under normal conditions, the GFP receiver
operates in the Sync state. The receiver
examines the PLI field, validates the cHEC,
and extracts the framed higher-level PD. It
then moves on to the next GFP header.
– When an uncorrectable error in the core
header occurs (i.e., cHEC fails and more than
one bit error is detected), the receiver enters
the Hunt state.

• Hunt state:
– Using the cHEC it attempts to locate the
beginning of the next GFP PDU, moving one
bit at a time (Same as in ATM - see Perros “An
introduction to ATM networks, Wiley 2001.
– Once this is achieved it moves to the Pre-Sync
state, where it verifies the beginning of the
boundary of the next N GFP PDUs.
– If successful, it moves to the Sync state,
otherwise it moves back to the hunt state.

Frame multiplexing
• Client data frames and client management

frames are multiplexed, with client data
frames having priority over client
management frames.
• Idle frames are inserted to maintain a
continuous bit flow (rate coupling)

GFP client-specific functions
• The client data can be carried in GFP

frames using on of the two adaptation
modes:
– Frame-mapped GFP (GFP-F) applicable to
most packet data types
– Transparent-mapped GFP (GFP-T) applicable
to 8B/10B coded signals

Frame-mapped GFP
• Variable length frames such as:

– Ethernet MAC frames,
– PPP/IP packets
– HDLC-framed PDUs
can be carried in the GFP payload.
• One frame per GFP payload.
• Max. size: 65,535 bytes

Transparent-mapped GFP
• Fiber Channel, ESCON, FICON, Gigabit

Ethernet high-speed LANs use 8B/10B
block-coding to transport client data and
control information.
• Rather than transporting data on a frame-by-
frame basis, the GFP transparent-mapped
mode, transports data as a stream of
characters.
• Specifically, the individual characters are
de-mapped from their client 8B/10B block
codes and then mapped into periodic fixed-
length GFP frames using 64B/65B block
coding.
• This reduces the 25% overhead introduced
by the 8B/10B block-coding.
• Also, transparent mapping reduces latency,
which is important for storage related
applications

• The first step, is to decode the 8B/10B
codes. The 10 bit code is decoded into its
original data or control codeword value.
• The decoded characters are then mapped
into 64B/65B codes. A bit in the 65-bit
code indicates whether the 65-bit block
contains only data or control characters are
also included
• 8 consecutive 65-bit blocks are grouped
together into a single superblock.
• A GFP frame contains N such superblocks.
Data over SONET/SDH (DoS)
• The DoS architecture provides an efficient

mechanism to transport data coming from
interfaces such as: Ethernet, Fiber Channel,
ESCON/FICON over SONET/SDH.
• It relies on a combination of
– GFP,
– Virtual concatenation, and
– Link capacity adjustment scheme (LCAS)
Virtual concatenation
• This procedure maps an incoming traffic stream
into a number of individual sub-rate payloads.
• The sub-rate payloads are switched through the
SONET/SDH network independently of each
other
• At the destination, they are used to reconstruct the
original traffic stream.

Example
• Let us consider the case of transporting the
1 GbE signal over SONET/SDH.
• According to the specifications, an STS-
48c (2,488 Gbps) has to be used, thus
leaving a lot of unused capacity.
• Using the virtual concatenation scheme, 7
independent STS-3c (7x155,520 = 1,088)
can be employed to carry the 1 GbE signal
at full rate.
This works as follows:
• At the transmitter the incoming stream is
de-multiplexed and distributed in some
fashion over 7 different payloads, each an
STS-3c.
• Intermediate SONET/SDH nodes only see
different payloads and they are not aware
of the concatenation
• At the destination, the seven flows get
multiplexed into the single original GbE
stream.
Link capacity adjustment scheme
(LCAS)
• This scheme permits to dynamically adjust
the number of sub-rate payloads allocated
to a traffic stream, whose transmission rate
may vary over time.
• LCAS can be also used when re-routing
traffic due to a failure.

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Chapter 2:

SONET/SDH and GFP

• Time division multiplexing allows a link

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 2

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 3

• TDM is used in telephony

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 5

Table 2.1: The North American Hierarchy

Level number Voice channels Data Rate (Mbps)

Table 2.2: The international (ITU-T) hierarchy

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 7

• 24 8-bit time slots/frame

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 9

• Fractional T1 or E1 allows the use of only

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 10

• The time slot boundaries are ignored by the

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 11

• The electrical side of the SONET signal is

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 14

3 181 182 183 184 185 186 … 270

4 271 272 273 274 275 276 … 360

5 361 362 363 364 365 366 … 450

6 451 452 453 454 455 456 … 560

7 561 562 563 564 565 566 … 630

8 631 632 636 634 635 636 … 720

9 721 722 723 724 725 726 … 810

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 16

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 17

4 275 276 ...

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 18

STS-1 regenerator regenerator STS-1

Section Section Section Section Section

Line Line Line

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 19

Line Line Line Line

Section Section Section Section Section Section

Photonic Photonic Photonic Photonic Photonic Photonic

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 21

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Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 23

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 24

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 25

Location of the POH The POH bytes

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 26

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 27

• The payload consists of user data and the

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 28

• The STS-1 payload is divided into seven

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 29

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 30

• VT6: This virtual tributary transports a DS-2

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 31

• Mapped directly onto the SPE. An ATM

• IP packets are first encapsulated in HDLC and

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 33

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 34

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 36

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 37

• Several different equipment exist:

Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 38

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Connection-Oriented Networks - Harry Perros 40