T1/E1/ISDN Technology

Technology Guide
T1/E1/ISDN Technology
Contents
Overview ....................................................................................................................................3 Architecture ..............................................................................................................................4 ISDN architecture ..............................................................................................................4 ISDN-specific devices ........................................................................................................4 ISDN interfaces ..................................................................................................................5 ISDN protocol stack layers ................................................................................................5 T1/E1 interfaces ...............................................................................................................6 ISDN Call Setup ........................................................................................................................9 Applications ........................................................................................................................... 11 T1/E1 trunks ................................................................................................................... 11 ISDN and SS7 ................................................................................................................. 11 IxVoice Testing Solution ........................................................................................................ 12 Use cases ........................................................................................................................ 12 Main features ................................................................................................................. 13 Test applications ........................................................................................................... 13 Glossary ................................................................................................................................. 14
Copyright 1998-2004 Ixia. All rights reserved. Ixia and its licensors retain all ownership rights to the IXIA 100, 400 and 1600 hardware and software and its documentation. Use of Ixia hardware and software is governed by the license agreement accompanying your original purchase. This manual, as well as the hardware and software described in it, is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license. The information in this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Ixia. Ixia assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this book. Except as permitted by such license, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Ixia. RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph 14(g)(iii) at FAR 52.227 and subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013. All other companies and product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
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Overview
Integrated Services Digital Network is an all-digital communications line that allows the transmission of voice, data, video, and graphics, at very high speeds, over standard communication lines. The underlying principle is the support of a wide range of voice (telephone calls) and non-voice (data exchange) applications in the same network. This is achieved through the provision of a range of services using a limited set of connection types and user-network interface arrangements. These limitations serve to make international ISDN interconnection feasible. The primary application of ISDN is the provision of both circuit and packet switching, but ISDN also supports nonswitched connections. The fundamental building block of ISDN is a 64 kbit/s switched digital connection. There are two ways to provide the ISDN services to the customers. These are: Basic Rate Access Interface (BRI) provides: two full-duplex 64 kbps bearer (B) channels one full-duplex 16 kbps D channel Primary Rate Access Interface (PRI) consists of: up to 23 (for T1 lines) and 30 (for E1 lines) 64 kbps B channels one 64 kbps D channel The main transport medium for ISDN is the T1 /E1 digital line. The T1 /E1 interfaces are used to transmit digital voice and data at a maximum 1.544 Mbps / 2048 Mbps rate. E1 and T1 belong to the physical layer in the OSI reference model, thus Layer 2 technologies such as ATM and FR are carried over it. A T1 /E1 line connects two points: in one point the information is multiplexed and in the second demultiplexed.
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Architecture
ISDN architecture There are three types of channels in ISDN: B-Channel the bearer channel is the basic user channel. It carries user service information including: digital data, video, and voice at a rate of 64 kbps. A B channel supports the following types of connection: Circuit-switched the circuit is set up by common channel signaling over the D channel. Packet-switched data is exchanged via a X.25 packet switching node. Frame mode. Semipermanent the connection is set up by prior arrangement with the service provider. D-Channel the signaling channel carries: Signaling information using common-channel signaling, which provides an efficient way to use the B channels. Data packets between the user and the network at a rate of 16 kbps (ISDN-BRI) or 64 kbps (ISDN-PRI). H-Channel Performs the same function as B-Channels, but operates at rates of 384, 1536, 1920 kbps. This channel can be used only with ISDN-PRI in ATM.
Figure 1 shows a typical ISDN architecture. ISDN-specific devices TA Terminal Adapters are devices that are used to portray non-ISDN equipment as ISDN compatible. LE ISDN central office (CO). The LE implements the ISDN protocol and is part of the network. LT Local Termination is used to express the LE responsible for the functions associated with the end of the Local Loop. ET Used to express the LE responsible for switching functions. NT Network Termination Equipment: NT1 Defines the termination of the connection between the user premises and the LE. Its functions relate to performance monitoring, power transfer, and multiplexing of channels. NT2 Defines any device that provides user premises switching, multiplexing, and concentration: LANs, mainframe computers, terminal controllers. TE Terminal Equipment any user device: telephone or facsimile. There are two forms of terminal equipment: TE1 Equipment that is ISDN compatible. TE2 Equipment that is not ISDN compatible.
Figure 1. ISDN architecture.
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ISDN interfaces The R interface is a communication reference point between a non-ISDN compatible TE and a TA. The S interface is a communication reference link between the TE or TA and the NT equipment. The T interface is a communication reference point between user switching equipment and a Local Loop Terminator. The U interface is a communication reference point between the NT equipment and the LE. This reference point may be referred to as the network boundary when the FCC definition of the network terminal is used. ISDN protocol stack layers
permit this relatively high data rate over ordinary single-pair local loops. 2B1Q (2 Binary 1 Quaternary) is the most common signaling method on U interfaces. Data is transmitted in a superframe consisting of 8 240-bit frames for a total of 1920 bits (240 octets). 2. ISDN Data Link Layer - Link Access Protocol D channel (LAP-D) works in the Asynchronous Balanced Mode (ABM). This mode is totally balanced (i.e., no master/slave relationship). Each station may initialize, supervise, recover from errors, and send frames at any time. The protocol treats the DTE and DCE as equals. 3. ISDN Network Layer Layer 3 is used for the establishment, maintenance, and termination of logical network connections between two devices. Service Profile IDs (SPIDs) are used to identify what services and features the switch provides to the attached ISDN device. SPIDs are optional; when they are used, they are only accessed at device initialization time, before the call is set up. If an ISDN line requires a SPID, but it is not correctly supplied, then Layer 2 initialization will take place, but Layer 3 will not, and the device will not be able to place or accept calls. Recommendation Q.931 and related recommendations from the ITU-T cover the network layer of Digital Subscriber Signalling System No. 1, which handles the user-network interface for control of ISDN calls.
Figure 2. ISDN protocol stack layers. 1. ISDN Physical Layer The physical layer is represented by the U interface. At the physical layer, echo cancellation is used to reduce noise, and data encoding schemes (2B1Q in North America, 4B3T in Europe)
Figure 3. Structure of the T1 frame, ESF, and D4/SF T1/E1 interfaces T1 reference. The T1 interface provides a 1544 kbps access rate. It can support up to 24 user channels, each at a 64 kbps access rate. The T1 interface supports 4 different bit structures, dictated by the mode of operation: Frame, Super Frame, Extended Super Frame, and Unframed. These bit structures determine how the bits are interpreted. Figure 3 shows the structure of the T1 frame, ESF, and D4/SF. A T1 basic frame is made up of 193 bits, 24 timeslots. The first (framing) bit of a frame creates a channel of 8kbit/s and is used for messages, synchronization, and alarms. The rest of 192 bits form 24 timeslots, each containing 8 bits. Each timeslot provides 64 kbps data throughput. The ISDN standard defines two multiframe formats: The D4/Super Frame (SF) is a structure made up of 12 frames. Two mechanisms can be enabled when using SFs: The synchronization mechanism (which is always activated) - The 12 framing bits, which are the leading bits of each frame in one SF, form a unique pattern. With this
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pattern, synchronization is achieved and verified (it is used to identify the frame boundaries and the SF boundaries). The signaling mechanism (which is optional): a. If CAS is in use, every 6th frame in the SF contains one robbed bit in each byte of information (channel). This robbed bit carries the information of this specific channel. The last bit of each TS is robbed for the purpose of signaling. These robbed bits form a channel with capacity of 10.666 kbps. b. If CCS is in use, then one TS, usually TS 24, is dedicated for signaling purposes. The D5 / Extended Super Frame (ESF): consists of 24 frames. The ESF knows 4 different framing types: Synchronization: bit sequence 001011 in frames 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24 when working with ESF synchronization is achieved by checking the 6 bit-long pattern that is created from every 4th framing bit.
Data Link: frames 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 operates using every second framing bit, beginning at the first frame of the ESF. These bits create a 4 kbps data link called the Facility Data Link. This channel is used for delivering maintenance information and supervisory control. CRC-6: frames 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22 This mechanism provides the ability to monitor the transmission quality of the DS1 facility. This mechanism uses every 4th bit of the framing bits in the ESF, beginning at the second one. Signaling: This mechanism is very similar to the signaling mechanism of the SF, except that it can be used for ABCD signaling using four different bits. One of 8 bits of each DS-0 (T1) channel is robbed for signaling in 6th, 12th, 18th, and 24th frame. This is also called ABCD signaling. The options define up to 16 features. Six out of 24 S-bits are used for synchronization. They are called Fe bits. The remaining bits are used for a 4 kbps data link. When using the T1 interfaces several modes of operation are available: 1. Unframed (UNF): A stream of bits at 1544 Kbps. No channels are associated to any specific group of
bits. None of the mechanism described above is used. 2. Superframe (SF): Data transferred using the SF format. 3. SF + CAS: The CAS is carried over the robbed bits of each 6th and 12th frame detected by the SF format. 4. ESF. 5. ESF + CAS. 6. ESF + FDL. 7. ESF + CAS/CRC/FDL. 8. CCS: Can be used in each of the framed formats, by dedicating one channel (usually TS-24) for delivering the signaling messages, in a predetermined protocol. E1 reference. The E1 interface provides a 2048 kbps access rate. It can support up to 32 user channels, each of 64 kbps access rate, though mostly only 30 are used as dedicated user channels. The E1 interface supports several mechanisms for synchronization, error correction and detection, management and performance messages and signaling. The E1 interface supports three bit structures: Frame, Multiframe, and Unframed. The mode of operation dictates how the bits are structured and as consequent the way they will be interpreted.
Figure 4. E1 frame.
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An E1 basic frame is made up of 256 bits, 32 timeslots, each containing 8 bits. Each timeslot provides a 64 kbps data throughput. E1 time slots have specific functions as follows: 1. TS0 is dedicated for synchronization, alarms and messages (future use), unless configured differently. 2. TS16 is usually used for signaling, but can carry data as well. 3. TS1-TS15 and TS17-TS31 are used for carrying user data. The MultiFrame Structure is made of 16 consecutive frames. Multiframe structure is used for two purposes: Signaling: CAS (Channel Associated Signaling): In each Multiframe, each channel has a predetermined frame. In this frame half of TS16 is dedicated for this channel signaling information. CCS (Common Channel Signaling): In this mode of operation one or more channels of 64 kbps are dedicated for signaling and the information carried in them asynchronously serves for all other channels. TS16 is usually used for this purpose. Error correcting code mechanism:
CRC is carried in TS0. This mechanism is operated using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC 4). Each of these modes is independent from the use of the other. To verify that the received bits are mapped to the correct channels, a synchronization mechanism is activated. The synchronization information is carried in the TS0 of any second frame. Such a frame is called FAS. A FAS carries the unique pattern 0011011 (bits 1 7), that specifies the alignment of the frame. When using the E1 interfaces several modes of operation are available: 1. Unframed (UNF): A stream of bits at 2048 Kbs. No channels are associated to any specific group of bits. None of the mechanism described above is used. 2. Framed (FR): All 32 slots are used to transfer data, detection of the frame boundaries (synchronization) is achieved using TS0. 3. Multiframe (MF): TS0 is used for the synchronization of the Multiframes. All other channels are unaffected. 4. MF: Same as MF + One channel that is dedicated for signaling - CAS. 5. MF + CRC: Using the Si bits of each FAS to deliver the CRC 4. 6. MF + CAS/CCS +CRC.
ISDN Call Setup
Every ISDN message consists of the following parts: The protocol discriminator is the first part of every message. It specifies the protocol that was used to encode the transmission. Currently, only two protocols are expected to be used over the D-channel: Q.931 and X.25. Call reference identifies the call or facility registration/cancellation request at the local user - network interface to which the particular message applies. The call reference does not have end-to-end significance across ISDNs. The call reference value is assigned at the beginning of a call and remains fixed until the call is terminated. The message type identifies the function of the message being sent. Other information elements, as required. Information elements a), b) and c) are common to all the messages and are always present, while information element d) is specific to each message type: Call establishment message: ALERTING. CALL PROCEEDING. CONNECT. CONNECT KNOWLEDGE. PROGRESS. SETUP. SETUP ACKNOWLEDGE.
Call information phase message: RESUME. RESUME ACKNOWLEDGE. RESUME REJECT. SUSPEND. SUSPEND ACKNOWLEDGE. SUSPEND REJECT. USER INFORMATION. Call clearing messages: DISCONNECT. RELEASE. RELEASE COMPLETE. RESTART. RESTART ACKNOWLEDGE. Miscellaneous messages: SEGMENT. CONGESTION CONTROL. INFORMATION. NOTIFY. STATUS. STATUS ENQUIRY. SS7 messages: ACM: Address Complete Message. ANM: Answer Message. IAM: Initial Address Message. REL: Release. RLC: Release Complete.
Figure 5. Signaling flow for an ISDN call. Figure 5 shows the signaling flow for an ISDN call.
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Applications
T1/E1 trunks The main application of T1 / E1 lines is the connection between the PBX and the CO, as shown in Figure 6.
ISDN and SS7 Figure 7 shows an SS7-based ISDN network. ISDN signaling is used between the terminal equipment and the local exchange office. SS7 is used for signaling by the COs.
Figure 6. T1 / E1 connection between the PBX and the CO.
Figure 7. SS7-based ISDN network.
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IxVoice Testing Solution
Use cases Typical use case.This is an end-to-end test bed that can be used to test a PBX/CO switch. Listed below are the media types that can be used with IxVoice along with their characteristics: DTMF, MF Signal level: -40 to 0 dBm0. Duration (50 to 10000 ms). InterDigit delay (50 to 10000 ms). Timeout and InterDigit timeout (0 to 60000 ms). Wait for Exact number of DTMFs, Specific DTMFs, All DTMFs. User defined execution flow based on DTMFs/MFs detected. Custom tone Duration (50 to 60000 ms). Detection timeout (0 to 60000 ms).
Continuous and cadenced tones. QoV voice clips Clip level: 30, 20, -10, 0 dBm. Coding: PCM, A-Law, MU-Law. Sampling: 8,000Hz, 8 bits/sample. Fax Normal/Polling/Turnaround polling. V.17, V.29, V.27ter 14.4K, MH/MR/ MMR, ECM/ non-ECM, normal/fine/ super fine resolution, A4/B4/A3 page size, MSLT control, multi-page. T.30 Fax Impairments: bad TCF, CRC and partial page errors. Data modem Link protocol synchronous, asynchronous, LAPM, MNP. Compression protocol V.42 bis, MNP5. Line quality average round trip delay.
Figure 8.
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Sample T.30 to T.30 fax testing configuration. This test bed can be used to test Fax Media Gateways.
Figure 9. The IxVoice box is a 2U chassis containing the following: Software. Test Controller & Results Manager. SQL database. T1/E1/Analog Test Library. Hardware. One dual-pan T1 (E1) board, principal board, 2x 24 (2x30) channels. Two in-depth fax resource boards, 2x24 (2x30) channels. The T.30 facsimile is sent using one span of the T1 board and received using the other span of the T1 board. The fax resource boards communicate with the T1 board internally via CT Bus. Device under Test Two media gateways with fax capabilities connected back-toback via IP Main features Generates voice, tones, fax, and data modem traffic over Analog FXO and T1/E1 lines. Pre-defined test scenarios for call generation, feature and performance testing. QoV and QoF analysis. T.30 signal flow control and in-depth protocol tracing. Generates T.30 protocol impairments. Test applications Assess the QoS of the edge network devices. Verify the correct functionality of the SUT between firmware revisions. Qualify overall functionality of new devices. Troubleshoot voice/fax/data firmware switching mechanisms. Typical SUTs: PBX, CO switch, Signaling/Media Gateway (when running multiple technology tests).
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Glossary
CPE Customer Premises Equipment: terminating equipment, such as terminals, telephones, and modems, supplied by the telephone company, installed at customer sites, and connected to the telephone company network. Can also refer to any telephone equipment residing on the customer site. Data Termination Equipment: the DTE is a device at the user end of a user-network interface that serves as a data source, destination, or both. DTE connects to a data network through a data communications equipment (DCE) device (for example, a modem) and typically uses clocking signals generated by the DCE. DTE includes such devices as computers, protocol translators, and multiplexers. Data communications equipment: devices and connections of a communications network that make up the network end of the user-to-network interface. The DCE provides a physical connection to the network, forwards traffic, and provides a clocking signal used to synchronize data transmission between DCE and DTE devices. Modems and interface cards are examples of DCE. Inter-exchange Carrier: common carrier providing long distance connectivity between local access and transport areas (LATAs).
DTE
DCE
IXC (Class 3 switch)
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Technology Guide

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Figure 1. ISDN architecture.

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ISDN Call Setup

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Figure 6. T1 / E1 connection between the PBX and the CO.

Figure 7. SS7-based ISDN network.

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IxVoice Testing Solution

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IXC (Class 3 switch)

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