SDH BASICS

Niranjan B
Regional Telecom Training Center
Mysore
 DISADVANTAGES OF PDH
• NO UNIVERSAL STANDARD
• DIFFERENT HIERARCHIES AROUND THE WORLD
• PDH NETWORK MANAGEMENT IS PROPRIETARY
• DROPPING OF INDIVIDUAL CHANNELS IN HIGHER
ORDER STREAM
• NON-HOMOGENEITY OF EQUIPMENT
• CHANNEL SEGREGATION PROBLEM
• PROBLEM OF CROSS CONNECTION
 S.D.H. Evolution

• Fibre Optic Bandwidth :

• Technical Sophistication.
• Intelligence :.
• Customer Service Needs
 SECTION OVER HEAD(SOH)
• SOH bytes provide communication channels to cater for:

• OA&M facilities.
• user channels.
• protection switching.
• section performance
• frame alignment
• other functions.
For 1.544 Mbit PDH signal (North America and
Japan Standard), there are 25 bytes in 125 micro
second and for 2.0408 Mbit per second signal,
there are 32 bytes in 125 micro second.
Taking some additional bytes for supervisory
purposes, 27 bytes can be allotted for holding
1.544 Mbit per second signal, i.e. 9 rows x 3
columns. Similarly, for 2.048 Mbit per second
signal, 36 bytes are allotted in 125 micro
seconds, i.e. 9 rows x 4 columns. Therefore, it
could be said 9 rows are matched to both
hierarchies.
 SDH STANDARDS
STM-1 155.52 Mbps

SMT-4 622.08 Mbps

STM-16 2588.32 Mbps 2.5G

STM-64 9953.28 Mbps 10G

STM-0 = 51.840 Mbps Used in SONET

1/3rd of STM-1
 Synchronous Transport Module-STM
• This is the information structure used to
support information pay load and over head
information field organised in a block frame
structure which repeats every 125 micro
seconds
 BASIC DEFINATIONS

• Container: First Entry point of PDH signal, in which signal is

prepared ( adding fixed stuff, JC, Justification Opportunity
byte) so that it can enter in to VC stage .32 to 34 byet fo 2Mb
 MUTIPLEXING PRINCIPLE
Container-n( n=1-4 ): A container is the information structure
which forms the network synchronous information payload for
a virtual container

SIGNAL

2Mb

CONTAINER
MUX PRINCIPLE: CONTAINERS(C-n)

SIG

SIGNAL

C-12
SIGNAL

C-3

C-4
 BASIC DEFINATIONS
• Virtual Container(VC):

• VC= Container(C) +POH (path over head)

• 35 byte for 2Mb

 MUX PRINCIPLE: VC-n
Virtual Container-n(VC-n):It is the information structure used
to support path layer connections in the SDH.
Two types of VCs: Lower order VC-n(n=1,2)
Higher order Vc-n(n=3,4)

P
O
CONTAINER
H
 Tributary Unit

• A tributary unit is a information structure which provides

adaptation between the lower order path layer and the
higher order path layer. It consists of a information pay load
(lower order virtual container) and a tributary unit pointer
which indicates the offset of the pay load frame start relating
to the higher order VC frame start.
• Tributary unit 1 for VC-1 and Tributary unit 2 is for VC-2 and
Tributary unit 3 is for VC-3, when it is mapped for VC-4
through tributary group-3. TU-3 pointer consists of 3 bytes
out of 9 bytes. Three bytes are H1, H2, H3 and remaining
bytes are fixed bytes. TU-1 pointers are one byte interleaved
in the TUG-2.
 MUX PRINCIPLE: TU-n/ AU
•It is an information structure which provides adaptation between two
layers: -Between lower and higher order path layers for TU
-Between higher order path layer and section layer for AU

P P
T O CONTAINER
R H

POINTER is an indicator whose value defines the frame offset of a VC with

respect to the frame reference of the transport entity on which it is supported
 BASIC DEFINATIONS
• Tributary Unit(TU): Adaptation between lower order path and higher
order path
• Pointer
• An indicator whose value defines frame offset of a VC with respect to the
frame reference of transport entity, on which it is supported.

• Administrative Unit
• It is the information structure which provides adaptation between the
higher order path layer and the multiplex section layer. It consists of
information pay load and a A.U. pointer which indicates the offset of the
pay load frame start relating to the multiplex section frame start. Two AUs
are defined (i) AU-4 consisting VC-4 plus an A.U. pointer indicating phase
alignment of VC-4 with respect to STM-N frame, (ii) AU-3 consisting of VC-
3 plus A.U. pointer indicating phase alignment of VC-3 with respect to
STM-N frame. A.U. location is fixed with respect to STM-N frame.
 BASIC DEFINATIONS
• Tributary Unit(TU): Adaptation between lower order path and higher
order path
• Pointer
• An indicator whose value defines frame offset of a VC with respect to the
frame reference of transport entity, on which it is supported.

• Administrative Unit
• It is the information structure which provides adaptation between the
higher order path layer and the multiplex section layer. It consists of
information pay load and a A.U. pointer which indicates the offset of the
pay load frame start relating to the multiplex section frame start. Two AUs
are defined (i) AU-4 consisting VC-4 plus an A.U. pointer indicating phase
alignment of VC-4 with respect to STM-N frame, (ii) AU-3 consisting of VC-
3 plus A.U. pointer indicating phase alignment of VC-3 with respect to
STM-N frame. A.U. location is fixed with respect to STM-N frame.
 Tributary Unit Group

• One or more tributaries are contained in

tributary unit group. A TUG-2 consist of
homogenous assembly of identical TU-1s or
TU-2.
• TUG-3 consists of a homogenous assembly of
TUG-2s or TU-3.
• TUG-2 consists of 3 TU-12s (For 2.048
Mbit/sec). TUG-3 consists of either 7 TUG-2 or
one TU-3.
 BASIC DEFINATIONS
• Administrative Group
• AUG consists of a homogenous assembly of AU-3s or an AU-4.

• Concatenation
• The procedure with which the multiple virtual container are associated
with one another, with the result their combined capacity could be used
as a single container across which bit sequence

• Network Node Interface (NNI)

• The interface at a network node which is used to interconnect with
another network node.
• integrity is maintained.
•
 Generic Multiplexing Structure

139264kbps
AUG AU-4 VC-4 C-4
X3
XN X1
TUG-3 TU-3 VC-3
STM-N X3

44736kbps
AU-3 VC-3 C-3 34368kbps
X7
X7 X1 TU-2 VC-2 C-2 6312kbps

TUG-2 X3
TU-12 VC-12 C-12 2048kbps

X4 9X4
TU-11 VC-11 C-11 1544kbps
9X3
 Embedded Overhead Bytes

STM-1 SOH
A1 A1 A1 A2 A2 A2 J0 X X
B1 E1 F1 X X VC-3/4 POH
D1 D2 D3 J1
AU - PTR H1 Y Y H2 1 1 H3 H3 H3 B3
B2 B2 B2 K1 K2 C2
D4 D5 D6
G1
D7 D8 D9 VC-11/12/ 2 POH
F2
D10 D11 D12
S1 M 1 E2 X X H4 V5
F3 J2
K3 N2
N1 K4
Media dependent bytes
X Reserved for national use RSOH
Pointer

P O H
SOH: Section overhead MSOH Payload

POH: Path overhead

The overheads (SOH, POH) are used for maintenance and
supervision of the SDH transmission network.
Functions of Regenerator Section Overhead

A1 A1 A1 A2 A2 A2 J0
B1
D1
E1
D2
F1
D3
 Frame Alignment
AU - Pointer
(A1, A2)
B2 B2 B2 K1 K2
D4 D5 D6
D7 D8 D9  Section Trace
D10 D11 D12 (J0 Identficationof regenerator
S1 M1 E2
source)

 Parity check
(B1 calculated by regenerator and multiplexers)

 Data communication channels

(D1...D3, F1 between regenerators)

 Voice communication channels

(E1 between regenerators)
Functions of Multiplexer Section Overhead
A1 A1 A1 A2 A2 A2 J0
B1 E1 F1
D1 D2 D3  Parity check (B2)
AU - Pointer
B2 B2 B2 K1 K2  Alarm information (K2)
D4 D5 D6
D7
D10
D8
D11
D9
D12
 Remote error indication (M1,K2)
S1 M1 E2

 Automatic protection switching

(K1, K2 Bytes)

 Data communication channels

(D4 to D12 between multiplexers)

 Clock source information (S1)

 Voice communications
channels (E2 between multiplexers)
 Functions of Path Overhead

VC-3/4 POH
 Parity check
B3, V5/ BIP-2 calculated by path
J1 terminating point
B3 VC-11/12/2
C2 POH
G1
 Alarm and performance information
F2 V5 (V5, G1)
H4 J2
N2
F3
K4
 Structure of the VC
K4
N1
Signal label C2

 Multiframe indication for TUs (H4)

 User communications channel

between path elements (F2, F3)

 Identification of the Path Source

(Path Trace J1, J2)
 SOH BYTES
• A-1, A-2 are framing bytes. Their values are :
• A1 : 11110110
• A2 : 00101000
• These two types of bytes form 16 bit Frame Alignment Word (FAW).
• FAW formed by the last A-1 byte and the adjacent A-2 byte, in the
transmitter sequence defines the frame reference for each of signal
rates.
• There are 3 A-1 bytes in STM-1 and 3 A-2 bytes in STM-1. In higher
order STM their number increases with STM order. In STM-4, there
will be 12 A-1 bytes and 12 A-2 bytes.
 SOH BYTES -A1, A2
• A-1, A-2 are framing bytes. Their values are :
• A1 : 11110110
• A2 : 00101000
• These two types of bytes form 16 bit Frame Alignment Word
(FAW). FAW formed by the last A-1 byte and the adjacent A-2
byte, in the transmitter sequence defines the frame reference
for each of signal rates. There are 3 A-1 bytes in STM-1 and 3
A-2 bytes in STM-1. In higher order STM their number
increases with STM order. In STM-4, there will be 12 A-1
bytes and 12 A-2 bytes.
 SOH BYTES-J1/C1
• STM Identifier with J1/ C-1 Byte : In STM-1
there is a single C-1 byte which is used to
identify each of inter-leaved STM’s and in an
STM-N signal. It takes binary equivalent to
position in inter-leave.
 SOH BYTES- D,E,F
• D-1 or D-12 : These bytes are for data
communication channel. In this D-1, D-2 and
D-3 are for regenerator section. It can support
192 kilo bit per section. D-4 to D-12 are for
multiplex section. They can support 576 kilo
bit per second.
• E-1 is for regenerator section order wire.
• E-2 is for multiplex section order wire.
• F-1 is used for fault control purposes
 SOH BYTES- B1 B2
• B-1 byte are called bit inter-leave parity-8.
This is used for error monitoring in the
regenerator section. There is only 1 byte in
STM-1 or STM-4 or STM-16. On line
monitoring done in this case.
• B-2 bytes. These are used for error monitoring
in the multiplex section. There are 3 bytes for
STM-1, STM-4 and 16 will have more number
of B-2 bytes as per their order.
 SOH BYTES- K1 K2
• K-1, K-2 bytes.
• There are 2 bytes for STM-1, 4 or 16. These
are used for coordinating the protection
switching across a set of multiplex section
organised as protection group, they are used
for automatic protection switching.
 Section and High Order Path Overhead Bytes
The purpose of individual bytes is detailed below.
A1,A2 Frame Alignment.
B1,B2 Parity bytes for errors monitoring.
D1…D3 Data communication channel (DCC)
network management.
D4…D12 Data communication channel (DCC)
network management.
E1,E2 Orderwire channel.
F1 Maintenance
J0 Trace identifier
K1,K2 Automatic protection switching (APS) channel.
M1 Transmission error acknowledgement.
S1 Clock quality indicator.
* Media dependent bytes.
SDH–based Transport Network Layered
Model
SDH LAYERS
LAYERED INTERFACE
 In–Service Maintenance Signals

Major alarm conditions such as

Loss of Signal (LOS),
Loss of Frame (LOF),
Loss of Pointer (LOP)
Alarm Indication Signal (AIS) to be transmitted downstream.
Different AIS signals are generated depending upon which level
of the maintenance hierarchy is affected
 In–Service Maintenance Signals
Far End Receive Failure (FERF) is sent upstream in the
Multiplexer Section Overhead after Multiplexer Section
AIS, or LOS, or LOF has been detected by equipment
terminating in a Multiplexer Section span

Remote Alarm Indication (RAI) for a high order path is sent

upstream after Path AIS or LOP has been detected by
equipment terminating a Path, and similarly,
Remote Alarm Indication (RAI) for a Low Order Path is sent
upstream after Low Order Path AIS or LOP has been
detected by equipment terminating a Low Order Path.
 S.D.H. MERITS

•Simplified multiplexing/demultiplexing techniques.

•Direct access to lower speed tributaries, without need to

multiplex/demultiplex the entire high speed signal.

•Enhanced operations, Administration, Maintenance and provisioning

capabilities.

•Easy growth to higher bit rates in step with evolution of transmission

technology.

•Capable of transporting existing PDH signals.

•Capable of transporting future broadband (ATM) channel bit rates.

•Capable of operating in a multi-vendor and multi-operator environment.

 ADVANTAGES OF SDH
• Multi-vendor environment (mid span meet) :
• Synchronous networking :
• Enhanced OAM&P :.
• Positioning the network for transport on new
services
• HUB :