Chapter 3

Introduction to digital telecom signaling and applications

ATM:

➢ Most packet-switched techniques make use of variable-sized packets and this leads to
significant variations in the arrival times of the packets of a particular data stream.

➢ Because each physical connection may carry traffic from many individual data streams, it
occurs every now and then that a specific packet is queued behind a number of large
packets from other data streams that are waiting to be sent out on the physical connection.

➢ ATM is a cell-relay technology, which uses small fixed-size frames called cells. Cell
relay transmits frames with constant length, 53 octets, and provides both variable-bit-rate
(VBR) service that is optimum for data transmission and constant-bit-rate (CBR) service
for voice and video applications.

➢ CBR is not available in frame-relay technology.

➢ ATM cells are packed into an SDH frame, STM-1, or into a SONET frame and then the
physical data rate may reach 155 Mbps or higher.

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Protocol Layers of ATM

➢ ATM networks can be considered as a number of layers providing different functions.

The ATM stack consists of a physical layer, ATM cell layer, and ATM adaptation layer.

➢ ATM networks are connection oriented, which means that there is aconnection
establishment phase followed by a data transfer phase. During the connection
establishment phase, a path (virtual circuit) through the network is built up and all cells of
this call then use this path.

➢ ATM thus provides guaranteed cell sequencing but some cells in a data sequence may be
lost. The cells with errors are discarded by the network, and it is up to the end systems to
detect and recover from a cell loss.

➢ If the network supports dial-up connections, the control of virtual paths and circuits is
carried out by signaling on the subscriber interface called the user network interface
(UNI).

➢ If dial-up connections are not supported, virtual paths are set up to each network node by
the network operator. The interfaces between nodes in the network are called network
node interfaces (NNIs).

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 Cell Structure of ATM:

The ATM cell is 53 bytes long with 48 bytes reserved for carrying the payload and 5 bytes for
the header.

Generic Flow Control (GFC):

➢ The GFC field is used at a user interface only to control the data flow between the first
ATM switch and the user node.
➢ Inside the network (i.e., in the NNI), this field is used for virtual path identification
together with the other VPI fields.
➢ This is the only difference in the cell structure between UNI and NNI.

VPI and VCI:

 Virtual Path Identifier

◦ The Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) defines the virtual path for this particular cell.
◦ VPIs for a particular virtual channel connection are discovered during the
connection setup process for switched virtual connection (SVC) connections and
manually configured for permanent virtual connection (PVC) connections.
◦ VPI length 8 bits-256 virtual paths

 Virtual Channel Identifier

◦ The Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) defines the virtual channel within the
specified virtual path for this particular cell.

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 ◦ Just as with VPIs, VCIs are also discovered during the connection setup process
for switched virtual connection (SVC) connections and manually configured for
permanent virtual connection (PVC) connections.
◦ VCI length is 16 bits-65,536 VCI for each VPI

Payload Type:

◦ The Payload Type Indicator is a 3-bit field. Its bits are used as follows:
 The first bit indicates the type of ATM cell that follows. A first bit set to 0
indicates user data; a bit set to 1 indicates operations, administration and
management (OA&M) data.
 The second bit indicates whether the cell experienced congestion in its
journey from source to destination. This bit is also called the Explicit
Forward Congestion Indication (EFCI) bit.
 The second bit is set to 0 by the source. If an interim switch experiences
congestion while routing the cell, it sets the bit to 1. After it is set to 1, all
other switches in the path leave this bit value at 1.
 The third bit indicates the last cell in a block for AAL5 in user ATM cells.
For non-user ATM cells, the third bit is used for OA&M functions.

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Cell Loss Priority:

◦ The Cell Loss Priority (CLP) field is a 1-bit field used as a priority indicator.
◦ When it is set to 0, the cell is high priority and interim switches must make every
effort to forward the cell successfully.
◦ When the CLP bit is set to 1, the interim switches sometimes discard the cell in
congestion situations.

Header Error Control (HEC)

◦ The Header Error Control (HEC) field is an 8-bit field

◦ allows an ATM switch or ATM endpoint to correct a single-bit error or to detect
multi-bit errors in the first 4 bytes of the ATM header.

Physical Layer of ATM

Physical Layer:

 The physical layer provides for the transmission and reception of ATM cells across a
physical medium between two ATM devices
 This can be a transmission between an ATM endpoint and an ATM switch, or it can be
between two ATM switches.
 The physical layer is subdivided into a
◦ Physical Medium Dependent sublayer
◦ Transmission Convergence sublayer.

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PMD Sublayer

 The Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sublayer is responsible for the transmission and
reception of individual bits on a physical medium.
 These responsibilities encompass bit timing, signal encoding, interacting with the
physical medium, and the cable or wire itself.

Transmission Convergence Sublayer:

 The Transmission Convergence (TC) sublayer functions as a converter between the bit
stream of ATM cells and the PMD sublayer.
 When transmitting, the TC sublayer maps ATM cells onto the format of the PDM
sublayer, such as the DS-3 interface or Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) frames.
 Because a continuous stream of bytes is required, unused portions of the ATM cell
stream are filled by idle cells.
 These idle cells are identified in the ATM header and are silently discarded by the
receiver. They are never passed to the ATM layer for processing
 Finally, the TC sublayer delineates the ATM cells, marking where ATM cells begin and
where they end.
 The boundaries of the ATM cells can be determined from the PMD layer formatting or
from the incoming byte stream using the HEC field.

ATM Adaptation Layer:

 The ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) creates and receives 48-byte payloads through the
lower layers of ATM on behalf of different types of applications.
 ATM Adaptation is necessary to link the cell-based technology at the ATM Layer to the
bit-stream technology of digital devices (such as telephones and video cameras) and the
packet-stream technology of modern data networks.

PLESIOCHRONOUS DIGITAL HIERARCHY: (PDH)

➢ The higher-order multiplexers of PDH are allowed to operate according to their own
independent clock frequencies.

➢ These standards are based on plesiochronous operation (“almost the same data rate”),
which allows a small frequency difference between tributary signals that are multiplexed
into a higher aggregate rate.

➢ Each multiplexer stage takes four signals of a lower data rate and packs them together
into a signal at a data rate that is a little bit over four times as high.

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➢ The tributary frequencies may differ slightly and their frequencies must be justified to the
higher-order frame. This process, called justification or stuffing. adds a number of
justification bits to each tributary in order to make the average tributary data rates
exactly the same

➢ In the demultiplexer these justification bits are extracted and the original data rate for
each tributary is generated.

➢ At each hierarchy level the tributary signals are bit interleaved to the aggregate data
stream, which means that the aggregate data stream contains one bit from tributary 1, one
bit from tributaries 2, 3, and 4, and then again from tributary 1, and so on.

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  Tributaries have the same nominal bit rate, but with a specified, permitted deviation (100
bit/s for 2.048Mbit/s)
 Plesiochronous = tributaries have almost the same bitrate
 Justification and control bits are used in multiplexed flow
 First order is octet-interleaved, but higher orders are bit-interleaved

PDH network elements:

 concentrator

◦ – n channels are multiplexed to a higher capacity link carrying m channels (n >

m)

 multiplexer

◦ – n channels are multiplexed to a higher capacity link carrying n channels

 cross-connect

◦ – static multiplexing/switching of user channels

 switch

◦ – switches incoming TDM/SDM channels to outgoing ones

Problems with the PDH:

➢ Access to a tributary rate requires step-by-step demultiplexing becauseof stuffing

(justification).
➢ Optical interfaces are not standardized but vendor specific.
➢ To use optical cables, a separate multiplexer for each level and separate line terminals are
needed.
➢ American and European standards are not compatible.
➢ Network management features and interfaces are vendor dependent.
➢ High data rates (above 140 or 274 Mbps) are not standardized.

Introduction to SDH / SONET:

ITU-T standards is called the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)

ANSI standards is called the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET)

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 1. It is a Synchronous network.

• A single clock is used to handle the timing of transmission and equipment across
the entire network.

• Network wise synchronization adds a level of predictability to the system.

• This predictability , coupled with powerful frame design, enables individual

channels to be multiplexed, thereby improving speed and reducing cost.

2. Standardization.

• SDH/SONET contains recommendations for the standardization of fiber optic

transmission system equipment sold by different manufacturers.

SDH reference model:

Multiplexer/ Demultiplexer:

Multiplexer marks the beginning and end points of a SDH link. They provide interface between a
tributary network and SDH and either multiplex signals from multiple sources into an STM
signal or demultiplex as STM signal into different destination Signals.

Regenerator:

Regenerator extend the length of the links, it takes optical signal and regenerates. SDH
regenerator replaces some of the existing overhead information with new information. These
devices function at the data link layer.

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Add/ drop multiplexer:

It can add signals coming from different sources into a given path or remove a desired signal
from a path and redirect it without demultiplexing the entire signal. Instead of relying on timing
and bit position add/drop multiplexer use header information such as addresses and pointers to
identify the individual steams.

Digital Cross-Connect Systems:

➢ The digital cross-connect (DXC) systems are network nodes that can rearrange channels
in data streams.
➢ They make the network configuration of the transmission network flexible, because, with
the help of these nodes, a network operator is able to control actual transmission paths in
the network remotely from the network management center.
➢ The basic functionality of DXC is the same as the functionality of digital exchanges that
establish speech or ISDN connections.
➢ DXC is controlled by the network operator, not by a subscriber, and its configuration is
not changed as frequently.

Regenerators or Intermediate Repeaters:

➢ Intermediate repeaters are needed if the communication distance is very long.

➢ They amplify an attenuated signal and regenerate the digital signal into its original form
and transmit it further.

Multiplexing Scheme in SDH:

➢ The transmission data streams of SDH are called synchronous transport modules (STMs)
and they are exact multiples of STM-1 at the 155.52-Mbps data rate.

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 ➢ STM-1 data are simply byte interleaved with other STM-1 data streams to make up a
higher transmission data rate; no additional framing information is added.

➢ Byte interleaving means that, for example, an STM-4 signal contains a byte (8 bits) from
the first STM-1 tributary, then from the second, third, and fourth tributaries, and then
again from the first one.

➢ The demultiplexer receives all STM-1 frames independently.

➢ The STM-1 frame is repeated 8,000 times a second, a rate equal to the PCM sampling
rate.

➢ This makes each 8-bit speech sample visible in a 155.52-Mbps data stream.

➢ This is a great advantage over PDH systems, which require step-by-step demultiplexing
(to separate information and stuffing bits) to the level of the tributary that we want to take
out from the highdata-rate stream.

SDH FRAME STRUCTURE:

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 SDH Frame is made of the following

◦ SDH payload

◦ Pointer

◦ Path Over head

◦ Section Overhead

❖ Multiplex section overhead

❖ Regenerator section overhead

Payload:

 The contents of the container carried by the truck represent the real value.

 This ‘Payload’ is analogous to customer traffic, being carried by the ‘container’ within an
SDH frame.

 This Payload ‘container’ supports the transportation of specific tributary signals.

Note: An overhead is like a delivery notice with the parcel which contains information
about the contents, Condition, type, address, postal date, weight etc. of the parcel.

The Section Overhead:

 The Section Overhead (SOH) provides facilities that are required to support and maintain
the transportation of customer traffic safely across the network.

 THE SOH is split into Multiplexer Section Overhead (MSOH) and Regenerator Section
Overhead (RSOH).

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The Path Overhead:

➢ The Path Overhead is directly associated with the payload capacity area, and together
they form what’s known as the Virtual Container.

SONET System(Synchronous Optical Network)

SONET:: encodes bit streams into optical signals propagated over optical fiber. SONET defines
a technology for carrying many signals of different capacities through a synchronous, flexible,
optical hierarchy.
• A bit-way implementation providing end-to-end transport of bit streams.
• All clocks in the network are locked to a common master clock so that simple TDM can
be used.
• Multiplexing done by byte interleaving.
• SONET is backward compatible to DS-1 and E-1 and forward compatible to ATM cells.
• Demultiplexing is easy.

Multiplexer and demultiplexer: The main function is mux and demux of tributaries

Regenerator
➢ Simplest SONET element. Perform regeneration.
➢ Allows to overcome distance limit at the physical layer

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 ➢ Receives the input stream, and regenerates the section overhead before retransmitting the
frame.
➢ Does not modify Line and Path overhead

Add-Drop multiplexer:

􀂃 Multiplexes different tributaries over a single OC–N

􀂃 The add/drop operation allows to elaborate, add/drop only signal that must be managed
􀂃 Transit traffic is forwarded without the need of particular operation.
􀂃 It manages alternate routing in case of fault
– Uses header address information to identify stream and remove
– Line terminating Equipment

Digital cross-connect: multiplexing in general meshed topology

􀂃 Different line speed
􀂃 Works at the STS-1 granularity
􀂃 Used to interconnect several STS-1 inputs
􀂃 High-speed cross-connects are used to efficiently mux/demux several channels

Path layer (close to OSI layer 3 - Network)

􀂃 Manages end-to-end connection
􀂃 Monitoring and management of user connection
– Connects two STS Mux/demux

Line Layer
􀂃 Multiplexing of several path-layer connection among nodes
􀂃 Protection and Fault Management
– Connects two multiplexers (STS , Add/Drop)

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Section Layer
􀂃 Define regenerator functions
􀂃 SONET’s Line and Section layers are almost equivalent to 2 (Data Link) OSI layer
➢ Connects two neighboring devices

Photonic Layer (same as OSI layer 1)

􀂃 Defines all the transmission requirements of signals

SONET frame:

– Overhead bytes called transport overhead

– Payload

– STS payload is carried in synchronous payload envelope (SPE)

• SPE contains additional path overhead

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• SONET uses pointers to indicate the location of the payload data within the frame

– Clock phase differences can be compensated using pointer adjustments (no bit stuffing)

A SONET frame is a very organized stream of bits

􀂃 At a given multiplexing level,every tributary becomes a Synchronous Payload Envelope( SPE)

􀂃 Some bits, the Path Overhead, are added to the SPE, to implement monitoring, management,
control functions

􀂃 SPE + Path Overhead are a PDU, called Virtual Tributary (VT)

VTs are identified by pointers along the frame. Pointers are stored in the line overhead

➢ A pointer states where a VT begins in the frame

➢ A recursive approach is allowed: a VT may multiplex other smaller VTs This allows to
multiplex contributing tributaries running at very different speed in an efficient manner.

Survivability in SONET:

UPSR(unidirectional path switching ring):

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 ➢ 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

Bidirectional line switching ring (BLSR):

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➢ 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

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