Introduction to
Synchronization
Synchronous
• Average frequency of all
clocks in the system is the
same.
• No multiplexing stages are
needed, any lower order
signal can be added to a
higher order signal easily.
• No bit stuffing.
Asynchronous.
• Each terminal on the
network running on its own
clock.
• Uses multiple stages for
multiplexing, lower order
(e.g. E1-2Mbs) signals are
needed to bring up to a
range of higher order
(e.g.E3-34Mbs) signal for
multiplexing.
• Bit stuffing technique is
use.
PDH
 PDH cont…

• Older Networks were developed for point to point

transmission.

• Supported manual approach to network management

& maintenance.

• In PDH signal structures, no place for network

management & maintenance functions(i.e.no spare
signal capacity for improvement in signal transmission.
 PDH cont…

• Development caused interconnection, difficult &

unreliable
(Result:Existing standards for point to point
communication became unsuitable)

• PDH is stage by stage multiplexing based

on 64 Kb/s voice channels with different hierarchies in the
world & approved specs; covered up to 140 Mb/s (1920
voice channels).
 PDH cont…
• Lower order signal could not be accessed directly
without de-multiplexing & multiplexing again (added
cost)
• No common standards available above 140 Mb/s
(Result:Vendor Dependency)
• Customer circuits, Speed & B.W. limited.
• No proper response to new customer services (Less
efficient, not cost effective, B.W control not
possible)
PDH Hierarchies
(HIERARCHIES)
 Disadvantage of PDH

1. Interfaces
Electrical interfaces---only regional
standards,
no universal standard.
2. Three rate hierarchies for PDH:
European(2Mb/s) .
Japanese (1.5 Mb/s)
North American(1.5Mb/s).

3. Optical interfaces---no standards at all,

manufacturers develop at their will.
Difficult to inter-connect
 Disadvantage of PDH cont..
Multiplexing for PDH:
The location of low-rate signals in high-rate signals is not
regular nor predictable. So it is impossible to directly
add/drop low-rate signals from high-rate signals.

Where
did I put
the signals?
 Disadvantage of PDH cont..
140Mb/s 140Mb/s
34Mb/s 34Mb/s
8Mb/s 8Mb/s
de-multiplexer multiplexer
de-multiplexer multiplexer
de-multiplexer multiplexer

2Mb/s

Low-rate signals have to be separated from high-rate signals

level by level. Multiple levels of multiplexing/de-multiplexing
cause signals to deteriorate, it is not suitable for huge-volume
transmission.
 Disadvantage of PDH cont..
OAM
• OAM function affects the maintenance cost.It is determined
by the number of overhead bytes(redundant bytes);
• There are VERY few redundant byes available in PDH
signals which can be used as OAM purpose, so OAM in PDH
is very poor, it is unreliable either.
• No universal network management interface.
It is hard to set up an integrated network management.
No way to form a universal TMN.
• PDH is inappropriate to transmit huge-volume signals, so
SDH came to play the part.
 Introduction to Synchronous Digital
Hierarchy

• SDH (synchronous digital hierarchy) is a

standard for telecommunications transport
formulated by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU).

• Introduced into the telecommunications

network in 1992.

• It's deployed at all levels of the network

infrastructure, including the access network
and the long-distance trunk network.
 Introduction to Synchronous Digital
Hierarchy cont…

• It's based on overlaying a synchronous

multiplexed signal onto a light stream
transmitted over fiber-optic cable.

• SDH is also defined for use on radio relay links,

satellite links, and at electrical interfaces
between equipment.
 Transmission Hierarchies

Synchronous Asynchronous
STM-0 51 Mbit/s 21 E1 E0 64 kbit/s One 64 kbit/s

STM-1 155 Mbit/s 63 E1 or 1 E4 E1 2.048 Mbit/s 32 E0

STM-4 622 Mbit/s 252 E1 or 4 E4 E2 8.448 Mbit/s 128 E0

STM-16 2.4 Gbit/s 1008 E1 or 16 E4 E3 34.368 Mbit/s 16 E1

STM-64 10 Gbit/s 4032 E1 or 64 E4 E4 139.264 Mbit/s 64 E1

SDH
All these factors & deficiencies
led to the birth of

S.D.H
1 SDH Principle

SDH Overheads
and Pointers
Overview

Frame
structure Logical parts
and of SDH
multiplex- equipment
ing
methods
 SDH Principle

The principle is divided into 4 parts:

1- SDH Overview——To have the basic concept of SDH

• What is SDH?
• What are the differences?
• Advantages and disadvantages of SDH system.

2- Frame structure and multiplexing method of SDH signals

The functions of each part in SDH signal frame structure
Multiplexing the commonly encountered PDH signals
(2Mb/s, 34Mb/s,140Mb/s) into SDH signals?
 SDH Principle Curriculum

3- Overhead and Pointers

• Layered monitoring mechanism of SDH——Overheads
• Directly add/drop lower-rate signals in SDH——Pointers

4- Logical composition of SDH equipment

• Common network elements of SDH network
• Logical function blocks of SDH equipment
 SDH Overview

Background Where it can be Advantages Disadvantages

of SDH used of SDH of SDH
 Background of SDH
1. What is SDH.

2. What are the differences.

3. Where it can be used.

4. Advantages & Disadvantages of SDH

 What is SDH ?

New Digital Hierarchy

• 155.52 Mb/s, 622.08 Mb/s, 2488.32 Mb/s etc.
Existing PDH and future ATM signals are
carried over the SDH system

Very basic functions are same as PDH.

• Multiplex low bit rate digital signals to
higher bit rate and transmit large information
efficiently.
 What is SDH ? cont…

• SDH is a STANDARD for high speed

• High capacity telecommunication networks

• More specifically it is a SYNCHRONOUS DIGITAL

TRANSPORT SYSTEM designed for providing a more
simple, economic & Flexible telecommunication network

infrastructure.
 What are differences?
Synchronous Network
• All network elements work on the same
clock.

Abundant Overhead Bits

• To carry large information for Network
Management

Unified Interface and Multiplexing specifications

• Common to Europe, North America and
Japan digital hierarchies.
• Standard optical interfaces.
 What are differences? cont..
• Simple multiplexing process

• Easy access to tributary signals in a multiplexed

high bit rate signal.

ADD/DROP ----------------- distribution

RING ---------------------- survivability
CROSS CONNECT --------- capacity management
band width management protection route
diversity.
 Where S.D.H is used?

• In all traditional N/W application areas, providing

interconnection between three major

telecommunication networks.
 What are benefits ?
• Multi-vender Environment

• International Connection

• Realization of highly advanced Network

• Management System.

• Fault management.
• Configuration management.
• Performance management.
• Security management.
• Accounting management.
 Advantages of SDH
Interfaces
• Electrical interfaces:standard rate hierarchy
(transmission speed level).

• Optical interfaces:only scramble the electrical

signals.
 Advantages of SDH cont…
• The basic rate level is called Synchronous
Transfer Module(STM-1), the other rate
levels are the multiple of STM-1.

SDH Signals Bit rate(Mb/s)

STM-1 155.520 or 155M
STM-4 622.080 or 622M

STM-16 2488.320 or 2.5G

STM-64 9953.280 or 10G

 Advantages of SDH cont…

STM-64
¡ Á
4 10Gb/s

STM-1 STM-4 STM-16

¡ Á
4 ¡ Á
4
155Mb/s 622Mb/s 2.5Gb/s

WDM 10Gb/s

SDH:4×STM-1=STM-4 ； 4×STM-4=STM-16
 Advantages of SDH cont…
Multiplexing methods:

• low-rate SDH→high-rate SDH(e.g.:4  STM-1→STM-4).

Uses byte interleaved multiplexing method.

STM-1
Byte
STM-1 interleaved

multiplexing STM-4
STM-1

STM-1
 Advantages of SDH cont…
Other signals→SDH:
Using pointers to align the low-rate signals in SDH frame
,so the receivers can directly drop low-rate signals.E.g.:

P
P STM-1
D Packing Alignment
k
H g
PKG PKG
a b
 Advantages of SDH cont…

OAM
• More bytes in SDH frame structure are used for
OAM purpose, about 5% of total bytes. SDH boasts
of high capability of OAM.

Compatibility
• SDH is compatible with the existing PDH system.
SDH allows new types of equipment to be used,
allows broadband access, such as ATM.
 Advantages of SDH cont…
PDH, ATM
FDDI signals

packing
SDH
package
network Package
STM-N STM-N

packing transmit transmit transmit

unpacking

PDH, ATM
SDH compatibility schematics FDDI signals
 Disadvantages of SDH
1. Low bandwidth utilization ratio--- contradiction
between efficiency and reliability.
2M 632M

334M=482M STM-1
34M (155M)

140M 1140M=642M

2. Mechanism of pointer adjustment is complex, it can

cause pointer adjustment jitters
3. Large-scale application of software makes SDH system
vulnerable to viruses or mistakes.
 Frame Structure and Multiplexing
2 methods

Multiplexing
Procedure

Components
and functions 140M

34M STM-N

2M
1. Components &
Functions
 I must
understand the functions
of different parts
of SDH frame ！
 STM-N frame structure

9×270 ×N bytes

Transmission 1
Transmit
direction SOH left to right
3 up to down
4 AU-PTR STM-N payload
5
(including POH)
SOH
9
9×N 261×N
270×N
columns
 Characteristics of SDH signals

• Block frame in units of bytes(8bit),

• Transmission---from left to right, from top to bottom,

• Frame frequency constant---8000 frames/s,

frame period 125us.
 Composition of SDH signals
1. Payload

It is where we put all the information in STM-N

frame structure. All kinds of effective info, such

as 2M, 34M ,140M are first packed before

being stored here. Then they are carried by STM-

N signals over the SDH network.

 Composition of SDH signals cont…
If we should consider STM-N signal to be a truck, then
info payload would be the carriage of the truck. In order to
monitor the transmission status of the goods during
transportation, POH are added to each information package.
POH STM-N
Pkg Pkg
Low-rate signals 1 Pkg loading

packing Payload
Low-rate signals n
Pkg loading Pkg Pkg
packing
POH
 Composition of SDH signals cont…

2. Section Overhead
• Accomplishes monitoring of STM-N signal streams. To check
whether the “goods” in STM-N “carriage” is damaged or not.

• Regenerator Section Overhead(RSOH): monitor the overall

STM-N signals.

• Multiplex Section Overhead(MSOH): monitor each STM-1

in STM-N signal.

• RSOH, MSOH and POH set up SDH layered monitoring

mechanism.
 Composition of SDH signals cont…

Sections and Paths

Low-rate signal 1
. SDH
Low-rate signal 2
Section signal
(SOH)
Low-rate signal n
low-rate path signal(POH)
 Composition of SDH signals cont…

3. Administrative Unit Pointer(AU-PTR)

Indicates the location of low-rate signals in STM-N

frame(payload), makes the location of low-rate

signals in high-rate signals predictable.

 Composition of SDH signals cont…
Receiving:
According to the value of
AU-PTR, get the first info
Sending: package, through the
AU-PTR indicates the first regularity of byte interleaved
info package multiplexing, get the other
packages

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network)
 Composition of SDH signals cont…

• For low-rate signals such as 2M, 34M. We need two-levels

of pointers to align.
• First, small information “goods” is packed into middle information
“goods”. Tributary unit pointer(TU-PTR) is used to align the
location of small “goods” in middle “goods”.
• Then these middle “goods” are packed into big “goods”, AU-PTR is
to align the location of middle info package.
AU-PTR
Secondary alignment

2M

34M
TU-PTR
Primary alignment
 2. Multiplexing Procedure of SDH

• low-rate SDH→high-rate SDH:

byte interleaved multiplexing, 4 into 1.

• PDH signals→STM-N: synchronous multiplexing:

140M→STM-N
34M→ STM-N
2M→STM-N

• Multiplexing is based on the multiplexing route diagram.

ITU-T defines several different multiplexing routes, but for
any country or region, the method is unique.
 Multiplexing Procedure of SDH cont...

STM-64 AU-4-64c VC-4-64c C-4-64c 9039.872Mb/s

x4
x64

STM-16 AU-4-16c VC-4-16c C-4-16c 2259.968Mb/s

x16
x16
x4
STM-4 AU-4-4c VC-4-4c C-4-4c 564.992Mb/s
x4

STM-1 AUG AU-4 VC-4 C-4 E4: 139.264Mb/s

x3 x3
AU-3
High Order Payloads TUG-3 TU-3 VC-3

Containers of Base Signal E3: 34.368Mb/s

C-3 DS3: 44.736Mb/s
(Low Order Payloads) VC-3
x7
x7
x1 DS2:6.312 Mb/s
Synchronous Transport Module TUG-2 TU-2 VC-2 C-2
STM-n
Administrative Unit Group: One or more x3
AUG AU(s)
TU-12 VC-12 C-12 E1: 2.048Mb/s
Administrative Unit: VC + pointers
AU-n x4
Virtual Container: payload + path overhead
TU-11 VC-11 C-11 DS1:1.544Mb/s
VC-n
 Multiplexing /Mapping of Signals cont...

9 bytes 261 bytes

Regenerator
3
Section OH J1 VC-4 Payload:
B3
1 AU Pointer C4 or TUG-3 mapped
C2
G1
5 Multiplex H1 H1 H1
Section OH F2
H4 H2 H2 H2

F3 H3 H3 H3 J1 J1 ptr

K3 B3 B3
N1 C2 C2
G1
C-3 G1
C-3 TUG-3
Higher Order
F2 F2 TUG-2/VC12
Path OH
H4 Payload H4 Payload Muxed
Vx
F3 F3
K3 K3
V
5 bytes N1 N1
C
1
2
Low Order Path
OH
3 Overhead and Pointers

Overhead Pointers

Section Path AU-PTR TU-PTR

Overhead Overhead
 OVERHEAD

Overhead

SOH POH

RSOH MSOH VC4 VC12

POH POH
(LPOH)
(HPOH)
 Layered Monitoring

V
C12 VC
4 S
TM-1 S
TM-N
L
O-PH H
O O-P
OH MS
OH RSOH
 SOH (Section Over Head)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 A1 * A1 * A1 * A2 * A2 * A2 * J0 * * *
2 B1 E1 F1 RSOH
3 D1 D2 D3
4 AU-PTR
5 B2 B2 B2 K1 K2
6 D4 D5 D6
7 D7 D8 D9 MSOH
8 D10 D11 D12
9 S1 M1 E2
Bytes reserved for domestic use
Marked * bytes are not scrambled
SDH Networking
 I want to master
the common NEs
and the functions
of logical blocks
 Network Element

• TM: Terminal Multiplexer

• ADM: Add/Drop Multiplexer
• REG: Regenerator
• DXC: Digital Cross Connect
 Common NEs in SDH Network

TM ADM REG DXC

 TM (Terminal Multiplexer)

• Multiplexing, cross-connection
w STM-N
TM
(Optical Interface)
2M 34M 140M STM-M Note: (M<N)
(Tributary Interface)

TM ADM TM

Application of TM in chain network

 ADM (Add/Drop Multiplexer

• Multiplexing, cross-connection
STM-N w e STM-N
ADM
(Optical interface) (Optical interface)
2M 34M 140M STM-M Note: (M<N)
(Tributary Interface)

TM ADM TM

Application of ADM in chain network

 REG (Regenerator)
• Regeneration, amplification and relaying

STM-N w e STM-N
REG
(Optical interface) (Optical interface)

TM ADM REG ADM TM

Application of REG in chain network

 DXC (Digital Cross Connect)

• Core function is cross-connection

• Used at hub station

(Optical interface) (Optical interface)

DXC
 Basic Networks

• Chain Network
• Star Network
• Ring Network
 Chain Network

A B C D E

• All the nodes are connected one after another

• Both ends open
• Not easy to provide protection
 Star Network
A

B E
C D
• A special node connected directly with
other nodes
• No direct connection with other nodes
• Easy and flexible to manage
 Ring Network

B E

C D

• Connect the end nodes of chain network

• Easy to provide protection
• Widely used network
Protection
 What is Protection?
• SDH need to be highly reliable.
• 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

protection channel
head-end NE tail-end NE
 How Does it works ?

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

 Types of Protection?

• Linear 1+1 Protection (SNCP)

• Linear 1+N Protection
• Two Fiber or Four Fiber Protection
• Unidirectional & Bidirectional Protection
• UPSR & BLSR (MS-SPRing)
 Linear 1+1 Protection
• Simplest form of protection

• Can be at STM-n level (different physical fibers) or at STM/VC

level (called Sub Network Connection Protection)

working channel

extra traffic
protection channel
 Linear 1+N Protection

• In order to save BW
we allocate 1 protection channel for every N
working channels

working channels

protection channel
 1+1 & 1+ N Protection
• 1 + 1 protection
Bridge Switching
Working Line/Path
X
Protection Line/Path

• 1 : n protection
Working Line/Path

X
Protection Line/Path

Line : STM-N line, Path : VCn path

 Two Fiber & Four Fiber
• Ring based protection is popular
• Full protection against physical fiber cuts
• Simpler and less expensive than mesh topologies
• Protection at line (multiplexed section) or path
layer

2 fibers in opposite directions

 Unidirectional & Bidirectional Protection

• 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-1 are opposite in direction
both using shortest route
spatial reuse: timeslots can be reused in other sections

A-B B A-B B
B-C
B-A

A A

C-B
B-A C
 UPSR & 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
 UPSR

Working Ring(WR)
Protection
Ring(PR)

SDH/SONET Optical Ring

X
Fiber Cut
2:1 Switch
1:2 Bridge
 BLSR (MS-SP Ring)
Protection Channel T2,1 T1,4 Working Channel

T2,1 Node 1
Node 4
SDH/SONET Optical Ring
Looping
Node 3

X
Node 2

Fiber Cut
Looping

BLSR/2F: Bidirectional Line Switched Ring /N-Fiber

 UPSR & BLSR (MS-SPRing) cont…
• Working channel is in one direction
protection channel in the opposite direction
• 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
 NGSDH
(Next Generation SDH)
 Next Generation SDH

SDH legacy technology is improving and adopting

data-friendly features.
Three technologies are central to Next-Generation
SDH.
• Virtual Concatenation: VCAT
• Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme: LCAS
• Generic Framing Procedure: GFP
 Purpose of GFP

• New ITU-T standard, G.7041 describes a

Generic Framing Procedure (GFP) which may be
used for efficiently mapping client signals into
and transporting them over SONET/SDH or
G.709 links.
 Purpose of GFP
Generic Framing Procedure (GFP) Overview
GFP defines a mapping of client data signals into SDH
payloads in order to allow SDH to transport non-TDM traffic
more efficiently. GFP defines two types of client signals:

Frame-mapped GFP for PDU-oriented signals such as IP/ PPP

or Ethernet MAC.

Transparent-mapped GFP for block-oriented signals such as

Fiber Channel.

Benefits of GFP
GFP provides major benefits. It gives one uniform mechanism
to transport any data type over SDH.
VCAT
 Concatenation
Payloads that don’t fit into standard VT/VC sizes can be accommodated
by concatenating of several VTs / VCs

For example, 10 Mbps doesn’t 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
 Virtual Concatenation

• Virtual Concatenation (VCAT G.707 )

payload split over multiple STSs / STMs
fragments may follow different routes
requires support only at path terminations
requires buffering and differential delay alignment
 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 don’t need to know about VCAT
(unlike contiguous concatenation that is handled by all intermediate nodes)
 Efficiency Comparison

Rate Mb/s w/o VCAT efficiency with VCAT efficiency

10 STS-1 21% VT2-5v 92%
VC-12-5v

100 STS-3c 67% STS-1-2v 100%

VC-4 VC-3-2v

1000 STS-48c 42% STS-3c-7v 95%

VC-4-16c VC-4-7v

Using VCAT increases efficiency to close to

100% !
Link Capacity Adjustment
Scheme
 LCAS

• LCAS is defined in G.7042

• LCAS extends VCAT by allowing dynamic BW changes.

Benefits of LCAS
• The use of LCAS provides an effective way for the Service Provider to change
the bandwidth
• allocated. Provisioning quickly the right bandwidth at any time is a major
operations management goal of Service Providers.
THANKS
Any Question?