Optical fiber

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A bundle of optical fibers. Theoretically, using advanced techniques such as DWDM, the modest number of fibers seen here could have sufficient bandwidth to easily carry the sum of all types of current data transmission needs for the entire planet. (~100 terabits per second per fiber [1]) An optical fiber or fibre is a thin, transparent fiber, usually made of glass or plastic, for transmitting light. Fiber optics is the branch of applied science and engineering concerned with such optical fibers. Optical fibers are commonly used in telecommunication systems, as well as in illumination, sensors, and imaging optics.

Contents

1 Principle of operation o 1.1 Materials 2 Optical fiber communication o 2.1 Comparison with electrical transmission o 2.2 Governing standards 3 Fiber optic sensors 4 Other uses of optical fibers 5 Manufacture 6 Optical fiber cables 7 Termination and splicing 8 History 9 Notes 10 References 11 See also 1

12 External links

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Principle of operation
An optical fiber (American spelling) or fibre (British spelling) is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide that transmits light along its axis, by the process of total internal reflection. The fiber consists of a denser core surrounded by a cladding layer. For total internal reflection to confine the optical signal in the core, the refractive index of the core must be greater than that of the cladding. The boundary between the core and cladding may either be abrupt, in stepindex fiber, or gradual, in graded-index fiber.

A diagram which illustrates the propagation of light through a multi-mode optical fiber. Fiber with large (greater than 10 m) core diameter may be analyzed by geometric optics. Such fiber is called multi-mode fiber, from the electromagnetic analysis (see below). In a stepindex fiber, rays of light are guided along the fiber core by total internal reflection. Rays that meet the core-cladding boundary at a high angle (measured relative to a line normal to the boundary) are completely reflected. The minimum angle for total internal reflection is determined by the difference in index of refraction between the core and cladding materials. Rays that meet the boundary at a low angle are refracted from the core into the cladding, where they are not useful for conveying light along the fiber. In this way, the minimum angle for total internal reflection determines the acceptance angle of the fiber, often reported as a numerical aperture. A high numerical aperture makes it easier to efficiently couple a transmitter or receiver to the fiber. However, by allowing light to propagate down the fiber in rays both close to the axis and at various angles, a high numerical aperture also increases the amount of multi-path spreading, or dispersion, that affects light pulses in the fiber. In graded-index fiber, the index of refraction in the core decreases continuously between the axis and the cladding. This causes light rays to bend smoothly as they approach the cladding, rather than reflect abruptly from the core-cladding boundary. The resulting curved paths reduce multi-path dispersion because high angle rays pass more through the lower-index periphery of the core, rather than the high-index center. The index profile is chosen to minimize the difference in axial propagation speeds of the various rays in the fiber. This ideal index profile is very close to a parabolic relationship between the index and the distance from the axis. Fiber with a core diameter narrower than a few wavelengths of the light carried, is analyzed as an electromagnetic structure, by solution of Maxwell's equations, as reduced to the electromagnetic wave equation. The electromagnetic analysis may also be required to understand behaviors such as speckle that occur when coherent light propagates in multimode fiber. As an optical waveguide, the fiber supports one or more confined transverse modes by which light can propagate along its axis. Fiber supporting only one mode is called 2

single-mode or mono-mode fiber, while fiber that supports more than one mode is called multi-mode fiber. By the waveguide analysis, it is seen that the light energy in the fiber is not completely confined in the core, but, especially in single-mode fibers, a significant fraction of the energy in the bound mode travels in the cladding as an evanescent wave.

A typical single-mode optical fiber, showing diameters of the component layers. The common type of single-mode fiber has a core diameter of 8 to 10 m. It is notable that the mode structure depends on the wavelength of the light used, so that this fiber actually supports a small number of additional modes at visible wavelengths. Multi-mode fiber, by comparison, is manufactured with a core diameter of 50 m, 62.5 m, or larger. Some special-purpose optical fiber is constructed with a non-cylindrical core and/or cladding layer, usually with an elliptical or rectangular cross-section. These include polarizationmaintaining fiber and fiber designed to suppress whispering gallery mode propagation. At high optical powers, above one watt, when a fiber is subjected to a shock or is otherwise suddenly damaged, a fiber fuse can occur. The reflection from the damage vaporizes the fiber immediately before the break, and this new defect remains reflective so that the damage propagates back toward the transmitter at 13 meters per second [2],[3],[4]. The open fiber control system, which ensures laser eye safety in the event of a broken fiber, can also effectively halt propagation of the fiber fuse [5]. In situations, such as undersea cables, where high power levels might be used without the need for open fiber control, a "fiber fuse" protection device at the transmitter can break the circuit to prevent damage. [edit]

Materials
Glass optical fibers are almost always made from silica, but some other materials, such as fluorozirconate, fluoroaluminate, and chalcogenide glasses are used for longer-wavelength infrared applications. Like other glasses, these glasses have a refractive index of about 1.5. Typically the difference between core and cladding is less than one percent. Plastic optical fiber (POF) is commonly step-index multimode fiber, with core diameter of 1 mm or larger. POF typically has much higher attenuation than glass fiber (that is, the amplitude of the signal in it decreases faster), 1 dB/m or higher, and this high attenuation limits the range of POF-based systems. 3

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Optical fiber communication

See also: Optical communication The optical fiber can be used as a medium for telecommunication and networking because it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. Although fibers can be made out of either transparent plastic or glass, the fibers used in long-distance telecommunications applications are always glass, because of the lower optical attenuation. Both multi-mode and single-mode fibers are used in communications, with multi-mode fiber used mostly for short distances (up to 500 m), and single-mode fiber used for longer distance links. Because of the tighter tolerances required to couple light into and between single-mode fibers, single-mode transmitters, receivers, amplifiers and other components are generally more expensive than multi-mode components. The light used is typically infrared light, at wavelengths near to the minimum absorption wavelength of the fiber in use. The fiber absorption is minimal for 1550 nm light and dispersion is minimal at 1310 nm making these the optimal wavelength regions for data transmission. A local minimum of absorption is found near 850 nm, a wavelength for which low cost transmitters and receivers can be designed, and this wavelength is often used for short distance applications. Fibers are generally used in pairs, with one fiber of the pair carrying a signal in each direction. Since the refractive index of glass is around 1.5, the speed of light in the fiber is around 200,000 km/s, or two thirds of the speed of light in a vacuum. For modern glass optical fiber, the maximum transmission distance is limited not by attenuation but by dispersion, or spreading of optical pulses as they travel along the fiber. Dispersion in optical fibers is caused by a variety of factors. Intermodal dispersion, caused by the different axial speeds of different transverse modes, limits the performance of multi-mode fiber. Because single-mode fiber supports only one transverse mode, intermodal dispersion is eliminated. For single-mode fiber performance is limited by chromatic dispersion, which occurs because the index of the glass varies slightly depending on the wavelength of the light, and light from real optical transmitters has nonzero spectral width. Polarization mode dispersion, which can limit the performance of single-mode systems, occurs because although the single-mode fiber can sustain only one transverse mode, it can carry this mode with two different polarizations, and slight imperfections or distortions in a fiber can alter the propagation velocities for the two polarizations. Dispersion limits the bandwidth of the fiber because the spreading optical pulse limits the rate that pulses can follow one another on the fiber and still be distinguishable at the receiver. Because the effect of dispersion increases with the length of the fiber, a fiber transmission system is often characterized by its bandwidth-distance product, often expressed in units of MHzkm. This value is a product of bandwidth and distance because there is a tradeoff between the bandwidth of the signal and the distance it can be carried. For example, a common multimode fiber with bandwidth-distance product of 500 MHzkm could carry a 500 MHz signal for 1 km or a 1000 MHz signal for 0.5 km.

In single-mode fiber systems, both the fiber characteristics and the spectral width of the transmitter contribute to determining the bandwidth-distance product of the system. Typical single-mode systems can sustain transmission distances of 80 to 140 km (50 to 87 miles) between regenerations of the signal. By using an extremely narrow-spectrum laser source, data rates of up to 40 gigabits per second are achieved in real-world applications. Using Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), the bandwidth carried by a single fiber can be increased into the range of terabits per second. This is accomplished by transmitting many wavelengths at once on the fiber. Wavelength division multiplexers and demultiplexers are used to combine and split up the wavelengths at each end of the link. In coarse WDM (CWDM) only a few wavelengths are used. One use of CWDM is to allow bidirectional communications over one fiber. Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) usually involves transmitting and receiving more than eight "windows" of light. Sixteen, 40, and 80 windowed systems are common. Mathematically, 111 windows are possible over a single pair of optical fibers at the wavelengths used today. The range of long-range systems is extended by the use of repeaters and optical amplifiers. A repeater is essentially a back-to-back receiver and transmitter, which regenerates the optical signal, eliminating or reducing the degradations resulting from transmission through the fiber. An optical amplifier is typically made by doping a length of fiber with the rare-earth mineral erbium, and pumping it with light from a laser with a shorter wavelength than the communications signal (typically 980 nm). Because of their greater reliability, amplifiers have largely replaced repeaters in new installations. Recent advances in fiber and optical communications technology have reduced signal degradation so far that regeneration of the optical signal is only needed over distances of hundreds of kilometers. This has greatly reduced the cost of optical networking, particularly over undersea spans where the cost and reliability of repeaters is one of the key factors determining the performance of the whole cable system. The main advances contributing to these performance improvements are dispersion management, which seeks to balance the effects of dispersion against nonlinearity; and solitons, which use nonlinear effects in the fiber to enable dispersion-free propagation over long distances. [edit]

Comparison with electrical transmission

The choice between optical fiber and electrical (or "copper") transmission for a particular system is made based on a number of trade-offs. Optical fiber is generally chosen for systems with higher bandwidths, spanning longer distances, than electrical cabling can provide. The main benefits of fiber are its exceptionally low loss, allowing long distances between amplifiers or repeaters; and its inherently high data-carrying capacity, such that thousands of electrical links would be required to replace a single high bandwidth fiber. One further benefit of fiber is that even when run alongside each other for long distances, fiber cables experience effectively no crosstalk, in contrast to some types of electrical transmission lines. In short distance and relatively low bandwidth applications, electrical transmission is often preferred because of its

Lower material cost, when cabling is not required. Lower cost of transmitters and receivers. 5

Ease of splicing. Capability to carry electrical power as well as signals.

Because of these benefits of electrical transmission, optical communication is not common in short box-to-box, backplane, or chip-to-chip applications; however, optical systems on those scales have been demonstrated in the laboratory. In certain situations fiber may be used even for short distance or low bandwidth applications, due to other important features:

Immunity to electromagnetic interference, including nuclear electromagnetic pulses (although fiber can be damaged by alpha and beta radiation). High electrical resistance, making it safe to use near high-voltage equipment or between areas with different earth potentials. Low weight, important in aircraft. No sparks, important in flammable or explosive gas environments. Not electromagnetically radiating, and difficult to tap without disrupting the signal, important in high-security environments. Much smaller cable size - important where pathway is limited.

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Governing standards
In order for various manufacturers to be able to develop components that function compatibly in fiber optic communication systems, a number of standards have been developed. The International Telecommunications Union publishes several standards related to the characteristics and performance of fibers themselves, including

ITU-T G.651, "Characteristics of a 50/125 m multimode graded index optical fibre cable" ITU-T G.652, "Characteristics of a single-mode optical fibre cable"

Other standards, produced by a variety of standards organizations, specify performance criteria for fiber, transmitters, and receivers to be used together in conforming systems. Some of these standards are the following:

10 Gigabit Ethernet FDDI Fibre Channel Gigabit Ethernet HIPPI SDH SONET

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Fiber optic sensors

Optical fibers can be used as sensors to measure strain, temperature, pressure and other parameters. The small size and the fact that no electrical power is needed at the remote location gives the fiber optic sensor advantages to conventional electrical sensor in certain applications. Optical fibers are used as hydrophones for seismic or SONAR applications. Hydrophone systems with more than 100 sensors per fiber cable have been developed. Hydrophone sensor systems are used by the oil industry as well as a few countries' navies. Both bottom mounted hydrophone arrays and towed streamer systems are in use. The German company Sennheiser developed a microphone working with a laser and optical fibers[6]. Optical fiber sensors for temperature and pressure have been developed for downhole measurement in oil wells. The fiber optic sensor is well suited for this environment as it is functioning at temperatures too high for semiconductor sensors. Another use of the optical fiber as a sensor is the optical gyroscope which is in use in the Boeing 767 and in some car models (for navigation purposes). [edit]

Other uses of optical fibers

Fibers are widely used in illumination applications. They are used as light guides in medical and other applications where bright light needs to be brought to bear on a target without a clear line-of-sight path. In some buildings, optical fibers are used to route sunlight from the roof to other parts of the building (see non-imaging optics). Optical fiber illumination is also used for decorative applications, including signs, art, and artificial Christmas trees. Optical fiber is also used in imaging optics. A coherent bundle of fibers is used, sometimes along with lenses, for a long, thin imaging device called an endoscope, which is used to view objects through a small hole. Medical endoscopes are used for minimally invasive exploratory or surgical procedures (endoscopy). Industrial endoscopes (see fiberscope or borescope) are used for inspecting anything hard to reach, such as jet engine interiors. An optical fiber doped with certain rare-earth elements can be used as the gain medium of a laser or optical amplifier. [edit]

Manufacture
Optical fiber is made by first constructing a large-diameter preform, with a carefully controlled refractive index profile, and then pulling the preform to form the long, thin optical fiber. The preform is commonly made by three chemical vapor deposition methods: inside vapor deposition, outside vapor deposition, and vapor axial deposition. 7

In inside vapor deposition, a hollow glass tube approximately 40 cm in length known as a "preform" is placed horizontally and rotated slowly on a lathe, and gases such as silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4) or germanium tetrachloride (GeCl4) are injected with oxygen in the end of the tube. The gases are then heated by means of an external hydrogen burner, bringing the temperature of the gas up to 1900 kelvins, where the tetrachlorides react with oxygen to produce silica or germania (germanium oxide) particles. When the reaction conditions are chosen to allow this reaction to occur in the gas phase throughout the tube volume, in contrast to earlier techniques where the reaction occurred only on the glass surface, this technique is called modified chemical vapor deposition. The oxide particles then agglomerate to form large particle chains, which subsequently deposit on the walls of the tube as soot. The deposition is due to the large difference in temperature between the gas core and the wall causing the gas to push the particles outwards (this is known as thermophoresis). The torch is then traversed up and down the length of the tube to deposit the material evenly. After the torch has reached the end of the tube, it is then brought back to the beginning of the tube and the deposited particles are then melted to form a solid layer. This process is repeated until a sufficient amount of material has been deposited. For each layer the composition can be varied by varying the gas composition, resulting in precise control of the finished fiber's optical properties. In outside vapor deposition or vapor axial deposition, the glass is formed by flame hydrolysis, a reaction in which silicon tetrachloride and germanium tetrachloride are oxidized by reaction with water (H2O) in an oxyhydrogen flame. In outside vapor deposition the glass is deposited onto a solid rod, which is removed before further processing. In vapor axial deposition, a short seed rod is used, and a porous preform, whose length is not limited by the size of the source rod, is built up on its end. The porous preform is consolidated into a transparent, solid perform by heating to about 1800 kelvins. The preform, however constructed, is then placed in a device known as a drawing tower, where the preform tip is heated and the optic fiber is pulled out as a string. By measuring the resultant fiber width, the tension on the fiber can be controlled to maintain the fiber thickness. [edit]

Optical fiber cables

In practical fibers, the cladding is usually coated with a tough resin buffer layer, which may be further surrounded by a jacket layer, usually plastic. These layers add strength to the fiber but do not contribute to its optical wave guide properties. For indoor applications, the jacketed fiber is generally enclosed, with a bundle of flexible fibrous polymer (e.g. Kevlar) strength members, in a lightweight plastic cover to form a simple cable. Each end of the cable may be terminated with a specialized optical fiber connector to allow it to be easily connected and disconnected from transmitting and receiving equipment. For use in more strenuous environments, a much more robust cable construction is required. In loose-tube construction the fiber is laid helically into semi-rigid tubes, allowing the cable to stretch without stretching the fiber itself. This protects the fiber from tension during laying and due to temperature changes. Alternatively the fiber may be embedded in a heavy polymer 8

jacket. These fiber units are commonly attached to additional steel strength members, again with a helical twist to allow for stretching. Another critical concern in cabling is to protect the fiber from contamination by water, because its component hydrogen and hydroxyl ions can diffuse into the fiber, reducing the fiber's strength and increasing the optical attenuation. Water is kept out of the cable by use of solid barriers such as copper tubes, or water-repellant jelly surrounding the fiber. Finally, the cable may be armored to protect it from environmental hazards, such as construction work or gnawing animals. Undersea cables are more heavily armored in their near-shore portions to protect them from boat anchors, fishing gear, and even sharks, which may be attracted to the electrical power signals that are carried to power amplifiers or repeaters in the cable. Modern fiber cables can contain up to a thousand fibers in a single cable, so the performance of optical networks easily accommodate even today's demands for bandwidth on a point-topoint basis. However, unused point-to-point potential bandwidth does not translate to operating profits, and it is estimated that no more than 1% of the optical fiber buried in recent years is actually 'lit'. Modern cables come in a wide variety of sheathings and armor, designed for applications such as direct burial in trenches, dual use as power lines [7], installation in conduit, lashing to aerial telephone poles, submarine installation, or insertion in paved streets. In recent years the cost of small fiber-count pole mounted cables has greatly decreased due to the high Japanese and South Korean demand for Fiber to the Home (FTTH) installations. [edit]

Termination and splicing

Optical fibers are connected to terminal equipment by optical fiber connectors. These connectors are usually of a standard type such as FC, SC, ST, or LC. Optical fibers may be connected to each other by connectors or by splicing, that is, joining two fibers together to form a continuous optical waveguide. The generally accepted splicing method is arc fusion splicing, which melts the fibre ends together with an electric arc. For quicker fastening jobs, a "mechanical splice" is used. The fiber ends are aligned and held together by a precision-made sleeve. Various methods to align two fiber ends to each other or one fiber to an optical device (VCSEL, LED, waveguide etc.) have been reported. They all follow either an active fiber alignment approach or a passive fiber alignment approach. [edit]

History
The history of dielectric optical lightguides goes back to Victorian times, when the total internal reflection principle was used to illuminate streams of water in elaborate public fountains. Later development, in the early-to-mid twentieth century, focused on the 9

development of fiber bundles for image transmission, with the primary application being the medical gastroscope. The first fiber optic semi-flexible gastroscope was patented by Basil Hirschowitz, C. Wilbur Peters, and Lawrence E. Curtiss, researchers at the University of Michigan, in 1956. In the process of developing the gastroscope, Curtiss produced the first glass-clad fibers; previous optical fibers had relied on air or impractical oils and waxes as the low-index cladding material. A variety of other image transmission applications soon followed. In 1965, Charles K. Kao and George A. Hockham of the British company Standard Telephones and Cables were the first to recognize that attenuation of contemporary fibers was caused by impurities, which could be removed, rather than fundamental physical effects such as scattering. They demonstrated that optical fiber could be a practical medium for communication, if the attenuation could be reduced below 20 dB per kilometer (Hecht, 1999, p. 114). By this measure, the first practical optical fiber for communications was invented in 1970 by researchers Robert D. Maurer, Donald Keck, Peter Schultz, and Frank Zimar working for American glass maker Corning Glass Works. They manufactured a fiber with 17 dB optic attenuation per kilometer by doping silica glass with titanium. The erbium-doped fiber amplifier, which reduced the cost of long-distance fiber systems by eliminating the need for optical-electrical-optical repeaters, was invented by David Payne of the University of Southampton, and Emmanuel Desurvire at Bell Laboratories in 1986. The two pioneers were awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Engineering in 1998. The first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fiber was TAT-8, based on Desurvire optimized laser amplification technology. It went into operation in 1988. In 1991, the emerging field of photonic crystals led to the development of photonic crystal fiber (Science (2003), vol 299, page 358), which guides light by means of diffraction from a periodic structure, rather than total internal reflection. The first photonic crystal fibers became commercially available in 1996 [8]. Photonic crystal fibers can be designed to carry higher power than conventional fiber, and their wavelength dependent properties can be manipulated to improve their performance in certain applications. In the late 1990s through 2000, the fiber optics industry, including optical communications equipment makers in addition to the optical fiber makers themselves, became associated with the dot-com bubble. Industry promoters, and research companies such as KMI and RHK predicted vast increases in demand for communications bandwidth due to increased use of the Internet, and commercialization of various bandwidth-intensive consumer services, such as video on demand. Internet protocol data traffic was said to be increasing exponentially, and at a faster rate than integrated circuit complexity had increased under Moore's Law. From the bust of the dot-com bubble through 2006, however, the main trend in the industry has been consolidation of firms and offshoring of manufacturing to reduce costs. [edit]

Notes
1. The Risks Digest Volume 12: Issue 44. URL accessed on December 4, 2005. 2. Optics Letters. URL accessed on December 4, 2005. 3. Photonics Spectra. URL accessed on December 4, 2005. 10

4. Evaluation of High-power Endurance in Optical Fiber Links. URL accessed on December 4, 2005. 5. TP: Der Glasfaser-Schallwandler. URL accessed on December 4, 2005. [edit]

References

Gambling, W. A., "The Rise and Rise of Optical Fibers", IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 6, No. 6, pp. 1084-1093, Nov./Dec. 2000 Gowar, John, Optical Communication Systems, 2 ed., Prentice-Hall, Hempstead UK, 1993 (ISBN 0136387276) Hecht, Jeff, City of Light, The Story of Fiber Optics, Oxford University Press, New York, 1999 (ISBN 0195108183) Nagel S. R., MacChesney J. B., Walker K. L., "An Overview of the Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD) Process and Performance", IEEE Journal of Quantum Mechanics, Vol. QE-18, No. 4, April 1982

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See also

List of fiber optic terms Gradient index optics Optical fiber connector Plastic optical fiber Submarine communications cables cable jetting SFP interface ST, SC and MTRJ are types of fiber optic cable jacks or connectors. TOSLINK XENPAK

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External links

Optical Fiber Cabling Standards The Fiber Optic Association Lennie Lightwave's Guide To Fiber Optics Fibers article in RP Photonics Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology How Fiber Optics Work

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_fiber"

11

Synchronous optical networking

(Redirected from SDH) Jump to: navigation, search The Synchronous optical network, commonly known as SONET, is a standard for communicating digital information using lasers or light emitting diodes (LEDs) over optical fiber as defined by GR-253-CORE from Telcordia. It was developed to replace the PDH system for transporting large amounts of telephone and data traffic and to allow for interoperability between equipment from different vendors. The more recent Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) standard developed by ITU (G.707 and its extension G.708) is built on experience in the development of SONET. Both SDH and SONET are widely used today; SONET in the U.S. and Canada, SDH in the rest of the world. SDH is growing in popularity and is currently the main concern with SONET now being considered as the variation. SONET differs from PDH in that the exact rates that are used to transport the data are tightly synchronized across the entire network, made possible by atomic clocks. This Telecom Synchronization system allows entire inter-country networks to operate synchronously, greatly reducing the amount of buffering required between each element in the network. Both SONET and SDH can be used to encapsulate earlier digital transmission standards, such as the PDH standard, or used directly to support either ATM or so-called Packet over SONET networking. As such, it is inaccurate to think of SONET as a communications protocol in and of itself, but rather as a generic and all-purpose transport container for moving both voice and data.

Contents
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1 Structure of SONET/SDH signals 2 SONET/SDH and relationship to 10 Gigabit Ethernet 3 SONET/SDH data rates 4 SONET Physical Layer 5 SONET/SDH system management protocols 6 SONET Equipment 7 SONET Network Architectures 8 SONET Synchronization 9 Next Generation SDH 10 See also 11 External links

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Structure of SONET/SDH signals

12

The basic unit of transmission for SONET is a signal that operates at 51.840 Mbit/s, designated STS-1 (Synchronous Transport Signal one). This differs from SDH's basic unit, the STM-1 (Synchronous Transport Module-level 1), which operates at 155.52 Mbit/s. The two major components of the STS-1 frame are the transport overhead and the synchronous payload envelope (SPE). The transport overhead (27 bytes) comprises the section overhead and line overhead. These bytes are used for signalling and measuring transmission error rates. The SPE is comprised of two components: the payload overhead (9 bytes, used for end to end signalling and error measurement) and the payload of 774 bytes. The STS-1 payload is designed to carry a full DS-3 frame. When the DS-3 enters a SONET network, path overhead is added, and that SONET network element is said to be path terminating. Where multiple DS-3 paths are multiplexed, the SONET NE is said to be line terminating. Note that wherever the line or path is terminated, the section is terminated also. SONET Regenerators (see below) terminate the Section but not the path or line. The entire STS-1 frame is 810 bytes. The STS-1 frame is transmitted in exactly 125 microseconds on a fiber-optic circuit designated OC-1 (optical carrier one). In practice, the terms STS-1 and OC-1 are sometimes used interchangeably, though the OC-N format refers to the signal in its optical form. It is therefore incorrect to say that an OC-3 contains 3 OC-1s: an OC-3 can be said to contain 3 STS-1s. Three OC-1 (STS-1) signals are multiplexed by time-division multiplexing to form the next level of the SONET hierarchy, the OC-3 (STS-3), running at 155.52 Mbit/s. The multiplexing is performed by interleaving the bytes of the three STS-1 frames to form the STS-3 frame, containing 2430 bytes and transmitted in 125 microseconds. Higher speed circuits are formed by successively aggregating multiples of slower circuits, their speed always being immediately apparent from their designation. For example, four OC3 or STM-1 circuits can be aggregated to form a 622.08 Mbit/s circuit designated as OC-12 or STM-4. The highest rate that is commonly deployed is the OC-192 or STM-64 circuit, which operates at rate of just under 10 Gbit/s. Speeds beyond 10 Gbit/s are technically viable and are under evaluation. Where fiber exhaust is a concern, multiple SONET signals can be transported over multiple wavelengths over a single fiber pair by means of Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM). Such circuits are the basis for all modern transatlantic cable systems and other long-haul circuits. [edit]

SONET/SDH and relationship to 10 Gigabit Ethernet

Another fast growing circuit type amongst data networking equipment is 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE). This is similar in rate to OC-192/STM-64, and, in its wide area variant, encapsulates its data using a light-weight SDH/SONET frame so as to be compatible at low level with equipment designed to carry those signals. However, 10 Gigabit Ethernet does not explicitly provide any interoperability at the bitstream level with other SDH/SONET systems. This differs from WDM System Transponders, including both Coarse- and Dense-WDM systems (CWDM, DWDM) that currently support 13

OC-192 SONET Signals, which can normally support thin-SONET framed 10 Gigabit Ethernet. [edit]

SONET/SDH data rates

SONET/SDH Designations and bandwidths Payload bandwidth[1] (kbit/s)
48 960

SONET Optical Carrier Level

OC-1

SONET Frame Format

STS-1

SDH level and Frame Format

STM-0

Line Rate (kbit/s)

51 840

OC-3 OC-12
OC-24

STS-3 STS-12
STS-24

STM-1 STM-4
STM-8

150 336 601 344

1 202 688

155 520 622 080

1 244 160

OC-48 OC-192 OC-768

OC-1536

STS-48 STS-192 STS-768

STS-1536

STM-16 STM-64 STM-256

STM-512

2 405 376 9 621 504 38 486 016

76 972 032

2 488 320 9 953 280 39 813 120

79 626 120

OC-3072

STS-3072

STM-1024

153 944 064

159 252 240

^ Payload bandwidth is the actual data carrying capacity. Note that the typical data rate progression starts at OC-3 and increases by multiples of 4. As such, while OC-24 and OC-1536, along with other rates such as OC-9, OC-18, OC-36, and OC-96 may be defined in some standards documents, they are not available on a wide-range of equipment. As of 2006, OC-3072 is still a work in progress. It has not yet been manufactured. [edit] 14

SONET Physical Layer

The "SONET Physical Layer" actually comprises a large number of layers within it, only one of which is the optical/transmission layer (which includes bitrates, jitter specifications, optical signal specifications and so on). The SONET and SDH Standards have within them a host of features for isolating and identifying signal defects and their origins. [edit]

SONET/SDH system management protocols

SONET equipment is often managed with the TL1 protocol. TL1 is a traditional telecom language for managing and reconfiguring SONET network elements. TL1 (or whatever command language a SONET Network Element utilizes) must be carried by other management protocols, including SNMP, CORBA, and XML. SONET Network Management is a large, difficult, and arcane subject, but there are some features that are fairly universal. First of all, most SONET NEs have a limited number of management interfaces defined. These are:

Electrical Interface. The electrical interface (often 50 ) sends SONET TL1 commands from a local management network physically housed in the Central Office where the SONET NE is located. This is for "local management" of that NE and, possibly, remote management of other SONET NEs. Craft Interface. Local "craftspersons" can access a SONET NE and issue commands through a dumb terminal or terminal emulation program running on a laptop. SDH has dedicated Data Communication Channels DCCs for management traffic. According to ITU-T G. 7712, there are three modes used for management: IP-only stack, using PPP as data-link OSI-only stack, using LAP-D as data-link Dual (IP+OSI) stack using PPP or LAP-D with tunneling functions to communicate between stacks.

An interesting fact about modern SONET NEs is that, to handle all of the possible management channels and signals, most NEs actually contain a router for routing the network commands and underlying (data) protocols. The main functions of SONET Network Management include:

SONET Network and NE Provisioning. In order to allocate bandwidth throughout a SONET Network, each SONET NE must be configured. Although this can be done locally, through a craft interface, it is normally done through a Network Management System (sitting at a higher layer) that in turn operates through the SONET/SDH Network Management Network. Software Upgrade. SONET NE Software Upgrade is in modern NEs done mostly through the SONET/SDH Management network. 15

Performance Management. SONET NEs have a very large set of standards for Performance Management. The PM criteria allow for monitoring not only the health of individual NEs, but for the isolation and identification of most network defects or outages. Higher-layer Network monitoring and management software allows for the proper filtering and troubleshooting of network-wide PM so that defects and outages can be quickly identified and responded to.

[edit]

SONET Equipment
With recent advances in SONET and SDH chipsets, the traditional categories of SONET NEs are breaking down. Nevertheless, as SONET Network architectures have remained relatively constant, even newer SONET Equipment (including "Multiservice Provisioning Platforms") can be examined in light of the architectures they will support. Thus, there is value in viewing new (as well as traditional) SONET Equipment in terms of the older categories.

SONET Regenerator. Traditional SONET Regenerators terminate the SONET Section overhead, but not the line or path. SONET Regens extended long haul routes in a way similar to most regenerator, by converting an optical signal that has already traveled a long distance into electrical format and then retransmitting a regenerated high-power signal. Since the late 1990s, SONET regenerators have been largely replaced by Optical Amplifiers. Also, some of the functionality of SONET Regens has been absorbed by the Transponders of Wavelength Division Multiplexing systems. SONET Add-Drop Multiplexer. SONET ADMs are the most common type of SONET Equipment. Traditional SONET ADMs were designed to support one of the SONET Network Architectures, though new generation SONET systems can often support several architectures, sometimes simultaneously. SONET ADMs traditionally have a "high speed side" (where the full line rate signal is supported), and a "low speed side", which can consist of electrical as well as optical interfaces. The low speed side takes in low speed signals which are multiplexed by the SONET NE and sent out from the high speed side, or vice versa. SONET Digital Cross Connect System. Recent SONET Digital Cross Connect systems (DCSs or DXCs) support numerous high-speed signals, and allow for cross connection of DS1s, DS3s and even STS-3s/12c and so on, from any input to any output. Advanced SONET DCSs can support numerous subtending rings simulataneously.

[edit]

SONET Network Architectures

Currently, SONET (and SDH) have a limited number of architectures defined. These architectures allow for efficient bandwidth usage as well as protection (i.e. the ability to 16

transmit traffic even when part of the network has failed), and are key in understanding the almost worldwide usage of SONET and SDH for moving digital traffic. The three main architectures are:

Linear APS (Automatic Protection Switching): This involves 4 fibers: 2 working fibers in each direction, and two protection fibers. UPSR (Unidirectional Path Switched Ring): In a UPSR, two redundant (path-level) copies of protected traffic are sent in either direction around a ring. A selector at the egress node determines the higher-quality copy and decides to use the best copy, thus coping if deterioration in one copy occurs due to a broken fiber or other failure. UPSRs tend to sit nearer to the edge of a SONET network and, as such, are sometimes called "collector rings". BLSR (Bidirectional Line Switched Ring): BLSR comes in two varieties, a 2-fiber BLSR and 4-fiber BLSR. BLSRs switch at the line layer. Unlike UPSR, BLSR does not send redundant copies from ingress to egress. Rather, the ring nodes adjacent to the failure reroute the traffic "the long way" around the ring. BLSRs trade cost and complexity for bandwdith efficiency as well as the ability to support "extra traffic", which can be pre-empted when a protection switching event occurs. BLSRs can operate within a metropolitan region or, often, will move traffic between municipalities.

[edit]

SONET Synchronization
Like management, Synchronization of SONET and SDH networks is a difficult and arcane subject. Remember that a SONET NE will transport and/or multiplex traffic that has originated from a variety of different clock sources. In addition, a SONET NE may have a number of different synchronization options to choose from, which in some cases it will do so dynamically based on Synch Status Messages and other indicators. As for Synchronization sources available to a SONET NE, these are:

Local External Timing. This is generated by an atomic Cesium clock or a satellitederived clock by a device located in the same central office as the SONET NE. the interface is often a DS1, with Sync Status Messages supplied by the clock and placed into the DS1 overhead. Line-derived timing. A SONET NE can choose (or be configured) to derive its timing from the line-level, by monitoring the S1 sync status bytes to ensure quality. Holdover. As a last resort, in the absence of higher quality timing, a SONET NE can go into "holdover" until higher quality external timing becomes available again. In this mode, a SONET NE uses its own timing circuits to time the SONET signal.

An interesting and hard-to-troubleshoot issue in SONET Networks is the existence of "timing loops". With a timing loop, SONET NEs in a network are each deriving their timing from another NE, and back again to initial NE, like a snake biting its own tail. This network loop will eventually see its own timing "float away" from any external SONET networks, causing mysterious bit errors, the source of which can be hard to find (unless the presence of the timing loop is detected). In general, a SONET Network that has been properly configured will 17

never find itself in a timing loop, but it is sometimes hard to avoid this without sophisticated network management tools. [edit]

Next Generation SDH

SONET/SDH was originally developed primarily to transport multiple DS1s (ie T1s), DS3s (ie, T3s), and other groups of multiplexed 64 kbit/s pulse-code modulated voice traffic. The ability to transport ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) traffic was another early application. In order to support large ATM bandwidths, the technique of concatenation was developed, whereby smaller SONET multiplexing containers (eg, STS-1) are inversely multiplexed to build up a larger container (eg, STS-3c) to support large data-oriented pipes. SONET is therefore able to transport both voice and data simultaneously. One problem with traditional concatenation, however, is inflexibility. Depending on the data and voice traffic mix that must be carried, there can be a large amount of unused bandwidth left over, due to the fixed sizes of concatenated containers. For example, fitting a 100 Mbit/s Fast Ethernet connection inside a 155 Mbit/s STS-3c container leads to considerable wastage. Virtual Concatenation (VCAT) allows for a more arbitrary gluing-together of lower order multiplexing containers to build larger containers of fairly arbitrary size (e.g. 100 Mbit/s), without the need for intermediate SONET NEs to support that particular form of concatenation. Virtual Concatenation now often leverages X.86 or Generic Framing Procedure (GFP) protocols in order to map payloads of arbitrary bandwidth into the virtually concatenated container. Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS) allows for dynamically changing the bandwidth via dynamically virtually concatenating multiplexing containers based on shortterm bandwidth needs in the network. [edit]

See also

Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching Internet Drafts: IETF - Common Control and Measurement Plane (ccamp) Framework for Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS)-based Control of Synchronous Digital Hierarchy/Synchronous Optical Networking (SDH/SONET) Network: rfc4257.txt Why SDH/SONET Will Not Disappear Tomorrow (pdf) in rfc4257: Framework for Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS)-based Control of Synchronous Digital Hierarchy/Synchronous Optical Networking (SDH/SONET) Networks

[edit]

External links

Optical Hub A useful resource site on optical networks. 18

Ethernet-over-Sonet Tutorial: Part 2 Understanding SONET/SDH Next-generation SDH and MSPP The Future of SONET/SDH (pdf) SONET/SDH ITU-T defining standards The Queen's University of Belfast SDH/SONET Primer SDH Pocket Handbook from Acterna/JDSU SONET Pocket Handbook from Acterna/JDSU Network Connection Speeds Reference Synchronous Optical Network / Synchronous Digital Hierarchy Encoding for Link Management Protocol Test Messages

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronous_optical_networking"

Wavelength-division multiplexing
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(Redirected from Wavelength Division Multiplexing) Jump to: navigation, search This article or section does not cite its references or sources. You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations. In fibre optic telecommunications, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is a technology which multiplexes multiple optical carrier signals on a single optical fibre by using different wavelengths (colours) of laser light to carry different signals. This allows for a multiplication in capacity, in addition to making it possible to perform bidirectional communications over one strand of fibre. The term wavelength-division multiplexing is commonly applied to an optical carrier (which is typically described by its wavelength), whereas frequency-division multiplexing typically applies to a radio carrier (which is more often described by frequency). However, since wavelength and frequency are inversely proportional, and since radio and light are both forms of electromagnetic radiation, the two terms are closely analogous.

Contents
[hide]

1 WDM systems 2 Coarse WDM 3 Dense WDM 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit]

WDM systems
A WDM system uses a multiplexer at the transmitter to join the signals together, and a demultiplexer at the receiver to split them apart. With the right type of fibre you can have a device that does both at once, and can function as an optical add-drop multiplexer. The optical filtering devices used in the modems are usually etalons, stable solid-state single-frequency Fabry-Perot interferometers. The concept was first published in 1970, and by 1978 WDM systems were being realized in the laboratory. The first WDM systems only combined two signals. Modern systems can handle up to 160 signals and can thus expand a basic 10 Gbit/s fiber system to a theoretical total capacity of over 1.6 Tbit/s over a single fibre pair. WDM systems are popular with telecommunications companies because they allow them to expand the capacity of the network without laying more fibre. By using WDM and optical amplifiers, they can accommodate several generations of technology development in their optical infrastructure without having to overhaul the backbone network. Capacity of a given link can be expanded by simply upgrading the multiplexers and demultiplexers at each end.

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This is often done by using optical-to-electrical-to-optical translation at the very edge of the transport network, thus permitting interoperation with existing equipment with optical interfaces. Most WDM systems operate on single mode fibre optical cables, which have a core diameter of 9 m. Certain forms of WDM can also be used in multi-mode fibre cables (also known as premises cables) which have core diameters of 50 or 62.5 m. Early WDM systems were expensive and complicated to run. However, recent standardization and better understanding of the dynamics of WDM systems have made WDM much cheaper to deploy. Optical receivers, in contrast to laser sources, tend to be wideband devices. Therefore the demultiplexer must provide the wavelength selectivity of the receiver in the WDM system. [edit]

Coarse WDM
WDM systems are divided into two market segments, dense and coarse WDM. Systems with more than 8 active wavelengths per fibre are generally considered Dense WDM (DWDM) systems, while those with fewer than eight active wavelengths are classed as coarse WDM (CWDM). CWDM and DWDM technology are based on the same concept of using multiple wavelengths of light on a single fibre, but the two technologies differ in the spacing of the wavelengths, number of channels, and the ability to amplify signals in the optical space. The Ethernet LX-4 physical layer standard is an example of a CWDM system in which four wavelengths near 1310 nm, each carrying a 3.125 gigabit-per-second data stream, are used to carry 10 gigabits per second of aggregate data. CWDM is also being used in cable television networks, where different wavelengths are used for the downstream and upstream signals. In these systems, the wavelengths used are often widely separated, for example the downstream signal might be at 1310 nm while the upstream signal is at 1550 nm. An interesting and relatively recent development relating Coarse WDM is the creation of Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) transceivers utilizing standardized CWDM wavelengths. SFP Optics allow for something very close to a seamless upgrade in even legacy systems that support SFP interfaces. Thus, a legacy ethernet switch can be easily "converted" into a multiwavelength switch simply by judicious choice of transceiver wavelengths, combined with an inexpensive passive optical multiplexing device. This is in contrast to Dense WDM systems which, though Optically Amplifiable and far more efficient (in terms of bandwidth) are orders of magnitude more expensive. Thus it would seem that CWDM would be poised to find a solid market share in metropolitan systems as well as high-end enterprise. Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing (CWDM) combines up to 16 wavelengths onto a single fiber. CWDM technology uses an ITU standard 20nm spacing between the wavelengths, from 21

1310nm to 1610nm. With CWDM technology, since the wavelengths are relatively far apart (compared to DWDM), the transponders are generally not very expensive. [edit]

Dense WDM
The introduction of the ITU-T G.694.1 frequency grid in 2002 has made it easier to integrate WDM with older but more standard SONET systems. WDM wavelengths are positioned in a grid having exactly 100 GHz (about 0.8nm) spacing in optical frequency, with a reference frequency fixed at 193.10 THz (1552.52nm). The main grid is placed inside the optical fiber amplifier bandwidth, but can be extended to wider bandwidths. Today's DWDM systems use 50 GHz or even 25 GHz channel spacing for up to 160 channel operation. Recently the ITU has standardized a 20 nanometre channel spacing grid for use with CWDM, using the wavelengths between 1310 nm and 1610 nm. Many CWDM wavelengths below 1470 nm are considered "unusable" on older G.652 spec fibres, due to the increased attenuation in the 1310-1470 nm bands. Newer fibres which conform to the G.652.C and G.652.D standards, such as Corning SMF-28e and Samsung Widepass nearly eliminate the "water peak" attenuation peak and allow for full operation of all twenty ITU CWDM channels in metropolitan networks. For more information on G.652.C and .D compliant fibres please see the links at the bottom of the article: DWDM systems are significantly more expensive than CWDM because the laser transmitters need to be significantly more stable than those needed for CWDM. Precision temperature control of laser transmitter is required in DWDM systems to prevent "drift" off a very narrow centre wavelength. In addition, DWDM tends to be used at a higher level in the communications hierarchy, for example on the Internet backbone and is therefore associated with higher modulation rates, thus creating a smaller market for DWDM devices with very high performance levels, and corresponding high prices. In other words, they are needed only in small numbers and it is therefore not possible to amortize their development cost amongst a large number of transmitters. [edit]

See also

Spectrometer Time-division multiplexing Code-division multiple access Dark fiber SFP transceiver

[edit]

References
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1.

2. 3. [edit]

The original version of this article was based on FOLDOC, with permission Tomlinson, W. J.; Lin, C., "Optical wavelength-division multiplexer for the 1-1.4micron spectral region", Electronics Letters, vol. 14, May 25, 1978, p. 345-347. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query? bibcode=1978ElL....14..345T&db_key=PHY&data_type=HTML&format= Ishio, H. Minowa, J. Nosu, K., "Review and status of wavelength-divisionmultiplexing technology and its application", Journal of Lightwave Technology, Volume: 2, Issue: 4, Aug 1984, p.448- 463 First discusion: O. E. Delange, Wideband optical communication systems, Part 11Frequency division multiplexing, hoc. IEEE, vol. 58, p. 1683, Oct. 1970.

External links

Optical Hub Optical Hub - This site focuses on various research resources in the area of optical networking. These resources include standard bodies, paper and patent search engines, research and writing skills, researchers and groups, network topologies, conference CFPs, OIF, optical ethernet, MPLS/GMPLS, etc. WDM Blog Daily updates on the business and technology of wavelength division multiplexing Google Search: G.652.C Google Search: G.652.D Services Lucent Technologies

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavelength-division_multiplexing"

What is SDH ? Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

Presented by

:
Copyright 2000

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SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) is an international standard for high speed telecommunication over optical/electical networks which can transport digital signals in variable capacities. It is a synchronous system which intend to provide a more flexible , yet simple network infrastructure. SDH (and its American variant- SONET) emerged from standard bodies somewhere around 1990. these two standards create a revolution in the communication networks based on optical fibers , in their cost and performance.

before SDH The development of digital transmission systems started In the early 70s , and was based on the Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) method. In the early 80's digital systems became more and more complex , yet there was huge demand for some features that were not supported by the existing systems. The demand was mainly to high order multiplexing through a hierarchy of increasing bit rates up to 140 Mbps or 565 Mbps in Europe. The problem was the high cost of bandwidth and digital devices. The solution that was created then , was a multiplexing technique , allowed for the combining of slightly non synchronous rates, referred to as plesiochronous*, which lead to the term plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH). *plesiochronous - "almost synchronous , because bits are stuffed into the frames as padding and the calls location varies slightly - jitters - from frame to frame".

multiplexing with PDH

why using SDH ? Although PDH was A breakthrough in the digital transmission systems , it has a lot of weaknesses :

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No world standard on digital format (three incompatible regional standards - European, North american and Japanese). No world standard for optical interfaces. Networking is impossible at the optical level. Rigid asynchronous multiplexing structure. Limited management capability.

Because of PDH disadvantages, It was obvious That a new multiplexing method is needed. The new method was called SDH.

multiplexing with SDH

SDH has a lot of advantages:

First world standard in digital format. First optical Interfaces. Transversal compatibility reduces networking cost. Multivendor environment drives price down Flexible synchronous multiplexing structure . Easy and cost-efficient traffic add-and-drop and cross connect capability. Reduced number of back-to-back interfaces improve network reliability and serviceability. Powerful management capability. New network architecture. Highly flexible and survivable self healing rings available. Backward and forward compatibility: Backward compatibility to existing PDH Forward compatibility to future B-ISDN, etc.

The following Graph Shows the differences between PDH and SDH Prices:

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SDH is based on byte interleaving and not bit interleaving , as PDH was based on. The bit rate increased from 64 Kbps in PDH to 1.5 - 2 Mbps in SDH.

SDH/SONET Vs. PDH rates

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when do we use SDH ?

When networks need to increase capacity , SDH simply acts as a means of increasing transmission capacity. When networks need to improve flexibility , to provide services quickly or to respond to new change more rapidly. when networks need to improve survivability for important user services. when networks need to reduce operation costs , which are becoming a heavy burden .

layers model of SDH the following scheme describes the different layers of SDH , according to the OSI model :

standards

SDH has been standardized by ITU-T in 1988. In November 1988 the first SDH standards were approved. In 1989 , the CCITT (International Consultative Committee on Telephony & Telegraphy) had published in its "Blue book" recommendations G.707 , G.708 & G.709 covering the SDH standards.

G.702 - Digital Hierarchy Bit Rates G.703 - Physical/Electrical Characteristics of Hierarchical Digital Interfaces G.707 - SDH Bit Rates G.708 - Network Node Interface for the SDH G.709 - Synchronous Multiplexing Structure G.773 - Protocol Suites for Q Interfaces for Management of Transmission Systems G.781 - (Formerly G.smux-1) Structure of Recommendations on Multiplexing Equipment for the SDH G.782 - (Formerly G.smux-2) Types and General Characteristics of SDH Multiplexing Equipment G.783 - (Formerly G.smux-3) Characteristics of SDH Multiplexing Equipment Functional Blocks G.784 - (Formerly Gsmux-4) SDH Management

SDH Elements

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The most common SDH elements are :

The terminal multiplexer is used to multiplex local tributaries (low rate) to the stm-N (high rate) aggregate. The terminal is used in the chain topology as an end element.

The regenerator is used to regenerate the (high rate) stm-N in case that the distance between two sites is longer than the transmitter can carry. The Add And Drop Multiplexer (ADM) passes the (high rate) stm-N through from his one side to the other and has the ability to drop or add any (low rate) tributary. The ADM used in all topologies.

The synchronous digital cross connect receives several (high rate) stm-N and switches any of their (low rate) tributaries between them. It is used to connect between several topologies.

SDH Topologies

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The linear bus (chain) topology used when there is no need for protection and the demography of the sites is linear.

The ring topology is the most common and known of the sdh topologies it allows great network flexibility and protection.

The mesh topology allows even the most paranoid network manager to sleep well at nights because of the flexibility and redundancy that it gives.

The Star topology is used for connecting far and less important sites to the network.

Usage of SDH elements in SDH Topologies The Terminal multiplexer can be used to connect two sites in a high rate connection .

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The Add And Drop Multiplexer (ADM) is used to build the chain topologies in the above picture. At the ends of the chain usually a Terminal Multiplexer is connected. The Add And Drop Multiplexer (ADM) is used to build the ring topology. At each site we have the ability to add & drop certain tributaries.

SDH Protection The SDH gives the ability to create topologies with protection for the data transferred. Following are some examples for protected ring topologies.

At this picture we can see Dual Unidirectional Ring . The normal data flow is according to ring A (red). Ring B (blue) carries unprotected data which is lost in case of breakdown or it carries no data at all.

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In case of breakdown rings A & B become one ring without the broken segment.

The Bi-directional Ring allows data flow in both directions. For example if data from one of the sites has to reach a site which is next to the left of the origin site it will flow to the left instead of doing a whole cycle to the right.

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In case of breakdown some of the data is lost and the important data is switched. For example if data from a site should flow to its destination through the broken segment, it will be switched to the other side instead.

SDH Management SDH has enhanced management capabilities :

Alarm/Event Management Configuration Management Performance Management Access and Security Management

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Depicted above is a Management Station connected to a SDH ring through site 1 which contains the gateway element. The Gateway elements receives the status of all the other elements in the net through the special fields that exists in the SDH protocol (in band).

SDH vs. PDH Few years ago the common way to build a backbone network that supplies broadband communication to the suppliers (BT, Bezeq etc.) was a PDH network. The topology of a PDH network is the Mesh topology where every multiplexer in each site worked with its own clock. In order to synchronize between two multiplexers that works together, usually the transmission was made according to the local clock and the reception was made according to the recovered clock that was recovered from the received data. The PDH contains 4 basic bit rates:

E1 - 2.048 Mbit/Sec E2 - 8.448 Mbit/Sec E3 - 34.368 Mbit/Sec E4 - 139.264 Mbit/Sec

The En is the result of multiplextion of 4 En-1. The fact that each of the multiplexers transmits according to its own clock creates a problem when we need to multiplex several transmitted data streams, the problem is that we can't decide which clock to choose for the multiplexing. If we will choose a fast clock we will not have enough data to put in the frame from a slower incoming data stream (we will get empty spaces in the frame), from the other hand if we will choose a slow clock the data at the faster incoming stream will be lost. This problem was solved with a stuffing algorithm, which is implemented by using a fast clock, that allows transmission of indication bits and stuff bits. In case that the data is slower then "expected", the indication bits indicate that the following stuff bits are "garbage" and if the data is faster then "expected" the indication bits indicate that the following stuff bits are data. This is the reason why 4 * En-1 < En. There are two common ways to connect between two PDH sites. The first is by Radio Frequency (RF) and the other is by Electrical Signal over copper cable. since we cant afford to many cables or frequencies usually E3 or E4 is used. In order to transmit E1 (a very common data rate) we need 2 or 3 levels of multiplexing, this means that in a full E4 constellation 1+4+16=25 multiplexers are needed. Further more there is no inband management in the PDH protocol if we need to know the status of 1 of the multiplexers, or if we need to change the route of 1 of the trails we have to go to the site or build an outside network that allows us to manage the PDH network.

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In the latest years a new protocol was defined, this new protocol was aimed to provide all the PDH capabilities and solve some of the PDH weaknesses that are mentioned above. This new protocol is the SDH. The SDH network works with a single central clock that synchronizes all the elements in the network. The SDH contains the following bit rates:

STM1 - 155 Mbit/Sec STM4 - 622 Mbit/Sec STM16 - 2.5 Gbit/Sec STM64 - 10 Gbit/Sec Etc.

In order to have the ability to connect a low rate PDH stream (E1, E3 etc.), an improved stuffing algorithm is used. The SDH protocol enables transmitting any of the PDH bit rates directly by mapping it to the STM-n frame, that gives the user the flexibility to transmit any configuration of tributary rates using only one multiplexing element, depicted bellow the difference between the SDH network element and the PDH network elements that need to transmit different tributary rates.

PDH network elements.

The inband management functionality enables the SDH network manager to receive information about the quality of service, the damaged elements (if there are any) and gives the manager the option to change the network configuration from a remote site. In order to be able to do the same things with the PDH network, one should build another separated network for the management and the remote control. The ability to multiplex any of the standard bit rates into the STM-n frame is possible due to the complicated containers structure of the STM-n frame as depicted bellow.

In order to map an E1(2.048 Mbit/Sec) into the STM-n frame we have to create a TU-12 stream which is a low rate stream that is synchronized to the SDH network clock. The TU-12 is composed of the E1 data, indication bits, stuffing bits, management bits and a direct pointer to the E1 frame. The TUG-2 is a structure that can be composed of 3 TU-12s (3 E1s), or 4 TU-11s (4 T1s), or 1 TU-2 (1 T2). This structure gives the STM frame its flexibility to multiplex different rates directly into the STM-n frame (impossible in the PDH protocol). The next stage is mapping 7 TUG-2s into 1 VC-3 or into 1 TUG-3 and so on according to the flow chart. This method of multiplexing allow us to directly map the T1, T2, T3 (American standards) and the E1, E2, E3, E4 (European standards) into the STM-n frame. Each time we map lower rate streams into a higher rate structure we add pointers to a fixed point in the lower rate streams, so we can directly extract the relevant information with out demultiplexing the all high rate stream. When stuffing is needed the pointer to the fixed location is changed according to the direction of the stuffing, this is the improvement of stuffing algorithm used in the PDH .

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SDH Frame Structure The STM-n frame structure is best represented as a rectangle of 9 x 270xN. The 9xN first columns are the frame header and the rest of the frame is the inner structure data (including the data, indication bits, stuff bits, pointers and management).

The STM-n frame is usually transmitted over an optical fiber. The frame is transmitted row by row (first is transmitted the first row then the second and so on). At the beginning of each frame a synchronized bytes A1A2 are transmitted .

The multiplexing method of 4 STM-n streams into a STM-nx4 is an interleaving of the STM-n streams to produce the STM-nx4 stream. The method is shown in the next picture for producing STM-4 from 4 STM-1 streams.

After interleaving we get a higher order stream that in its rectangular form all the low order STM streams are placed as its columns which makes it easier to find each of them in the bigger frame.

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SDH - In the future

The modern lifestyle requires high speed communication applications. SDH provides large bandwidth that can meet the needs of this applications. Here are some of the needs and there solutions.

Future of the private circuits Demands:

In the future there will be an increasment in the demand for private circuits (leased line traffic) and the associated capacity increase in the trunk network. Mega stream services will be available for end users.

SDH solution: SDH networks have flexible routing ability for circuit protection thus allowing rapid circuit reallocation and high circuit availability.

Future of the Broadband ISDN Demands:

Growing demand for non voice broadband services which require a variable bandwidth such as video signal transmission, video conferencing, remote data base access and high speed multimedia file transfer.

SDH solution:

ATM has been chosen by CCITT to be the target transfer mode for B-ISDN services, ATM cells can be easily transported in the SDH frame.

The Aothers :

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Galit Rozenboim Hay Shaul Shay Turel Arik Litinsky Jacob Rutstein Itsik Shalom

Students of Tel Aviv University from the faculties of Engineering & Computer Scince. References :

Most of the references to this Tutorial are taken from ECI Technology Seminars Center and ECI Virtual Training Center.Permission for useing the graphics from those sources was granted. The ITU-T standards G.701 - G.708 (particulary the G.707 standard). "Synchronous Digital Hierarch (SDH)" by Marconi. "SDH - Three little words" by Erricsson

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