Module 1 Optical Networking

INTRODUCTION

The high bandwidths of fiber-optic cable are suitable for today’s high-data-rate technologies (such as
video conferencing) and for carrying large numbers of lower-rate technologies at the same time. For this
reason, the importance of fiber optics grows in conjunction with the development of technologies
requiring high data rates or wide bandwidths for transmission. With their prominence came a need for
standardization. The United States (ANSI) and Europe (ITU-T) have responded by defining standards
that, though independent, are fundamentally similar and ultimately compatible. The ANSI standard is
called the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET). The ITU-T standard is called the Synchronous
Digital Hierarchy (SDH). SONET/SDH is a synchronous network using synchronous TDM
multiplexing. SONET is a communication protocol, developed by Bellcore – that is used to transmit a
large amount of data over relatively large distances using optical fibre. With SONET, multiple digital data
streams are transferred at the same time over the optical fibre. A single clock (Primary Reference Clock,
PRC) handles the timing of transmission of signals & equipments across the entire network. So it is called
synchronous network.

SONET ARCHITECTURE
The architecture of a SONET system: signals, devices, and connections.

Signals
SONET defines a hierarchy of electrical signaling levels called synchronous transport signals (STSs). Each
STS level (STS-1 to STS-192) supports a certain data rate, specified in megabits per second. The
corresponding optical signals are called optical carriers (OCs). SDH specifies a similar system called a
synchronous transport module (STM). STM is intended to be compatible with existing European standards
and with STS levels. The lowest STM level, STM-1, is defined as 155.520 Mbps, which is exactly
equal to STS-3.

SONET/SDH rates

STS OC Rate (Mbps) STM

STS-1 OC-1 51.840
STS-3 OC-3 155.520 STM-1
STS-9 OC-9 466.560 STM-3
STS-12 OC-12 622.080 STM-4
STS-18 OC-18 933.120 STM-6
STS-24 OC-24 1244.160 STM-8
STS-36 OC-36 1866.230 STM-12
STS-48 OC-48 2488.320 STM-16
STS-96 OC-96 4976.640 STM-32
STS-192 OC-192 9953.280 STM-64

The lowest level in this hierarchy has a data rate of 51.840 Mbps. STS-3 rate is exactly three times the
STS-1 rate; and the STS-9 rate isexactly one-half the STS-18 rate. These relationships mean that 18 STS-1
channels can be multiplexed into one STS-18, six STS-3 channels can be multiplexed into one STS-18, and so
on.

SONET Devices
Figure shows a simple link using SONET devices. SONET transmission relies onthree basic devices: STS
multiplexers/demultiplexers, regenerators, add/drop multi- plexers and terminals.

STS Multiplexer/Demultiplexer
STS multiplexers/demultiplexers mark the beginning points and endpoints of a SONET link. They provide the
interface between an electrical network and the optical network. An STS multiplexer multiplexes signals from
multiple electrical sources and creates the corresponding OC signal. An STS demultiplexer demultiplexes an
optical OC signal into corresponding electric signals.

Regenerator
Regenerators extend the length of the links. A regenerator is a repeater that takes a received optical signal (OC-
n) regenerates the signal, and finally send the corresponding OC-n signal to further device.

Add/drop Multiplexer
Add/drop multiplexers allow insertion and extraction of signals. An add/drop multiplexer (ADM) can add
STSs coming from different sources into a given path or can remove a desired signal from a path and
redirect it without demultiplexing the entire signal. Add/drop multiplexers use header information such as
addresses and pointers to identifyindividual streams.
A number of incoming electronic signals are fed into an STS multiplexer, where they are combined into a
single optical signal. The optical signal is transmitted to a regenerator, where it is recreated without the noise
it has picked up in transit. The regenerated signals are then fed into an add/drop multiplexer. The add/drop
multiplexer reorganizes these signals, if necessary, and sends them out as directed by information in the data
frames. These remultiplexed signals are sent to another regenerator and from there to the receiving STS
demultiplexer, where they are returned to a format usable by the receiving links.

Connections
The devices defined in the previous section are connected using sections, lines, and paths.
Sections
A section is the optical link connecting two neighbor devices: multiplexer to multiplexer, multiplexer to
regenerator, or regenerator to regenerator.

Lines
A line is the portion of the network between two multiplexers: STS multiplexer to add/drop multiplexer,
two add/drop multiplexers, or two STS multiplexers.

Paths
A path is the end-to-end portion of the network between two STS multiplexers. In a simple SONET of
two STS multiplexers linked directly to each other, the section, line,and path are the same.

SONET LAYERS
The SONET standard includes four functional layers: the photonic, the section, the line, and the path
layer. They correspond to both the physical and the data link layers .

SONET layers compared with OSI or the Internet layers

Path Layer
The path layer is responsible for the movement of a signal from its optical source to its optical destination. At the
optical source, the signal is changed from an electronic form into an optical form, multiplexed with other signals,
and encapsulated in a frame. At the optical destination, the received frame is demultiplexed, and the individual
optical signals are changed back into their electronic forms. Path layer overhead is added at this layer. STS
multiplexers provide path layer functions.

Line Layer
The line layer is responsible for the movement of a signal across a physical line. Line layer overhead is added
to the frame at this layer. STS multiplexers and add/drop multiplexers provide line layer functions.

Section Layer
The section layer is responsible for the movement of a signal across a physical section. It handles framing,
scrambling, and error control. Section layer overhead is added to the frame at this layer.

Photonic Layer
The photonic layer corresponds to the physical layer of the OSI model. It includes physical specifications
for the optical fiber channel, the sensitivity of the receiver, multiplexing functions, and so on. SONET uses
NRZ encoding with the presence of lightrepresenting 1 and the absence of light representing 0.
Device–Layer Relationships
The figure shows the relationship between the devices used in SONET transmission and the four layers of
the standard. An STS multiplexer is a four-layer device. An add/drop multiplexer is a three-layer device. A
regenerator is a two-layer device.

Device–layer relationship in SONET

SONET FRAMES
Each synchronous transfer signal STS-n is composed of 8000 frames. Each frame is a two-dimensional
matrix of bytes with 9 rows by 90  n columns. For example, STS-1 frame is 9 rows by 90 columns
(810 bytes), and an STS-3 is 9 rows by 270 columns (2430 bytes). Figure shows the general format of
an STS-1 and an STS-n.

An STS-1 and an STS-n frame

Frame, Byte, and Bit Transmission

Each STS-n signal is transmitted at a fixed rate of 8000 frames per second. For each frame the bytes
are transmitted from the left to the right, top to the bottom. For each byte, the bits are transmitted
from the most significant to the least significant (left to right). Figure 17.5 shows the order of
frame and byte transmission.
 STS-1 frames in transition

A SONET STS-n signal is transmitted at 8000 frames per second.

Find the data rate of an STS-1 signal.

Solution
STS-1, like other STS signals, sends 8000 frames per second. Each STS-1 frame is made of 9 by(1  90) bytes. Each
byte is made of 8 bits. The data rate is

STS-1 data rate = 8000  9  (1  90)  8 = 51.840 Mbps

Find the data rate of an STS-3 signal.

Solution
STS-3, like other STS signals, sends 8000 frames per second. Each STS-3 frame is made of 9 by(3  90) bytes. Each
byte is made of 8 bits. The data rate is

STS-3 data rate = 8000  9  (3  90)  8 = 155.52 Mbps

Note that in SONET, there is an exact relationship between the data rates of different STS signals. The data rate of STS-3
can be found by using the data rate of STS-1 (multiply the latter by 3).

In SONET, the data rate of an STS-n signal is n times the

data rate of an STS-1 signals.

What is the duration of an STS-1 frame? STS-3 frame? STS-n frame?

Solution
In SONET, 8000 frames are sent per second. This means that the duration of an STS-1, STS-3, orSTS-n frame is the
same and equal to 1/8000 s, or 125 s.

In SONET, the duration of any frame is 125 s.

STS-1 Frame Format

The basic format of an STS-1 frame is shown in Figure. A SONET frame is a matrix of 9 rows of 90
bytes each, for a total of 810 bytes.
The first three columns of the frame are used for section and line overhead. The upper three rows
of the first three columns are used for section overhead (SOH). The lower six are line overhead
(LOH). The rest of the frame is called the synchronous payload envelope (SPE). It contains user data and
 path overhead (POH) .

Section Overhead
The section overhead consists of nine octets.

❏ Alignment bytes (A1 and A2). Bytes A1 and A2 are used for framing and synchronization and are called
alignment bytes. These bytes alert a receiver that a frame is arriving and give the receiver a predetermined bit
pattern on which to synchronize. The bit patterns for these two bytes in hexadecimal are 0xF628. The bytes
serve as a flag.
❏ Section parity byte (B1). Byte B1 is for bit interleaved parity (BIP-8). Its value is calculated over all bytes
of the frame.It is used for error detection.
❏ Identification byte (C1). Byte C1 carries the identity of the STS-1 frame. This byte is necessary when multiple
STS-1s are multiplexed to create a higher-rate STS (STS-3, STS-9, STS-12, etc.). Information in this byte allows
the various signals to be recognized easily upon demultiplexing. For example, in an STS-3 signal, the value
of the C1 byte is 1 for the first STS-1; it is 2 for the second; and it is 3 for the third.
❏ Management bytes (D1, D2, and D3). Bytes D1, D2, and D3 together form a 192-kbps channel (3  8000 
8) called the data communication channel. This channel is required for operation, administration, and
maintenance (OA&M) signaling.
❏ Order wire byte (E1). Byte E1 is the order wire byte. Order wire bytes in consecutive frames form a channel
of 64 kbps (8000 frames per second times 8 bits per frame). This channel is used for communication
between regenerators, or betweenterminals and regenerators.
User’s byte (F1). The F1 bytes in consecutive frames form a 64-kbps channel thatis reserved for user needs at
the section level.
Section overhead is recalculated for each SONET device (regenerators and multiplexers).

Line Overhead
Line overhead consists of 18 bytes.

STS-1 frame: line overhead

❏ Line parity byte (B2). Byte B2 is for bit interleaved parity. It is for error check ing of the frame over a line
(between two multiplexers). In an STS-n frame, B2 iscalculated for all bytes.
❏ Data communication channel bytes (D4 to D12). The line overhead D bytes (D4 to D12) in consecutive frames
form a 576-kbps channel that provides the same service as the D1–D3 bytes (OA&M), but at the line rather
than the section level (between multiplexers).
❏ Order wire byte (E2). The E2 bytes in consecutive frames form a 64-kbps channel that provides the same
functions as the E1 order wire byte, but at the line level.
❏ Pointer bytes (H1, H2, and H3). Bytes H1, H2, and H3 are pointers. The first two bytes are used to show the data
offset of the SPE in the frame.
❏ Automatic protection switching bytes (K1 and K2). The K1 and K2 bytes in consecutive frames form a 128-kbps
channel used for automatic detection of problems in line-terminating equipment.
❏ Growth bytes (Z1 and Z2). The Z1 and Z2 bytes are reserved for future use.

Synchronous Payload Envelope

The synchronous payload envelope (SPE) contains the user data and the overhead related to the user data (path
overhead). Path overheadconsists of 9 bytes.

STS-1 frame: path overhead

B3: Path parity byte H4: Virtual tributary indicator

J1
C2: Path signal label byte J1: Path trace byte
B3 G1:
F2:
C2

G1

F2

H4

Z3

Z4

Z5 Path
overhead
 Path status byte Z3, Z4, Z5: Growth bytes (reserved)
Path user channel byte

Data

STS-1 SPE

❏ Path parity byte (B3). Byte B3 is for bit interleaved parity, like bytes B1 and B2, but calculated over
SPE bits.
❏ Path signal label byte (C2). Byte C2 is the path identification byte. It is used to identify different
protocols used at higher levels (such as IP or ATM) whose dataare being carried in the SPE.
❏ Path user channel byte (F2). The F2 bytes in consecutive frames, like the F1 bytes, form a 64-kbps
channel that is reserved for user needs, but at the path level.
❏ Path status byte (G1). Byte G1 is sent by the receiver to communicate its status to the sender. It is
sent on the reverse channel when the communication is duplex.
❏ Multiframe indicator (H4). Byte H4 is the multiframe indicator. It indicates pay- loads that cannot fit
into a single frame and SPE frame and need to be dividedinto different frames.
❏ Path trace byte (J1). The J1 bytes in consecutive frames form a 64-kbps channel used for tracking the
path.
❏ Growth bytes (Z3, Z4, and Z5). Bytes Z3, Z4, and Z5 are reserved for future use.

Path overhead is only calculated for end-to-end(at STS multiplexers).

SONET NETWORKS
Using SONET equipment, we can create a SONET network that can be used as a high-speed backbone carrying loads
from other networks such as ATM or IP. We can roughly divide SONET networks into three categories: linear, ring,
and mesh net-work.
Linear Networks
A linear SONET network can be point-to-point or multipoint.

Point-to-Point Network
A point-to-point network is normally made of an STS multiplexer, an STS demultiplexer, and zero or more
regenerators with no add/drop multiplexers as shown in Figure. The signal flow can be unidirectional or
bidirectional.

A point-to-point SONET network

Sender Receiver
STS R R STS
MUX DEMUX
Multipoint Network
A multipoint network uses ADMs to allow the communications between several terminals. An ADM removes the
signal belonging to the terminal connected to it and adds the signal transmitted from another terminal. Each terminal
can send data to one or more downstream terminals. Figure shows a unidirectional scheme in which each ter minal
can send data only to the downstream terminals, but the a multipoint network can be bidirectional, too.

A multipoint SONET network

T1 can send data to T2 and T3 simultaneously. T2, however, cansend data only to T3. The figure shows a very
simple configuration; in normal situations, we have more ADMs and more terminals.

Automatic Protection Switching

To create protection against failure in linear networks, SONET defines automatic protection switching (APS).
APS in linear networks is defined at the line layer, which means the protection is between two ADMs or a pair
of STS multiplexer/demultiplexers. The idea is to provide redundancy; a redundant line (fiber) can be used in
case of failure in the main one. The main line is referred to as the work line and the redundant line as the
protection line. Three schemes are common for protection in linear channels: one-plus-one, one-to-one, and
one-to-many.

Automatic protection switching in linear networks

STS STS
MUX MUX ADM
ADM
Working line Working lines

Protection line

a. One-plus-one APS

ADM ADM Protection line

Working line Reverse line
Protection line
Reverse line

b. One-to-one APS c. One-to-many APS

One-Plus-One APS
In this scheme, there are normally two lines: one working line and one protection line. Both lines are active all
the time. The sending multiplexer sends the same data on both lines; the receiver multiplexer monitors the line
and chooses the one with the better quality. If one of the lines fails, it loses its signal, and, of course, the other line is
selected at the receiver. Although, the failure recovery for this scheme is instantaneous, the scheme is inefficient
because two times the bandwidth isrequired. Note that one-plus-one switching is done at the path layer.
One-to-One APS In this scheme, which looks like the one-plus-one scheme, there is also one working line and
one protection line. However, the data are normally sent on the working line until it fails. At this time, the
receiver, using the reverse channel, informs the sender to use the protection line instead. Obviously, the failure
recovery is slower than that of the one-plus-scheme, but this scheme is more efficient because the protection line
can be used for data transfer when it is not used to replace the working line. Note that the one-to-one switching is
done at the line layer.
One-to-Many APS This scheme is similar to the one-to-one scheme except that there is only one protection line
for many working lines. When a failure occurs in one of the working lines, the protection line takes control until
the failed line is repaired. Itis not as secure as the one-to-one scheme because if more than one working line fails at
the same time, the protection line can replace only one of them. Note that one-to-many APS is done at the line
layer.

Ring Networks
ADMs make it possible to have SONET ring networks. SONET rings can be used in either a unidirectional or
a bidirectional configuration. In each case, we can add extra rings to make the network self-healing, capable of
self-recovery from line failure.

Unidirectional Path Switching Ring

A unidirectional path is a unidirectional network with two rings: one ring used as the working ring and the
other as the protection ring. The idea is similar to the one-plus-one APS scheme we discussed in a linear
network. The same signal flows through both rings, one clockwise and the other counter clockwise. A node
receives two copies of the electrical signals at the path layer, compares them, and chooses the one with the better
quality. If part of a ring between two ADMs fails, the other ring still can guarantee the continuation of data flow. It
has fast failure recovery, but it is not efficient because we need to have two rings that do the job of one. Half of the
bandwidth is wasted. Figure shows this network.

A unidirectional path switching ring

Sender

STS MUX

Receiver Receiver
Protection Working
ring ring
STS STS
DEMUX DEMUX

STS DEMUX
 Bidirectional Line Switching Ring
Another alternative in a SONET ring network is bidirectional line switching ring (BLSR). In this case,
communication is bidirectional, which means that we need two rings for working lines. We also need
two rings for protection lines. This means BLSR uses four rings. If a working ring in one direction
between two nodes fails, the receiving node can use the reverse ring to inform the upstream node in the
failed direction to use the protection ring. Note that the discovery of a failure in BLSR is at the line layer,
notthe path layer. The ADMs find the failure and inform the adjacent nodes to use the protection rings.

A bidirectional line switching ring

Working
ADM rings

Protection
rings

ADM ADM

ADM

S.
No. SONET SDH

1. SONET stands for Synchronous Optical Network. SDH stands for Synchronous Digital Hierarchy.

It is developed by ITU-T (International

It is developed by ANSI (American National Telecommunication Union – Telecommunication
2. Standards Institute). Standardization Sector).

It has total number of transport overhead of 9×3 = 27 It has total number of transport overhead of 9×9 = 81
3. bytes. bytes.

It can transmit in both synchronous mode and

4. It can transmit data in only synchronous mode. asynchronous mode.

It does not provides better transmission rates as It provides better transmission rates as compared to
5. compared to SDH. SONET.

Optical Carrier level-1(OC-1) is the fundamental unit

of SONET. This unit serves as the basis for other rates
which are as follows-
 OC-3 Synchronous Transmission Module level-1 (STM-1)
6.  OC-12 is the fundamental unit of SDH.
  OC-18
 OC-24
 OC-36
 OC-48
 OC-96 and OC-192

Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is a technology that multiplexes data signals from different sources
so they can share a single optical fibre pair while maintaining complete separation of the data streams.WDM
thus increases the carrying capacity of the physical medium (fiber) WDM assigns incoming optical signals to
specific frequencies of light wavelengths within a certain frequency band. DWDM spaces the wavelengths
more closely than does WDM, and therefore has a greater overall capacity. As data flows through distinct
wavelengths, the streams or channels do not interfere with each other. This approach helps maintain data
integrity. As a result, this enables security-related partitioning or separate tenants in the same data center.
Because of its ability to handle so much data, DWDM is popular with telecommunications and cable
companies. It is an integral part of their core networks. DWDM is also highly suitable for anyone running
densely populated data centers DWDM can handle higher speed protocols up to 100 Gbps per channel. Each
channel is only 0.8nm apart. Dense wavelength division multiplexing works on the same principle as WDM but
in addition to the increased channel capacity it can also be amplified to support much longer distances. DWDM
systems support standard SONET/SDH short-reach optical interfaces to which any SONET/SDH compliant
client device can attach

The diagram given below represents the dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) −
Working of DWDM

The working of DWDM is explained below −

 DWDM modulates multiple data channels into optical signals that have different frequencies and then
multiplexes these signals into a single stream of light that is sent over a fibre-optic cable.
 Each optical signal has its own frequency, so up to 80 data streams can be transmitted simultaneously over
the fibre using only eight different light wavelengths.
 DWDM based networks can carry different types of traffic at different speeds over an optical
 channel.
 At the other end, a demultiplexer demultiplexes the signals and distributes them to their various data
channels.
 Devices that support DWDM are more costly because the laser light sources for generating signals over
fibre must be highly stable.

The advantages of DWDM are explained below −

 Transparency − Because DWDM is physical layer architecture it can transparently support both TDM and
data formats such as ATM, Gigabit Ethernet
 Scalability − DWDM can leverage the abundance of dark fibre in many metropolitan area and enterprise
networks to quickly meet demand for capacity on point-to-point links and on spans of existing
SONET/SDH rings.
 Dynamic provisioning −Fast, simple, and dynamic provisioning of network connections give providers the
ability to provide high bandwidth services in days rather than months.

The features of dense wavelength-division multiplexing are as follows −

 It is a type of technology that increases the bandwidth while transmitting data signals
 over the fabric.
 The signal carrying capacity can be increased to a large extent.