S3030B
E4/STM-1/OC-3 ATM 4-BIT TRANSCEIVER
transmitting the electrical signals in optical form over
the physical media. The section layer handles the
transport of the framed electrical signals across the
optical cable from one end to the next. Key functions
of this layer are framing, scrambling, and error moni-
toring. The line layer is responsible for the reliable
transmission of the path layer information stream
carrying voice, data, and video signals. Its main func-
tions are synchronization, multiplexing, and reliable
transport. The path layer is responsible for the actual
transport of services at the appropriate signaling rates.
SONET/SDH OVERVIEW
Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) is a standard
for connecting one fiber system to another at the op-
tical level. SONET, together with the Synchronous
Digital Hierarchy (SDH) administered by the ITU-T,
form a single international standard for fiber intercon-
nect between telephone networks of different coun-
tries. SONET is capable of accommodating a variety
of transmission rates and applications.
The SONET standard is a layered protocol with four
separate layers defined. These are:
Data Rates and Signal Hierarchy
• Photonic
• Section
• Line
Table 1 contains the data rates and signal designa-
tions of the SONET hierarchy. The lowest level is the
basic SONET signal referred to as the synchronous
transport signal level-1 (STS-1). An STS-N signal is
made up of N byte-interleaved STS-1 signals. The
optical counterpart of each STS-N signal is an optical
carrier level-N signal (OC-N). The S3030B supports
OC-3 rates (155.52 Mbps).
• Path
Figure 2 shows the layers and their functions. Each
of the layers has overhead bandwidth dedicated to
administration and maintenance. The photonic layer
simply handles the conversion from electrical to opti-
cal and back with no overhead. It is responsible for
Frame and Byte Boundary Detection
The SONET/SDH fundamental frame format for STS-3
consists of nine transport overhead bytes followed by
Synchronous Payload Envelope (SPE) bytes. This pat-
tern of 9 overhead and 261 SPE bytes is repeated
nine times in each frame. Frame and byte boundaries
are detected using the A1 and A2 bytes found in the
transport overhead. (See Figure 3.)
Table 1. SONET Signal Hierarchy
Elec.
STS-1
ITU-T Optical Data Rate (Mbps)
OC-1
51.84
STS-3
STM-1
STM-4
OC-3
155.52
STS-12
STS-24
STS-48
OC-12
OC-24
OC-48
622.08
1244.16
2488.32
For more details on SONET operations, refer to the
ANSI SONET standard document.
STM-16
Figure 2. SONET Structure
Figure 3. STS-3/OC Frame Format
Layer Overhead
(Embedded Ops
Channel)
Functions
A1
B1
D1
H1
B2
D4
D7
D10
Z1
A1
*
A1
*
A2
E1
D2
H2
K1
D5
D8
D11
Z2
A2
*
A2
*
C1
F1
C1
*
C1
*
Payload to
SPE mapping
Path layer
Path layer
*
*
*
*
D3
H3
K2
D6
D9
D12
E2
*
*
9 x 261 =
2349 bytes
Maintenance,
protection,
switching
H1
B2
*
H1
B2
*
H2
*
H2
*
H3
*
H3
*
Line layer
9
Line layer
576 Kbps
192 Kbps
Rows
*
*
*
*
Scrambling,
framing
Section layer
Section layer
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Z1
Z1
Z2
Z2
*
*
Optical
transmission
Photonic layer
Photonic layer
0 bps
Transport Overhead
9 Columns
Synchronous Payload
Envelope
Fiber Cable
End Equipment
End Equipment
261 Columns
125 µsec
2