SONET NETWORKS

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 (Chapter 18) or IP (Chapter 20). We can roughly divide SOlNET networks into three categories: linear, ting, and mesh networks.

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 17.18. The signal flow can be unidirectional or bidirectional,

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. which each terminal can send data only to the downstream terminals, but the a multipoint network can be bidirectional, too.

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/multiplexers. 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.

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 is required. 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. It is 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 switching ring (UPSR) 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 counterclockwise. It is called UPSR because monitoring is done at the path layer. 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. UPSR, like the one-plus-one scheme, 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.

Although we have chosen one sender and three receivers in the figure, there can be many other configurations. The sender uses a two-way connection to send data to both rings simultaneously; the receiver uses selecting switches to select the ring with better signal quality. We have used one STS multiplexer and three STS alemultiplexers to emphasize that nodes operate on the path layer.

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. The operation, however, is similar to the one-to-one APS scheme. 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. The network can recover in several different failure situations that we do not discuss here. Note that the discovery of a failure in BLSR is at the line layer, not the path layer. The ADMs find the failure and inform the adjacent nodes to use the protection rings.

Combination of Rings

SONET networks today use a combination of interconnected rings to create services in a wide area. For example, a SONET network may have a regional ring, several local rings, and many site rings to give services to a wide area. These rings can be UPSR, BLSR, or a combination of both.
Mesh Networks

One problem with ring networks is the lack of scalability. When the traffic in a ring increases, we need to upgrade not only the lines, but also the ADMs. In this situation, a mesh network with switches probably give better performance. A switch in a network mesh is called a cross-connect. A cross-connect, like other switches we have seen, has input and output ports. In an input port, the switch takes an OC-n signal, changes it to an STS-n signal, demultiplexes it into the corresponding STS-1 signals, and sends each STS-1 signal to the appropriate output port. An output port takes STS-1 signals coming from different input ports, multiplexes them into an STS-n signal, and makes an OC-n signal for transmission.


VIRTUAL TRIBUTARIES

SONET is designed to carry broadband payloads. Current digital hierarchy data rates (DS-1 to DS~3), however, are lower than STS-1. To make SONET backward-compatible with the current hierarchy, its frame design includes a system of virtual tributaries (VTs) . A virtual tributary is a partial payload that can be inserted into an STS-1 and combined with other partial payloads to fill out the frame. Instead of using all 86 payload columns of an STS-1 frame for data from one source, we can sub- divide the SPE and call each component a VT.

Types of VTs

Four types of VTs have been defined to accommodate existing digital hierarchies Notice that the number of columns allowed for each type of VT can be determined by doubling the type identification number

(VT1.5 gets three columns, VT2 gets four columns, etc.).
VT1.5 accommodates the U.S. DS-1 service (1.544 Mbps).
VT2 accommodates the European CEPT-1 service (2.048 Mbps).
VT3 accommodates the DS-1C service (fractional DS-l, 3.152 Mbps).
VT6 accommodates the DS-2 service (6.312 Mbps).


When two or more tributaries are inserted into a single STS-1 frame, they are interleaved column by column. SONET provides mechanisms for identifying each VT and separating them without demultiplexing the entire stream.