Ring Multiplex Section Protection

Ring multiplex section protection (MSP) includes two-fiber

unidirectional MSP, two-fiber bidirectional MSP, and four-fiber
bidirectional MSP. What are their differences?

Two-Fiber Unidirectional MSP

Two-fiber unidirectional MSP requires two fibers. The S1 fiber provides a working channel and the P1
fiber provides a protection channel. Services on the ring use diverse routes (that is, services from node
A to node C are transmitted along a different route from services from node C to node A).
Normal state
AC service path: A -> B -> C
CA service path: C -> D -> A
Protection state (protection switching occurs if the fiber from node B to node C is faulty)
AC service path: A -> B -> A -> D -> C
CA service path: C -> D -> A
If the fiber from node B to node C is faulty, AC services are switched to the protection
channel between node B and node C, while CA services are not affected.
CA AC CA AC

West East S1 West East S1

East P1 West East P1 West

A A
D B D B
C C
West East West East

East West East West

CA AC CA AC
Normal state Protection state Switching point

Two-Fiber Bidirectional MSP

Two-fiber bidirectional MSP also requires two fibers. It uses the timeslot switching technology. That is, one half of the timeslots
of a fiber are used as the working channel, while the other half are used as the protection channel. Services on the ring use
uniform routes (that is, services from node A to node C are transmitted along the same route as services from node C to node A).
 The working channel S1 on a fiber is protected by the protection channel P1 on another fiber.
Similarly, the working channel S2 is protected by the protection channel P2 on a different fiber.

For example, for an STM-16 service configured with two-fiber bidirectional MSP, VC-4s 1 to 8 are
the working channel, while VC-4s 9 to 16 are the protection channel.

Normal state
AC service path: A -> B -> C
CA service path: C -> B -> A

Protection state (protection switching occurs if the fiber from node B to node C is faulty)
AC service path: A -> B -> A -> D -> C
CA service path: C -> D -> A -> B -> A

If the fiber from node B to node C is faulty, services are switched to the protection channel
between node B and node C.
For example, for an STM-16 service configured with two-fiber bidirectional MSP,
signals carried by VC-4s 1 to 8 are switched to VC-4s 8 to 16.

CA AC CA AC

West East S1/P2 West East S1/P2

East S2/P1 West East S2/P1 West

A A
D B D B
C C
West S2/P1 East West S2/P1 East

S1/P2 East West S1/P2 East West

CA AC CA AC
Normal state Protection state Switching point

Four-Fiber Bidirectional MSP

Four-fiber bidirectional MSP requires four fibers. The S1 and S2 fibers provide the working channels,
while the P1 and P2 fibers provide the protection channels. Services on the ring use uniform routes
(that is, services from node A to node C are transmitted along the same route as services from node
C to node A).
Normal state
AC service path: A -> B -> C
CA service path: C -> B -> A
 Protection state (protection switching occurs if the fiber from node B to node C is faulty)
AC service path: A -> B -> A -> D -> C
CA service path: C -> D -> A -> B -> A

If the fiber from node B to node C is faulty, services are switched to the protection channel
between node B and node C.

CA AC CA AC
West East S1 West East S1
P1 P1
S2 S2

West

West
East
East

P2 P2
A A
D B D B
P2 C P2 C
West

East

West

East
S2 S2
P1 P1
S1 S1
East West East West
CA AC CA AC
Normal state Protection state Switching point

Comparison Between Ring MSP Schemes

Two-Fiber Two-Fiber Four-Fiber
Item Unidirectional MSP Bidirectional MSP Bidirectional MSP

Networks carrying STM-4, STM-16, and STM-16 and STM-64

centralized services STM-64 systems systems
Application in a small volume Networks carrying Networks carrying
scenario Access or aggregation distributed services distributed services
networks in a large volume in a large volume
Aggregation or Backbone networks
backbone networks

Service route Diverse routes Uniform routes Uniform routes

Number of
K < 16 K < 16 K < 16
nodes
Network
capacity STM-N 0.5K x STM-N K x STM-N

Protection
APS APS APS
protocol

Switching time 50 ms 50 ms 50 ms