PROJECT REPORT

ON

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING

UNDERGONE IN

‘Northern Telecom Region’

AT
KAROL BAGH New Delhi

SUBMITTED BY:

AJAY KUMAR (264600)

E&C 6TH SEMESTER

G.T.B.P.I VASANT VIHAR N.D-57.

1
 CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
• CONCLUSION
• COMPANY OVERVIEW
• TRANING CERTIFICATE
• CERTIFICATE
• SDH COCEPTS
• INSTRUMENTS USED BY BSNL IN SDH
• SOFTWARE USED TO PERFORM SDH

2
 INTRODUCTION

OBJECTIVE OF TRAINING

For a number of years, it has become the fashion as well as need

to develop your
skills in technical exploration and ingrains in you as a habit . This
habit becomes your lifelong ally in the race to stay on top of the
situation. In the ever-changing industry, the ability to explore
and assimilate new knowledge is vital. Therefore, for making us up
to date, confident, self-reliant, potential power to cope with the
problems creatively and introducing us to the live, real practical
scenario of the programming world and also bringing many
interesting experiences in its wake which aims at imparting
quality technical knowledge and education and innate talent with
experiences, the college organized a project centric curriculum in
the form of summer training which was really progressive to
achieve the desired excellence in implementation of learning and
self-confidence.

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is pleasure to acknowledge my debt to the many people involved,

directly or indirectly, in the production of this project. I would like
to thank my project manager Mr. ANIL ARORA, who devoted
painstaking hours for this assignment, providing the motivational
guidance during the entire preparation of this project, answering a
number of my technical queries and despite their schedule, always
gave time for checking the progress report.
I would also like to express my sincere thanks to MR. KPS
AHULWALIA, training and placement officer of our college, whose
valuable guidance and timely help proved extremely fruitful.
I gratefully acknowledge the efforts of several of my
colleagues who offered many suggestions throughout this
project. Their constructive criticism and timely review have
resulted in several improvements.

Thanks a lot for your guidance and support

SUBMITTED BY:

AJAY KUMAR (264600)

E&C 6TH SEMESTER

G.T.B.P.I VASANT VIHAR N.D-57.

4
 CONCLUSION

Through this project centric training, I have got an insight about the
real practical scenario of engineering world, which has enabled me to
learn so much. In the ever-changing industry, the ability to explore and
assimilate new knowledge is vital. The training period allocated to me,
helped me in developing knowledge about telecommunication network.
Training in this project has not only made me up-to-date, confident
and self-reliant but has also enlightened me in knowing about the
professional aspects of reputed telecom company like
BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED (BSNL).

FUNDAMENTAL CANONS

Training also helped me in learning the professional ethics which engineers,

in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall:
1. Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.

2. Perform services only in areas of their competence.

3. Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.

4. Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.

5. Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to

enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the problem.

5
 COMPANY OVERVIEW

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL) is one of the major telecom

giants in the Telecom sector. Today, BSNL is the No. 1
Telecommunications Company and the largest Public Sector
Undertaking of India and its responsibilities include improvement of
the already impeccable quality of telecom services, expansion of
telecom network, introduction of new telecom services in all villages
and instilling confidence among its customers. On October 1, 2000
the Department of Telecom Operations, Government of India
became a corporation and was christened as BSNL.

Responsibilities that BSNL has managed to shoulder remarkably,

deftly. Today with a 43million line capacity, 99.9% of its exchanges
digital, nation wide Network management & surveillance system
(NMSS) to control telecom traffic and nearly 3,55,632 route kms
of OFC network, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is a name to reckon with
in the world of connectivity. Along with its vast customer base,
BSNL's financial and asset bases too are vast and strong. Consider
the figures, as they speak volumes on BSNL's standing:

 The telephone infrastructure alone is worth about Rs. 1,00,000

crore(US $ 21.2 billion)

Turnover of Rs. 22,000 crore ( US $ 4.6 billion)

6
 TRAINING CERTIFICATE

Mr. AJAY KUMAR, a student of GURU TEGH BAHADUR

POLYTECNIC INSTITUTE, VASANT VIHAR NEW DELHI
-57, has successfully completed his SDH OFC practical training of
BSNL ‘Northern Telecom Region’ at New Delhi held from 27TH
JAN, 2009 to 10th MARCH, 2009. During the practical training
the behavior and performance of the student was excellent.

We wish his success in life.

(Mr. ANIL ARORA)

Sr. Sub Divl. Engr. (OFC)
BSNL K.B.-II

7
 CERTIFICATE

THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE INDUSTRIAL TRANING

REPORT BASED ON TRANING UNDER GONE “BSNL” BY
THE STUDENT OF UNDER MENTIONED FINAL YEAR
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION IS A RECORD OF
BONAFIED WORK CARRIED OUT BY HIM UNDER MY
SUPERVISON & GUIDANCE .

NAME : AJAY KUMAR

ROLL NO : 264600

(SIGNATURE)

8
 SDH CONCEPTS

INTRODUCTION

Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) signals the beginning of a new

phase in the evolution of the world’s communication network. SDH will
bring a revolution in telecommunications services which will have far
reaching effects for end-users, service-providers and equipment
manufacturers alike. With the introduction of SDH, the transmission
network will enter a new era which can be compared in scale to that
occurred following the introduction of PCM and Optical Fibre.

As end-users (particularly business-users) become more dependent on

effective communication, pressure builds up for a reliable and a
flexible network with unlimited bandwidth. The complexity of current
network, based on plesiochronous transmission systems, meant that
network operators are unable to meet this demand.

The current Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) evolved in

response to the demand for plain voice telephony (sometimes called
POTS- Plain Old Telephony Service) is not ideally suited to the
efficient delivery and management of high bandwidth connections.
Synchronous transmission systems address the shortcomings of PDH.
Using essentially the same fibre, a synchronous network is able to
significantly increase available bandwidth while reducing the amount of
equipment in the network. In addition the provision within the SDH for
sophisticated network management introduces significantly more
flexibility into the network.

Deployment of synchronous transmission systems will be

straightforward due to their ability to interwork with existing
plesiochronous systems. The SDH defines a structure which enables

9
plesiochronous signals to be combined together and encapsulated
within a standard SDH signal. This protects network operators’
investment in plesiochronous equipment, and enables them to deploy
synchronous equipment in manner suited to the particular needs of
their network.

As synchronous equipment becomes established within the network the

full benefits it brings will become apparent. The network operator will
experience significant cost savings associated with reduced amount of
hardware in the network, and the increased efficiency and reliability
of the network will lead to savings resulting from a reduction in
operation and maintenance costs.

The sophisticated network management capabilities of a synchronous

network will give a vast improvement in control of transmission
networks. Improved network restoration and reconfiguration
capabilities will result in better availability, and faster provisioning of
services.

The SDH offers network operators a future proof network solution. It

has been designed to support future services such as Metropolitan
Area Network (MAN), Broadband ISDN, etc.

EVOLUTION OF SDH

10
PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy) has reached a point where it is
no longer sufficiently flexible or efficient to meet the demands being
placed on it. As a result, synchronous transmission was thought to
overcome the problems associated with plesiochronous transmission, in
particular the availability of PDH to extract individual circuits from
high capacity systems without having to demultiplex the whole system.

Attempts to formulate a set of standards covering optical

transmission of synchronous signals began in U.S. at the beginning of
1984. The aim was to have a synchronous standard to allow the
interconnection of equipment from more than one vendor. In order to
move away from proprietary interfaces and achieve true inter-
connectivity between vendors, subcommittee T1X1 of the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) began work in 1985 on developing
a Standard Optical NETwork (SONET) based on a proposal by Bell
Core.

In 1986, CCITT became interested in the work being carried out on

SONET and after much debate on how to incorporate both U.S. and
European transmission hierarchies, final agreement was reached in
Feb’1988 and CCITT working group XVIII brought out the
recommendations on Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), published
in the CCITT Blue Book 1989. Since then, an ongoing standards effort
has continued to develop and refine the SDH standards.

What is SDH ?

11
As defined in CCITT recommendations “the SDH is a hierarchical set
of digital transport structures, standardized for the transport of
suitably adapted payloads over physical transmission networks”.

The ITU-T recommendations define a number of transmission rates

within the SDH. The first of these is 155 Mbit/s, normally referred to
as STM-1 (where STM stands for ‘Synchronous Transport Module’).
Higher transmission rates of STM-4 (622 Mbit/s), STM-16 (2.4
Gbit/s) and STM-64 (10 Gbit/s) are also defined.

The recommendations also define a multiplexing structure whereby an

STM-1 signal can carry a number of lower bit rate signals as payload,
thus allowing existing PDH signals to be carried over a synchronous
network. This process will be explained in more detail further.

EXISTING NETWORK

The type of transmission network that exists till today before

adoption of SDH is Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) and it is
called so because the type of signal that are processed is
Plesiochronous. The PDH multiplexing hierarchy shown in Figure I
appears simple enough. But there are complications encountered in
processing, while multiplexing a number of 2Mbit/s channels: likely to
have been created by different pieces of equipment, each generating a
slightly different bit rate. Thus, before 2Mbit/s channels can be
multiplexed (bit interleaved) they must all be brought up to the same
bit rate by adding ‘dummy’ information bits also known as ‘justification
bits’. The justification bits are indicated by justification control bits
and are discarded by the demultiplexer. This process is known as
plesiochronous operation as shown in Figure II.

12
The same problems with synchronization as described above occur at
every level of the multiplexing hierarchy and justification bits are
added at each stage. The use of plesiochronous operation throughout
the hierarchy has led to adoption of the term “Plesiochronous Digital
Hierarchy” or PDH.

13
LIMITATIONS OF PDH

The availability of cheap transmission bandwidth has led to the

proliferation of new, non-voice, telephone service, mostly aimed at
business customer. Often, businesses rely on these services to
maintain a competitive edge, and this has led business users to demand
ever-improved transmission quality, higher availability of service and
more flexible connection patterns.

The problem of flexibility in a plesiochronous network is illustrated by

considering what a network operator needs to do in order to provide
business customer with a 2Mbit/s-leased line. If a high-speed channel
passes near the customer, the operation of providing him with a single
2Mbit/s line from within that channel would not be so simple.

The use of justification bits at each level in a PDH means that

identifying the exact location of the frames of a single 2Mbit/s line
with say a 140Mbit/s channel must be completely demultiplexed to its
64 constituent 2Mbit/s line via 34and 8 Mbit/s as shown in Figure III.
Once the required 2Mbit/s line has been identified and extracted, the
channels must then be remultiplexed back up to 140Mbit/s.

BENEFITS OF SDH

Synchronous transmission overcomes the limitations experienced in

plesiochronous network. It allows the network to evolve to meet the
new demands being placed upon it. SDH offers a number of benefits,
both to telecom network operators and to the end users.

14
  NETWORK SIMPLIFICATION

One of the main benefits seen by a network operator is the network

simplification brought about through the use of synchronous
equipment. A single synchronous multiplexer can perform the function
of the entire plesiochronous “multiplexer mountain”, leading to
significant reduction in amount of equipment used. Lower operating
costs will also result through reductions in space inventory required,
simplified maintenance, reductions in floor space required by the
equipment and lower power consumptions.

The more efficient “drop and insert” of channels offered by an SDH

network, together with its powerful network management capabilities,
will lead to greater ease in provisioning of high bandwidth.

 SURVIVABILITY

The deployment of optical fibre throughout the network and adoption

of the SDH network elements makes end-to-end monitoring and
maintenance possible. The management capability of the synchronous
network will enable the failure of links or even nodes to be identified
immediately.

 SOFTWARE CONTROL

Provision of network management channels within the SDH frame

structure means that a synchronous network will be fully software
controllable. Network management systems will not only perform
traditional event management dealing with alarms in the network, but
will also provide a host of other functions, such as performance
monitoring, configuration management, resource management, network
security, etc.

15
The possibility of remote provisioning and centralized maintenance will
mean a great saving in time spent by maintenance personnel in traveling
to remote sites and this amounts to expense saving.

 BANDWIDTH ON DEMAND

In a synchronous network it will be possible to dynamically allocate

network capacity or bandwidth on demand. Users anywhere within the
network will be able to subscribe at very short notice to a service
offered over the network some of which may require large amounts of
bandwidth; for example dial-up video conferencing and many other new
services. These will represent new sources of revenue for network
operators and increased convenience for users.

 FUTURE PROOF NETWORKING

SDH offers future proof platform for new services. It is the ideal
platform for services ranging from POTS, ISDN and mobile radio
through to data communications (LAN, WAN, etc.). It is able to handle
very latest services such as video on demand and digital video
broadcasting via ATM. SDH has been selected as the bearer network
for the next generation of telecommunication network, the broadband
ISDN (B-ISDN).

 STANDARDISATION

The SDH standards mean that transmission equipment from different

manufacturer can inter work on same line. The ability to achieve this
so-called “mid-fibre meet” has come about as a result of standards
which define fibre-to-fibre interfaces at the physical (photogenic)
level. They determine the optical line rate, wavelength, power levels,

16
pulse shapes and coding. Frame structure overhead and payload
mappings are also defined.

This standardisation of equipment and interfaces in the SDH means

network operators have freedom to choose different equipment from
different vendors. This means that operators can avoid the problems
traditionally associated with being locked to a proprietary solution
from a single vendor. The SDH standards also facilitate inter working
between North American and European transmission hierarchies.

PRINCIPLES OF THE SYNCHRONOUS DIGITAL

HIERARCHIES

Despite its obvious advantages over the PDH, SDH would have been
unlikely to gain acceptance if its adoption had immediately made all
existing PDH equipments obsolete. All plesiochronous signals between
1.5 Mbit/s and 140 Mbit/s can be accommodated except 8 Mbit/s. The
ways in which they can be combined to form a basic transmission rate
of 155.52 Mbit/s is defined in ITU-T Recommendation G.709. The
input signals are processed to have a basic frame called the
synchronous transport module (STM-1). Figure IV shows the
multiplexing structure as recommended by ITU-T.

The SDH defines a number of “containers” each corresponding to a

existing plesiochronous rate. Information from the plesiochronous
container is mapped into the relevant container. The way in which this
is done is similar to the bit stuffing procedure carried out in a
conventional PDH multiplexer. Each container then added with some
control information known as “path overhead”. The path overhead
bytes allow the operator to achieve end-to-end path monitoring; such
as error monitoring. The container and the path overhead together
form a “Virtual Container (VC).

17
In Synchronous network, all equipment is synchronized to an overall
network clock. It is important to note, however, that the delay
associated with a transmission link may vary with time. As a result, the
location of virtual containers within an STM-1 frame may not be fixed.
These variations are accommodated by associating a pointer to each
VC. The pointer indicates the position of the beginning of the VC in
relation to an STM-1 frame. It can be incremented or decremented as
necessary to accommodate changes in the position of the VC.

ITU-T recommendation G.709 defines different combinations of

Virtual Containers which can be used to fill up the pay load area of an
STM-1 frame. The process of loading containers and attaching
overhead is repeated at several levels in the SDH, resulting in the
“nesting” of smaller VC’s within larger ones. This process is repeated
until the largest size of VC (VC-4 in India) is filled, and this is then
loaded into the payload of the STM-1 frame. When the payload area of
STM-1 frame is full, some more control information bytes called
“Section Overhead” are added. The section overhead bytes are so
called because they remain with the payload for the fibre section
between two synchronous multiplexers. Their purpose is to provide
communication channels for functions such as OA&M facilities,
protection switching, performance monitoring, frame alignment and a
number of other functions.

When a higher transmission rate than the 155Mbit/s (STM-1) is

required in a synchronous network is achieved by using a relatively
straightforward byte-interleaved multiplexing scheme. Following
hierarchy levels are defined in the SDH:

• STM-1 : 155.52 Mbit/s

• STM-4 : 622.08 Mbit/s
• STM-16 : 2,488.32 Mbit/s
• STM-64 : 9,953.28 Mbit/s

18
SDH FRAME STRUCTURE

A basic STM frame is represented by a matrix of 9rows and 270

columns; each column being one byte as shown in Figure V.
Transmission is row by row, starting with the byte in the upper left
corner and ending with the byte in the lower right corner. The frame
repetition rate is 125 µ s, meaning that a byte in the payload
represents a 64 Kbit/s channel.

The STM-1 frame is capable of transporting any PDH tributary signal

(≤ 140 Mbit/s). The frame comprises of section overhead (SOH),
pointer and the payload. How do we arrive at the bit-rates? We may
proceed through the steps as given below:

• Number of rows in a frame = 9

• Number of columns in a frame = 9+261 = 2,70
• Number of bytes/frame = 9*270 = 2,430

19
 • Number of bits/frame = 9*270*8 = 1,944
• Number of bits per second = 9*270*8*8000 = 15,552,000
= 155.52 Mbit/s

SECTION OVERHEAD (SOH)

The first 9 bytes in each of the 9 rows are called Section Overhead
(SOH). SOH bytes are used for communication between adjacent
pieces of synchronous equipment. SOH is classified as the Regenerator
Section Overhead (RSOH) and Multiplex Section Overhead (MSOH).
Top three rows of SOH are RSOH, used for the needs of the
regenerator section. Bottom five rows of SOH are MSOH, used for
the needs of multiplex section. The reason for this is to couple the
functions of certain overhead bytes to the network architecture.

The purpose of individual bytes is detailed below:

A1,A2 : Frame alignment

B1,B2 : Parity bytes for error monitoring

20
D1…D3 : Data Communication Channel (DCC) network
management
D4…D12 : Data Communication Channel (DCC) network management
E1,E2 : Orderwire Channel
F1 : Maintenance
J0 : Trace Identifier
K1,K2 : Automatic Protection Switching (APS) channel
M1 : Transmission error acknowledgement
S1 : Clock quality indicator
• : Media Dependent Bytes

In SDH, multiplexers perform both multiplexing and line terminating

functions. Synchronous multiplexers can accept a wide range of
tributaries and can offer a number of possible output data rates.
Though the regeneration of signals is similar to PDH, there are some
additional equipment in SDH to perform function like cross-connection
and OA&M as explained further.

TERMINAL MULTIPLEXERS

Terminal Multiplexers are used to combine plesiochronous and

synchronous input signals into higher bit rate STM-N signals as shown
in Figure VI On the tributary side, all current plesiochronous bit rates
can be accommodated. On the aggregate, or line side we have higher
bit rate STM-N signals.

S
PDH TERMINAL TM-
MULTIPLEXERS N
SDH

Figure IV Terminal Multiplexer

21
ADD DROP MULTIPLEXERS

Plesiochronous and lower bit rate synchronous signals can be extracted

from or inserted into high speed SDH bit streams by means of ADM’s.
This feature makes it possible to set up ring structures, which have
the advantage that automatic backup path switching is possible using
elements in the ring in the event of a fault.

STM- ADD/DRO STM-

N P N
MULTIPLEXE
R

PDH SDH
Figure V Add/Drop Multiplexer

22
DIGITAL CROSS CONNECTS (DXC)

Cross-connection in a synchronous network involves setting up semi-

permanent interconnections between different channels enabling
routing to be performed down to VC level. This network element can
have widest range of functions such as mapping of PDH tributary
signals into virtual containers and switching of various containers up to
and including VC-4.

23
REGENERATORS

Regenerators, as the name implies, have the job of regenerating the

clock and amplitude of the incoming data signals that have been
attenuated and distorted by dispersion. They derive their clock signals
from the incoming data stream. Messages are received by extracting
various 64Kbit/s channels (e.g. service channels E1, F1, etc. in RSOH)
and also can be output using these channels.

24
NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The network management system is considered as an element in the

synchronous network. All the SDH network elements mentioned so far
are software-controlled. This means that they can be monitored and
remotely controlled, which precisely is the job of NMS.

NETWORK TOPOLOGY

We have already discussed various elements which can be seen in a

SDH network. Elements such as Terminal Multiplexer, Add and Drop
Multiplexer and Digital Cross Connects have similar functions to the
extent that they provide interface for transportation of tributary
signals. These elements can be used in a number of configurations. In
other words, the way they are connected in a network is known as
Network Topology. Some commonly used topologies are explained
further.

25
POINT TO POINT TOPOLOGY

In Point-to-Point Topology two terminal multiplexers are

connected directly as shown in
Figure VII. It is no doubt simple and cost effective; but lacks
the benefits of other topologies.

POINT TO MULTIPOINT TOPOLOGY

In Point-to-Multipoint Topology two terminal multiplexers are

connected via ADM or DXC to provide drop and insert at ADM
location as shown in Figure VIII.

26
 RING TOPOLOGY

In Ring topology the elements used are ADM’s connected

together in ring form, as shown in Figure IX; though DXC’s can
also be used. Apart from the facility of drop and insert possible
at every ADM locations, this topology provides a special feature
called “Self Healing”. This feature protects the traffic carried
by the ring automatically against equipment/fibre failure; and
hence is most commonly used topology.

27
SYNCHRONOUS MULTIPLEXING

INTRODUCTION

Present transmission systems interconnecting switches use

multiplexers, whom input as well as the output are plesiochronous
signals. These are commonly known as Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy
(PDH) multiplexers. Transmission systems planned for the future will
use multiplexers that accept plesiochronous\synchronous signal at its
input and synchronous signal at the output and are called Synchronous
Digital Hierarchy (SDH) multiplexers.

This handout explains in a simplified manner the principles of

synchronous multiplexing and narrates various signal processing steps
by taking different input signals from PDH.

TERMINOLOGY & DEFINITIONS

28
1.SYNCHRONOUS DIGITAL HIERARCHY
(SDH)

SDH is a hierarchical set of digital transport structures,

standardized for the transport of suitably adapted payloads
over physical transmission networks.

2.SYNCHRONOUS TRANSPORT MODULE

(STM)

An STM is the information structure used to support section

layer connections in the SDH. It consists of information payload
and section overhead information fields organized in a block
frame structure, which repeats every 125 µ s. The information
is suitably conditioned for serial transmission on the selected
media at the rate, which is synchronized to the network. A basic
STM is defined at 1,55,520 Kbit/s. This is termed STM-1.
Higher capacity STM’s are formed at rate equivalent to N times
this basic rate. STM capacities for N= 4, N= 16 and N= 64 are
defined by ITU-T.

3.VIRTUAL CONTAINER-n (VC-n)

A virtual container is the information structure used to support

path layer connections in the SDH. It consists of information
payload and Path Overhead (POH) information fields organized in
a block frame structure, which repeats every 125 or 500 µ s.
Alignment information to identify VC-n frame start is provided
by the server network layer. Two types of virtual containers
have been identified.

29
 • LOWER ORDER VIRTUAL CONTAINER-
n : VC-n (n= 1,2,3)

This element comprises a single Container-n (n= 1,2,3) plus

the lower order Virtual Container POH appropriate to that
level.

• HIGHER ORDER VIRTUAL CONTAINER-n

: VC-n (n= 3,4)
This element comprises either a single Container-n (n= 3,4)
or an assembly of Tributary Unit Groups (TUG 2s or TUG
3s) together with Virtual Container POH appropriate to
that level.

4.ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT-n (AU-n)

An administrative unit is the information structure which

provides adaptation between the higher order path layer and the
multiplex section layer. It consists of an information payload
(the higher order Virtual Container) and an Administrative Unit
pointer which indicates the offset of the payload frame start
relative to the multiplex section frame start.

The AU-4 consists of a VC-4 plus an Administrative Unit pointer

which indicates the phase alignment of the Vc-4 with respect to
an STM-N frame. One or more Administrative units occupying
fixed, defined positions in an STM payload are termed as
Administrative Unit Group (AUG). An AUG consists of a
homogeneous assembly of AU-4.

30
5.TRIBUTARY UNIT-n (TU-n)

A Tributary Unit is an information structure which provides

adaptation between the lower order path layer and the higher
order path layer. It consists of an information payload (the
lower order virtual container) and a Tributary Unit pointer which
indicates the offset of the payload frame start relative to the
higher order Virtual Container frame start.

The TU-n (n= 1,2,3) consists of a VC-n together with a

Tributary Unit pointer. One or more Tributary Units, occupying
fixed, defined position in a higher order VC-n payload is termed
a Tributary Unit Group (TUG). TUG’s are defined in such a way
that mixed capacity payloads made up of different size
Tributary Units can be constructed to increase flexibility of the
transport network.

A TUG-2 consists of a homogeneous assembly of identical TU-1s

or Tu-2.
A TUG-3 consists of a homogeneous assembly of TU-2s or TU-3.

6.CONTAINER-n (n= 1…4)

A container is the information structure which forms the

network synchronous information payload for a Virtual Container.
For each of the defined Virtual Containers there is a
corresponding container.

7.NETWORK NODE INTERFACE (NNI)

The interface at the network node which is used to interconnect

with another network container.

31
8.POINTER

An indicator whose value defines the frame offset of a Virtual

Container with respect to the frame reference of the transport
entity on which it is supported.

9.CONCATENATION

A procedure whereby a multiplicity of Virtual Containers is

associated with one another with the result that their combined
capacity can be used as a single container across which bit
sequence integrity is maintained.

10. SDH MAPPING

A procedure by which tributaries are adapted into Virtual

Containers at the boundary of an SDH network.

11.SDH MULTIPLEXING

A procedure by which multiple lower order path layer signals are

adapted into a higher order path or the multiple higher order
path layer signals are adapted into a multiplex section.

12. SDH ALIGNING

32
 A procedure by which the frame offset information is
incorporated into the Tributary Unit or the Administrative Unit
when adapting to the frame reference of the supporting layer.

INPUT TO MULTIPLEXER

The basic input to a synchronous multiplexer is plesiochronous signal

from European or North American or Japanese hierarchy and basic
output is synchronous signal called Synchronous Transport Module of
level one (STM-1). As European standards for PDH working is followed
in India, let us consider only European standards for PDH rates for
explanation. The SDH multiplexer only accepts only following PDH bit
rates from European hierarchy:

• 2,048 Kbit/s
• 34,368 Kbit/s
• 1,39 264 Kbit/s

SDH does not accept 8,448 Kbit/s PDH signal.

PRINCIPLES OF SYNCHRONOUS MULTIPLEXING

33
The SDH defines a number of containers at its boundary; each
corresponding to an existing plesiochronous rate. These containers are
filled in with the information from a plesiochronous signal, the process
is called mapping. The way in which this is done is similar to the
justification procedure carried out in PDH multiplexing.

Each container is then added with control information known as Path

Overhead which is to help the service provider to achieve end to end
path monitoring. The container and the path overhead together is
called Virtual Container. Depending upon the PDH bit rates various VC’s
are formed. For example, VC-1,VC-3,VC-4 are formed for European
PDH bit rates 2 Mb/s, 34 Mb/s and 140 Mb/s respectively.

In a synchronous network, all equipment is synchronized to an overall

network clock. However there may be a slight delay associated with a
transmission link; the location of VC’s within an STM-1 frame may not
be fixed with time. These variations are accommodated by associating
a pointer with each VC, which indicates the position of the beginning of
the VC with respect to the STM-1 frame. The pointer value can be
incremented or decremented as necessary to accommodate movements
of the position of the VC. The VC and the pointer together is called
the Administrative Unit (AU) if it contains VC-4 and Tributary Unit
(TU) if it contains VC-3 or VC-1.
TU’s are further combined in a definite fashion to obtain VC-4 and in
turn AU-4 and AUG are obtained. Figure X shows a genetic
multiplexing structure standardized by ITU-T which takes care of
both American as well as European PDH rates.

Figure XI shows the reduced multiplexing structure which takes care

of only European PDH hierarchy. Further some more control
information bytes called Section Overhead (SDH) is added to provide
communication channel for OA&M, protection switching, frame
alignment, performance monitoring etc. An AUG and a section overhead
together form STM-1. Details of synchronous multiplexing taking
various input bit rates are explained in the following sections.

34
35
FORMING CONTAINER C-4

As defined by ITU-T, “a container is the information structure which

forms the network synchronous information payload for a Virtual
Container”. Container-4 is filled out by taking 140 Mbit/s PDH signal in
a manner similar to the justification process carried out in PDH higher
order multiplexing. Each of the 9 rows of payload (260 columns by 9
rows) portioned into 20 blocks of 13 bytes. The first byte of each
block is W\X\Y\Z containing D, R, O, S and C bits as shown in Figure
XII.

The last 12 bytes of each block contain data bits (i.e. 96 D bits). In
above provision each row will have one ‘S’ bit and five ‘C’ bits, where
CCCCC= 00000or majority vote will indicate ‘S’ bit as data bit. The size
of the C-4 is 260 columns by 9 rows (260*9 bytes) in a time frame of
125 µ s.

FORMING VIRTUAL CONTAINER VC-4

The container is then added with control information known as path

overhead (POH) of 9 bytes (one Column by nine rows) which help the
service provider to achieve end-to-end path monitoring. The container
and the path overhead together is called Virtual Container (VC). VC-4
is formed when POH is added to C-4. The size of the VC-4 will be 261
columns by 9 rows (261*9 bytes) in a time frame of 125 µ s.

36
FORMING ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT AU-4

A pointer which is physically located in 4th row of the SOH area, is

associated with VC, whose value indicates the position of the beginning
of the VC with respect to the STM-1 frame and the process is called
SDH aligning. The pointer value can be incremented or decremented as
necessary to accommodate movements of the position of the VC. The
VC-4 and the pointer together is called Administrative Unit-4 (AU-4)

FORMATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT GROUP

(AUG)

One AU-4 moves further to form AUG without any addition of bytes.
Formation of AUG may appear redundant; but its necessity may be
appreciated while forming AUG from AUS-3 (applicable to SONET).

37
ADDING SOH TO FORM STM-1

More control information bytes called section overhead (SOH), is

added to the AUG to form STM-1 frame. SOH is further classified as
regenerator SOH (RSOH) terminated at regenerators and Multiplex
SOH (MSOH) terminated where AUGs are assembled and
disassembled. MSOH bytes pass transparently through regenerators.
The SOH includes bytes for block framing, bytes for error
performance, bytes for order-wire and other bytes to provide
communication channel for OA&M, protection switching, etc.. Figure
XIII depicts all the steps involved to obtain STM-1 frame from C-4.

FORMING VIRTUAL CONTAINER VC-12

The container VC-12 is added with control information of 4 bytes

called path overhead to achieve end-to-end path monitoring. The C-12
and the POH together is called VC-12. The size of the VC-12 will be
140 bytes in a time frame of 500 µ s.

38
FORMING TRIBUTARY UNIT TU-12

The VC-12 together with the pointer is called Tributary Unit (TU-12).
The size of the TU-12 is 144 bytes, in a multiframe (4 frame)
structure, image 140 bytes are for VC-12. Two bytes (V1 and V2) out
of remaining four bytes are the pointers indicating the location of the
first byte (V5) of the V-12. Conceptually the size of TU-12 will be 36
bytes (4 columns * 9 rows) in a time frame of 125 µ s.

MULTIPLEXING OF TU12s TO FORM TUG-3

It is achieved in two stages. First, three TU-12s are multiplexed by
byte interleaving to form one TUG-2. Second, seven numbers of TUG-
2s are multiplexed to obtain TUG-3. This is depicted in Figure XIV.

The payload size of TUG-3 while multiplexing from Tu-12s via TUG-2s
will be 756 bytes which accounts for 84 columns by 9 rows in a time
frame of 125 µ s. As size of TUG-3 is 86 columns by 9 rows, the byte

39
in extra two columns are used as Null Point Indicator (NPI) and fixed
stuff. The NPI is used to distinguish between TUG-3 containing TU-3
or TUG-2s and is contained in first three bytes of the first column.

EQUIPMENT

The software used for managing the STM I equipment is

NM 2100/6300 Element Manager
CT 6300 Craft Terminal
which is developed by Fibcom Technologies, Gurgaon (Harayana)

40
The FIBCOM 6300 is an open ITU-T compliant TMN system. The
product family covers applications ranging from craft terminals over
element management systems to complex network management
systems. It is divided into two main products:

• FIBCOM 6300NM - the network manager with advanced network

layer functions and management of network elements
• FIBCOM 6300CT - the craft terminal for local operation and
maintenance.

The FIBCOM 6300 is a combined element and network management

system with a Windows NT-based user interface. It is a very robust,
scalable and reliable carrier-class system from which all SDH elements
can be managed. A single server can handle several thousand-network
elements and more servers can be added.

To put it simply, the FIBCOM 6300 involves element and network

management of transmission networks including optical networks. The
FIBCOM 6300 provides automated or semi-automated path setup
including protection, reconfiguration of paths and grooming of paths.
Paths can be related to customers - internal or external. Performance
data is collected, and alarms are retrieved and related to paths.

BENEFITS
The operator can concentrate on the circuits and services without
losing the visibility of and access to the individual network elements.
Furthermore, the FIBCOM 6300 is highly scalable and can be
configured with duplicated computer servers for extremely high

41
availability. It provides with open interfaces (Q3) for easy integration
with other management systems.

KEY FEATURES
• Multiple operating platform
• TMN
• Element Manager
• Craft Terminal
• Distributed GUI
• Supports all FIBCOM products
• Remote SW downloads
• World -wide field proven Management System
• Management of SDH, ATM and primary rate elements
• Windows NT graphics user interface
• Distributed management platform based on CORBA
• Scalable, flexible and cost effective solution
• Configurable, fault and performance management
• Compliant with ITU-T and ETSI standards

NM2100 Element Manager

The 6300 EM runs under Windows NT for management of SDH, ATM,
HDSL, PDH and primary rate equipment. The 6300CT runs under
Windows 95 on a portable PC. Both products have a graphical user

42
interface.

The 6300EM and the 6300CT can manage different types of

equipment via element access modules. For Example,

• FIBCOM 6310 & 6320 Edge Node are managed using the same
6300 System. SDH product family for regional and access
networks.
• FIBCOM 6330 SDH product family for trunk and regional
networks.
• FIBCOM 6340 SDH for multi service applications.
• FIBCOME 7200 Optical Transport System. (DWDM).

The 6300EM/NM can be configured as a fully distributed multi-user

system with the software located on a number of computers working
together as one virtual computer platform. The data distribution is
supported by CORBA. Together with the modular system design, the
data distribution facility permits tailored management solutions with
element manager configurations ranging from simple single user
systems managing small networks to large multi-user management
systems managing complex networks with thousands of network
elements

43
 Instruments Used By BSNL In SDH

Fibcom India Ltd. is the leader in SDH equipment

and optical fiber network solutions from concept
to commissioning in technical collaboration with
Tellabs Denmark A/S.
Fibcom’s high quality, standards based and field
proven SDH/DWDM product range can satisfy the
needs of most demanding customer by virtue of its
flexibility, adaptability and expandability. A range
of network management system is available to suit
any type of customer requirements.
B.S.N.L is one of their active customers, some of
the equipments used by B.S.N.L are as follows:-

1. Fibcom 6310 edge node

2. Fibcom 6320 edge node
3. Fibcom 6325 edge node
4. Fibcom 6340 edge node
5. Fibcom 6345 edge node
6. Fibcom 6370 edge node

44
Various Phases In SDH where Fibcom’s equipments
are used

45
 FIBCOM 6310 Edge Node

FIBCOM 6310 Edge node is a flexible, cost-effective

ADM/TM providing access for up to 21x 2 Mbit/s ITU-T
G.703 services and ATM 155 Mbit/s, E3/DS3/E4
Transportation

FIBCOM 6310 is a complete SDH node, providing all the

benefits of SDH, such as protection and performance
monitoring with various applications in access networks

FIBCOM 6320 Edge Node

Compact STM-1, STM-4, ADM/TM network element with 4/1

connectivity for access/regional network

6320 is an acronym for Add- Drop Multiplexers

and Cross Connects for VC1 level switchinexcellent
choice for access and regional transport networks.

46
Wide range of Tributaries E1/E3/E4/STM-
1/STM1e/STM1o & 10/100 Ethernet, DTMF
Engineering Order Wire (EoW), Ultra low power
consumption, Ideal for access & regional network,
ATM Payload supports.

FIBCOM 6320 offers STM-1 and STM 4 optical

interfaces; a special feature unique to this product
is "Sub deployed lines". Which makes it possible to
provide fully managed STM-1 lines Running only at
third of the capacity

FIBCOM 6320 can operate over extended

temperature range. It offers 2 Mb/s signals with
an output jitter, which is sufficiently low to carry
synchronisation signals.

47
 FIBCOM 6325 Edge Node

Optical SDH trunk platform for multiple services

Fibcom 6325 is a compact Multi-Service

Provisioning Platform supporting SDH, PDH and
data services. High reliability and redundancy
enable the node to be used not only in access
networks, but also in core networks.

Small, fast and dense... fits anywhere. At only 1RU

(44mm) in height. It offers speeds of up to
2.5Gbps (STM-16) and enables a wide mix of
services from traditional SDH and PDH to colored
WDM and IP interfaces

Cross-connection redundancy makes the Fibcom

6325 node reliable as HUB node handling high
traffic load, Formed in ring or meshed networks,
all traffic going through the Fibcom 6325 node is
fully protected against single point of failures

48
 FIBCOM 6370 Edge Node

High-capacity optical networking

FIBCOM 6370 provides transparent light paths,

which can carry most types of traffic such as
SDH/SONET, IP and ATM over SDH and a large
variety of data signals (Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre
Channel etc.). This, one-optical-platform-carries-
all-signal-formats, allows flexible and rapid in-
service expansion of both capacity and services.

It can reduce infrastructure cost of long haul and

regional systems. In WDM systems a single optical
amplifier operates as a multi-channel repeater, as
against individual regenerators required per
channel in traditional single channel systems

FIBCOM 6370 provides 32/64-channel

DWDM platform for operation at the ITU-T grid
in C Band and L Band respectively

FIBCOM 6370 adds an additional "optical

Protection layer" to the network. This layer can be

49
used, for example, to provide protection of client
signals

SOFTWARE USED TO PERFORM SDH

50
The software used for managing the STM I
equipment is
NM 2100/6300 Element Manager CT 6300 Craft
Terminal which is developed by Fibcom
Technologies, Gurgaon (Harayana).

The FIBCOM 6300 is an open ITU-T compliant

TMN system. The product family covers
applications ranging from craft terminals over
element management systems to complex network
management systems. It is divided into two main
products:

• FIBCOM 6300NM - the network manager with

advanced network layer functions and
management of network elements
• FIBCOM 6300CT - the craft terminal for local
operation and maintenance.

The FIBCOM 6300 is a combined element and

network management system with a Windows NT-
based user interface. It is a very robust, scalable
and reliable carrier-class system from which all
SDH elements can be managed. A single server can
handle several thousand-network elements and

51
more servers can be added.

To put it simply, the FIBCOM 6300 involves

element and network management of transmission
networks including optical networks. The FIBCOM
6300 provides automated or semi-automated path
setup including protection, reconfiguration of
paths and grooming of paths. Paths can be related
to customers - internal or external. Performance
data is collected, and alarms are retrieved and
related to paths.

BENEFITS

The operator can concentrate on the circuits and

services without losing the visibility of and access
to the individual network elements. Furthermore,
the FIBCOM 6300 is highly scalable and can be
configured with duplicated computer servers for
extremely high availability. It provides with open
interfaces (Q3) for easy integration with other
management systems.

KEY FEATURES

52
 • Multiple operating platform
• TMN
• Element Manager
• Craft Terminal
• Distributed GUI
• Supports all FIBCOM products
• Remote SW downloads
• World -wide field proven Management System
• Management of SDH, ATM and primary rate
elements
• Windows NT graphics user interface
• Distributed management platform based on
CORBA
• Scalable, flexible and cost effective solution
• Configurable, fault and performance
management
• Compliant with ITU-T and ETSI standards

NM2100 Element Manager

53
The 6300 EM runs under Windows NT for
management of SDH, ATM, HDSL, PDH and
primary rate equipment. The 6300CT runs under
Windows 95 on a portable PC. Both products have a
graphical user interface.

The 6300EM and the 6300CT can manage

different types of equipment via element access
modules. For Example,

• FIBCOM 6310 & 6320 Edge Node are managed

using the same 6300 System. SDH product
family for regional and access networks.
• FIBCOM 6330 SDH product family for trunk
and regional networks.
• FIBCOM 6340 SDH for multi service
applications.
• FIBCOME 7200 Optical Transport System.
(DWDM).

The 6300EM/NM can be configured as a fully

distributed multi-user system with the software
located on a number of computers working
together as one virtual computer platform. The
data distribution is supported by CORBA. Together
with the modular system design, the data

54
distribution facility permits tailored management
solutions with element manager configurations
ranging from simple single user systems managing
small networks to large multi-user management
systems managing complex networks with
thousands of network elements

55