SDH FEATURES

Since SDH transmission system evolves from PDH, it has unparalleled advantages over PDH.
Compared with PDH, it is a new transmission system that has made radical revolution in technical
system.
First, we will discuss the basic concept of SDH. The core of this concept is, in view of an integrated
national telecommunication network and international intercommunication, to establish digital
telecommunication networks, and to make up important parts of integrated services digital networks
(ISDN), especially broad-band integrated services digital network (B-ISDN). How to understand this
concept? Different from traditional PDH, the network based on SDH system is a highly uniform,
standardized and intelligent network. It uses universal interfaces to achieve compatibility with different
equipment from different vendors. It also boasts of highly efficient and coordinated management and
operation through out the whole network and transmission process, flexible networking and traffic
dispatching, and network self-healing function. It greatly enhances the utilization ratio of network
resources and reduces the OAM costs due to the enhanced maintenance function.
Now we will give detail advantages of SDH (they can be regarded as the features of SDH) in several
aspects. Please make comparison with PDH system when reading.

1- Interface
A) Electrical Interface
Standardization of interfaces determines the possibility of interconnection among different equipment
from different vendors. SDH system provides universal standards for network node interfaces (NNI),
including standards on digital signal rate level, frame structure, multiplexing method, line interface,
monitoring and management, etc. So SDH equipment of different vendors can be easily
interconnected, i.e. equipment from different vendors can be installed on the same line, which fully
demonstrates the system compatibility.
SDH system provides a set of standard information structure levels, i.e. a set of standard rate levels.
The basic signal transmission structure level is a synchronous transport module ---- STM-1 at a rate of
155Mb/s. Digital signal hierarchies of higher levels such as 622Mb/s (STM-4) and 2.5Gb/s (STM-16)
can be formed by low-rate information modules (e.g. STM-1) via byte interleaved multiplexing. The
number of modules to be multiplexed is a multiple of 4. For example, STM-4=4xSTM-1 and STM-
16=4xSTM-4.

B) Optical Interface
Line interfaces (here refers to optical interface) adopt universal standards. Line coding of SDH signals
is only scrambling, instead of inserting redundancy codes.
The standard for scrambling is universal. Therefore the opposite-terminal equipment can be
interconnected with SDH equipment of different vendors via standard de-scrambler alone. The purpose
of scrambling is to make the probability of "1" bits and "0" bits occurrence gets close to 50% so as to
extract clock signals from line signals. As line signals are scrambled only, the line signal rates of SDH
are the same with the standard signal rates of the SDH electrical interface. This will not add extra
optical power penalty to the transmitting laser.

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2- Multiplexing method
As low-rate SDH signals are multiplexed into the frame structure of high-rate SDH signals via byte
interleaved multiplexing method, their locations in the frame of high-rate SDH signal are fixed and
regular, or say, predictable. Therefore, low-rate SDH signals, e.g. 155Mb/s, (STM-1 ), can be directly
added to or dropped from high-rate signals, e.g., 2.5Gb/s (STM-16 ). This simplifies the multiplexing
and de-multiplexing processes of signals and makes SDH hierarchy especially suitable for high rate
and large capacity optical fiber transmission systems.
As synchronous multiplexing method and flexible mapping structure are employed, PDH low-rate
tributary signals (e.g., 2Mb/s ) can also be multiplexed into SDH signal frame (STM-N). Their locations
in STM-N frame are also predictable. So low-rate tributary signals can be directly added to or dropped
from STM-N signals. Note that this is different from the above process of directly adding/dropping low-
rate SDH signals to/from high-rate SDH signals. Here it refers to direct adding/dropping of low-rate
tributary signals, such as 2Mb/s, 34Mb/s, and 140Mb/s, to/from SDH signals. This saves lots of
multiplexing/de-multiplexing equipment (back-to-back equipment), enhances reliability, and reduces
signal impairment, and the cost, power consumption and complexity of the equipment. Adding/dropping
of services is further simplified.
This multiplexing method of SDH helps to fulfill the function of digital cross-connection (DXC), and
provides the network with powerful self-healing function. Subscribers can dynamically implement
networking according to needs and perform real-time traffic dispatching.

3- Operation, administration and maintenance

Abundant overhead bits for operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) functions are arranged
in the frame structures of SDH signals. This greatly enforces the network monitoring function, i.e.
automatic maintenance. Some redundancy bits must be added during line coding for line performance
monitoring because few overhead bytes are arranged in PDH signals. For example, in the frame
structure of PCM30/32 signals, only the bits in TS0 and TS16 time slots are used for OAM function.
The abundant overheads in SDH signals account for 1/20 of the total bytes in a frame. It greatly
enhances the OAM function and reduces the cost of system maintenance that occupies most of the
overall cost of telecommunication equipments. The overall cost of SDH system is less than that of PDH
system and estimated to be only 65.8% of that of the later.
4- Compatibility
SDH has high compatibility, which means that the SDH transmission network and the existing PDH
transmission network can work together while establishing SDH transmission network. SDH network
can be used for transmitting PDH services, as well as signals of other hierarchies, such as
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) signals and FDDI signals.
How does the SDH transmission network achieve such compatibility? The basic transport module
(STM-1) of SDH signals in SDH network can accommodate three PDH digital signal hierarchies and
other hierarchies such as ATM, FDDI and DQDB. This reflects the forward and backward compatibility
of SDH and guarantees smooth transitions from PDH to SDH network and from SDH to ATM.
How does SDH accommodate signals of these hierarchies? It simply multiplexes the low-rate signals of
different hierarchies into the frame structure of the STM-1 signals at the boundary of the network (e.g.
SDH/PDH start point) and then de-multiplexes them at the boundary of the network (end point). In this
way, digital signals of different hierarchies can be transmitted in the SDH transmission network.

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1- MAPPING OF 2Mb/s, 34Mb/s, 140Mb/s and ATM Signals

SDH multiplexing includes two types: multiplexing of lower-order SDH signals into higher-order SDH
signals and multiplexing of low-rate tributary signals (e.g. 2Mb/s, 34Mb/s, 140Mb/s and ATM signals)
into SDH signals ----STM-N.
The first type of multiplexing mentioned before is conducted mainly via byte interleaved multiplexing by
multiplexing four into one, e.g. 4xSTM-1-->STM-4 and 4xSTM-4-->STM-16. During the multiplexing,
the frame frequency remains unchanged (8000-frame per second), which means that the rate of the
higher-level STM-N signals is 4 times that of the next lower-level STM-N signals. During the byte
interleaved multiplexing, the information payload and pointer bytes of each frame are multiplexed via
interleaved multiplexing based on their original values while some SOH will be accepted or rejected. In
a multiplexed STM-N frame, the SOH is not effected via byte interleaved multiplexing with the SOHs of
all the lower-order SDH frames. Some SOHs of the lower-order frame are rejected. The detailed
multiplexing method will be described in the next section.
The second type of multiplexing is mostly used for multiplexing of PDH signals into the STM-N signals.
ITU-T defined a complete multiplexing structure (i.e. multiplexing routes). Through these routes, digital
signals of three PDH hierarchies can be multiplexed into STM-N signals via a variety of methods. The
routes defined by ITU-T are illustrated in Figure 1.
xN x1
STM-N AUG AU-4 VC-4 C-4 139264kbit/s
x3
x1
X3 TUG-3 TU-3 VC-3
x7
AU-3 44736kbit/s
VC-3 C-3 34368kbit/s
x7 x1
TUG-2 TU-2 VC-2 C-2 6312kbit/s
Pointer
x3
processing TU-12 VC-12 C-12 2048kbit/s
x4
Multiplexing
Aligning adjustment
TU-11 VC-11 C-11 1544kbit/s
Mapping

Figure 1 The multiplexing mapping structure defined in Rec. G.709

As illustrated in Figure 1, this multiplexing structure includes some basic multiplexing units: C -
Container, VC - Virtual Container, TU - Tributary Unit, TUG - Tributary Unit Group, AU - Administrative
Unit, and AUG - Administrative Unit Group. The suffixes of these multiplexing units denote their
corresponding signal levels. As illustrated in the figure, there are several routes (several multiplexing
methods) through which a valid payload can be multiplexed into STM-N signals. For example, there
are two multiplexing routes for 2Mb/s signals, i.e. two methods for multiplexing 2Mb/s signals into STM-
N signals. You may have noted that 8Mb/s PDH signals can't be multiplexed into STM-N signals.
Although there are several routes for a kind of signals to be multiplexed into SDH STM-N signals, the
multiplexing route used in a country or an area must be unique. In China, the SDH optical transmission
network technological system stipulates that PDH signals based on 2Mb/s signals shall be regarded as
the valid payload of SDH and the multiplexing route of AU-4 shall be employed. This multiplexing route
structure is illustrated in Figure 2.
xN x1
STM-N AUG AU-4 VC-4 C-4 139264kbit/s

x3
x1
TUG-3 TU-3 VC-3 C-3 34368kbit/s

x7
Pointer
TUG-2
processing
Multiplexing
x3
Aligning justification TU-12 VC-12 C-12 2048kbit/s
Mapping
Figure 2 basic multiplexing mapping structure employed in China and some other countries

1.1 Multiplexing of 140Mb/s signals into STM-N signals

First, the 140Mb/s PDH signals are adapted via bit rate justification (bit stuffing method) into C-4, which
is a standard information structure used to accommodate 140Mb/s PDH signals. After being processed

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via bit rate justification techniques, service signals of various rates involved in SDH multiplexing must
be loaded into a standard container corresponding to the rate level of the signal: 2Mb/s---C-12,
34Mb/s---C-3 and 140Mb/s---C-4. The main function of a container is for bit rate justification. Putting
140Mb/s signals into C-4 is similar to signal packing. The rate of 140Mb/s signals thus is adjusted to
standard C-4 rate. This is also similar to the packing of E4 signals in a size equal to standard C-4. The
frame structure of C-4 is block frame in unit of bytes, with the frame frequency of 8000-frame per
second. That is to say, the 140Mb/s signals are synchronized to SDH transmission network after being
adapted into C-4 signals. This process is just like loading C-4 to asynchronous 140Mb/s signals. The
frame structure of C-4 is illustrated in Figure 3.

1 260

139.264Mb/s 149.76Mb/s

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8000-frame/second
Figure 3 C-4 frame structure
The frame of C-4 signals has 260 columns x 9 rows (the block frame of PDH signals remains
constantly to be 9 rows while multiplexing into STM-N). The rate of E4 signal after adaptation (i.e. the
rate of C-4 signals) is: 8000 frame/second x 9 rows x 260 columns x 8 bits = 149.760Mb/s. Rate
adaptation of asynchronous signals means that the rate of asynchronous signals can be changed into
standard rate through bit rate justification when they vary within a certain range. Here, the rate range of
the E4 signals is: 139.264Mb/s¡À15ppm£¨Rec. G.703 definition (139.261-139.266) Mb/s. Through rate
adaptation, the E4 signals within this rate range can be adjusted into standard C-4 rate of
149.760Mb/s, which means that they can be accommodated into C-4 containers.
A column of path overhead bytes (higher-order path overhead VC-4-POH) shall be added in front of the
C-4 block frame during multiplexing in order to monitor the 140Mb/s path signals. Then the signals
become a VC-4 information structure, as illustrated in figure 4.
1 261
1
P
C4 150.336Mb/s
O VC4
149.76Mb/s
H
9
Figure 4 VC-4 structure
VC-4 is a standard virtual container corresponding to 140Mb/s PDH signals. This process is just like
enveloping the C-4 signals for the second time, so as to enclose the overhead-POH for path monitoring
and management into the envelope. The overhead-POH implements real-time monitoring over path
signals.
The enveloping rate of the virtual container (VC) is also synchronous with the SDH network. Different
VCs (e.g. VC-12 for 2Mb/s and VC-3 for 34Mb/s) are synchronous with each other. Asynchronous
payloads from different containers are allowed to load within the virtual containers. The virtual
container, a kind of information structure whose integrity is always maintained during transmission on
the SDH network, can be regarded as an independent unit (cargo package). It can be flexibly and
conveniently added/dropped at any point of the path for synchronous multiplexing and cross-
connection processing.
In fact, it is the VC packet of corresponding signals that is located and added/dropped directly from the
high-rate signal. The low-rate tributary signals are added/dropped by packing/unpacking.
When packing C-4 into VC-4, 9 overhead bytes must be added in the first column of the VC-4 frame.
Then VC-4 has a frame structure of 9 rows x 261 columns. Within STM-N frame structure, the
information payload is 9 rows x 261x N columns. For STM-1, it is 9 rows x 261 columns. Now you
might get the idea that VC-4 is in fact the information payload of the STM-1 frame. The process of
packing PDH signals into C and adding the corresponding path overhead to form the information
structure of VC is called mapping.
Having been packed into standard packages, the cargoes are now ready to be loaded onto the truck---
STM-N. The loading place is the information payload area. On loading the cargoes (VC) such a

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problem may be encountered that the locations for the cargoes within the carriage may "float" if the
loading speed of cargoes does not match the wait-for-loading time (125us, the frame period of STM-N)
of the truck. Then how can cargoes be disassembled correctly at the receiving end? SDH solves this
problem by adding an Administrative Unit Pointer --- AU-PTR before the VC-4. Thus the signal is
changed from VC-4 into another information structure--- Administrative Unit AU-4, as illustrated in
figure 5.

1 27
1

AU-PTR

9
Figure 5 AU-4 Structure
The information structure AU-4 takes the basic form of STM-1 signals --- 9 rows x 270 columns, only
without SOH. In fact, this information structure can be regarded as an envelope of AU-4 ------VC-4
packet is enveloped once more (AU-PTR added).
The Administrative Unit, consisting of higher order VC and AU pointer, provides adaptation functions for
the higher order path layer and the multiplex section layer. The function of AU-PTR is to indicate the
location of the higher order VC within the STM frame, i.e. the specific location of the VC package within
the STM-N. Under the pointer function, the higher order VC is allowed to "float" within the STM frame,
i.e. the frequency offsets and phase differences to a certain degree between VC-4 and AU-4 are
tolerable. Or in other words, certain time difference between the loading speed of the cargo and the
waiting time of the truck is allowed, i.e. certain difference between the rate of VC-4 and the packing
rate (loading speed) of AU-4 is allowed. This difference will not affect the correct locating and
disassembling of VC-4 at the receiving end. Although the package may "float" in the compartment (the
information payload area), the location of AU-PTR in the STM frame is fixed. Because the AU-PTR is
outside of the payload area and co-located with the section overhead instead. This guarantees that the
AU-PTR can be accurately found in the corresponding location. Then the VC-4 can be localized by the
AU pointer and disassembled from STM-N signals.
One or more AUs with fixed locations within the STM frame form an AUG ---- Administrative Unit
Group.
The multiplexing arrangement of a single AU-4 via the AUG. The 9 bytes at the beginning of row 4 are
allocated to the AU-4 pointer. The remaining 9 rows by 261 columns is allocated to the Virtual
Container-4 (VC-4). The phase of the VC-4 is not fixed with respect to the AU-4. The location of the
first byte of the VC-4 with respect to the AU-4 pointer is given by the pointer value. The AU-4 is placed
directly in the AUG.
The last step is to add corresponding SOH to AU-4 to form STM-N signals. The arrangement of N
AUGs multiplexed into the STM-N. The AUG is a structure of 9 rows by 261 columns plus 9 bytes in
row 4 (for the AU-n pointers). The STM-N consists of an SOH and a structure of 9 rows by N   261
columns with N  9 bytes in row 4 (for the AU-n pointers). The N AUGs are one-byte interleaved into
this structure and have a fixed phase relationship with respect to the STM-N.

1.2 Multiplexing of 34Mb/s signals into STM-N signals

Similarly, 34Mb/s signals are first adapted into the corresponding standard container -- C-3 through bit
rate justification. After adding corresponding POH, the C-3 is packed into VC-3 with the frame structure
of 9 rows x 85 columns. For the convenience of locating VC-3 at the receiving and separating it from
the high-rate signals, a three-byte pointer, TU-PTR (Tributary Unit Pointer), is added to the VC-3 frame.
Note that an AU-PTR has 9 bytes. This information structure is a tributary unit TU-3 (an information
structure corresponding to 34Mb/s signals) serving as a bridge between the lower order path layer
(lower-order VC, e.g. VC-3) and the higher order path layer. This is a transitional information structure
for disassembling the higher order path (higher order VC) into lower order path (lower order VC) or
multiplexing the lower order path into the higher order path. For the frame structures of C-3 and VC-3.
Then what is the function of a tributary pointer? The TU-PTR is used to indicate the specific location of
the first byte of the lower order VC within the tributary unit TU. It is similar to an AU-PTR that indicates
the location of the first byte of the VC-4 within the STM frame. Actually, the operating principles of

5
these two kinds of pointers are similar. A TU can be regarded as a small AU-4. Therefore, when loading
the lower order VC into the TU, it requires a process of aligning---a process of adding TU-PTR.
The frame structure ---- TU-3 is illustrated in Figure 6.

1 86
H1 1
H2
H3 TU-3

9
Figure 6 The TU-3 structure after the loading TU-PTR

The TU-3 frame structure is in-complete. First fill the gap to form the frame structure as illustrated in
Figure 7.
1
86
H1 1
H2
H3 TUG3

R
9
Figure 7 The TU-3 frame structure with the gap filled

Three TUG-3 can be multiplexed into the C-4 signal structure via byte interleaved multiplexing method.
The arrangement of three TUG-3s multiplexed in the VC-4. The TUG-3 is a 9-row by 86-column
structure. The VC-4 consists of one column of VC-4 POH, two columns of fixed stuff and a 258-column
payload structure. The three TUG-3s are byte interleaved into the 9-row by 258-column VC-4 payload
structure and have a fixed phase with respect to the VC-4. The phase of the VC-4 with respect to the
AU-4 is given by the AU-4 pointer.
Since the TUG-3 is an information structure of 9 rows x 86 columns, the information structure
composed of three TUG-3 via byte interleaved multiplexing is a block frame structure of 9 rows x 258
columns. While C-4 is a block frame structure of 9 rows x 260 columns. Two columns of stuffed bits are
added to the front of the composite structure of 3 x TUG-3 to form a C-4 information structure. Figure 8
shows the frame structure of one C-4.
1 258
1

R R C4

9
1 260

Figure 8 The frame structure of C-4

The last step is to multiplex C-4 into STM-N. This is similar to the process of multiplexing 140Mb/s
signals into STM-N signals:
C-4-->VC-4-->AU-4-->AUG-->STM-N.

1.3 Multiplexing of 2Mb/s signals into STM-N signals

At present, the most frequently used multiplexing method is multiplexing of 2Mb/s signals into STM-N
signals. It is also the most complicated method of multiplexing PDH signals into SDH signals.

1) First, the 2Mb/s signal shall be adapted into the corresponding standard container C-12 via rate
adaptation. During the adaptation of 2Mb/s PDH signals into C-12, the concept of multi-frame is
introduced for the convenience of rate adaptation, i.e. four C-12 basic frames form a multi-frame. Since

6
the frame frequency of the C-12 basic frame is 8000-frame per second, the frame frequency of the C-
12 multi-frame will be 2000-frame per second.
Why is multi-frame used? This is merely for the convenience of rate adaptation. For example, if E1
signals have a standard rate of 2.048Mb/s, each basic frame will accommodate 32-byte (256-bit)
payload on mapping the E1 into a C-12. Why? The frame frequency of C-12 is 8000-frame per second.
So is that of the PCM30/32 [E1] signal. However, when the rate of E1 signals isn't a standard rate of
2.048Mb/s, the average bit number accommodated into each C-12 is not an integer. For example,
when E1 signals of the rate of 2.046Mb/s are accommodated into a C-12 basic frame, the average
number of bits loaded in each frame is: (2.046 x 10 6b/second)/(8000-frame/second)=255.75 bits.
Because this number is not an integer, E1 signals can't be accommodated. In this case, if a multi-frame
of four basic frames is used, the number of bits can be loaded in the multi-frame is: (2.046 x
106b/second)/(2000-frame/second)=1023 bits. Each of the first three basic frames accommodates 256-
bit (32-byte) payload and the fourth accommodates 255-bit payload. So all E1 signals at this rate can
be completely adapted into C-12. Then how to adapt the rate of E1 signals (i.e. how to accommodate it
into C-12). The C-12 basic frame is a notched block frame structure of 9 x 4-2 bytes.
A multi-frame can accommodate payloads at the rate ranging from C-12 Multi frame max to C-12 Multi-
frame min, as follows:
C-12 Multi-framemax=(1023+1+1)x 2000=2.050Mb/s
C-12 Multi-framemin=(1023+0+0)x 2000=2.046Mb/s
As long as E1 signals have a rate within the range of 2.050Mb/s-2.046Mb/s, they can be adapted and
accommodated into a standard C-12 container, i.e. the rate can be justified through rate justification
into standard C-12 rate ---- 2.175Mb/s.

2) To monitor on a real-time basis the performance of each 2Mb/s path signal during transmission on
SDH network, C-12 must be further packed ---- adding corresponding path overhead (lower order
overhead)---- to form a VC-12 information structure. As shown in the attached figure at the end of
Section 2, the LP-POH (lower order path overhead) is added to the notch in the top left corner of each
basic frame. Each multi-frame has a set of lower order path overhead composed of total 4 bytes: V5,
J2, N2 and K4. Since the VC can be regarded as an independent entity, dispatching of 2Mb/s services
later is conducted in unit of VC-12.
A set of path overhead monitors the transmission status of the whole multi-frame on a network. How
many frames of 2Mb/s signals does a C-12 multi-frame accommodate? One C-12 multi-frame
accommodates 4 frames of PCM30/32 signals. Therefore a set of LP-POH monitors the transmission
status of 4 frames of PCM30/32 signals.

3) For correct aligning of VC-12 frames in the receiving end, a four-byte TU-PTR is added to the four
notches of the VC-12 multi-frame. Then the information structure of the signal changes into TU-12 with
9 rows x 4 columns. The TU-PTR indicates the specific location of the start point of the first VC-12
within the multi-frame.

4) Three TU-12 forms a TUG-2 via byte interleaved multiplexing. The TUG-2 has the frame structure of
9 rows by 12 columns. The multiplexing of three TU-12s into one TUG-2 is shown in Figure 9.

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 TU-11 TU-12 TU-2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 ................
TUG-2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
4 4 4

(1) (2) (3) (7)

TUG-3

1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
Fixed stuff 5 5
6 6
7 7
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7

1 23 45 6 7 89 . . . . . . . . 78 80 82 84 86
79 81 83 85
T1518110-95

Figure 9 Multiplexing of three TU-12 into one TUG-2

5) Seven TUG-2 can be multiplexed into a TUG-3 information structure via byte interleaved
multiplexing. Note that this information structure formed by the 7 x TUG-2 is 9-row by 84-column. Two
rows of fixed stuff bits shall be added in front of the structure, as illustrated in Figure 9. The
multiplexing structure for the TUG-2 via the TUG-3 is depicted in Figure 9 and Figure 10. The TUG-3 is
a 9-row by 86-column structure with the first two columns of fixed stuff.
86 Columns

TUG-2 TUG-2
TUG-3
TU-2 TU-1 (7 × TUG-2)
PTR PTRs
.. POH
..
Fixed stuff
Fixed stuff

POH POH
........

VC-2 VC-1

..
..

PTR Pointer
3 VC-12s or 4 VC-11s
in 1 × TUG-2

T1518100-95

Figure 10 Multiplex of seven TUG-2s via a TUG-3

The arrangement of seven TUG-2s multiplexed via the TUG-3 is depicted in Figure 10. The TUG-2s
are one-byte interleaved in the TUG-3. Figure 11 shows the frame structure of one TUG-3.

8
 1 84
1

R R

9
TUG3
Figure 11 TUG-3 information structure

6) The procedures of multiplexing the TUG-3 information structure into STM-N are the same as
mentioned before.
As shown in the procedures of multiplexing 2Mb/s signals into STM-N signals, 3 TU-12s can be
multiplexed into one TUG-2, 7 TUG-2s into one TUG-3, 3 TUG-3s into one VC-4 and one VC-4 into
one STM-1, i.e. the multiplexing structure of 2Mb/s is 3-7-3. Since the multiplexing method is byte
interleaved, the 63 VC-12s within a VC-4 are not arranged in sequence. The number difference
between two adjacent TU-12 is 21.
In order to provide a simple and convenient means of determining the total tributary capacity, i.e. the
number of lower order tributaries provided, the payload columns are allocated a Time Slot number. The
number of Time Slots per tributary in each frame is determined by the payload configuration.
Time Slots (TS) are numbered from 0 to 63 in the VC-4 for E1 signals.
This is a formula for calculating the time-slot number of TU-12 at different locations within the same
VC-4:
VC-12 (TU-12) time-slot number=TUG-3 location number + (TUG-2 location number-1) x 3+(TU-12
location number-1)x21. Two adjacent TU-12s within the VC-4 frame mean that they have the same
TUG-3 location number and TUG-2 location number while the difference between their TU-12 location
numbers is 1.
This formula will be useful when using the SDH transmission analyzer to conduct certain
measurements. Is there anything in common between the locations of the two adjacent TU-12s within
the VC-4 frame?
Notes: The range of TUG-3 location numbers is 1-3. The range of TUG-2 location numbers is 1-7. And
the range of TU-12 location numbers is 1-3. The VC-12 (TU-12) number refers to the sequence
number of this VC-12 (TU-12) among the 63 VC-12 (TU-12) within the VC-4 frame according to their
sequence of multiplexing.

TU12 1
1 1
VC4 TUG3 TUG2 TU12 2

TU12 3

2 TU12 1

TUG2 TU12 2 Referring to the location

number
TU12 3

TU12 1
7
TUG2 TU12 2

2 TU12 3
TUG3

3
TUG3

Figure 12 The arrangement of TUG-3, TUG-2 and TU-12 in VC-4

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These are the methods and procedures of multiplexing PDH signals into STM-N frames used in China
and some other countries. This is the basic knowledge for you to enhance your ability of equipment
maintenance and for further study of SDH principle

1.4 Multiplexing of ATM Signals into C-4 signals

To account for rapidly increasing need for broad band services and applications(e.g. Video
conferences, multimedia etc.), the pieces of information are no longer transported and switched
through via channels with a defined structure, but in the form of short packets with a constant length
(=asynchronous transfer mode – cells).
An ATM cell consists of HEADER (length: 5 bytes)
And payload (length: 48 bytes)
Prior to their transmission in the STM-1 frame, the ATM cells are interleaved into the container C-4
(=mapping). The size of the container C-4 amounts to 2340 bytes and shown in a two dimension
representation (9x260).

A C-4 is provided every 125 micro second as network synchronous transmission capacity.
A comparison between the No. of possible, useable bits per container C-4.
260x9=2340 bytes
and the No. of ATM cells to be transmitted per C-4
2340 bytes: 53 bytes= 4415
reveals that an ATM cell can also be transmitted via two C-4.

10
 1 260 1 261 10 270 1 9 10 270 1
1 Sub-frame 1 J1 1 1 1
RSOH
B3
C2 1 9
150.912 PTR STM-1
139.264 149.760 G1 150.336 AU-4 155.52Mb/s
C-4 VC-4 AU-PTR
Mb/s Mb/s F2 Mb/s 9X270-9X8 Mb/s
9X260 9X261 9X270
H4
F3 MSOH
K3
9 9 N1 9 9 9
0 0 125us 0
0 125us 125us 148.608Mb/s X3 125us 0

49.536
1 84 1 85 1 86 1 Mb/s 86
1 1 J1 H1 1
1 H1
.
Sub-frame B3
48.96 H2 H2 XN .
Mb/s H3
34.368 48.384 G1
C2
VC-3 TU-3 49.152
H3
R
.
Mb/s TUG-3
C-3 Mb/s F2 9X85 Mb/s R
9X86-6 9X86
9X84 H4 R
F3 R
K3 R
9 9 N1 9 9 R
0 125us 0 125us 0 125us 0 125us
X7
Multi-frame

K4 6.912Mb/s
N2 1 12
1 4 1 4
J2 1
1 1
1 V5V5V5
V5 V5
2.048 1 2 4 2.176 2.240
VC-12 TU-12
Mb/s C-12 Mb/s 4 (9X4-1) Mb/s
4(9X4) TUG-2
9
4(9X4 4(9X12)
-2) V1
V1 V4
9 9
0 1 125 V2 V3
9 125us
us V1V1V1
0 125
us 0 125us
X3

11
2- Overhead
As mentioned before, the functions of overhead are to implement layered monitoring management for
SDH signals. The monitoring is classified into section layer monitoring and path layer monitoring. The
section layer monitoring is further classified into regenerator section layer monitoring and multiplex
section layer monitoring while the path layer monitoring is further classified into higher order path layer
and lower order path layer. Thus the layered monitoring for STM-N is implemented. For example, in a
STM-16 system, the regenerator section overhead monitors the overall STM-16 signal while the
multiplex section overhead further monitors each of the 16 STM-1. Furthermore, the higher order path
overhead monitors the VC-4 of each STM-1 and the lower order path overhead can monitor each of
the 63 VC-12 in the VC-4. Hence the multistage monitoring functions from 2.5Gb/s to 2Mb/s are
implemented. Then, how are these monitoring functions implemented? They are implemented via
different overhead bytes.

2.1 Section Overhead

The section overhead of the STM-N frame is located in rows 1-9 of columns 1-9N with the frame
structure. Notes: with the exception of row 4. We are to describe the function of each section overhead
byte with the example of an STM-1 signal. For an STM-1 signal, the SOH is located at rows 1-3 of
columns 1-9 - RSOH and rows 5-9 of columns 1-9 - MSOH within its frame, as illustrated in Figure 2.1.
9 bytes

A1 A1 A1 A2 A2 A2 J0 * *

B1   E1  F1 RSOH
D1   D2  D3
Administrative Unit pointer(s)
9 rows

B2 B2 B2 K1 K2

D4 D5 D6

D7 D8 D9 MSOH
D10 D11 D12

S1 M1 E2

T1523130-96

Bytes reserved for national use

* Unscrambled bytes. Therefore care should be taken

with their content
 Media dependent bytes

NOTE – All unmarked bytes are reserved for future international

standardization (for media dependent, additional national use and
other purposes).
Figure 2.1 STM-1 Section Overhead
Framing bytes A1 and A2
Regenerator Section Trace byte: J0
Data Communication Channel (DCC) byte: D1-D12
Orderwire bytes: E1 and E2
User channel byte: F1
Bit Interleaved Parity 8 (BIP-8) byte: B1
Bit Interleaved Parity N x24 code (BIP-N x24) byte: B2
Automatic Protection Switching (APS) channel byte: K1, K2 (b1-b5)
Multiplex Section Remote Defect Indication (MS-RDI): K2 (b6-b8)
Synchronization status byte: S1 (b5-b8)
Multiplex Section Remote Error Indication MS-REI byte: M1

12
2.2 Path Overhead
The Section Overhead is responsible for section layer OAM functions while the Path Overhead for path
layer OAM functions. Like transporting the cargoes loaded in the container: not only the overall
impairment status of the cargoes (SOH) but also the impairment status of each cargo (POH) shall be
monitored.
According to the "width" of the monitored path (the size of the monitored cargo) , the Path Overhead is
further classified into Higher Order Path Overhead and Lower Order Path Overhead. In this curriculum
the Higher Order Path Overhead refers to the monitoring of VC-4 level paths which can monitor the
transmission status of 140Mb/s signal within the STM-N frame. The Lower Order Path Overhead
implements the OAM functions for VC-12 path level, i.e. monitoring the transmission performance of
2Mb/s signals within the STM-N frame.

2.2.1 Higher Order Path Overhead: HPOH

The Higher Order Path Overhead, consisting of 9 bytes, is located in the first column of the VC-4
frame, as illustrated in Figure 2.2.

1 261
J 1 1
B3
C2
G1
VC4 F2
H4
F3
K3
N1 9

Figure 2.2 The structure of Higher Order Path Overhead

J1: Path trace byte
B3: Path BIP---8 Byte
C2: Signal label byte
G1: Path status byte

2.2.2 Lower Order Path Overhead: LPOH

The LPOH here refers to the path overhead of the VC-12 that monitors the transmission performance
of the VC-12 path level, i.e. monitors the transmission status of 2Mb/s PDH signals within the STM-N
frame.
The bytes V5, J2, N2 and K4 are allocated to the VC-12 POH.
Where is the LPOH located within the VC-12? Figure 2.3 displays a VC-12 multi-frame structure
consisting of four VC-12 basic frames. The lower order POH is located in the first byte of each VC-12
basic frame. An LP-POH consists of four bytes denoted V5, J2, N2 and K4.
1 4
1 V5 J2 N2 K4

VC12 VC12 VC12 VC12

9
500us VC12 multiframe

Figure 2.3 the structure of a Lower Order Path Overhead.

V5: Path status and signal label byte

13
3- Basic NE Form
SDH transmission network consists of two parts: SDH NE equipment and optical cable. NE equipment
accomplishes the functions of receiving/sending information service; add/drop multiplexing, cross
connecting, etc. OptiX 2500+ NE equipment can be set as regenerator (REG), terminal multiplexer and
add/drop multiplexer according to different functions realized. Characteristics and basic functions of
common NEs in SDH network are described below.

3.1 Terminal Multiplexer (TM)

Terminal multiplexer is mainly used to multiplex PDH low-speed signal (such as E1, E3, E4, etc.) to
high-speed SDH signal, or multiplex relatively low speed SDH signal to higher speed STM-N signal,
meanwhile, terminal multiplexer also accomplishes the reverse process of above process, that is, to
de-multiplex STM-N optic signal to SDH low-speed signal or low-speed PDH electrical signal.
TM NE types of OptiX 2500+ equipment consist of SDH access unit, PDH access unit, cross
connecting unit, clock processing unit, main control unit, overhead processing unit, etc., as illustrated in
Figure 3.1.
Optical amplifier

Tributary interface
Line interface

Subrate
PDH interface
STM-1/4/16
Cross-connect matrix SDH interface
(STM-1/4/16)
(Optional)
(High order, low order)

Synchronous System control & Overhead

timing communication processing

Maintenance
Timing interface interface(OAM&P) Overhead interface

Figure 3.1 Block diagram of terminal multiplexer functions

Terminal multiplexer is mainly used in Point-to-point networking.

3.2 Add/Drop Multiplexer (ADM)

Add/drop multiplexer is the most widely used NE form in the network, it can add/drop any tributary
signals flexibly by integrating synchronous multiplex and digital cross connecting function into a whole.
In addition to the same signal multiplex and de-multiplex function as TM, the most important function of
ADM is to realize cross connection between line signals as well as between line signal and tributary
signal. For example: E1 and E3 tributary signals accessed can be multiplexed and connected to
eastward and westward STM-16 signals respectively. In addition, eastward and westward STM-16
signals can also be mutually connected.
ADM NE type composition of OptiX 2500+ equipment is illustrated in Figure 3.2.

14
 Subrate interface PDH interface

Tributary interface

Optical amplifier

Optical amplifier
Line interface
Line interface
STM-1/4/16
STM-1/4/16
Cross-connect matrix

(Optional) (High order, low order)

Synchronous System control & Overhead

timing communication processing

Timing interface Maintenance Overhead interface

interface(OAM&P)

Figure 3.2 Block diagram of add/drop multiplexer functions

Add/drop multiplexer is mainly used in the following applications:

3.3 Regenerator (REG)

Regenerator is mainly used to accomplish such functions as signal regeneration, amplification and
trunk transmission, as illustrated in Figure 3.3. Compared with TM and ADM, it has no add/drop service
function on NE station.
Optical am plifier

Optical amplifier
Line interface

Line interface

STM-1/4/16
STM-1/4/16 Cross-connect matrix

Optional (High order, low order)

Synchronous System control & Overhead

timing communication processing

Timing interface Maintenance

interface(OAM&P) Overhead interface

Figure 3.3 Block diagram of regenerator functions

Regenerator is used in various network types as regenerator for long distance communication.
Summary
The applications of OptiX 2500+ equipment can be very flexible, same NE equipment can be
configured as either the combination of multiple TMs, or the combination of multiple ADMs, or the
combination of multiple REGs, and even the combination of these three NE types. What NE form into
which NE equipment type would be configured in the network can be set and changed according to
user’s requirements in the network. For example, in the chain network with REG, assume that there is
new requirement for add/drop service on REG station, it can be realized by online upgrade of REG to
ADM.

15
4- Equipment Configuration
OptiX 2500+ equipment configuration is very flexible, there are 16 slots on its subrack, and 12 of them
are interface unit slots (IU). Its slot configuration is illustrated in Figure 4.1.

Interface area

I I I I I I X X I I I I I I S R
U U U U U U C C U U U U U U C S
S S C V
1 2 3 4 5 6 (Optional) 7 8 8 10 11 12
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Figure 4.1 Schematic diagram of OptiX 2500+ slots

The maximum cross capacity of the equipment is 128 x 128 VC-4, and the maximum access capability
is 96 x STM-1. However, the actual access capability of the equipment depends on both the scale of
the cross-connect matrix and capacity of respective access units (IU) selected in actual equipment
configuration. Only through reasonable configuration can we make the best use of equipment
resources and optimize networking, and to do this, we must be first familiar with OptiX 2500+ board
configuration characteristics and its basic configuration principles.

4.1 Board Configuration

When configuring OptiX 2500+ equipment, we should first make sure whether the interface boards
selected for the equipment and the capacity of the slots for the interface boards meet the requirement
of actual networking.
In OptiX 2500+ main subrack, the maximum access capacity supported by respective IU slots and the
access capacity occupied by respective interface boards are shown in Table 1 and Table 2. Slots that
can be configured for respective boards are shown in Table 2.

Table 1 Access capacity supported by OptiX 2500+ IU slots

IU Slot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Max. Capacity accessed in term of VC-4 4 4 4 16 16 16 16 16 16 4 4 4

Table 2 Access capacity occupied by OptiX 2500+ equipment interface boards

Board Name Access capacity Applicable interface slot
occupied
S16 STM-16 optical interface board 16×STM-1 IU4~IU9
SD4 2_STM-4 optical interface 8×STM-1 IU4~IU9
board
SL4 STM-4 optical interface board 4×STM-1 IU1~IU12
SQ1 4_STM-1 optical interface 4×STM-1 IU3~IU10
board
SD1 2_STM-1 optical interface 2×STM-1 IU1~IU12
board
SDE 2_STM-1 electrical interface 2×STM-1 IU1~IU12
board
PQ1 63_E1 electrical interface board 1×STM-1 IU1~IU4、IU9~IU12
PD1 32_E1 electrical interface board 1×STM-1 IU1~IU4、IU9~IU12
PL3 3_E3/T3 electrical interface 1×STM-1 IU1~IU4、IU9~IU12
board

5- Ring Network Protection Switching

Self-healing ring structures can be divided into two categories: path protection ring and multiplex
section protection ring. For path protection ring, service protection is based on paths. Switching over or
not is determined by signal qualities of each path on the ring. For multiplex section protection ring,

16
service protection is based on multiplex section. Switching over or not is determined by signal qualities
of multiplex section between each pair of nodes. When there is something wrong with the multiplex
section, all service signals of multiplex section between nodes turn to protection ring. An important
difference between path protection ring and multiplex section protection ring is that the former usually
adopts dedicated protection. That is to say, in normal conditions protection section also sends services
and protection time slot is dedicated to the whole ring; while the later usually adopts protection, i.e., in
normal conditions protection section is idle and protection timeslot is shared by each pair of nodes.
Thus protection rings can be divided into dedicated protection ring and shared protection ring. It is
certain that multiplex section protection ring can also adopt dedicated protection.

5.1 Two-fiber bidirectional multiplex section protection ring

The protection switching process of two-fiber bi-directional multiplex section protection ring is shown in
Figure 5.1.

CA AC CA AC
S1/P2 S1/P2
S2/P1 S2/P1

A A
D B D B
C C
S2/P1 S2/P1
S1/P2 S1/P2

Switching
CA AC CA AC
(a) (b)
Figure 5.1 Two-fiber bi-directional multiplex section protection ring
In two-fiber bi-directional multiplex section protection ring, half of fiber capacity of each transmission
direction is assigned to the service path, and the other half to protection path. As shown in Figure 5.1
(a), under normal conditions, service signals that enter into the ring at Node A with Node C as
destination are transmitted through optical fiber S1/P2 clockwise, while service signals that enter into
the ring at Node C with Node A as destination are transmitted anti-clockwise through optical fiber
S2/P1.
When the two fibers between Node B and Node C are cut off at the same time, as shown in Figure 5.1
(b), the changeover switch between Node B and Node C will connect optical fiber S1/P2 with optical
fiber S2/P1. At Node B, the service signal timeslot that has entered into the ring from Node A along
optical fiber S1/P2 is transferred to the protection timeslot of optical fiber S2/P1, and then sent to Node
C. At Node C, the service signal timeslot that has entered into the ring from Node C along optical fiber
S2/P1 is switched to the protection timeslot of optical fiber S1/P2, and then sent to Node A.
Because both service timeslot and protection time slot of each direction in two-fiber bi-directional ring
are transmitted in the same optical fiber, i.e., one optical fiber transmits both service signals and
protection signals. And faults, occurring to either receiver, transmitter, optical cable or node, will also
affect working path and protection path at the same time.

6- PDH/SDH Boards

6.1 PQ1 Board

PQ1 (63 x E1 interface board) refers to electrical tributary interface board. The signal flow of the PQ1
functional module and the mapping/de-mapping is shown in Figure 6.1.

17
 123

Clock board

120 Mapping To cross

and 75
decoder connection 123
receiving board

123
120 Demapping From cross
encoder
and 75 connection
transmitting board

Micro-processor Control logic

MCU
and mail box

123
Figure 6.1 Principle diagram of PQ1 board

Functions and features of PQ1 board are described as follows.

1- PQ1 board executes mapping from 63  E1 signal to VC-4 and de-mapping from VC-4 to E1.
2- Through the network management operation system, the path protection switching function can be
set, and the path protection can be achieved by double transmission and selected receiving function of
the tributary board.
3- Provide E1 tributary timing signal as reference clock for the timing source and report the clock status
through the communication system between the boards.
4- Provide tributary remote loop back test and local loop back test.
5- Maintain, via the mailbox, communication with the network management operation system, report
tributary alarms and performance events, and receive configuration command issued by the network
management system.

Relationship with the SCC board:

Communicate with the SCC board via the mailbox, report its performance and alarm data, and receive
circuit board control commands and parameter configuration issued from the SCC board.

6.2 PL3 Board

PL3 refers to the electrical tributary interface board providing 3 x E3. By its functional modules, the
board implements such functions as PDH physical interface (PPI), lower order path adaptation (LPA),
lower order path termination (LPT) and higher order path adaptation (HPA). According to the ITU-T
Recommendation G.707, the PL3 board executes mapping/de mapping between E3 signal and VC-4.
The signal flow of the above functional modules and mapping/de-mapping is shown in Figure 6.2.

123
Clock board

To cross
75 decoder Mapping connection
receiving
board

From cross
75 encoder Demapping connection
transmitting board

Micro- Control logic

MCU
processor and mailbox

123
Figure 6.2 Principle diagram PL3 board

18
Functions and features of PL3 are described as follows:
Perform mapping from 3  E3 plesiochronous signal to VC-4 and de-mapping from VC-4 to E3
plesiochronous signal.
Encode/decode 3  E3 signal and receive/transmit E3 signal
Provide 75 unbalanced interface specified in ITU-T G.703 Recommendation.
Set path protection switching function through the NM operating system, and test the deterioration
degree of signals on the working path to decide whether switching should be performed.
Provide E3 tributary timing signal as reference clock for the timing source and report the clock status to
the clock unit regularly.
Provide software mode to implement tributary path in-loop and out-loop.
Maintain communication with the NM operating system via the mailbox, report tributary alarms and
performance events, and receive configuration command sent by the network management system.

Relationship with the SCC board:

Communicate with the SCC board via the mailbox, report its performance and alarm data, receive
circuit board control commands and parameter configurations issued from the SCC board.

6.3 S16 Board

S16 (Synchronous STM-16) board refers to single way STM-16 optical interface board. In the receiving
direction, it converts the STM-16 optical signal from the optical line into electrical signal (i.e. O/E
conversion) and de-multiplexes it into 16 x STM-1 signal to fetch overhead byte. In the transmitting
direction, the VC-4 signal is overhead added and multiplexed so as to generate 16 x STM-1 electrical
signal, which will be transmitted off after an E/O process.
Principle diagram and signal flow of S16 board is shown in Figure 6.3-a.
111
Data Data Data
STM-16 input timing timing timing
1: 32 To cross-connect board
O/E demul- Frame LOS
LOS LOS SOH
tiplex synchr. LOF Bus
and
and OOF inter-
POH
STM-16 output scramb- face
process-
ling From cross-connect board
E/O 32: 1 ing
code
multiplex

111 111
Data bus Control bus
Address bus

Micro- Control
Mailbox Connect with
processor logic MCU

Figure 6.3-a Principle diagram and signal flow of S16 optical interface board

a) Receiving part:
The optical receiving module converts STM-16 optical signal to electrical signal and recovers clock
signal from the optical signal.
1:32 de-multiplex module performs the serial/parallel conversion, and with the support of the front end
data receiving and processing module, achieves descrambling, data reintegrating, frame searching, bit
error detecting and the conversion from STM-16 to STM-1.
The receiving part sends 16 x STM-1 signal to the service and overhead processing module, where
overhead termination, pointer justification and receiving resynchronization are performed. The service
signal is sent off to the cross-connect board through the inter-board bus interface multiplex module.

b) Transmitting part:
The service signal from the cross-connect board is sent to the service overhead processing module via
the inter-board bus interface multiplex module to interpose overhead byte and generate pointer.
The front end data transmitting module performs scrambling and the calculation of B1, and finally
converts the signal into STM-16 electrical signal through 32:1 multiplex module.

19
The optical transmitting module converts STM-16 electrical signal into optical signal.
The control module on the circuit board implements service configuration, collection of alarm
performance, and conversion of overhead format, and communicates with the SCC board via the
mailbox as well as with other circuit boards via serial interfaces.

Functions and features of S16 board

1- The synchronous physical interface SPI can perform optical/electrical conversion and
electrical/optical conversion of STM-16 signal.
2- Regeneration section terminal RST and multiplex section terminal MST process section overhead
(SOH).
3- In multiplex section adaptation (MSA) module, the 16 x STM-1 signal is multiplexed into STM-16
signal by byte adding multiplexing mode, or STM-16 signal is de-multiplexed into 16 x STM-1 signal. At
the same time, the module generates and terminates 16 x AU4 pointers and aligns 16 VC-4 frames.
4- High order path terminal HPT terminates the path overhead (POH) byte of 16 x VC-4.
Multiplex section protection MSP module uses K1 and K2 bytes, with the support of the cross-connect
board, to implement multiplex section protection board under the control of the SCC.
5- It provides DCC and order wire feed-through function, so as to ensure the feed-through of DCC and
order wire at this station even when the SCC board is not-in-position.
6- It maintains communication with the network management system via the mailbox, collects and
reports alarm and performance events, as well as explains and processes the configuration command
issued by the network management system. It can also implements inter-board communication via
serial interfaces through the control module on the board.
7- With the cross-connect board, it can support several networking modes such as chain, ring, tangent
ring, ring with chain, hub, etc.

Applications of S16 board

In OptiX 2500+(Metro3000) system, S16 board is mainly used to form SDH main transmission network.
S16 can be inserted in IU4 ~ IU9 slots on OptiX 2500+(Metro3000) subrack as shown in Figure 6.3-b.

I I I I I I X X I I I I I I S I

U U U U U U C C U U U U U U C U

1 2 3 4 5 6 S S 7 8 9 10 11 12 C P

Slots on subrack in which S16 board can be inserted

Figure 6.3-b Locations of S16 board on OptiX 2500+(Metro3000) subrack

The transmission distance of S16 board is up to 40km (at 1310nm wavelength) or 80km (at 1550nm
wavelength). When it exceeds 80km, it should go with the optical amplifier board. The distance is
divided according to the dispersion limited principle.

6.4 Cross-connect Unit

The cross-connect board, which provides the functions of a traditional cross-connect board. When
used the XCS board, it can connect 98 sets of independent STM-1 signals, through 128 x 128 VC-4
space divisions cross and 2016 x 2016 VC-12 T-S-T cross. The XCS board adopts 1+1 warm backup
mode to ensure the reliability of the cross-connect system in the whole SDH system.

Principle Diagram and Signal Flow Chard of Cross-connect Unit

Principle diagram of the cross-connect unit is shown in Figure 6.4-a.

20
 Input 96 sets of Output 96 sets of
system bus VC-4 system bus
cross matrix

Output 32 ways of
Input 32 ways of equivalent VC4
equivalent VC4

Contr. Clock
Circuit generation
Commu with circuit
MCU and boards

VC12
cross matrix

Figure 6.4-a Principle diagram of cross-connect unit

The cross-connect unit implements 128  128 VC-4 high order cross-connect function and 32  32
equivalent VC-4 low order cross-connect function to achieve block-free full cross connection and
provides powerful service scheduling function. The CPU control unit of the board is responsible for the
communication with the main control unit and the direct communication with other circuit boards. At the
same time, it performs clock phase locking and service scheduling, and generates other control signals
for itself and the system.

Relationship with SCC board

SCC board issues configuration command to the cross-connect unit of the XCS board via the mailbox.
The cross-connect unit of the XCS board reports alarms and performance events to the SCC board.

6.4.1 Clock Unit

1. Principle of clock unit
The clock unit traces the external clock source or the interface clock source to provides synchronous
clock source for this board and the system. At the same time it distributes through the system
appropriate at preset time clock signals which provide frequency and phase to the nodes of the data
stream in the system, so that the devices of the nodes can meet the requirements of the establishment
time and the maintenance time of the received data. Furthermore, it provides the system with frame
indication signal which is used to mark the location of the frame head in the data.
According to its functions, the clock unit of the XCS board is composed of synchronous equipment
timing source (SETS) and synchronous equipment timing physical interface (SETPI) as shown in
Figure 6.4-b.

SETS SETPI Synchronization

Figure 6.4-b Functions of clock unit

According to its structure, the principle diagram of the clock unit is as shown in Figure 6.4-c

21
 IU
75/120 E1

connector
receiving
SETS IU
11
75/120
transmitting
Control MCU
11
circuit

Cross-connect unit
11
Figure 6.4-c Principle diagram of clock unit

To ensure the clock synchronization in the whole SDH transmission network, the clock unit of OptiX
2500+(Metro3000) system must control the clock frequency and phase at every NE node in the
network within a small tolerance range. In this way the digital information stream can be transmitted
correctly and effectively among the NE nodes in the network. Otherwise the slide damage caused by
inconsistent clock frequencies will occur in all NEs synchronized by the same clock, giving rise to
incorrect transmission of data stream. The potential damage is enormous, and thus the clock
synchronization is critical in an SDH network.
Clock synchronization includes master/slave synchronization and mutual synchronization. OptiX 2500+
(Metro3000) optical transmission system developed by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. uses
master/slave synchronization mode.
In maser/slave synchronization, the clock of NE node generally has the following three working modes:

Normal working mode

Normal working mode refers to the working status under actual service condition. At this time, the clock
is synchronized to the master reference clock received. The master reference clock aforesaid refers to
the clock of the master station in the network that the line receives. However, it can be fetched from the
slave clock of its upstream station that is in holding working mode.

Holding working mode

After timing reference is lost, the NE enters the so-called holding mode. At this time, the slave clock will
rely on the frequency information stored before the timing reference signal is lost as its timing
reference. Limited by the length of memory time, the holding working mode can last 24 hours, and will
then enter free oscillation working mode.
Free oscillation working mode
When the slave clock of the NE losses the external timing reference received by the line and the stored
timing reference too became invalid, the NE can use the inherent frequency of its internal crystal
oscillator.
In the SDH network, other factors will also affect the quality of timing information. They include three
main factors: network clock synchronization status, pointer processing and payload mapping.

Signal flow of clock unit

From the principle diagram in Figure 6.7, The signal flow of the clock unit can be observed.
Each of the 12 interface units of the OptiX 2500+(Metro3000) sub-rack sends one way of timing signal
to the clock unit. Besides, two ways of external E1 clock signals conforming to Recommendation G.703
are sent to the clock unit as timing signals. The clock unit will trace one of them according to their
priority grade.
The clock unit sends off two ways of E1 clock signals conforming to Recommendation G.703 to other
devices. Meanwhile, it provides the system clock and frame signals to every interface unit, clock
signals used by overhead and order-wire to the SCC, as well as system clock and frame signals to the
cross-connect unit.

Functions of Clock Unit

1) Function to distribute system timing signal
22
This function provides various clock and frame signals for OptiX 2500+(Metro3000) system.
2) Function to generate system timing signal
This function can phase lock and trace 2 ways of external timing signals and 12 ways of timing signals
of the interface units, provide 2 ways of timing signals, and generate system clock signals. It has three
working modes, which are phase-locking and tracing, memory holding and free oscillation. The phase
locking function is achieved through the advanced DSP technology.
3) Function to process synchronization information status byte
This function can determine the quality grade of synchronization according to the content of S1 byte
and transmit synchronization status information.

Applications of clock unit

1) Configuration of clock unit
For common applications, i.e. there is no external clock input and output, and it is not required to use
S1 byte to implement clock protection switching, the configuration of the clock unit is simple. Only the
clock reference source and the clock tracing grade need to be configured. When the clock reference
source is external BITS clock and the clock protection switching is required, the configuration is
relatively complicated. In this case, the clock source and the clock tracing grade need to be configured,
and additionally, it is required to configure the type of external BITS, set S1 byte, and select threshold
for clock protection switching. The following will describe these configuration items of the clock unit in
the network management operation system.
Class of clock source (sync-class)
Sync-class refers to the classes of all available clock reference sources of the clock unit. In OptiX
2500+(Metro3000) optical synchronous transmission system, there are totally 99 clock reference
sources available. In normal working condition, the clock unit uses the clock source of the highest class
as its reference clock source at first. If the clock source of the highest class is lost, the clock source of
the second highest class will be used, and it goes on in this order till the clock source of the lowest
class. The internal clock source is generally selected as the clock of the lowest class. Thus, when all
traceable clock sources are lost, the clock unit will work in free oscillation mode.
Synchronization source (sync)
It refers to the configuration of the current synchronization clock source of the clock unit. This
synchronization source must be a clock source listed in the clock source class. Generally the clock
source of the highest class is selected as the synchronization source.
In common applications, if the clock unit can work normally, it requires only the above two items (i.e.
clock source class and synchronization source) when they are configured.
Externally input clock source mode
When an external clock source is selected as synchronization source, it is required to configure the
mode of external clock source (out sync mode) as 2Mbit/s or 2MHz.
Output external clock
When the external clock is output, it is also required to configure the mode of external clock source as
2Mbit/s or 2MHz. At the same time, the match mode of the clock source needs to be configured at
either 75Ω or 120Ω.
S1 synchronization status byte
When the mode of the external clock source is 2Mbit/s and the clock automatic protection switching is
required, it needs to configure the timeslot occupied by S1 byte (i.e. the synchronization status
message (SSM) byte) in the external clock signal, so that the clock unit can receive the message
correctly. In SDH optical synchronous transmission system, S1 byte is used to transmit the information
on quality and use of the clock source. By using this byte, the clock unit can implement automatic
protection switching of the clock source.
The higher 4 bit (b5 ~ b8) of S1 byte is used to store synchronization status.

Relationship between Clock Unit and Other Units

1. Relationship with SCC board
SCC board issues configuration command to the clock unit of the XCS board via the mailbox. The
clock unit of the XCS board reports alarms and performance events to the SCC board, and sends one
way of E1 clock signal to the SCC board.

23
2. Relationship with the IU interface board
It receives the timing clock source sent from the IU interface board and sends the system clock and
various frame signals, multi-frame signals and other clock signals to the IU interface board.

3. Relationship with the backup XCS board

It sends clock, frame signal and status signal to backup XCS board.
The clock unit of the XCS board also receives and transmits two ways of 2MHz or 2Mbit/s external
synchronization timing clock, and implements bidirectional inter-board communication with the IU
interface board.

6.5 System Control & Communication Unit (SCC)

Principle Diagram and Signal Flow Chart of SCC
Principle diagram of SCC is shown in Figure 6.5-a.
To each board

CPU DCC processing

Mailbox interface NM interface
F&f interface
OAM interface
Overhead input Alarm interface

To each board

Figure 6.5-a Principle diagram of SCC

Functions, Features and Applications of SCC

According to the requirements of the ITU-T Recommendation G.783, the logic functional composition
of SCC is as shown in Figure 6.5-b.
Sn
111

SEMF

F interface P D4-D12
MCF N D1-D3

111 Q interface
Figure 6.5-b Functional composition of SCC

1. Synchronous equipment management function (SEMF)

SEMF functions, with the support of the SDH network management system, to manage the circuit
boards of the NE, so as to monitor, maintain and manage the equipment. SEMF exchanges
management information with other functional modules through reference points. It will then convert,
process and store the performance data and hardware alarm events collected from other functional
modules of the SDH. At the same time, it will transfer the control and management information to other
functional modules.

2. Message communication function (MCF)

The principal task of MCF is to transfer various messages used in the network management between
network management system and the NEs as well as among the NEs. It mainly includes the DCC byte
of the D1 ~ D12 data communication paths in SDH overhead bytes. The content of the DCC byte

24
exported from the MCF module is placed in D1 ~ D12 bytes in the SDH section overhead to implement
the communication function of maintenance and management message in the regeneration section
overhead (RSOH) of SDH.
MCF also provides F& f interface and OAM interface between SDH and the network management
system to full-fill communication between them.

3. Software function
The principal function of BIOS software is to boot system, load and upgrade host software, and
implement hardware self-check and DCC communication of the MCU of the SCC board.
The principal function of the host software is to real-time monitor, maintain and manage the SDH NEs
and the whole SDH network through the cooperation of the SDH network management system and the
MCU hardware of the SCC board. It consists of communication module (CM) and administration
module (AM). CM implements message communication and supports the transmission of running,
management and maintenance information between the SDH network management system and the
NEs as well as among the NEs. AM implements the management function of SDH and supports to
provide configuration management, alarm management, performance management, safety
management and topology management in the SDH network management system.

Relationship between SCC and Other Boards

1. Relationship with IU interface board
The interface boards report the parameters, status, performance and alarms of the circuit boards to the
SCC via the mailbox bus. The SCC, again via the mailbox bus, issues such control information as data
configuration and parameter definition to the interface boards.

2. Relationship with XCS board

XCS board reports parameters, status and alarms etc. of the circuit boards to the SCC via the mailbox
bus. The SCC issues, again via the mailbox bus, control information such as data configuration and
parameter definition to XCS board.
SCC receives E1 timing signal generated by the clock unit of the XCS board.

Overhead Processing Unit

Principle Diagram and Signal Flow Chard of Overhead Processing Unit
Before describing the operation principle of the overhead processing unit, let's look at its functional
modules first. Overhead processing unit is abbreviated as OHP (Overhead Processor). It is mainly
used to fetch, add and process overhead byte E1 and E2 and other data bytes. According to the ITU-T
Recommendation G.783, OHP can implement the functions as shown in Figure 6.5-c
Signal collection point

----------------
OHA interface
OHA overhead access

Figure 6.5-c Functional modules of OHP

From the above figure it can be observed that the core module of OHP is an overhead access unit.
Through the overhead access module and its interface, orderwire and some data terminal equipment
(DTE) (i.e. equipment with 64kbit/s unidirectional data interface as specified in the ITU-T
Recommendation G.703, and RS-232 or RS-422 interface) can easily access to the overhead of the
SDH optical transmission system.

25
With a basic understanding of the functions of OHP, let's go to the principle diagram of OHP shown in
Figure 6.5-d.

11
Asynchr. RS-232
Interface adaptation interface device
CPU

OHP
Optical board 11
11 Clock processing Clock unit

Encoder/decoder User circuit Phone (1,2,3)

64kbit/s unidirectional 64kbit/s unidirectional

data encoding/decoding data interface device

11
Figure 6.5-d Principle diagram of OHP

As shown in the principle diagram, the overhead processing part can be divided into four units:
monitoring unit, overhead processing unit, telephone user circuit unit and data interface unit.
The function of the monitoring unit is mainly implemented by the CPU. The CPU can be regarded as
the control center of the whole unit. It communicates with the main processing module to exchange
information, including receiving configuration data issued by the main processing module and reporting
running status of the monitoring unit to the main processing module. Moreover, the CPU also monitors
various states (e.g. the picking-up and hanging-up of phone sets) of local offices and gives
corresponding operation (e.g. controlling the generation of dial tone, busy tone and ringing-back tone
and transmission of ring signal).
Overhead processing unit extracts and inserts E1, E2 and F1 overhead bytes from lines and tributaries
and other data bytes, and its most important function is to provide order-wire path and data interface
path.
Telephone user circuit board communicates with the overhead processing unit via user circuit to
implement user interface function. It supports the normal operation of ordinary tone dual-line phone
sets.
Data interface unit provides physical interfaces for peripheral data terminal equipment. It can provide
one 64kbit/s unidirectional data interface conforming to the ITU-T Recommendation G.703 and four
fully transparent RS-232/RS-422 asynchronous serial interfaces whose speed is up to 19.2kbit/s. It can
connect with data terminal equipment (DTE) with interfaces of the same nature.

Functions, Features and Applications of Overhead Processing Unit

The functions of OHP generally include telephone call and data transmission.

i. Telephone call function

Telephone call function refers to the telephone call process based on signal processing and voice
connection which are achieved by making use of the E1, E2 bytes in the OHP. Besides, it also includes
the following extended functions.
1) Telephone conference function. Dial the conference telephone number to set the order-wires of the
whole network into conference status. All telephones are ready for conversion.
2) Sub-network telephone conference function
By setting the sub-network number, the whole network can be divided into several smaller sub-
networks. When the sub-network conference telephone number is dialed, inter-communication in a
small scope is achieved.
3) Sub-network outgoing connection function
This function provides a means to achieve communication of order-wire telephones without optical fiber
connection between networks.

26
4) Hotline telephone function
If an order-wire telephone is configured with this function, it will automatically dial the pre-set telephone
number once it is picked up.
5) Dedicated telephone function
If an order-wire telephone is configured with this function, the connection between it and its destination
telephone will be established permanently, unless the dedicated telephone function is canceled by a
configuration command.

ii. Data interface function

OHP provides two types of data interfaces: unidirectional 64kbit/s transparent data interface and
transparent broadcast data interface.
1) Unidirectional 64kbit/s transparent data interface is also called F1 interface. It is a 64kbit/s
unidirectional transparent transmission path using F1 byte to transmit data.
2) Four transparent broadcast data interfaces provide such functions as data broadcast in forward
direction and unidirectional data back-transfer in backward direction.

Relationship between Overhead Processing Unit and Other Units

Overhead processing unit communicates with the circuit board of the interface board to extract, insert
and process overhead bytes E1 and E2 from lines and tributaries and other data bytes.
Through interface circuits, overhead processing unit provides extensive data interface functions to
access flexibly and easily to different types of data terminal equipment.

Description of Indicators of SCC/SCE Board

Description of Indicators of Circuit Board
Run (green) -- indicator for running status.
The running indicator flashing 5 times every second indicates the MCU is loading main control
software.
The running indicator flashing once every second indicates the host software is lost and the MCU is
waiting to load the main control software.
The running indicator flashing once every 2 seconds indicates the MCU is in normal running status.

ALARM (red) -- alarm indicator

The constant off status of the alarm indicator indicates no alarm occurs in the NEs managed by the
SCC board.
The alarm indicator flashing once every other second indicates a particular minor alarm occurs in an
NE managed by the SCC board.
The alarm indicator flashing twice every second indicates a particular major alarm occurs in a NE
managed by SCC board.
The alarm indicator flashing three times every other second indicates a particular emergent alarm
occurs in an NE managed by the SCC board.
The alarm indicator flashing quickly indicates another station is calling this station. If the phone set and
the ringing current board are normal, ring should sound.

ETN (yellow) -- indicator for communication status

The constant off status of the communication status indicator indicates the communication between the
NE managed by the SCC board and the network management operation system terminal is interrupted
or abnormal.
The communication status indicator flashing indicates data is being transmitted between the NE
managed by the SCC board and the network management operation terminal.
The constant on status of the communication status indicator indicates the connection of the MCU of
the SCC board, the NE it manages and the network management operation terminal is normal.

27
7- Network Element Types of DWDM

In terms of usage, DWDM equipment is generally classified into four types: optical terminal equipment,
optical line amplifier equipment, optical add/drop multiplexing equipment and electrical regeneration
equipment. Now we take the 16-wavelength equipment of DWDM system as an example to explain the
functions of these network element types in the network.

7.1 Optical Terminal unit (OTM)

At the transmitter end, OTM multiplexes the STM-16 signals of 16 wavelengths λ1~λ16 into a DWDM
main optical channel via the multiplexer, amplifies the optical power of the main channel, and then
adds an optical supervisory channel λs.
At the receiver end, firstly OTM extracts the optical supervisory channel λs. Then the DWDM main
optical channel is amplified and de-multiplexed into STM-16 signals of the 16 different wavelengths.
The signal flow of OTM is shown in Figure 7-1.

RI A W R
D W
S P C
RO 16
A M
M D
32 S
RM
C S D

TM
C H
1
A
TO TI A
A M T
W W
B 16
C
M A
M
M 32

Figure 7-1 OTM signal flow

7.2 Optical Line Amplifier Unit (OLA)

OptiX BWS 320G optical regeneration equipment is configured with an optical line amplifier in each
transmission direction. OLA of each direction firstly extracts the optical supervisory channel (OSC) and
processes it, then amplifies the main optical channel signals, multiplexes them with the optical
supervisory channel and sends them onto the fiber. The signal flow of OLA is shown in Figure 7-2.

28
 A TI TO
RI ROA W W
S P B S
A M A
M

RM1 TM2
C S C

TM1 C
RM2
2

TO A A RO RI
A TI W A
W P
B M A
M A

West East

Figure 7-2 OLA signal flow

The whole equipment is installed in a subrack. In the figure, each direction employs a pair of
WPA+WBA to conduct optical line amplification. It can also use single WLA or WBA to conduct
unidirectional optical line amplification.

7.3 Optical Add/Drop Multiplexing Unit (OADM)

The optical add/drop multiplexing unit (OADM) of DWDM system operates in two modes, i.e. a board
uses static OADM to add/drop wavelengths or two OTMs adopts back-to-back mode to form an OADM
equipment which can add/drop wavelengths.

1. Static add/drop multiplexing equipment of DWDM system

In HUAWEI OptiX BWS 320G DWDM system, optical add/drop multiplexer equipment can use a board
to implement static add/drop of wavelengths. Each OADM equipment is capable of adding/dropping 1
to 8 wavelengths in order to meet the practical demands of various projects.
After receiving the line optical signal, the OADM equipment firstly extracts the optical supervisory
channel and then uses a WPA to pre-amplify the main channel. Via the ADD/DROP unit, a given
number of signals are dropped from the optical signal with 16/32 STM-16 according to wavelengths.
The other wavelengths are directly inserted into the main channel via the ADD/DROP unit. After power
amplification, the main channel is combined with the local optical supervisory channel and sent to the
remote end. The main channel between ADD/DROP units is configured with a variable attenuator to
adjust optical power equalization between pass-through channels and ADD channels. Channels
dropped at the local station are required connect to the SDH equipment via RWC, and those added at
the local station are required to connect to the SDH equipment via TWC.
For example of an OADM (add/drop four wavelengths), its signal flow is shown in Figure 7-3-a.

29
 RM1 TM2
SC2
RM2
TM1 SCC OHP TO
RI

O O O O
T T T T
U U U U
WPA 1 2 1 2
S WBA S
C C
A A
TO RO MR2 TI RI
MR2
TI RO

WBA WPA
1 2 1  2
O O O O
T T T T
U U U U

Figure 7-3-a Static OADM signal flow

2. OADM equipment consists of two back-to-back OTMs

Two back-to-back OTMs are used to form an OADM equipment which can add/drop wavelengths. This
mode is more flexible when compared to the static OADM which uses a board to conduct wavelength
conversion. It can add/drop any of wavelengths from 1 to 16/32, more feasible for networking. If a
signal channel isn't added/dropped at this station, it can directly access the TWC of the same
wavelength via the D16/D32 output port and then enter the M16/M32 board in the other direction.
The signal flow of the OADM consisting of two back-to-back OTMs is shown in Figure 7-3-b.
A
M TI TO
RI ROA W R T
W
D W W 16
S P 16 ¡ £ C A B S
C
A M M M A
D 32 M
M
32 S S TM
RM TM
C S D D C
C RM
TM RM H H
2
/1 A
A A RI
TO
A TI
T R W A
M W D
W
B 16 ¡£ W C ¡£ P RO
C 16 M A
M A M D
M 32
west east 32
M

Figure 7-3-b The signal flow of the OADM consisting of two back-to-back OTMs

7.4 Electrical Regeneration Unit (REG)

For projects adopting regenerator section cascading, electric regenerator (REG) is required. The
electric regeneration equipment has no services to add/drop and is merely used to extend transmission
distance. The signal flow of the electrical regeneration equipment is shown in Figure 7-4.

30
 A
TI TO
RI ROA W T M W
D W
S P
16 ¡ £ C 16 ¡ £ B S
A M A A
D M
M M
32
32 M
RM TM TM
C S C
RM RM
C
TM
2
/1
A A A RI
TO TI
A M T W A
W D
B 16 ¡£ W ¡ £ 16 M
P RO
C A
M A M D
M 32 32
west east M

Figure 7-4 The signal flow of the electrical regeneration equipment REG

8- General Constitution of DWDM Network

Basic network modes of DWDM system are point-to-point, chain and ring. Other complex network
forms can be combined by using these three modes. When application together with STM-16
equipment, they can form very complex optical transmission network.

8.1 Point-to-point Networking

SDH OTM OLA OTM SDH

Figure 8.1 Schematic diagram of WDM point-to-point networking

120km
16¸ ö
OTE16/16
STM-16
8.2 Chain Networking

SDH OTM OADM SDH

SDH OTM

Figure 8.2 Schematic diagram of WDM chain type networking

8.3 Ring Networking

In local area network especially metropolitan network applications, DWDM optical add/drop
multiplexers can be used to form ring networks according to user demands. Generally in ring networks,
path protection ring and multiplex section protection are provided by SDH equipment itself, so it is not
necessary for the DWDM equipment to provide other protection methods. But wavelength protection
can be provided according to user requirements. The ring networking is shown in Figure 8.3.

31
 1~8

OADM

1~8 OADM
1~8
OADM

OADM

1~8

Figure 8.3 Schematic diagram of DWDM ring network

9- Optical Wavelength Conversion Unit

SDH equipment of Huawei is equipped with various optical boards of designated specifications to meet
ITU-T G.692 requirements, and SDH signals can directly access the optical multiplex unit of DWDM
system, thus forming an integrated DWDM system. For SDH equipment of other companies, if the
performance of its line optical interface does not meet ITU-T G.692 requirements, an optical
wavelength conversion unit is required to convert the optical signals that do not meet the requirement
into optical signals that meet the requirement, then optical signal multiplexing is performed, thus
forming an open DWDM system.
At present, OptiX BWS 320G system can provide multiple optical wavelength conversion boards: TWC
board is used to convert the optical wavelength of STM-16 signals at the transmitting end, while RWC
board is used to convert the optical wavelength of STM-16 signals at the receiving end; LWC combines
the function of RWC and TWC together, In the following, we'll introduce the TWC, RWC, LWC boards.

9.1- STM-16 Transmitting Optical Wavelength Conversion Unit (TWC)

a) Principle
The role of TWC board in OptiX BWS 320G system is to convert the optical wavelengths at the
transmitting end and make the OptiX BWS 320G system become an open DWDM system. Its major
function is to convert the STM-16 optical signals in the wavelength range of 1280~1565nm and in
compliance with ITU-T G.957 recommendation into STM-16 optical signals with standard wavelengths
recommended in ITU-T G.692, so that the signals can be multiplexed into one optical fiber.
TWC adopts O/E/O mode, and the block diagram of its function is shown in Figure 9.1.

ITU-T G.957 ITU-T G.692

STM-16 STM-16

Jitter Optical output

Optical input
O/E suppression E/O

B1 check

32
 Figure 9.1 Principle block diagram of TWC board

In the diagram, O/E conversion part converts STM-16 optical signals into electrical signals through the
photoelectric detector, recovers the signals and extracts the clock after amplitude-limited amplification
and then sends out SDH digital signals and clock signals. The jitter suppression part, after processing
the SDH signals, filters out the jitters generated during signal regeneration by making use of the phase-
locked clock, then multiplexes into SDH digital signals, thus enabling the system to possess very good
jitter suppression ability. B1 detection circuit performs B1 error code counting of TWC board input
signals, thus monitoring the performance of the accessed SDH equipment. The function of E/O part is
to convert the electrical signals into optical signals with specific wavelengths. It is composed of driver,
modulator and laser. The driver accomplishes amplification and shaping of the digital electrical signals,
the laser transmits the laser carrier of specific wavelengths, while the modulator modulates the digital
electrical signals to the optical carrier.

b) Functions
 The optical transmitting module used on TWC board is a high performance module with the
wavelengths in compliance with ITU-T G.692 recommendations and with excellent
dispersion tolerance.
 Line code pattern: in compliance with ITU-T G.707 recommendation, being scrambling NRZ
code.
 TWC board has the regeneration function, with performance indexes such as input jitter
tolerance and jitter transfer characteristics up to the standards specified by ITU-T.
 TWC board provides the monitoring on regeneration section B1 byte, ( B1 error code report,
B1 over threshold, B1 deterioration), and through the monitoring on B1 byte, faults on the
line can be located.
 The output optical wavelengths completely comply with the standards ITU-T G.692
recommendation, the nominal central frequency is 192.1~195.2THz and central frequency
offset is ≤10GHz (during the service life).
 The minimum extinction ratio of transmitting optical signals is ≥10dB; eye pattern complies
with ITU-T G.957 recommendation; the max. –20dB bandwidth is 0.2 nm; and the min.
Side-mode suppression ratio is 35dB.
 The minimum. Receiving sensitivity of the optical receiver: -25 dBm ( APD receiving
module) or –18 dBm ( PIN receiving module) ( under the condition of bit error rate
BER=1.0E-12)
 Overload optical power of the optical receiver: -9dBm (APD receiving module) or 0dBm
(PIN receiving module)
 The following monitoring functions are available: laser bias current monitoring, laser cooling
current monitoring, transmitting optical power monitoring and receiving optical power
monitoring, etc. Especially the monitoring of the receiving optical power makes the fault
locating more convenient.
 Automatic laser shutdown function (ALS) is also available. When no light is received, the
optical transmitting module will be automatically shut down.

c). Application
 TWC optical input port receives STM-16 signals in compliance with ITU-T G.957
recommendation and the optical transmitting port sends STM-16 signals in compliance with
ITU-T G.692 recommendation to optical multiplexing board for multiplexing.
 TWC can be inserted in 1~13 board position of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
 The optical connector on TWC board handle bar is of SC type.

9.2- STM-16 Receiving Optical Wavelength Conversion Unit (RWC)

a) Principle
The optical signals will suffer transmission damages to a certain extent after long distance
transmission. The main transmission damages are waveform distortion and signal/noise ratio
deterioration. The nonlinear effects of optical fibers, reflection of respective optical connectors,

33
chromatic dispersion, polarization- mode dispersion, ASE noise of optical amplifier, etc. all can lead to
transmission damages. In order to provide a fully transparent optical channel to SDH equipment and
ensure the performance of the optical signals received by SDH receiver, the receiving end interface of
OptiX BWS 320G system (namely RWC board) is provided with a highly sensitive optical receiving
module, it can reliably receive the optical signals suffered from transmission damages and send them
to SDH equipment after reshaping and regeneration. The function of RWC board in OptiX BWS 320G
system is to ensure that any SDH equipment can reliably receive the signals after long distance
transmission in DWDM mode.
RWC board adopts O/E/O mode. Its output signals comply with ITU-T G.957 recommendation. Its
function block diagram is shown in Figure 9.2.

ITU-T G.692 ITU-T G.957

STM-16 STM-16
Optical output
Optical input Jitter
O/E Suppression E/O

B1 check

Figure 9.2 Principle block diagram of RWC board

In the diagram, O/E conversion part converts the optical signals from the optical demultiplexing board
into electrical signals through the photoelectric detector, recovers the signal codes and extracts the
clock after amplitude-limited amplification. The jitter suppression part, after processing the recovered
digital signals, filters out the jitters generated during regeneration process by the phase-locked clock,
then multiplexes into serial digital signals, thus enabling the system to possess very good jitter
suppression ability. B1 detection circuit performs B1 error code counting of RWC board input signals,
thus monitoring the error code performance of OptiX BWS 320G system. The function of E/O part is to
convert the digital signals into optical signals. It is composed of driver, modulator and laser. The driver
accomplishes amplification and shaping of the digital signals, the laser transmits the laser carrier, while
the modulator modulates the digital signals to the optical carrier.
The principle of RWC board is basically the same as that of TWC board, only with the difference that
the optical transmitting module used by the two boards is different: the optical transmitting module
used by TWC complies with ITU-T G.692 recommendation while the optical transmitting module used
by RWC board complies with ITU-T G. 957 recommendation.

b) Functions
 Line code pattern: in compliance with ITU-T G.707 recommendation, being
scrambling NRZ code.
 Min. extinction ratio: >8.2dB.
 Eye pattern：in compliance with ITU-T G.957 recommendation
 The min. receiving sensitivity of the optical receiver : -25 dBm ( APD receiving
module) or -18 dBm ( PIN receiving module) ( under the condition of bit error rate
BER=1.0E-12)
 Overload optical power of the optical receiver: -9dBm (APD receiving module) or
0dBm (PIN receiving module)
 RWC board provides the monitoring on regeneration section B1 byte, ( B1 error
code report, B1 cross threshold, B1 deterioration), facilitating the locating of faults
on the line.
 RWC board can provide the following monitoring functions: laser bias current
monitoring, laser cooling current monitoring, laser transmitting optical power
monitoring, and incident optical power monitoring.
34
  RWC board provides the automatic laser shutdown (ALS) function.

c) Application
 RWC optical input port receives STM -16 signals from the optical demultiplexing board in
compliance with ITU-T G.692 recommendation and its optical output port transmits STM-16
signals in compliance with ITU-T G.957 recommendation to the SDH equipment.
 RWC can be inserted in 1~13 board position of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
 The optical connector on RWC board handle bar is of SC type.

9.3- STM-16 Line Wavelength Conversion Unit (LWC)

LWC is a line wavelength conversion board with FEC function. It combines the function of RWC and
TWC together, and is added with the function of FEC (Forward Error Correction). Therefore, the
equivalent sensitivity of SDH transmission system is improved, and the section distance is lengthened
efficiently.

a) Principle
LWC adopts O/E/O method, and the characteristic of its output optical interface satisfies ITU-T
Recommendation G.692/G.957. Its functional diagram is illustrated in Figure 9.3.

ITU-T G.957 ITU-T G.692

Optical input Optical output

FEC
O/E Decode & E/O
code
Optical input
Optical output
B1,J0 check

Figure 9.3 LWC Functional diagram

LWC includes transmitting OTU and receiving OTU. The transmitting OTU part firstly receives 2.5Gbit/s
SDH signal by Transceiver module, and then makes FEC coding. And then the signal is output by the
specified wavelength optical transmitting module, with the signal rate as 2.67Gbit/s. The receiving OTU
part decodes the FEC code with rate of 2.67Gbit/s, and recovers the original 2.5Gbit/s SDH signal. And
then it transmits them with Transceiver module so as to realize SDH signal transparent transmission.
And besides, the corresponding performance index can be monitored during the process, such as B1,
J0 bit error.

b) Functions
 Line coding type on DWDM side: Scrambled NRZ code in accordance with ITU-T
Recommendation G.707;
 DWDM port optical spectrum characteristics: Maximum -20dB bandwidth is 0.2nm and
minimum SMSR is 35dB;
 DWDM port nominal central frequency : 192.1 ～ 193.5THz, with the maximum central
frequency deviation not more than 20GHz (within the life span)
 DWDM port minimum extinction ratio: >10dB;
 DWDM port eye pattern: as defined in Recommendation G.957.
 Optical path penalty: < 2dB;
 DWDM port minimum receiver sensitivity: -25 dBm (APD receiver module) or -18 dBm (PIN
receiver module) ( on condition bit error rate BER=1.0E-12);
 DWDM port receiver overload optical power: -9dBm (APD receiver module) or 0 dBm (PIN
receiver module);
 Minimum receiving sensitivity of SDH side optical receiver: -21dBm.
 Overload optical power of SDH side optical receiver: 0dBm;

35
  It has regenerating function with performance indexes completely in compliance with ITU-T,
such as input jitter tolerance, and jitter transfer characteristics, etc.;
 It provides regenerator section B1,J0 check and enables line fault location;
 LWC board provides the following monitoring functions: laser bias current monitoring, laser
cooling current monitoring, laser transmitting optical power monitoring, and receiving optical
power monitoring;

c). Applications
 LWC combines the function of RWC and TWC together, and is added with the function of
FEC(Forward Error Correction).
 LWC can be inserted in 1~13 board position of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
 The optical connector on LWC board handle bar is of SC type.

9.4- 16-Channel Multiplexing Unit (M16)

a) Principle
M16 board refers to the 16-channel multiplexing Unit. According to the module functions, it mainly
consists of the optical module and electrical module. The optical module consists of one 16-channel
optical multiplexer and two 10: 90 couplers; it accomplishes the multiplexing of the 16 wavelength
channels and provides on-line optical monitoring interfaces. The optical multiplexer used on M16 board
is of multi-layer dielectric film filter type or coupler type. These two are optical passive devices and
there is no need for temperature control. The electrical module is mainly composed of optical power
detecting circuit and mailbox communication circuit. So the electrical module performs the functions of
optical power monitoring, alarm and communicating with the main control board. The principle block
diagram of M16 board is shown in Figure 9.4.

1x16 to OUT optical port

10: 90
coupler 10: 90 to MON optical port
multiplexer

16-channel input coupler PIN

optical port

communication & A/Dconversion amplifying circuit

control circuit

Figure 9.4 Principle block diagram of M16 board

In Table 1, serial No. 01 to 16 shows the wavelengths and frequencies corresponding to the 16
channels of M16 board.

Table 1 Correlation of serial number, frequency and wavelength

S/No Frequency Wavelength S/No Frequency Wavelength
(THz) (nm) (THz) (nm)
01 192.1 1560.61 17 193.7 1547.72
02 192.2 1559.79 18 193.8 1546.92
03 192..3 1558.98 19 193.9 1546.12
04 192.4 1558.17 20 194.0 1545.32
05 192.5 1557.36 21 194.1 1544.53
06 192.6 1556.55 22 194.2 1543.73

36
 07 192.7 1555.75 23 194.3 1542.94
08 192.8 1554.94 24 194.4 1542.14
09 192.9 1554.13 25 194.5 1541.35
10 193.0 1553.33 26 194.6 1540.56
11 193.1 1552.52 27 194.7 1539.77
12 193.2 1551.72 28 194.8 1538.98
13 193.3 1550.92 29 194.9 1538.19
14 193.4 1550.12 30 195.0 1537.40
15 193.5 1549.32 31 195.1 1536.61
16 193.6 1548.51 32 195.2 1535.82
b) Functions
 Multiplex the 16 wavelength channels into the main channel.
 Provide on-line monitoring interface: a spectrum analyzer or multi-channel
processing board MS2 of OptiX BWS 320G system can be accessed through this
optical interface and monitor the spectrum of the main channel without interrupting
the services.
 Detect the output optical power, communicate with the main control board and NM
system through the mailbox, report board alarms and performance events, receive
the setting commands sent from NM and display the alarms by indicators.
 Perform remote on-line loading of board software.

c) Application
 At the transmitting end of the open-type equipment, M16 multiplexes the 16 optical
signals from optical wavelength conversion boards at transmitting end into one
optical fiber for transmission; while at the transmitting end of the integrated
equipment, M16 multiplexes the optical signals from 16 SDH equipment into one
optical fiber for transmission. The output signals are usually sent to WBA input
optical interface for optical power amplification of the main channel.
 M16 can be inserted in 2~13 board positions of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
 The optical connector on M16 board handle bar is of SC type
 The spectrum of the main channel can be monitored through the "MON" optical
interface on M16 handle bar; the output optical power of "MON" optical interface is
1/10 of the output optical power of "OUT" optical interface.

9.5- 16-Channel Demultiplexing Unit (D16)

a) Principle
The 16-channel demultiplexing unit is called D16 board. According to the module functions, it mainly
consists of the optical module and electrical module. The optical module consists of one 16-channel
optical demultiplexer and two 10: 90 couplers. It accomplishes the demultiplexing of the 16 wavelength
channels and provides on-line optical monitoring interfaces. The optical demultiplexer is of multi-layer
dielectric film filter type. The electrical module mainly consists of two parts: optical power detecting
circuit and mailbox communication circuit. So the electrical module has the following functions: detect
the optical power, alarm and communicate with the main control board. The principle block diagram of
D16 board is shown in Figure 9.5.

37
 to MON optical port
10:90 10:90
input optical port coupler 1x16 coupler
PIN
demulti-
plexer
16-channel output
optical port

communication &
A/D converison amplifying circuit
control circuit

Figure 9.5 Principle block diagram of D16 board

In Table 1, serial No. 01 ~ 16 shows the wavelengths and frequencies corresponding to the 16
channels of D16 board.

b) Functions
 Demultiplex the 16 wavelength channels of the main channel.
 Provide on-line monitoring interface: a spectrum analyzer or multi-channel
processing board MS2 of OptiX BWS 320G system can be accessed through this
optical interface and monitor the spectrum of the main channel without interrupting
the services.
 Detect the optical power, communicate with the main control board and NM system
through the mailbox, report board alarms and performance events, receive the
setting commands sent from NM and display the alarms by indicators.
 Perform remote on-line loading of board software.

c) Application
 The input optical signals of D16 board usually come from "OUT" of WPA board or
from "RO" optical interface of SCA board. At the receiving end of the open
equipment, D16 outputs 16 wavelength channels to optical wavelength conversion
boards at receiving ends; while at the receiving end of the integrated equipment,
D16 outputs 16 wavelength channels to 16 SDH equipments.
 D16 can be inserted in 2~13 board positions of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
 The optical connector on D16 board handle bar is of SC type.
 The spectrum of the main channel can be monitored through the "MON" optical
interface on D16 handle bar; the output optical power of "MON" optical interface is
1/10 of the input optical power of "IN" optical interface.

9.6- Optical Booster Amplifier Unit (WBA)

a) Principle
WBA is usually installed at the transmitting end of OptiX BWS 320G system and is generally called
power amplifier. It is used to amplify the transmitted optical power and compensate the insertion loss of
optical passive devices. The main requirement of DWDM system on the optical booster amplifier is
large output optical power. According to the module functions, WBA board of OptiX BWS 320G system
performs the functions of input optical power detection, output optical power detection, and automatic
gain control, as shown in Figure 9.6.

38
 Optical signal .
Main path optical signal output
input EDFA
Optical signal output for spectrum
monitering

To SCC board
Drive and monitoring Control
Mailbox
circuit module circuit

Figure 9.6 Function block diagram of WBA board

b) Functions
 Power gain of WBA for respective wavelength optical signals: gain of the power
amplifier currently adopted in OptiX BWS 320G system is shown in Table 2.
 Input optical power range: the input optical power range of the optical amplifier unit
WBA is shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Parameters of WBA/WLA/WPA
Board name Min. input optical power Max. input optical Gain
(dBm) power (dBm) (dB)
16-channel system -20 -6 23
WBA01
16-channel system -17 -3 23
WBA03
16-channel system -28 -13 30
WLA01
16-channel system -30 -16 33
WLA01
16-channel system -28 -13 23
WPA01

Optical signals of the 32 channels can be amplified simultaneously (channel spacing being 0.8 nm)
with the working wavelength range of 1535~1561nm.
Flat gain in the working wavelength range, flatness <2dB.
Gain lock function is available. When one or several channels are added or removed, the normal
operation of other channels will not be affected; at the same time transient control function is also
available, so in OptiX BWS 320G system when channels are added or removed, burst of error codes
on the existing channels can be basically avoided.
According to the specific networking condition, the optical transmission segment can reach 120 km
long for 32-channel OptiX BWS 320G system and 145 km long for 16-channel OptiX BWS 320G
system.
Ability to obtain control information from SCC board and report this board status to SCC board, also
with alarm display function by indicators.

c) Application
 Input optical signals "IN" of WBA come from "OUT" optical port of M16 board and
are usually attenuated by an adjustable optical attenuator during transmission. The
output port "OUT" of WBA is connected to "TI" port of SCA board.
 WBA can be inserted in 2~13 board positions of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
 The optical connector on WBA board handle bar is of SC type.
 The spectrum of the main channel can be monitored through the "MON" optical
interface on WBA handle bar, the signals of "MON" port come from the same optical
source as that of "OUT" port, but the optical power of "MON" port is only 1/99 of the
optical power of "OUT" port under normal conditions.

39
9.7- Optical Pre-Amplifier Unit (WPA)
a) Principle
WPA board is usually installed at the receiving end of OptiX BWS 320G system and is generally called
preamplifier. It is used to amplify the receiving sensitivity of the optical receiver and compensate the
insertion loss of optical passive devices. The main requirement of DWDM system on the optical
preamplifier is low noise index. According to the module functions, WPA board of OptiX BWS 320G
system performs the functions of input optical power detection, output optical power detection, and
automatic gain control. Its functional module division is shown in Figure 9.7.
Optical signal
Main path optical signal output
input EDFA
Optical signal output for spectrum
monitering

To SCC board
Drive and monitoring Control
Mailbox
circuit module circuit

Figure 9.7 Function block diagram of WPA/WLA board

b) Functions
 Power gain of WPA for respective wavelength optical signals: gain of the power amplifier
currently adopted in OptiX BWS 320G system is shown in Table 2.
 Input optical power range: for the input optical power range of WPA, please refer to Table 2.
 Optical signals of the 32 channels can be amplified simultaneously (channel spacing being
0.8 nm) with the working wavelength range of 1535~1561nm.
 Flat gain in the working wavelength range, flatness <2dB.
 Gain lock function is available. When one or several channels are added or removed, the
normal operation of other channels will not be affected; at the same time transient control
function is also available, so in OptiX BWS 320G system when channels are added or
removed, burst of error codes on the existing channels can be basically avoided.
 Ability to obtain control information from SCC board and report this board status to SCC
board, also with alarm display function by indicators.

c) Application
 Input optical signals "IN" of WBA come from "RO" optical port of SCA board and are usually
attenuated by an adjustable optical attenuator during transmission. The output port "OUT"
of WPA is connected to "IN" port of D32 board or other optical demultiplexing board.
 WPA can be inserted in 2~13 board positions of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
 The optical connector on WPA board handle bar is of SC type.
 The spectrum of the main channel can be monitored through the "MON" optical interface on
WBA handle bar, and the signals of "MON" port and "OUT" port come from the same optical
source, but the optical power of "MON" port is only 1/99 of the optical power of "OUT" port
under normal conditions.

9.8 Optical Line Amplifier Unit (WLA)

a) Principle
WLA board is usually installed at the optical regeneration station of OptiX BWS 320G system and is
generally called line amplifier. It is used to compensate the optical signal power attenuation caused by
the optical cables on the line and extend the transmission distance. The main requirement of DWDM
system on the optical line amplifier is high gain. According to the module functions, WLA board of OptiX
BWS 320G system performs the functions of input optical power detection, output optical power
detection, and automatic gain control. Its functional module division is shown in Figure 9.7.

b) Functions

40
  Power gain of WLA for respective wavelength optical signals: gain of the line amplifier
currently adopted in OptiX BWS 320G system is shown in Table 2.
 Input optical power range: for the input optical power range of WLA, please refer to table 2.
 Optical signals of the 32 channels can be amplified simultaneously (channel spacing being
0.8 nm) with the working wavelength range of 1535~1561nm.
 Flat gain in the working wavelength range, flatness <2dB.
 Gain lock function is available. When one or several channels are added or removed, the
normal operation of other channels will not be affected; at the same time transient control
function is also available, so in OptiX BWS 320G system when channels are added or
removed, burst of error codes on the existing channels can be basically avoided.
 Ability to obtain control information from SCC board and report this board status to SCC
board, also with alarm display functions by indicators.

c) Application
 Input optical signals "IN" of WLA come from "RO" optical port of SCA board and are usually
attenuated by a variable optical attenuator during transmission. The output port "OUT" of
WLA is connected to "TI" port of SCA.
 WLA can be inserted in 2~13 board positions of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
 The optical connector on WLA board handle bar is of SC type.
 The spectrum of the main channel can be monitored through the "MON" optical interface on
WLA handle bar, and the signals of "MON" port and "OUT" port come from the same optical
source, but the optical power of "MON" port is only 1/99 of the optical power of "OUT" port
under normal conditions.

9.9- Single Directional Optical Supervisory Channel Unit (SC1)

SC1 board is used to process one optical supervisory channels and accomplishes the receiving and
transmitting of optical signals in the optical supervisory channels at the terminating station.

a) Principle
The principle block diagram of SC1 board is shown in Figure 9.9-a.

supervisory optical
signal input optical receiving 4M CMI code flow deframing
modul circuit
e

SCC board informatio SCC, OHP board

mailbox CPU n
exchang
e

supervisory optical framing

signal output laser transmitting 4M CMI code flow
circuit
modul
e E1 frame processing
circuit

Figure 9.9-a Principle block diagram of SC1 board

We'll introduce the respective functional modules based on the principle block diagram.

41
Optical receiving module
The optical receiving module performs the photoelectric conversion, i.e., converts the optical signals to
electrical signals for the supervisory board to process, and also sends out alarm signals when no light
is received and reports to SCC board through CPU.

De-framing circuit
The de-framing circuit first performs CMI decoding of the electrical signals sent from the optical
receiving module, then searches for E1 frame of CRC4 multi-frame structure from the decoded digital
flow, extracts E1, E2, F1, D1~D12 bytes in E1 frame, and provides them to SCC board and overhead
processing board OHP for processing; at the same time, it accomplishes E1 signal processing function,
including CRC4 error code counting, remote alarm and out-of-frame alarm, etc. CPU collects such
information and reports to SCC board.
E1 frame timeslot diagram adopted by the supervisory channel is shown in Figure 9.9-b.

11 0 1 2 3 ...... 14 15 16 ...... 31
11
0
02
frame locating signal 1
F1 byte
E1 byte
3~14 D1~D12 byte 11
15 E2 byte 16~31 reserved

11
Figure 9.9-b Frame structure timeslot diagram of optical supervisory channel

Information exchange
When exchanging data with SCC or OHP board, SC1 board provides D1~D12 data channels of totally
768kbit/s. It is connected to MCF functional module of SCC board in serial mode, and provides DCC
feed-through protection function when SCC is not in position as well as E1, F1 and E2 byte feed-
through protection function when OHP board is not in position.

Framing circuit
The supervisory information after information exchange of SC1 board with SCC and OHP board has to
be converted into E1 data flow by CRC4 multi-frame framer, and then after CMI encoding sent to the
optical transmitting module for transmission.

Laser transmitting module

Laser transmitting module converts the CMI code flow output from CMI encoding module to optical
signals and outputs from the optical port; at the same time, it accepts the control of CPU so as to shut
down the laser if necessary.

CPU
CPU collects the status and alarm information of SC1 board and communicates with SCC and OHP
through mailbox, and performs such function as A/D conversion, ambient temperature detection, port
control (for example: laser shutdown, running indicator flashing, alarm indicator flashing, etc.) and
running watchdog to prevent the program from a closed loop.
CPU also provides respective nodes of the system digital flow with clock signals of appropriate phase
and frequency through system timing allocation, enabling the device of each node to satisfy the
requirements in terms of setup time and holding time for receiving digital signals. It also provides the
system with frame indicating signals, which are used to identify the frame head location of the digital
flow. CPU board control unit accomplishes the communication with the main control board as well as
the direct communication between respective boards. It performs the clock phase lock and service
dispatching functions, and generates various other control signals for this board and for the system.

b) Functions
 The functions provided by SC1 board satisfy the requirements of ITU-T recommendations
with the features as follows:

42
  No restriction on the pump wavelength of the optical amplifier will result from the optical
supervisory channel.
 No restriction on the distance between the two optical line amplifiers will result from the
optical supervisory channel.
 No restriction on the future services of 1310 nm wavelength will result from the optical
supervisory channel.
 The optical supervisory channel is still available when the line amplifier fails.
 SC1 board is independent from the main control board and order-wire board, that is to say,
even if the main control board or the order-wire board is not in position, it can still keep the
ECC channel unblocked and ensure the supervision on other stations.
 SC1 transmission is implemented by sections and with 3R function. At each optical
amplifier relay station, the information can be received correctly and new supervisory
signals can be added.

3) Application
 Optical signals of SC1 "RM" input port come from "RM" optical port of SCA board, and the
output port "TM" of SC1 is connected to "TM" port of SCA board.
 SC1 can be inserted in 10~13 board positions of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
 The optical connector on SC1 board handle bar is of SC type.
 SC1 board is usually inserted in the subrack equipped with the multiplexing board.

9.10- Dual Directional Optical Supervisory Channel Unit (SC2)

SC2 board can process the signals of two optical supervisory channels so as to meet the requirements
for bi-directional receiving and transmitting of the optical supervisory signals at the optical relay station.
The hardware principle, functions, application and alarms of SC2 board are basically the same as
those of SC1 board, except that one path of optical port is added for processing, so further explanation
is omitted here. But the following two points have to be emphasized:
Whether SC1 board itself is good or not can be judged by self loop of "RM" and "TM" optical ports with
optical fiber jumper to see whether there is any alarm, and this method is also applicable to SC2 board.
But since SC2 has the optical signals from two directions, when self loop method is used to judge SC2
board, two fiber jumpers must be used to short circuit the receiving/transmitting ports in two directions
respectively. Then judge whether there is any alarm of the board and locate the board fault.
The optical ports "RM1" and "TM1" as well as "RM2" and "TM2" on SC2 handle bar correspond to each
other one by one. Please pay enough attention to the flow direction of the optical supervisory signals.

9.11- Optical Supervisory Channel Access Unit (SCA)

At the optical transmitting end, the main channel of OptiX BWS 320G system and optical supervisory
channel are multiplexed by SCA board and enter into one optical fiber; while at the receiving end, the
main channel and optical supervisory channel transmitted in one optical fiber are de-multiplexed by
SCA board for further processing respectively.

a) Principle
The essential part of SCA board is an optical multiplexer for wavelength-division multiplex (WDM) and
an optical demultiplexer for wavelength-division de-multiplex, the principle is shown in Figure 9.11.

43
 1510nm supervisory channel
RI RM
1550nm and 1510nm
WDM coupler
RO 1550 nm service channel

TM 1510nm supervisory channel

1550nm and 1510nm TO
WDM coupler
1550nm service channel
TI
Figure 9.11 Principle block diagram of optical supervisory channel access board SCA

The optical signals sent from the opposite end enter SCA board from "R1" optical port on the handle
bar and divided into two parts by the optical demultiplexer: one part is the service main channel of
WDM, with carrier wavelength as 1550nm, and output from "RO" port of SCA board; the other part is
the optical supervisory channel at wavelength of 1510 and output from "RM" port of SCA board. These
two parts of optical signals are sent to corresponding boards for processing. At the local station, the
supervisory channel optical signals sent from optical supervisory board SC1 or SC2 and input from
"TM" interface (wavelength 1510nm) and the main channel optical signals sent from the optical
amplifier board and input from "TI" interface are multiplexed by the optical multiplexer of SCA board
and enter into one line optical fiber from "TO" port for transmission to the opposite end.

b) Functions
SCA board is mainly composed of two optical passive devices. Its function is to multiplex or demultiplex
the main channel and the optical supervisory channel. The reason why SCA board is designed
separately is that thanks to the function of SCA, the main channel and the optical supervisory channel
can be independent of each other and do not affect each other. When local fault occurs to the system,
if it is the problem of the optical supervisory channel, the optical supervisory channel processing board
SC1 or SC2 can be directly replaced without affecting the services on the main channel; similarly, if the
main channel is faulty, the optical amplifier board or optical wavelength conversion board can be
replaced without affecting the order-wire calls and NM information transmitted on the optical
supervisory channel.

c) Application
One SCA board can process the multipexing and demultiplexing of one optical supervisory signal and
main channel, so the optical terminating station needs one SCA board while the optical relay station
needs two SCA boards.
The optical port "RI" on SCA board handle bar is the input interface of external optical signals of OptiX
BWS 320G system, and it is used to receive the optical signals including the main channel and the
optical supervisory channel sent from OptiX BWS 320G system; "TO" is the output port of external
optical signals of OptiX BWS 320G system, and it is used to transmit the optical signals multiplexed
from local main channel signals and local optical supervisory channel signals to the downstream
stations; "RO" transmits the main channel optical signals to WPA or D32 or other optical demultiplexing
board, and if the signals are transmitted to WPA, they have to pass through the variable optical
attenuator; "TI" receives the main channel signals from WBA or M32 or other optical multiplexing
boards; "RM" transmits the optical supervisory signals sent from opposite end to "RM" optical port of
optical supervisory channel processing board SC1/SC2; "TM" receives the optical supervisory channel
signals from "TM" port of local SC1/SC2.
SCA can be inserted in 1~13 board positions of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
The optical connector on SCA board handle bar is of SC type.
SCA board is inserted in the subrack equipped with multiplexing board.
SCA board enables the main control board SCC to obtain the information as whether SCA board is in
position by short connecting the related I/O ports of SCC.

9.12- System Control and Communication Unit (SCC)

44
The system control and communication board of OptiX BWS 320G system is also called the SCC
board, It performs the function of equipment management and communication between the equipment
in OptiX BWS 320G system and provides interfaces for OptiX BWS 320G system and NM system.
SCC board can be regarded as the control center of the entire OptiX BWS 320G system.

a) Principle
The principle block diagram of SCC board is shown in Figure 9.12-a.

DCC
to supervisory channel board SC2/SC1
to respective control central interface
boards logic processor
and F interface
(CPU) data NM
mailbox Q interface terminal
communication
network

memory

Figure 9.12-a Principle block diagram of SCC board

Here, we'll introduce the functions of SCC board with reference to the SCC board principle diagram
and functional block diagram.

b) Functions
According to the ITU-T G.783 recommendation, the logic functional composition of the main control
unit SCC board is shown in Figure 9.12-b.

111
Sn
111
SEMF

P D4-D12
F Interface
MCF N D1-D3

111 Q Interface
111
Figure 9.12-b Functional block composition diagram of SCC board

Synchronous equipment management function (SEMF)

The main function of SEMF is to assist the NM of OptiX BWS 320G system to perform management on
respective boards and realize the monitoring, maintenance and management on the equipment in real
time. SEMF functional block exchanges management information with other functional blocks through
reference points, converts, processes and stores the performance data and hardware alarm events
received from other functional blocks of OptiX BWS 320G system, and at the same time transmits the
control and management information to other functional blocks of the equipment.

Message communication function (MCF)

The main function of MCF is to transmit various messages needed by NM(network management) s
between the NM system and network element (NE) equipment as well as between respective NE
equipment so as to accomplish the functions of maintenance and management messages

45
communication of OptiX BWS 320G system. Such messages mainly refer to the byte D1~D12 of the
data communication channel DCC of OptiX BWS 320G system optical supervisory channel, DCC byte
contents derived from MCF functional block, D1~D12 byte positions set in E1 frame of the optical
supervisory channel.
MCF also provides F&f interface and X.25 interface connected between OptiX BWS 320G system and
NM system to accomplish the communication function between the synchronous equipment and NM
system.

Software function
The main function of BIOS software is to boot the system, load and upgrade the Host software, and
perform hardware self-test of the main control unit SCC.
The main function of the host software is to perform real time monitoring, maintenance and
management on the OptiX BWS 320G system NEs and the whole transmission equipment network by
means of the cooperation of OptiX BWS 320G NM system and SCC board hardware. The host
software is mainly composed of the communication module (CM) and the administration module (AM).
CM is mainly engaged in performing message communication function, supporting the transmission of
running, management and maintenance information between BWS 320G NM system and NE
equipment as well as between the NEs; while AM is mainly engaged in synchronous equipment
management functions, and supporting such functions as configuration management, alarm
management, performance management, security management and topology management of OptiX
BWS 320G NM system.

c) Application
SCC board is always inserted in the 14th board position of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
Reset key RST
This key is used to reset SCC. Press this key with a sharp-tip object to reset SCC.
Alarm switch ALC
This switch is used to turn on or turn off the buzzer alarm on the rack top.
NM system can set up the communication link with OptiX BWS 320G system through SCC in multiple
modes. Below we'll explain in details.
One-to-one connection between NM and gateway NE

Connection modes of NM & GNE:

(1) Connection with direct-connected network cable

Connection between NM terminal and OptiX BWS 320G system with direct-connected network cable is
safe and quick, with least influence on the NE equipment and NM operating system. This is related to
the data transmitting mode of Ethernet. When one user plans to transmit data, he first check whether
there is any conflict of the current timeslot. If there is, he'll wait for the next timeslot to transmit. It can
be imagined: the less NE equipment that are connected on the network line, the less possibility that
conflicts would happen. Therefore, in order to ensure the normal data transmission, this kind of direct-
connected network cable connection is most widely used. Figure 9.12-c shows the schematic diagram
of such direct-connected network cable connection.

Direct connection

gateway NE
MN
Figure 9.12-c Direct-connected network cable connection

In Figure 9.12-c, one end of the network cable is connected to the ethernet interface of NE equipment,
while the other end is connected to the netcard interface of OptiX BWS 320G NM terminal. But it

46
should be mentioned here that connection of multiple gateways or multiple NMs can not be realized in
this mode.

(2)LAN connection
When LAN is available, we can make use of the LAN. Compared with the above network cable
connection, LAN connection can realize the connection of multiple gateways or multiple NMs. But
when the network is of a large scale, the performance of NM system might be affected by the network
bottlenecks. Make sure that the IP addresses of gateway equipment do not conflict with those of other
equipment on the network. This connection mode is shown in Figure 9.12-d.

HUB

gateway NE
MN

Figure 9.12-d LAN connection mode

One end of a standard network cable is connected to the Ethernet interface of OptiX BWS 320G NE
equipment, the other end to the LAN connector; one end of another standard network cable is also
connected to the LAN connector and the other end to the net card interface of OptiX BWS 320G NM
terminal. In fact, most network cables at LAN side are connected to the same HUB.

Composition of NE equipment IP address

At present, the connections between NM terminals and NE equipment are mostly in one-to-one
connection mode, and the communication of the whole network is established by observing TCP/IP
protocol. This requires the NE equipment to have a unique identifier--NE ID on the network so as to
form its IP address identifiable by the network. Then how to set this NE physical address ID?
At the lower left side of SCC board ( with the letters SCC on the handle bar facing upwards as a
reference), there are three 4-position toggle switches, i.e., altogether 12 positions used to set the
physical address of NE equipment--ID number. ID numbers must be set following certain rules. We all
understand that if one physical status is to be defined by the binary system, it is either "0" or "1"; while
each position of the toggle switch also only has two kinds of status: "ON" and "OFF". Here it can be
defined that status "ON" represents "1" while status "OFF" represents "0". Then the different status of
the 12 positions can specify a 12-digit binary number, and the value of this binary number represents
the ID number of this NE equipment. For easy understanding, let's look at the following example:
Example: if the ID number of a specific NE equipment is 9, how to set the 12-digit toggle switches on
its board hardware? If ID=23, how to set it?
Analysis: the 12-digit toggle switch positions are D0~D11 from low order to high order, among which
D0~D3 are unit positions with the value expressed in binary system, D4~D7 are hexadecimal bits with
the value also expressed in binary system. (of course D0~D7 can all be calculated in binary system
and then converted into decimal system). In this example, D11~D0 positions are 000000001001 ( as
shown in Figure 9.12-e), since ID=9, smaller than 16, D4~D11 hexadecimal positions can all be filled in
with 0, and D0~D3 unit positions represent 9.
D11D10 D9 D8 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0

ON
OFF

000000001001----9
£ s̈hadow parts indicate toggle switch position£ ©
Figure 9.12-e Toggle switch positions when ID=9.

47
When ID=23, since this value is larger than 16, and the quotient equals 1, the hexadecimal positions
should be set to 1; while the remainder is 7, then the unit value should be set to 7, the D11~D0
positions of the toggle switch should be 000000010111 in sequence ( as shown in Figure 9.12-f ).
D11D10 D9 D8 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
ON
OFF

000000010111----23
£ s̈hadow parts indicate toggle switch positons£ ©
Figure 9.12-f Toggle switch positions when ID=23

In fact, from the above two examples it is obvious that the decimal value of ID number can be directly
converted into the binary system to get the corresponding values of toggle switch D11~D0, then the
toggle switches can be set to corresponding positions according to the rule of "ON"=1 and "OFF" = 0.

9.13- Overhead Processing Board (OHP)

The overhead processing board of OptiX BWS 320G system, is abbreviated as OHP (overhead
processor). Its function in OptiX BWS 320G system is to undertake the task of inter-communication
between different equipment, such as providing user channels, order-wire channels, etc.

a) Principle
The principle block diagram of OHP board is shown in Figure 9.13-a.

interface adapter connect serial data terminal equipment

CPU
mailbox to main control board

DB CB AB DCCm
overhead signal

overhead processing
unit SC2/1 board
clock signal

encoder/
decoder user circuit phone set(1,2,3)

64kbit/s codirectional data to 64kbit/s codirectional data inerface equipment

encoding/decoding

interface adpater to asynchronous RS-232 interface equipment

OHP board

Figure 9.13-a Principle block diagram of OHP board

Below, with reference to the OHP principle block diagram and its functional block composition, we'll
introduce the functions of OHP.

b) Functions
According to ITU-T G.783 recommendation, the functional block composition of OHP board is shown in
Figure 9.13-b.

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 signal collecting point
……

OHA interface
OHA overhead access

Figure 9.13-b Functional block composition of OHP board

It is obvious from the diagram that the key functional block of OHP is an overhead access functional
unit. Through this overhead access functional block and its interfaces, the order-wire phone and some
data terminal equipment DTE ( i.e., equipment with 64kbit/s co-directional data interfaces in
compliance with ITU-T G.703 recommendation and equipment with RS232 and RS422 interfaces)
used for equipment running and maintenance can be accessed conveniently for OptiX BWS 320G
system overhead processing.
For better understanding of the principle block diagram, the whole board can be divided into 4 parts:
monitoring unit, overhead processing unit, phone set user circuit unit and 64kbit/s co-directional data
interface unit.
The monitoring unit consists of CPU and mailbox. CPU can be regarded as the control center of this
board. It communicates and exchanges information with SCC board via the mailbox (dual-port RAM),
including receiving the configuration data sent from SCC board and reporting the alarm information and
running status of this board to the SCC board. In addition, CPU also has the ability to monitor the
various status of the phone sets in this local office (such as on/off hook ) and generate corresponding
operations, such as controlling the generation of dialing tone, busy tone and ringing back tone as well
as the transmission of the ringing signals.
The overhead processing unit should be regarded as the core of OHP board. It is connected to the
optical supervisory channel processing board SC2 and SC1 in OptiX BWS 320G system to extract E1,
E2 and F1 overhead bytes and other data bytes from the supervisory channel or add such bytes into
the supervisory channel. And needless to say, its most important function is to provide three order-wire
channels.
Phone set user circuit unit communicates with the OHP via the user circuit, mainly performing the
function of controlling the receiving and transmitting of system signal and supporting the normal
operation of audio frequency two-wire phone sets.
The co-directional data interface unit provides the physical interface for peripheral data terminal
equipment. It is obvious that it can provide a 64kbit/s co-directional interface in compliance with ITU-T
G.703 recommendation.

c) Application
OHP board is always inserted in the 15th board position of OptiX BWS 320G subrack.
The main function of OHP board in OptiX BWS 320G optical transmission equipment is to provide the
order-wire channels. On one hand it can provide a communication means for the engineering
personnel when the optical channel is already connected through but the services are not under
normal operation; on the other hand, after the services are operated normally, it can provide a
communication means between the maintenance personnel of the machine rooms. In addition, it can
provide a co-directional 64kbit/s data interface for the user.
Since the main function of OHP board is to support order-wire phone function, it is necessary to
introduce how to set the order-wire phone numbers. There are three methods to set the order-wire
phone number, with the difference in their priorities.

The first method

Make use of the board hardware toggle switch to set the initial phone number.
Two 8-position toggle switches SW2 and SW3 on OHP board can be used to set the order-wire phone
number, here we only briefly introduce several commonly used switch positions.

SW2:
49
D0~D3 positions are used to configure the site number ( or called the user number) of the phone
number. It is defined that when the position is set to OFF, it represents 0; and when the position is set
to ON, it represents 1 (same below). Suppose the configuration value is X. D4~D7 positions are used
to configure the subnet number of the phone number, and suppose the configuration value is Y. Note
when Y=0 or Y>9, the board will automatically set it to 1.
SW3:
When D0 and D1 are configured as 00, it stands for OptiX 155/622 old subrack, 01 for OptiX
2500+system, 10 for OptiX 155/622 new subrack; 11 for OptiX BWS 320G system. D6 position is used
to configure the phone number length. "ON" represents 4 digits, and "OFF" represents 3 digits.
Now we'll give an example to see how to set the order-wire phone number with the hardware toggle
switches. The composition of the order-wire phone number is as follows: subnet number + site number
(user number)+ phone set serial number (fixed to 1, 2, 3). When D6 position of SW3 is set to "ON", the
phone number is Y×1000+X×10+1~Y×1000+X×10+3; when D6 position of SW3 is set to "OFF", the
phone number is Y×100+X×10+1~Y×100+X×10 +3. For example: the toggle switch positions of a
specific site are set as follows: SW3: D0 and D6=OFF, D1=ON; SW2: D0, D1, D2 = "ON", D3 = "OFF",
D4 and D5="ON", D6, D7="OFF", as shown in Figure 9.13-c. According to the above rules, the order-
wire phone numbers of this site are 371, 372, and 373. When the setting is completed, the system,
after powered on, will automatically read the toggle switch information on the board as the default
phone number.

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
ON
OFF
Figure 9.13-c Schematic diagram of toggle switch SW2 (Ph: # 371, 372, 373)

The second method

Make use of the phone set for provisional setting.
After the order-wire phone number is set with the phone set manually, the original setting on the
hardware toggle switches will become invalid. But if the equipment is powered off and then powered on
again, the phone number set with the phone set will become invalid and the equipment will still
automatically read the toggle switch information. Here we also only introduce some common settings:
Configure order-wire phone number: "*"+"0"+"XX…" XX…number to be configured.
Configure conference telephone number: "*"+"1"+"XX…" XX…telephone conference number.
Configure call waiting time: "*"+"2"+"XX…" XX…call waiting time, with a second as the unit.
Configure phone number length: "*"+"3"+"X" X is the phone number length.

The third method

The most frequently used and most reliable method to set order-wire phone number, also with the
highest priority, is to configure through NM terminal operating system. The content of this part is
described in NM operation manual in detail. Once the order-wire phone number is configured and set
through NM, it will not be lost and be still effective after system is powered off and powered on again,
while the numbers set with the above two methods will become invalid.

50
Abbreviation in English Explanation in English

ALS Automatic Laser Shutdown

AM Administration Module

APD Avalanche Photo Diode

ASE Amplified Spontaneous Emission

ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode

AWG Arrayed Waveguide Grating

CM Communication Module

CMI Coded Mark Inversion

CPU Central Processing Unit

CRC Cyclical Redundancy Check

DCC Data Communication Channel

DDN Digital Data Network

DTE Digital Terminal Equipment

DWDM Dense Wavelength Division Multiplex

EDFA Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier

ETSI European Telecommunication Standards Institute

FR Frame Relay

GE Gigabit Ethernet

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

51
Abbreviation in English Explanation in English

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network

ITU-T International Telecommunication Union-

Telecommunication Sector

MCF Message Communication Function

NRZ Non Return to Zero

OADM Optical Add and Drop Multiplexer

ODF Optical Distribution Frame

PIN Positive Intrinsic Negative

PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

RAM Random Access Memory

SC Subscriber Connector

SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

SEMF Synchronous Equipment Management Function

STM Synchronous Transport Module

TCP/IP Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

TWC Transmitting Wavelength conversion board

RWC Receiving Wavelength conversion board

LWC Line Wavelength conversion board

TRC Electrical Regeneration Wavelength conversion board

M16 16 Wavelength Multiplexing board

D16 16 Wavelength Demultiplexing board

WPA Wavelength Pre-Amplifier

WBA Wavelength Booster Amplifier

WLA Wavelength Line Amplifier

SC1,SC2 Single, Dual Directional Supervisory Channel board

SCA Supervisory Channel Access board

SCC System Control & Communication board

OHP Overhead Processing board

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