Available at www.mindstien.

net
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With great pleasure we would like
to express our deep sense of gratitude to Sir K.G.
Bhuva, professor in Electronics and Communication
department for his interest and constant
encouragement for our seminar on the topic
“Integrated Services Digital Network”.

We are also thankful to the H.O.D.

Sir S.B. Parmar and our seniors for rendering their help
whenever we needed them
 Available at www.mindstien.net

INDEX

1 ISDN OVERVIEW
–MOTIVATION AND HISTORY
2 INTRODUCTION
3 ISDN CHANNELS
4 ISDN SERVICES
5 DESIGNING ISDN INTERNETWORKING
6 ISDN DEVICES
7 ISDN SPECIFICATIONS
8 BROADBAND ISDN
9 NARROWBAND ISDN
10 SIGNALLING AND SWITCHING
11 HOUSE NETWORKING
12 THE FUTURE OF NETWORKING
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ISDN OVERVIEW
MOTIVATION AND HISTORY

Long time ago, the entire telephone network was analog. This
was bad because as a voice went further down the line and
through more switches, the quality became worse and worse as
noise crept in. and there was no way to eliminate the noise ,no
way to know what the signal was supposed to be . Digital
encoding promised a way to encode the audio such that you’d
know what the signal was supposed to be. As noise crept in, you
could eliminate it through the phone network, assuming it
wasn’t worse then the variation between different digital
encoding levels’
With the transistor revolution, this theory became possible,
and the phone companies began converting their networks over
to digital. Today you have to search pretty hard to find a phone
company switch that isn’t digital. They called their network the
Integrated Digital Network, IDN. This solved many of the
phone company’s problems. However for a variety reasons, it
has been attractive to make the phone network completely
digital from end to end. For computer users, this is ideal because
we can eliminate those clumsy modems and will hopefully
benefit from higher speed. For telephone companies, they can
eliminate the last of the noise and loss from the audio data. And,
for the dreamers this will enable a wide variety of different
services to be delivered to the customer over a single interface.
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INTRODUCTION:

ISDN is a type of digital phone/data and internet

service that preceded ADSL (asynchronous digital subscriber
line) and has for the most part been superceded by it.
Normal telephone lines carry analog signals that must
be amplified and converted to digital signals by the phone
company. This process introduces not a slight lag time, but also
distortion in the signal. Dial-Modems and telephone are
examples of equipments that use analog signals.ISDN makes
use of digital signals running along existing copper lines to
increase the data throughout, reduce line noise and enhance
signal quality. In the mid 1990s, ADSL was very expensive not
widely available. Companies and individuals wanted a faster
way to connect to the internet; but the technology behind dial-
up modems had reached its threshold. ISDN became a viable
alternative to provide speeds of up to 128 kilobits per second,
versus the standard connection of 30-53 kbps with a dial-up
modem.
The most common type of ISDN service for internet
connection is the Basic Rate Interface, ISDN BRI. This
technology creates two B-channels on the existing copper lines
of 64 kbps each, along with a single 16 kbps D-channel for the
phone line. This separates data channel from the voice channel,
allowing telephone or fax use while online.
While ISDN is inexpensive and about twice as fast as dial-up
service. It has been largely replaced by affordable DSL service.
An inexpensive ADSL service offers speeds up to 384 kbps,
while more expensive versions are improving in speed all the
time. As of fall 2005, standard ADSL speeds range between 1.5
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and 3.0 mbps, or 1536-3072 kbps. Although isdn may not be the
best choice for packet-switching networks like the internet, it is
still likely used for professional audio and broadcast
applications where digital clarity with integrated services is
specifically required. Small businesses that often used two voice
lines, such as phone and fax, and only require limited internet
connectivity, say, an hour or less per day , may prefer an isdn .
Isdn might also be a better choice of high-speed connections to
intranets for video conferencing, or to remote networks other
than the internet.

ISDN CHANNEL:
Isdn is based on a number of fundamental building blocks. First,
there are two types of isdn channels or communication paths:

• B-channel
The bearer (“B”) channel is a 64 kbps channel which
can be used for voice, video, data, or multimedia calls .b-
channels can be aggregated together for even higher
bandwidth application.
• D-channel
The delta (“D”) channel can be either a 16 kbps or 64
kbps channel used primarily for communication (or
signaling ) between switching equipment in the isdn
network and the ISDN equipment at your site .

These isdn channels are delivered to the user in one of

the two predefined configurations:
Basic rate interface (BRI)
primary Rte interface (PRI)
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Bearer Services
The options of CSV, CSD and PSD are broad
categories of bearer services that the phone companies can
provide. different bearer services provide different types of
guarantees about the reliability and synchronization of the data
.there are currently ten different bearer service for circuit –mode
, and three services for packet mode .

These bearer services are defined in terms of a number

of attributes ,which include mode (circuit or packet ), structure
(bit-stream or octet-stream ), transfer rate (e.g. 6kbps), transfer
capability (basically the contents for instance speech , 7KHz
audio, video, or unrestricted ), and several other attributes that
specify protocols to use and other things. The emergence of
ISDN represents an effort to standardize subscriber services,
user/network interfaces, and network and internet working
capabilities. ISDN applications include high-speed image
applications (such as Group IV facsimile), additional telephone
lines in homes to serve the telecommuting industry, high-speed
file transfer, and videoconferencing. Voice service is also an
application for ISDN. This chapter summarizes the underlying
technologies and services associated with ISDN.
The D channel signaling protocol comprises Layers 1
through 3 of the OSI reference model. BRI also provides for
framing control and other overhead, bringing its total bit rate to
192 kbps.this works by providing additional end-to-end data
guarantees that can’t be relied upon from the speech bearer
service.
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ISDN SERVICES
There are two types of services associated with ISDN:
• BRI
• PRI

ISDN BRI services

The ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) service

offers two B channels and one D channel (2B+D). BRI B-
channel service operates at 64 kbps and is meant to carry
user data; BRI D-channel service operates at 16 kbps and
is meant to carry control and signaling information,
although it can support user data transmission under
certain circumstances. The D channel signaling protocol
comprises Layers 1 through 3 of the OSI reference model.
BRI also provides for framing control and other overhead,
bringing its total bit rate to 192 kbps.
The BRI physical layer specification is International
Telecommunication Union-Telecommunications
Standards Section (ITU-T) (formerly the Consultative
Committee for International Telegraph and Telephone
[CCITT]) I.430.

ISDN PRI service:

ISDN Primary Rate Interface (PRI) service offers

23 B channels and 1 D channel in North America and Japan,
yielding a total bit rate of 1.544 Mbps (the PRI D channel runs
at 64 kbps). ISDN PRI in Europe, Australia, and other parts of
the world provides 30 B channels plus one 64-kbps D channel
and a total interface rate of 2.048 Mbps. The PRI physical layer
specification is ITU-T I.431.
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Two of these devices are ISDN-compatible, so

they can be attached through an S reference point to NT2
devices. The third device (a standard, non-ISDN telephone)
attaches through the reference point to a TA. Any of these
devices also could attach to an NT1/2 device, which would
replace both the NT1 and the NT2. In addition, although they
are not shown, similar user stations are attached to the far-right
ISDN switch.

DESIGN ISDN INTERNETWORKING

The public telephone network (PSTN) has been transformed
into an integrated system digital network (isdn) .implementing
of signaling system 7 (s7)in the PSTN backbone has made
possible such widespread services as caller-id and dialed-
number delivery, 800 directory number lookup ,calling card
services ,and digital data service . Using BRI and PRI services,
isdn call switching can be extended to customer premises
equipment (CPE ) and provide end-to-end digital paths .

Previous to isdn available, data connectivity

over the public switched telephone network (PSTN) was via
plain old telephone services (pots) using analog modems.
Connectivity over isdn offers the internetworking designers
increased bandwidth, reduced call. Beyond the TE1 and TE2
devices, the next connection point in the ISDN network is the
network termination type 1 (NT1) or network termination type 2
(NT2) devices. These
are network-termination devices that connect the four-wire
subscriber wiring to the conventional two-wire local loop. In North
America, the NT1 is customer premises equipment (CPE) device.
In most other parts of the world, the NT1 is part of the network
provided by the carrier. The NT2 is a more complicated device that
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typically is found in digital private branch exchanges (PBXs) and

that performs Layer 2 and 3 protocol functions and concentration
services. An NT1/2 device also exists as a single device that
combines the functions of an NT1 and an NT2.
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Application of isdn in internetworking

ISDN has much application in
internetworking. The Cisco IOS has long been building dial-on-
demand routing a dial backup solutions of remote office/branch
office connectivity. Recently, isdn has seen incredible growth in
the support of mass small office /home office (SOHO) dial-up
connectivity. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is
comprised of digital telephony and data-transport services offered
by regional telephone carriers. ISDN involves the digitization of
the telephone network, which permits voice, data, text, graphics,
music, video, and other source material to be transmitted over
existing telephone wires. The emergence of ISDN represents an
effort to standardize subscriber services, user/network interfaces,
and network and internet work capabilities. ISDN applications
include high-speed image applications (such as Group IV
facsimile), additional telephone lines in homes to serve the
telecommuting industry, high-speed file transfer, and
videoconferencing. Voice service is also an isdn.

• Dial-on-demand routing
• Dial backup
• SOHO connectivity
• Modem aggregation

1. Dial-On-Demand Routing S

Full-time connectivity across the isdn is spoofed

by CISCOS IOS routers using DDR. when qualified packets arrive
at a dialer interface ,connectivity is established over the isdn .after
configured period of activity ,the isdn connection is
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disconnected.additional isdn B channels can be added and removed

from the multilink ppp bundle using configurable threshold .

2. dial backup

ISDN can be used as backup device for a leased-

line connection between the remote and central offices. If the
primary connectivity goes down an ISDN. The emergence of ISDN
represents an effort to standardize subscriber services,
user/network interfaces, and network and internet work capabilities

ISDN devices include terminals, terminal

adapters (TAs), network-termination devices, line-termination
equipment, and exchange-termination equipment. ISDN terminals
come in two types. Specialized ISDN terminals are referred to as
terminal equipment type 1 (TE1).

3. SOHO connectivity

Small office and home office sites can be

now be economically supported with isdn BRI services .this
offers to the casual or the fulltime SOHO sites These are
network-termination devices that connect the four-wire
subscriber wiring to the conventional two-wire local loop. In
North America, the NT1 is customer premises equipment
(CPE) device. In most other parts of the world, the NT1 is
part of the network provided by the carrier. The NT2 is a
more complicated device that typically is found in digital
private branch exchanges (PBXs) and that performs Layer 2
and 3 protocol functions and concentration services. An
NT1/2 device also exists as a single device that combines
the functions of an NT1 and an NT2.
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ISDN DEVICES:

ISDN devices include terminals, terminal

adapters (TAs), network-termination devices, line-
termination equipment, and exchange-termination
equipment. ISDN terminals come in two types. Specialized
ISDN terminals are referred to as terminal equipment type 1
(TE1). Non-ISDN terminals, such as DTE, that predate the
ISDN standards are referred to as terminal equipment type 2
(TE2). TE1s connect to the ISDN network through a four-
wire, twisted-pair digital link. TE2s connect to the ISDN
network through a TA. The ISDN TA can be either a
standalone device or a board inside the TE2. If the TE2 is
implemented as a standalone device, it connects to the TA
via a standard physical-layer interface. Examples include
EIA/TIA-232-C (formerly RS-232-C), V.24, and V.35.
Beyond the TE1 and TE2 devices, the next connection point
in the ISDN network is the network termination type 1 (NT1)
or network termination type 2 (NT2) device. These
are network-termination devices that connect the four-wire
subscriber wiring to the conventional two-wire local loop. In
North America, the NT1 is a customer premises equipment
(CPE) device. In most other parts of the world, the NT1 is
part of the network provided by the carrier. The NT2 is a
more complicated device that typically is found in digital
private branch exchanges (PBXs) and that performs Layer 2
and 3 protocol functions and concentration services. An
NT1/2 device also exists as a single device that combines
the functions of an NT1 and an NT2.
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ISDN specifies a number of reference points that define

logical interfaces between functional groups, such as TAs
and NT1s. ISDN reference points include the following:
• R—The reference point between non-ISDN equipment and
a TA.
• S—The reference point between user terminals and the
NT2.
• T—The reference point between NT1 and NT2 devices.
• U—The reference point between NT1 devices and line-
termination equipment in the carrier network. The U
reference point is relevant only in North America, where
the NT1 function is not provided by the carrier network.
Figure 12-1 illustrates a sample ISDN configuration and
shows three devices attached to an ISDN switch at the
central office. Two of these devices are ISDN-compatible, so
they can be attached through an S reference point to NT2
devices. The third device (a standard, non-ISDN telephone)
attaches through the reference point to a TA. Any of these
devices also could attach to an NT1/2 device, which would
replace both the NT1 and the NT2. In addition, although they
are not shown, similar user stations are attached to the far-
right ISDN switch.
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Figure 12-1 Sample ISDN Configuration Illustrates

Relationships Between Devices and Reference
Points
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ISDN SPECIFICATIONS

This section describes the various ISDN

specifications for Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3.

Layer 1
ISDN physical layer (Layer 1) frame formats
differ depending on whether the frame is outbound (from
terminal to network) or inbound (from network to terminal).
Both physical layer interfaces are shown in Figure 12-2.
The frames are 48 bits long, of which 36 bits represent data.
The bits of an ISDN physical layer frame are used as
follows:
• F—Provides synchronization
• L—Adjusts the average bit value
• E—Ensures contention resolution when several terminals
on a passive bus contend for a channel
• A—Activates devices
• S—Is unassigned
• B1, B2, and D—Handle user data
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Figure 12-2 ISDN Physical Layer Frame Formats Differ

Depending on Their Direction

Multiple ISDN user devices can be physically

attached to one circuit. In this configuration, collisions can
result if two terminals transmit simultaneously. Therefore,
ISDN provides features to determine link contention. When
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an NT receives a D bit from the TE, it echoes back the bit in

the next E-bit position. The TE expects the next E bit to be
the same as its last transmitted D bit.
Terminals cannot transmit into the D channel
unless they first detect a specific number of ones (indicating
"no signal") corresponding to a pre-established priority. If the
TE detects a bit in the echo (E) channel that is different from
its D bits, it must stop transmitting immediately. This simple
technique ensures that only one terminal can transmit its D
message at one time. After successful D-message
transmission, the terminal has its priority reduced by
requiring it to detect more continuous ones before
transmitting. Terminals cannot raise their priority until all
other devices on the same line have had an opportunity to
send a D message. Telephone connections have higher
priority than all other services, and signaling information has
a higher priority than nonsignaling information.

Layer 2
Layer 2 of the ISDN signaling protocol is Link Access
Procedure, D channel (LAPD). LAPD is similar to High-Level
Data Link Control (HDLC) and Link Access Procedure,
Balanced (LAPB) (see Chapter 16, "Synchronous Data Link
Control and Derivatives," and Chapter 17, "X.25," for more
information on these protocols). As the expansion of the
LAPD acronym indicates, this layer is used across the D
channel to ensure that control and signaling information
flows and is received properly. The LAPD frame format (see
Figure 12-3) is very similar to that of HDLC; like HDLC,
LAPD uses supervisory, information, and unnumbered
frames. The LAPD protocol is formally specified in ITU-T
Q.920 and ITU-T Q.921.
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Figure 12-3 LAPD Frame Format Is Similar to That of

HDLC and LAPB

The LAPD Flag and Control fields are

identical to those of HDLC. The LAPD Address field can be
either 1 or 2 bytes long. If the extended address bit of the
first byte is set, the address is 1 byte; if it is not set, the
address is 2 bytes. The first Address-field byte contains the
service access point identifier (SAPI), which identifies the
portal at which LAPD services are provided to Layer 3. The
C/R bit indicates whether the frame contains a command or
a response. The Terminal Endpoint Identifier (TEI) field
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identifies either a single terminal or multiple terminals. A TEI

of all ones indicates a broadcast.

Layer 3
Two Layer 3 specifications are used for ISDN signaling: ITU-
T (formerly CCITT) I.450 (also known as ITU-T Q.930) and
ITU-T I.451 (also known as ITU-T Q.931). Together, these
protocols support user-to-user, circuit-switched, and packet-
switched connections. A variety of call-establishment, call-
termination, information, and miscellaneous messages are
specified, including SETUP, CONNECT, RELEASE, USER
INFORMATION, CANCEL, STATUS, and DISCONNECT.
These messages are functionally similar to those provided
by the X.25 protocol (see Chapter 17 for more information).
Figure 12-4, from ITU-T I.451, shows the typical stages of an
ISDN circuit-switched call.
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Figure 12-4 An ISDN Circuit-Switched Call Moves

Through Various Stages to Its Destination
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Summary
ISDN is comprised of digital telephony and data-transport
services offered by regional telephone carriers. ISDN
involves the digitization of the telephone network to transmit
voice, data, text, graphics, music, video, and other source
material over existing telephone wires.
ISDN devices include the following:
• Terminals
• Terminal adapters (TAs)
• Network-termination devices
• Line-termination equipment
• Exchange-termination equipment
The ISDN specification references specific connection points
that define logical interfaces between devices.
ISDN uses the following two types of services:
• Basic Rate Interface (BRI, which offers two B channels
and one D channel (2B+D)
• Primary Rate Interface (PRI), which offers 23 B channels
and 1 D channel in North America and Japan, and 30 B
channels and 1 D channel in Europe and Australia
ISDN runs on the bottom three layers of the OSI reference
model, and each layer uses a different specification to
transmit data.
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CONCLUSION:

Multiple ISDN user devices can be physically

attached to one circuit. In this configuration, collisions can result if
two terminals transmit simultaneously. Therefore, ISDN provides
features to determine link contention.

ISDN is inexpensive and about twice as fast as

dial-up service. ISDN is applied to eliminate the last of the noise
and loss from the audio data.