Synchronous Digital

Hierarchy

Overview
Main Features

„ CCITT recommendations G.707, G.708 and G.709

„ easy access to tributary signals and simplified

multiplex/demultiplex operations

„ simplification of insertion/extraction functions for tributaries

into/from an aggregate stream (drop/insert) and permutation
of digital streams (cross-connect)

„ harmonization of two plesiochronous hierarchies, European

and American, creating a worldwide standard

„ automatic centralized management of the transmission

network

Page 2 © Siemens, 2003

SDH Network Segments

„ Multiplex Section
„ Regeneration Section
„ Path

MS

RS1 RS2 RS3 RS4

RADIO RADIO RADIO

ADM ADM

Page 3 © Siemens, 2003

STM-1 Frame

„ Synchronous Transport Module (level) 1

„ Base signal of SDH

„ Bitrate: 155.52 Mbit/s

Page 4 © Siemens, 2003

Blocks of STM-1 Frame

„ Section overhead block (SOH)

„ Useful signal block (Payload)
„ Pointer block (PTR)
270 Bytes
9 261

3 SOH
9 ROWS

1 POINTER PAYLOAD

5
SOH

Page 5 © Siemens, 2003

STM-1 features

„ Frame duration: 125 µs

„ Frame repetition Frequency 8000 Hz
„ Transmission Capacity of a single byte: 64 Kbit/s
„ The bytes are transmitted row-by-row, beginning with the first
row and first column

CSTM-1 = 8 × (9 × 270) × 8 × 103 = 155,520 Mbit/s

number of bits
overall number of frame frequency
composing each byte
bytes in each frame

Page 6 © Siemens, 2003

STM-1 two dimensional representation

270 Bytes
9 261

3 RSOH
aÆ bits composing
each single byte

1 ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT bÆ bytes occupied

AU-4 by "AUOH
c Æ bytes
available for the
5 payload
MSOH d Æfrequency of
the STM-1 frame

CAU-4 = 8 × (9 + 261 × 9) × 8 × 103 = 150,912 Mbit/sec

a b c d

Page 7 © Siemens, 2003

Section OverHead bytes

ATPC /
FAST BER

Reserved Bytes in
A1 A1 A1 A2 A2 A2 J0 WS WS accordance with
ITU-T G.707/708
3 ROH B1 M SCS E1 WS WS F1 WS WS
Bytes for Media
D1 WS D2 WS WS D3 WS WS specific use

AU POINTER
Bytes for National
B2 B2 B2 K1 WS WS K2 WS WS use

D4 WS WS D5 WS WS D6 WS WS Bytes for Future

5 International
MOH D7 WS WS D8 WS WS D9 WS WS Standardization

D10 WS WS D11 WS WS D12 WS WS

S1 Z1 Z1 Z2 Z2 M1 E2 WS WS

9 Skip

Page 8 © Siemens, 2003

SOH bytes

„ A1, A2 Æ frame alignment bytes

„ Jo : Æ STM-1 identification

„ B1Æ parity byte for regenerator section BER monitoring

„ B2 Æ parity byte for multiplex section BER monitoring

„ M22Æ used for ATPC/FastBer

„ M23 (SCS) Æ Switching Control Signal

„ E1Æ regenerator section order-wire, for omnibus/express voice channel

„ E2Æ multiplex section order-wire, for omnibus/express voice channel

„ F1Æ user channel for temporary data/voice channel connections for

special maintenance

Page 9 © Siemens, 2003

SOH bytes

„ D1-D3 Æ Data Communication Channels for regeneration section

(DCCr)

„ D4-D12 Æ Data Communication Channels for multiplexing section

(DCCm)

„ K1, K2 Æ automatic protection switching signalling (multiplex section)

„ S1 Æ SSMB: Synchronization Source Marker Byte

„ Z1, Z2 Æ spare bytes not yet defined

„ M1Æ FEBE (Far End Block Error) byte

Page 10 © Siemens, 2003

Framing Bytes

A1 A1 A1 A2 A2 A2

¾ These six bytes have a fixed bit sequence and are used as frame
alignment signal for one STM-1.

A1 = 11110110

A2 = 00101000

Page 11 © Siemens, 2003

STM Identification byte

J0

¾ Every STM-1 frame is assigned an identification (ID)

number before being multiplexed to an STM-N.

¾ During demultiplexing, the identification is used for

determining or checking the position of the individual STM-1
in the STM-N.

Page 12 © Siemens, 2003

Regenerator Section BIP-8 Byte

B1

¾ The B1 byte transmit a parity code, which is used for bit

error monitoring on STM-1 regenerator sections.
The B1 byte is transmitted only in STM-1 #1 of an STM-N.

Page 13 © Siemens, 2003

Orderwire bytes

E1 E2

These two bytes provide service channels and can be used for
voice communication (64 Kbit/s) in each case

¾ The E1 byte is used as a voice channel between regenerators and

multiplexers (OMNIBUS channel)

¾ The E2 byte is used only as a voice channel between multiplexers

(EXPRESS channel)

Page 14 © Siemens, 2003

User channel Byte

F1

¾ The F1 byte is reserved for the network operator and can be used as
64 kbit/s auxiliary channel (e.g. data communication via PC). This byte
is transmitted in STM-1 #1 of an STM-N signal.

F1

MUX F1 MUX

Page 15 © Siemens, 2003

Data Communication channel bytes

D1 D12

These twelve bytes are provided for the transport of monitoring and
control data in a network management system

¾ D1...D3 are used for the communication between TMN and multiplexers
and regenerators respectively

¾ D3…D12 are handle only the communication between TMN and multiplexers

Page 16 © Siemens, 2003

Data Communication Channel

„ DCCr : RSOH Æ D1, D2, D3 (192 Kbit/s)

„ DCCm: MSOH ÆD4..D12 (single message flow)

MCF (Message Communication Function): Provides level 1, 2, 3,

4 of OSI stack. Necessary for the supervision system

ADM STM
SRT SRT STM
ADM

Regenerator Section Regenerator Section Regenerator Section

DCCR DCCR DCCR
Multiplex Section
DCCM

Page 17 © Siemens, 2003

Multiplex Section Bip-24 Bytes

B2 B2 B2

The B2 bytes transmit a parity code used for bit error

monitoring on multiplex sections. All B2 bytes are defined
for transmission of an STM-N signal.

Page 18 © Siemens, 2003

Byte M22

Used for ATPC (Automatic Transmitter Power Control) function

Hop trace Identifier

Activation Fast BER

Page 19 © Siemens, 2003

Byte M23
hitless switch

- Frequency diversity

- Completely error free switch from the working to the stand-by

channel

- Very low switching time

Powerful mean to counteract selective fading and to provide high frequency

diversity improvement

Page 20 © Siemens, 2003

Byte M23

M23

„ SCS : Switching Control Signal (64 Kbit/s channel)

„ The RS Controller provides the necessary switching

information by means of a dedicated byte of RSOH

System Types
„ N+0 [N=1…8]: no protection

„ 1+1 N. E. : SCS not used

„ N+1 [N=1…7]: multilinea protection

Page 21 © Siemens, 2003

Automatic Protection Switching Bytes

K1 K2

¾ The entire K1 byte as well as bits 1-5 of the K2 byte can be

used for an automatic, bi-directional 1+1 switchover to a
standby line.

Page 22 © Siemens, 2003

Byte K2

Important alarm like Loss of Signal (LOS), Loss of Frame (LOF) and
Loss of Pointer (LOP) cause AIS (Alarm Indication Signal) to be
downstream transmitted.

0 0 0 no problem
1 1 1 MS-AIS Æ problem on the multiplexing section
1 1 0 MS_RDI Æ remote alarm

RADIO RADIO
ADM ADM

MS_AIS detection
LossÆ insertion of MS-AIS

Page 23 © Siemens, 2003

Synchronization

S1

S1: SYNCHRONIZATION SOURCE MARKER BYTE

Used for:

• Fast exchange of synchronisation messages between NE

• Indication of a failure to the remote-end NEs and support
of autonomous reconfiguration processes
• Avoiding timing loops when ring structures are introduced

Page 24 © Siemens, 2003

S1 Byte

PATTERN OF BITS 5÷8

0000 quality unknown

0010 PRC QL1 (quality Level 1)
0100 G.812 Transit QL2
1000 G.812 Local QL3
1011 SETS QL4 (G.81s)
1111 F do not use for synchronisation

Page 25 © Siemens, 2003

Quality Levels

Quality Level Frequency Stability

Q1 1x10-11

Q2 1x10-9

Q3 2x10-8

Q4 4.6x10-6

Q5 unknown quality

Page 26 © Siemens, 2003

Clock sources

PRC G.811

SSU SSU G.812T

G.812 G.812 G.812 G.812

G.812

G.812 G.812

Transit clock

Local Clock

Page 27 © Siemens, 2003

Spare bytes

Z1 Z1 Z2 Z2

These bytes are provided for future functions.

Page 28 © Siemens, 2003

Far End Block Error Byte (MS-FEBE)

M1

The M1 Byte is inserted and transmitted in an STM-N

signal only after the first two Z2 bytes Æ 1xSTM-N
Frame

Page 29 © Siemens, 2003

Line SOH

„ Line service interface unit SOH: BB card

„ Used for the line service channels management. Provides

access to 64 Kbit/s channels.

– WST (Way Side Traffic) 2Mbit/s auxiliary traffic

– Nx64 Max 7 channels available on radio side

Page 30 © Siemens, 2003

Multiplex Section Termination

A system can be configured via software:

„ With MST (able to manage MSOH)
„ Without MST (trasparent for MSOH)

MULTIPLEX SECTION

REGENERATOR REGENERATOR
SECTION SECTION

RSOH RSOH

MSOH MSOH

Page 31 © Siemens, 2003

Net Viewer & TNMS

DCCm

RADIO RADIO RADIO

ADM ADM

NV
+
TNMS

LAN

Page 32 © Siemens, 2003

AU-4 and C-4
270 Bytes
9 261
VC-4
AU-4
3 ROH
J1
9 ROWS

1 AUOH B3
PAYLOAD
C2
5 G1
MOH
F2 C-4
H4
Z3
Z4
POH Z5
J1: Channel identification (path identifier)
B3: Parity byte for BER detection in the channel
C2: Indication: channel equipped/not equipped/not used CVC-4 = CAU-4 – CAUOH = 150.336 Mbit/s
G1: Channel status message for the transmitter
F2: Subscriber messages
H4: Indication of various connected frames (for special payload CC-4 = CVC-4 – CPOH = 149.760 Mbit/s
signals)
Three bytes (Z3...Z5) are reserved for future applications

Page 33 © Siemens, 2003

STM-1 Composition

149.760Mbit/s 150.336Mbit/s 150.912Mbit/s 155.520Mbit/s

LOAD
C4 VC4 AU-4 STM-1

POH AUOH SOH

Page 34 © Siemens, 2003

Virtual container position

9 bytes 261 bytes

SOH
STM PAYLOAD

POINTER

9 LINES
SOH
VC-4

SOH

NEXT STM-1 FRAME

POINTER

SOH

Page 35 © Siemens, 2003

Tributary Units Composition

POH
TU-3 Æ 49.536
Mbit/s
TU-3 + VC-3 + C-3

PTR POH TU-2 Æ 6.912

Mbit/s
TU-2 + VC-2 + C-2
TU-12 Æ 2.304
PTR Mbit/s
POH

+ VC-12 + C-12
VC-11 is alternative
TU-12 PTR POH to VC-12

+ VC-11 + C-11

PTR

Page 36 © Siemens, 2003

TU-3

TU-3 PTR 85

H1
3 H2 763 764

H3 0 1 2 3 TU-3 PAYLOAD 83 84
9 ROWS

1 84
1

5 PAYLOAD
PAYLOAD
P
O C-3 VC-3
Fixed Stuffing Bytes
H

CC-3 = 8 × (84 × 9) × 8 × 103 = 48,384 Mbit/s

CVC-3 = 8 × (9 + 84 × 9) × 8 × 103 = 48,960 Mbit/s
CTU-3 = 8 × (3 + 6 + 85 × 9) × 8 × 103 = 49,536 Mbit/s
Page 37 © Siemens, 2003
Tributary Unit Groups

„ Before being inserted in the higher-order container the TUs

are combined into a group.

„ TUG-2
• 1 TU2 Æ 6.912 Mbit/s
• 3 TU12 Æ 3 x 2.304 Mbit/s

„ TUG-3
• 1 TU3 Æ 49.536 Mbit/s
• 7 TUG 2 Æ 7 x 6.912 Mbit/s

„ VC4
• 1 C4 Æ 149.760
• 3 TUG-3 Æ 3 x 49536 Mbit/s

Page 38 © Siemens, 2003

Composition TUG3-VC-4

H1
#1
H2
H3 H1
H2 #2

R H3 MP
H1
#1
H2 #3
R H3
#2

R
#3
H1 H1 H1
H2 H2 H2
H3 H3 H3

R R #1 #2 #3
POH
R R R
#1 #2 #3

255
R Æ Fixed Stuff 261

Page 39 © Siemens, 2003

Tributary Unit Groups

„ A STM-1 signal may contain:

– 1 VC-4
– up to 63 TU-12
– up to 21 TU-2
– up to 3 TU-3 VC-4

TU-12 TU-2

TU-3

Page 40 © Siemens, 2003

Virtual Containers Order

„ VC of a higher order (VC-3 & VC-4)

Field defined in one single STM-1 frame (125 µs)

„ VC of a lower order (VC-2, VC-11 &VC-12)

Field defined in a multiframe composed of 4 STM-1 frames (500 µs)

Page 41 © Siemens, 2003

Virtual Containers

„ VC-4 Æ 150.336Mbit/s (suitable for 140 Mbit/s)

„ VC-3 Æ 48.960 Mbit/s (suitable 34 Mbit/s or 45 Mbit/s)

„ VC-12 Æ 2.240 Mbit/s (suitable 2 Mbit/s)

Page 42 © Siemens, 2003

Table

Container C-11 C-12 C-2 C-3 C-4

# Byte 25 34 106 756 2340
Bit Rate (kbit/s) 1600 2176 6784 48384 149760

Virtual Container VC-11 VC-12 VC-2 VC-3 VC-4

# Byte 26 35 107 765 2349
Bit Rate (kbit/s) 1664 2176 6848 48960 150336

Tributary Unit TU-12 TU-2 TU-3

# Byte 36 108 768
Bit Rate (kbit/s) 2304 6912 49152

Administrative Unit AU-4

# Byte 2358
Bit Rate (kbit/s) 150912

Page 43 © Siemens, 2003

Example

STM1 AU4 VC4 C4

49,536 149,760

3x 48,960 48,384
150,912 150,336 49,152
TUG3 TU3 VC3 C3

7x 6.848 6,784
6,912
TUG2 TU2 VC2 C2

2,240 2,176
3x 2,304
TU12 VC12 C12

1,664 1,600

All values in Mbit/s VC11 C11

Page 44 © Siemens, 2003

SDH Network Main Equipment
Terminal and add-drop Mux

„ These multiplexers, the main application of which is in the access network,

perform the function of traffic collection in distribution area, by filling up the
STM-1 stream with the tributaries coming from the various subscriber areas.

PC Ext. Order
Ext. Sync TMN
Wire

F Q
INTERFACES
STM-1 STM-1
Add/Drop MUX

STM-1 STM-1

VC-12 VC-3 VC-12

2 Mbit/s 34/45 Mbit/s TRNSMUX

34/45 Mbit/s

Page 45 © Siemens, 2003

SDH Network Main Equipment
DXC-TU: digital cross-connect, tributary unit

„ The function of DXC-TU consists in cross-connecting the VC-12, VC-3 inside the
STM-1 type stream or, in general the STM-N.

NETWORK MANAGEMENT
INTERFACES

STM-1
STM-1

STM-1 STM-1

SWITCHING MATRIX
STM-4 STM-4
VC-3 VC-12

VC-12 VC-3

2 Mbit/s 34/45 Mbit/s

Page 46 © Siemens, 2003

SDH Network Main Equipment
DXC-AU: digital cross-connect, administrative unit

„ The function of DXC-AU consists in cross-connecting the VC-4 type virtual

container inside the STM-1 or STM-n type streams.

NETWORK MANAGEMENT
INTERFACES
STM-1 STM-1

N-STM-1 N-STM-1

STM-4 STM-4
N-STM-4 SWITCHING MATRIX N-STM-4
STM-16 VC-4 STM-16
N-STM-16 N-STM-16
VC-4

140 Mbit/s

Page 47 © Siemens, 2003

SDH Network
example

Page 48 © Siemens, 2003