SDH Principle

V1.1

Unitrans
Unitrans D&T
D&T Group
Group
 Contents

‰ SDH Overview
‰ Frame Structure

‰ Overhead

2
SDH
SDH Overview
Overview
 Limitation of PDH
 Advantages of SDH over PDH

3
Limitations
Limitations of
of PDH
PDH
1. Interface
z Electrical interfaces
„ There are only regional standards, instead of universal
standards
z Optical interfaces
„ No unified standards for optical line equipments,
manufacturers develop equipment according to their own
standards.

4
Limitations
Limitations of
of PDH
PDH
Japanese Series North American Series European Series

1.6Gb/s 565Mb/s
×4 ×4
400Mb/s 274Mb/s 139Mb/s
×4 ×4
100Mb/s ×6 34Mb/s
×3 ×4
×3 8Mb/s
32Mb/s 45Mb/s
×5 ×7
6.3Mb/s 6.3Mb/s

×4 ×3 ×4
×4
1.5Mb/s 2Mb/s
×24 ×30

64Kb/s
5
Limitations
Limitations of
of PDH
PDH
2. Multiplexing Method
z Asynchronous Multiplexing
z Code rate justification is required for matching and accepting
clock difference.
z The locations of the low-rate signals in high-rate signals are not
regular nor fixed.

6
Limitations
Limitations of
of PDH
PDH
Adding and Dropping in PDH
Optical/Electrical Electrical/Optical
140/34 Mb/s 34/140Mb/s

34/8 Mb/s 8/34 Mb/s

demultipexing
multiplexing
8/2 Mb/s 2/8 Mb/s

2 Mb/s
7
Limitations
Limitations of
of PDH
PDH
3. Operation and Maintenance
 PDH signal frame structure has very few overhead bytes for
Operation, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM).
4. Network Management Interface
 No universal network management interface for PDH network.

8
Advantages
Advantages of
of SDH
SDH over
over PDH
PDH
Definition of SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy):
 SDH defines the frame structure, multiplexing method,
transmission rate, and interface code pattern

9
Advantages
Advantages of
of SDH
SDH over
over PDH
PDH
1. Interface
z Electrical interfaces
„ SDH provides a set of standard rate levels----STM-N.
(N= 4n =1, 4, 16, 64……).
„ The basic signal transmission structure level is STM-1, at a
rate of 155Mb/s.
z Optical interfaces
„ Optical interfaces adopt universal standards. Line coding of
SDH signals involves scrambling, instead of inserting
redundancy codes.

10
Advantages
Advantages of
of SDH
SDH over
over PDH
PDH
2. Multiplexing Method
 low-rate SDH signals → high-rate SDH
z Signals via byte interleaved multiplexing method

 PDH signals → SDH

z Synchronous multiplexing method and flexible mapping structure

11
Advantages
Advantages of
of SDH
SDH over
over PDH
PDH
3. Operation and Maintenance
z Abundant overhead bits are used for OAM.
z Unnecessary to add redundancy bits to monitor line performance
during line coding.
4. Compatibility
z SDH network and the existing PDH network can work together.
z SDH network can accommodate the signals of other hierarchies
such as ATM, FDDI, and Ethernet.

12
 Contents

‰ SDH Overview

‰ Frame Structure
‰ Overhead

13
SDH
SDH Frame
Frame Structure
Structure
9×270×N Bytes

1
SOH
Transmission Direction
3
4 AU PTR STM-N Payload
5 (including POH)
SOH

9
9×N 261×N
270×N

 Byte-oriented block structure

 Frame transmission rate: 125µs (8000 frames/sec)

14
SDH
SDH Frame
Frame Structure
Structure
 Payload – area for services transmission in STM-N
2M, 34M, and 140M signals are packed and carried in the
payload of STM-N frame over SDH network. If STM-N frame is
a truck, the payload area is the carriage of the truck.

 Path Overhead (POH) – after packing low rate signals, POH is

added to monitor the transmission of every packet. This
process is like attaching a label on the packet.

15
SDH
SDH Frame
Frame Structure
Structure
 Section Overhead (SOH) – monitors the whole STM-N frame,
i.e. monitor performance of all packages in the carriage of the
truck.
z Regenerator Section Overhead (RSOH) – monitors the whole
STM-N frame.
z Multiplex Section Overhead (MSOH) – monitors each STM-1 of
the STM-N frame.

 RSOH, MSOH, and POH compose the integrated monitoring

system of SDH.

16
SDH
SDH Frame
Frame Structure
Structure
 AU Pointer (AU-PTR) – used for alignment of lower rate signals in
the payload of STM-N frame to accurately locate the payload.
z AU-PTR is added in transmitting end, when the signal is packed
into the payload of STM-N frame. The process could be to setting
a coordinate value to identify where the package is in the carriage.
z At receiving end, the low rate signal is dropped from STM-N frame
according to the AU-PTR value. The process could compare to
getting the package from the carriage according to above
coordinate value.
z Since packages are byte interleaved, the entire payload could be
dropped once the first package is identified through alignment.

17
SDH
SDH Frame
Frame Structure
Structure
 When the rate of the signal to multiplex is lower, for low-speed
signals like 2M & 34M, 2-level pointer alignment is necessary.
z First of all, packing the low rate signals, like 2M or 34M into a
packet;
z Secondly, aligning the signal in the packet by TU Pointer (TU-
PTR);
z Thirdly, multiplexing the above lower rate packet into another
higher rate packet by AU-PTR.

18
SDH
SDH Frame
Frame Structure
Structure

2M

AU-PTR
34M TU-PTR

2-level pointer alignment

19
Synchronous
Synchronous Multiplexing
Multiplexing Structure
Structure
 Multiplexing structure
z Low order SDH frame → high order SDH frame: 4 in 1 byte
interleave
z PDH → STM-N: synchronous multiplexing and flexible mapping
„ 140M → STM-N
„ 34M → STM-N
„ 2M → STM-N
z ITU-T G.709 defines a complete set of multiplexing structures, in
which multiplexing of PDH signal into STM-N frame is not unique
and every country or area adopts one particular structure.

20
 ITU-T
ITU-T G.709
G.709 Multiplexing
Multiplexing Structure
Structure
xN 140Mb/s
STM-N AUG AU-4 VC-4 C-4
x3
x3 TUG-3
x1
TU-3 VC-3
x7 45 Mb/s
AU-3 VC-3 C-3
x7 34 Mb/s
x1
C-2
6.3Mb/s
TUG-2 TU-2 VC-2
x3
2Mb/s
TU-12 VC-12 C-12
x4
1.5Mb/s
TU-11 VC-11 C-11

Container Tributary Unit Group Mapping

Virtual Container
Tributary Unit
Administrative Unit
Administrative Unit Group
Alignment
Synchronous Transmission Module
Multiplexing

21
Multiplexing
Multiplexing Structure
Structure in
in China
China
xN
STM-N AUG AU-4 VC-4 C-4

139264 kb/s
x3

TUG-3 TU-3 VC-3 C-3

44736 kb/s
34268 kb/s
x7
x3
Mapping
TUG-2 TU-12 VC-12 C-12
Alignment
2048 kb/s
Multiplexing

22
Multiplexing
Multiplexing of
of 140M
140M into
into STM-1
STM-1

11 1
Rate Add POH for P
140M adjustment/ monitoring/
packing C-4 packing O VC-4 Next page

9
H 9
1 260 1 261
125 µs 125 µs

 C-4: Container-4 is the standard information structure for 140M signal,

implementing rate adjustment.
 VC-4: Virtual container-4 is the standard information structure
corresponding to C-4, monitoring the real-time performance of the
carried 140M signal.

23
Multiplexing
Multiplexing of
of 140M
140M into
into STM-1
STM-1
1 270
10 270 1
RSOH 1 270×N
1 9 1
Pointer Add AU PTR
AU PTR
alignment AU-4 SOH Payload
MSOH STM-N
9

125 µs 125 µs
9

 AU-4: Administrative Unit 4, the information structure corresponding to

VC-4.
 Multiplexing process: 140M → VC-4 → AU-4 → STM-1
Consequently, only one 140M signal can be multiplexed into STM-1

24
Multiplexing
Multiplexing of
of 34M
34M into
into STM-1
STM-1

1 1

Rate Add POH for P

34M adjustment/ C-3 monitoring/
O VC-3 Next page
packing packing
H
9 9
1 84 1 85
125 µs 125 µs

 C-3: Container 3 is the standard information structure for 34M signal,

implementing rate adjustment.
 VC-3: Virtual Container-3 is the standard information structure
corresponding to C-3, monitoring the real-time performance of the
carried 34M signal.

25
 Multiplexing
Multiplexing of
of 34M
34M into
into STM-1
STM-1
1 86 1 261
1 86 1 H1 ×3 1
H1 1 H2
First level H3 P
H2 Byte
pointer H3 TU-3 Fill in TUG-3 interleave
O R R VC-4
gap H
alignment R
9 9
9

 TU-3: Tributary Unit-3, the standard information structure corresponding to VC-

3, implementing the first level pointer.
 TUG-3: Tributary Unit Group-3, the standard information structure
corresponding to TU-3.
 Multiplexing process: 34M → VC-3 → TU-3 → TUG-3, 3×TUG-3 → VC-4 →
STM-1
Consequently, three 34M signals can be multiplexed into one STM-1.

26
 Multiplexing
Multiplexing of
of 2M
2M into
into STM-1
STM-1
125 µs
Basic frame POH
1 4 1 4 1 4
1 1 1

Add POH for

First level
Rate 速率 Next
2M adjustment
适配 C-12 monitoring VC-12 pointer TU-12 Page
alignment
9 9 9

 C-12: Container-12 is the standard information structure for 2M signal,

implementing rate adjustment. Four basic frames compose a multi-frame.
 VC-12: Virtual Container-12 is the standard information structure
corresponding to C-12, monitoring the real-time performance of the carried 2M
signal.
 TU-12: Tributary Unit-12, the standard information structure corresponding to
VC-12, implementing the first level pointer.

27
 Multiplexing
Multiplexing of
of 2M
2M into
into STM-1
STM-1
1 12 1 86
x3 1x7 x3

Byte Byte Byte

interleave TUG-2 interleave R R TUG-3 interleave

 TUG-2: Tributary Unit Group-2. TUG-3: Tributary Unit Group-3.

 Multiplexing process:
2M → C-12 → VC-12 → TU-12;
3×TU12→ TUG-2;
7×TUG-2 → TUG-3;
3×TUG-3 → VC-4 → STM-1.
Consequently, 63( = 3x7x3) 2M signals can be multiplexed into STM-1.
The multiplexing structure of 2M is 3-7-3 structure.

28
 Mapping
Mapping and
and Multiplexing
Multiplexing Procedure
Procedure

x３
Multiplexing
x３
Multiplexing

AU-PTR
LPOH

x N x 1
STM-N AUG-4 AU-4 VC-4 TUG-3 TUG-2 TU-12 VC-12 C-12 2Mb/s

TU-PTR Rate
xN Multiplexing
HPOH adjustment

x7 Multiplexing

29
 Contents

‰ SDH Overview

‰ Frame Structure

‰ Overhead

30
Overhead
Overhead
 Overhead implements the monitoring functions to ensure
proper transport of the payload.
z Section Overhead- includes RSOH & MSOH
z Path Overhead- includes HPOH & LPOH

31
Section
Section Overhead
Overhead
R A1 A1 A1 A2 A2 A2 J0   Transmission
S direction
B1   E1  F1  
O
H D1   D2  D3

9 rows
Administrative Unit Pointer (AU PTR)
B2 B2 B2 K1 K2
M D4 D5 D6
S
D7 D8 D9
O
H D10 D11 D12
S1 M1 E2  
9 columns
 Reserved for national use
 Media dependent bytes

32
A1,
A1, A2
A2 Bytes
Bytes
 Framing Alignment Bytes: A1, A2
z To identify the initial location of a frame
z A1=F6 H, A2=28 H

A1, A2 cannot be detected for five consecutive frames;

OOF is reported

OOF lasts 3 m seconds

LOF is reported

33
J0
J0 Byte
Byte
 Regenerator Section Trace Byte: J0

z As the identification of regenerator section access point, it

ensures that a section receiver can verify its continued connection
to the intended transmitter.
z It is used to identify individual STM-1 inside a multiplexed STM-N.
STM-16 has sixteen J0 bytes for every STM-1 in it.

34
F1
F1 Byte
Byte
 User Channel Byte: F1
z Provides a 64 kb/s data/voice channel for special maintenance
purposes.

35
D1-D12
D1-D12 Bytes
Bytes
 Data Communication Channel (DCC) Bytes: D1-D12
z DCC is the channel for transmission of OAM information among
NEs and NMS.
z 192kp/s (3 x 64 = 192) channel is defined using bytes D1, D2,
and D3 as a Regenerator Section DCC.
z 576kp/s (9 x 64 = 576) channel is defined using bytes D4 to D12
as Multiplex Section DCC.

36
E1,
E1, E2
E2 Bytes
Bytes
 Orderwire Bytes: E1, E2
z E1 and E2 are used to provide 64 kb/s channels for voice
communication.
z E1 is accessed at regenerators as well as at all multiplex points
z E2 is accessed only at Multiplexers

37
B1
B1 Byte
Byte
 Bit Interleaved Parity (BIP-8) Byte: B1
z B1 is for regenerator section error monitoring.
z BIP-8 is computed over all bits of the regenerator section of STM-
N frame.
z BIP-8 Principle:
„ B1 is computed in unit of 8 bits.
„ Monitoring partition: bit column.
„ Even parity is generated by setting the BIP-8 bits so that there
is an even number of 1s in each partition of the signal.

38
B1
B1 Byte
Byte
 B1 Byte Principle
z At transmitting side, the BIP-8 is computed over all bits of the STM-N
regenerator before scrambling, and the result is placed in byte B1 of the
preceding frame.
z At receiving end, the BIP-8 is computed over all bits of the regenerator
after de-scrambling. This result is then Exclusive OR with the B1 byte
result received in later frame.
z If the value of Exclusive OR operation is zero, there is no bit block error.
But if the result is not zero then there may be errors in transmission.
A1 00110011
A2 11001100
For example
BIP-8 A3 10101010
BIP-8 is computed over a A4 00001111
frame of signal composed
of 4 bytes.
B 01011010

39
B1
B1 Byte
Byte
 At transmitting end A, BIP-8 is computed over all bits of the first
frame, and result is placed in byte B1 of the second frame. At
receiving end B, the BIP-8 is computed over all bits of the first
frame, and then exclusive OR with the B1 byte of the second
frame. The number of 1s of exclusive OR operation indicate
transmission errors.
1st frame
Nth
frame

2nd
1st Nth frame
frame frame
2nd
frame A B

Transmitting end Receiving end

40
B2
B2 Bytes
Bytes
 Bit Interleaved Parity Nx24 (BIP-Nx24) Byte: B2
z B2 is for multiplex section error monitoring.
z The BIP-N x 24 is computed over all bits of the STM-N frame
except for the first three rows of SOH.
z BIP-N x 24 Principle:
Î B2 is computed in unit of N x 24.
Î Monitoring block: bit column.
Î Even parity is generated by setting the BIP-N x 24 bits so that
there is an even number of 1s in each block of the signal.

41
B2
B2 Bytes
Bytes
 B2 Byte Principle
z At transmitting end, the BIP-Nx24 is computed over all bits of the STM-N
frame except for the first three rows of SOH, and the result is placed in 3
bytes B2 of the preceding frame before scrambling.
z At receiving end, the BIP- Nx24 is computed over all bits of the frame
except for the first three rows of SOH, and then Exclusive OR with the B2
bytes of the later arrived frame.
z If the value of Exclusive OR operation is zero, there is no bit block error.
Any mismatch in result indicates transmission errors.

11001100 11001100 11001100

For example
BIP-N×24 is computed
over a frame of signal
composed of 9 bytes.
01011101 01011101 01011101
BIP24 11110000 11110000 11110000
01100001 01100001 01100001

42
M1
M1 Byte
Byte
 Multiplex Section Remote Error Indication (MS-REI) Byte:
M1
z A return information from receiving end detecting MS-BBE to
transmitting end.
z Convey the count of interleaved bit blocks that have been
detected in error by BIP-24 in receiving end.
z The transmitting end will report a corresponding performance
event, MS-REI.

43
K1,
K1, K2
K2 Bytes
Bytes
 Automatic Protection Switching (APS) Bytes: K1 & K2
Last three bits of K2 byte indicates alarm type;
z 111 indicates MS-AIS alarm (Multiplex Section Alarm Indication
Signal) at receiving end.
z 110 stands for MS-RDI alarm (Multiplex Section Remote Defect
Indication) at transmitting end.

44
S1
S1 Byte
Byte
 Synchronization Status Message Byte: S1 (b5-b8)
z S1 is used to implement clock source protection and switching
function.
z The value corresponding to b5-b8 indicates the quality of
synchronization. The smaller values indicates better quality of the
clock sources.

45
Section
Section Overhead
Overhead
 Byte interleaving of Section Overhead
When STM-1 frames are multiplexed into STM-N, the byte
interleave multiplexing way of AU Pointer and Payload is
different from Section Overhead. In former case, all bytes are
interleaved. For the later, only the first STM-1 frame’s section
overhead is reserved, while remaining STM-1 frame’s Section
Overheads are omitted except few bytes like A1, A2, B2.

46
Path
Path Overhead
Overhead
 Classification
z High Order Path Overhead (HPOH)
z Low Order Path Overhead (LPOH)

47
HPOH
HPOH

1 261
J1 Path trace byte 1
B3 Path BIP-8 byte

C2 Signal label byte

G1 Path status byte

VC4 F2 Path user channels byte

H4 Position indicator byte

F3 Path user channels byte
K3 (b1~b4) APS channel byte
N1 Network operator byte 9

48
J1
J1 Byte
Byte
 Path Trace Byte: J1
z The first byte of VC4
z Pointed by AU-PTR
z Required to be matched at transmitting and receiving ends

49
B3
B3 Byte
Byte
 Path BIP-8 Code: B3
z Implements higher order VC’s error monitoring
z Monitoring principle: BIP-8 even parity
z The value of B3 byte needs to be compared at both transmitting
and receiving ends. Any inconsistency between two results means
transmission errors in VC-4.

50
C2
C2 Byte
Byte
 Signal Label Byte: C2
z Indicates the composition and type of multiplexing structure
z Examples:
00H means unused
02H means multiplexing structure is 3xTUG-3
z Indicate the information about payload type
z Required match at both ends

51
G1
G1 Byte
Byte
Path Status Byte: G1
 Indicating high order VC transmission status
 Return message from receiving end to transmitting end
z HP-REI: Higher Order Path Remote Error indication (sum of
receiving error block of VC4)
z HP-RDI: High Order Path Remote Defect Indication

52
H4
H4 Byte
Byte
Multi-frame Indicator Byte: H4
 Indicate the multi-frame types and location of the payload.
 For 2M PDH to SDH multiplexing structure, H4 indicates the
current frame is which frame of the multi-frame, allowing Rx to
find TU-PTR and drop 2M signals.
 H4 value: 00H-03H

53
Low
Low Order
Order Path
Path Overhead
Overhead
1 4
1 V5 J2 N2 K4

VC12 VC12 VC12 VC12

9
500µs VC12 Multi-frame

 V5: Path status, Path BIP-2, and Signal Label Byte

 J2: Low order path trace byte
 N2: byte for network operator usage
 K4: APS byte for low order path

54
V5
V5 Byte
Byte
Path Status, Path BIP-2, & Signal Label Byte: V5
 The first byte of VC-12 multi-frame
 Pointed by TU-PTR
 Monitor error block, signal label, path status
z Error block monitoring: b1-b2
z Return path status message: b3, b8
z Signal label: b5-b7
 Similar to B3, C2, and G1

55
SDH
SDH Frame
Frame Structure
Structure
 Understanding SOH and POH?
z Both SOH and POH are bytes for Operation, Administration, and
Maintenance (OAM), which ensure reliable and flexible
transmission.

z SOH and POH monitor and administrate transmission at different

layers (or levels). RSOH and MSOH are for regenerator section
and multiplex section respectively. Whereas, HPOH and LPOH
are for VC-4 / VC-3 and VC-12 respectively.

56
SDH
SDH Frame
Frame Structure
Structure
 Comparison
z LPOH – to monitor small package (VC-12)
z HPOH – to monitor large package (VC-3/VC-4)
z MSOH – to monitor the carriage of the truck (STM-1)
z RSOH – to monitor the motorcade which consists of trucks (STM-
4 / STM-16 / STM-64)

57
Hierachy
Hierachy of
of common
common alarms
alarms
R-LOS R-LOF

MS-EXC MS-AIS

AU-LOP AU-AIS HP-UNEQ HP-TIM HP-SLM

TU-AIS

58
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