12 October 2014 Taiz University, YEMEN

Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is designed to use the high-data-

rate capability of fiber-optic cable.
WDM is conceptually the same as FDM, except that the multiplexing and
demultiplexing involve optical signals transmitted through fiber-optic
channels.
A new method, called dense WDM (DWDM), can multiplex a very large
number of channels by spacing channels very close to one another. It
achieves even greater efficiency.

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 There are two types of TDM according to its
implementation:

Synchronous TDM

Asynchronous TDM

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 For n devices (or channels) there are n time slot in each frame.

A frame is a group of time slots gathered in one complete cycle. As the

time slot order in synchronous TDM does not vary from frame to frame,
very little overhead information needs to be included in each frame. These
bits are called framing bits.
The switch in TDM MUX shown moves from one device to device at a
constant rate and in a fixed order. This process is called interleaving.

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 This type of TDM is also called statistical TDM as it
avoids the redundant bits requirement. In synchronous
TDM, the total speed of the input lines can be greater
than the capacity of the link.
In synchronous TDM, for n channel input, there are at
least n time slots. In asynchronous TDM, for n input
channel, the number of time slots is less than n (say
m). Hence with the same link, asynchronous TDM can
support more devices than synchronous TDM.
The number of asynchronous TDM frame (m) is based
on a statistical analysis of the number of input lines
that are likely to the transmitting at any given time.

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 The operation of asynchronous TDM is explained with two cases.
Case (i): The Following Figure shows the multiplexing of
asynchronous TDM where there are 5 input lines and of five only
three input channels are sending data.

This additional bit is attached by the multiplexer and discarded by the

demultiplexer once it has been read. This is called addressing. This causes the
system to become inefficient and additional overhead.

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Case (ii): The Following Figure shows the multiplexing of
asynchronous TDM where there are 5 input lines and of five,
four channels are sending data.

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 Synchronous TDM
1. Fixed positional relationship
By this advantage, only framing bit This is the disadvantage that for
for each frame is required.
2. Fixed length time slots. It
requires more time slots for high
speed channel.
3. Buffer is not required.
Asynchronous TDM
No fixed positional relationships
each channel, input addressing is
required. This results in additional
overhead.
Variable length time slots. The
time slot length can be varied
according to the faster data rate of
the channel.
Buffer is required.

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 Data rate: 2 Mbps.
TDM to assemble 24 or 30 channels.
This is known as the primary multiplex group.
It can be used as a building block for larger numbers
of channels in higher-order multiplex system (such
PDH and SDH).

30-channel format (Europ)

24-channel format (USA, and Japan)

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 30-channel PCM frame format

Data rate = 8 kHz 8 32 = 2.048 Mbps

It is known as E1

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 24-channel PCM frame format

Data rate = 8 kHz (8 24 + 1) = 1.544 Mbps

It is known as DS-1 (or T1)

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 Bit interleaving

Word interleaving

In higher-order multiplex systems, several bit

streams, known as tributaries, are combined
by a multiplexer at each level in the hierarchy.
Bit interleaving is almost used in the PHD,
while word interleaving was chosen for the
SDH.
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 If there are N input signals, each with a rate of ft
bps, then the combined rate will be Nft bps.
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 The development of digital transmission systems started in
the early 70s, and was based on the Pulse Code Modulation
(PCM) method.
In the early 80's digital systems became more and more
complex, demanding for high order multiplexing through a
hierarchy of increasing bit rates up to 140 Mbps or 565 Mbps
in Europe.
The problem was the high cost of bandwidth and digital
devices. The solution that was created then, was a
multiplexing technique, allowed for the combining of slightly
non synchronous rates, referred to as plesiochronous*, which
lead to the term plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH).
*Plesiochronous - "almost synchronous , because bits are stuffed into the frames
as padding and the calls location varies slightly - jitters - from frame to frame".

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 The PDH systems use bit interleaving. The
frame length is the same as for the primary
multiplex, i.e. 125 s (sampling rate of 8 kHz).
There are two standards for PDH:
PDH Standards
European PDH Standard

North American PDH Standard

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 The fact that each of the multiplexers transmits according to its
own clock creates a problem when we need to multiplex several
transmitted data streams, the problem is that we can't decide
which clock to choose for the multiplexing. If we will choose a fast
clock we will not have enough data to put in the frame from a
slower incoming data stream (we will get empty spaces in the
frame), from the other hand if we will choose a slow clock the data
at the faster incoming stream will be lost.
This problem was solved with a bit stuffing algorithm, which is
implemented by using a fast clock that allows transmission of
indication bits and stuff bits. In case that the data is slower then
"expected", the indication bits indicate that the following stuff bits
are "garbage" and if the data is faster then "expected" the
indication bits indicate that the following stuff bits are data. This is
the reason why 4 * En-1 < En

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 In digital transmission, clocking is one of the most important
considerations. Clocking means using a series of repetitive pulses to
keep the bit rate of data constant and to indicate where the ones and
zeroes are located in a data stream.
These clocks are totally free-running and not synchronized. Large
variations occur in the clock rate and thus the signal bit rate. For
example, a DS3 signal specified at 44.736 Mbps + 20 parts per million
(i.e. error 2 10-5) can produce a variation of up to 1,789 bps between
one incoming DS3 and another.
Signals such as DS-1s are multiplexed in stages up to DS-3 and so on.
Extra bits are added to the stream of data (bit stuffing) to account for
timing variation in each stream. At the higher asynchronous rate, they
cannot be accessed without demultiplexing.

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 Networks are becoming fully digital, operating synchronously, using
high-capacity optical fiber transmission systems and time-division
switching.
It is advantageous for the multiplexers used in these networks to be
compatible with the switches used at the network (i.e. they should
synchronous).
The United States (ANSI) and Europe (ITU-T) have responded by
defining standards that, though independent, are fundamentally
similar and ultimately compatible.
The ANSI standard is called the Synchronous Optical Network
(SONET).
The ITU-T standard is called the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
(SDH).
SONET/SDH is a synchronous network using synchronous TDM
multiplexing. All clocks in the system are locked to a master.

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 SONET defines a hierarchy of electrical signaling levels
called synchronous transport signals (STSs).
Each STS level (STS-1 to STS-192) supports a certain data
rate, specified in Mbps as show in the following Table.
The corresponding optical signals are called optical carriers
(OCs).
SDH specifies a similar system called synchronous transport
module (STM).
STM is intended to be compatible with existing European
hierarchies, such as E lines, and with STS levels. To this end,
the lowest STM level, STM-1, is defined as 155.520 Mbps,
which is exactly equal to STS-3 as shown in the following
Table (Next Slid) .

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 Reference: CH14, Data Communications and Networking, 5th Edition, by B. Forouzan
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 SONET/SDH transmission relies on four basic devices:
STS/STM multiplexers/demultiplexers. Add/drop multiplexers
Regenerators. Terminals.

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 STS/STM Multiplexer/Demultiplexer: STS/STM
MUX/DEMUXs mark the beginning points and
endpoints of a SONET link. They provide the interface
between an electrical tributary network and the
optical network.
Regenerator: Regenerators extend the length of the
links. A regenerator is a repeater that takes a
received optical signal (OC-n), demodulates it into
the corresponding electric signal (STS-n/STM-n),
regenerates the electric signal, and finally modulates
the electric signal into its correspondent OC-n signal.

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 Add/drop Multiplexer: Add/drop multiplexers allow
insertion and extraction of signals. An add/drop
multiplexer (ADM) can add STSs/STMs coming from
different sources into a given path or can remove a
desired signal from a path and redirect it without
demultiplexing the entire signal.
Terminals: A terminal is a device that uses the
services of a SONET network. For example, in the
Internet, a terminal can be a router that needs to
send packets to another router at the other side of a
SONET/SDH network.

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 The devices defined in the previous Figure are connected
using sections, lines, and paths.
Sections: A section is the optical link connecting two
neighbouring devices: multiplexer to multiplexer, multiplexer
to regenerator, or regenerator to regenerator.
Lines: A line is the portion of the network between two
multiplexers: STS/STM multiplexer to add/drop multiplexer,
two add/drop multiplexers, or two STS/STM multiplexers.
Paths: A path is the end-to-end portion of the network
between two STS multiplexers. In a simple SONET of two STS
multiplexers linked directly to each other, the section, line,
and path are the same.
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 Each synchronous transfer signal STS-n is composed of 8000
frames. Each frame is a two-dimensional matrix of bytes with
9 rows by 90 n columns.
For example, an STS-1 frame is 9 rows by 90 columns (810
bytes), and an STS-3 is 9 rows by 270 columns (2430 bytes).
The following Figure shows the general format of an STS-1 and
an STS-n.

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 One of the interesting points about SONET is that each STS-n signal is
transmitted at a fixed rate of 8000 frames per second.
For each frame the bytes are transmitted from the left to the right, top to
the bottom.
For each byte, the bits are transmitted from the most significant to the
least significant (left to right).
The following Figure shows the order of frame and byte transmission.

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 A SONET frame is a matrix of 9 rows of 90 bytes (octets) each, for a total of
810 bytes.
The first three columns of the frame are used for section overhead (SOH)
and line overhead (LOH).
The rest of the frame is called the synchronous payload envelope (SPE). It
contains user data and path overhead (POH) needed at the user data level.
POH consists of 9 bytes.

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 SOH is recalculated for each SONET device
(regenerators and multiplexers).
LOH is calculated for each multiplexer (MUX,
DEMUX, or ADM).
POH is only calculated for end-to-end (at STS
multiplexers).
In SONET, the data rate of an STS-n signal is n
times the data rate of an STS-1 signal.
In SONET, the duration of any frame is 125 s.
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 Examples

1. Find the data rate of an STS-1 signal.

(9) x (90 bytes/frame) x (8 bits/byte) x (8,000 frames/s) = 51,840,000 bps =
51.840 Mbps
2. Find the data rate of an STS-3 signal.
3. What is the duration of an STS-1 frame? STS-3 frame? STS-n
frame?
4. What is the user data rate of an STS-1 frame (without
considering the overheads)?
5. How many DS-1s frames can be loaded by STS1 payload (in
one frame) to transport it through SONET.

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 Each synchronous transport module STM-n is
composed of 8000 frames. Each frame is a two-
dimensional matrix of bytes with 9 rows by 270 n
columns.
For example, an STM-3 is 9 rows by 270 columns (2430
bytes). So it has data rate of
9270 8 8000=155.520 Mbps.
For each frame the bytes are transmitted from the left
to the right, top to the bottom.
For each byte, the bits are transmitted from the most
significant to the least significant (left to right).
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 A SDH frame is a matrix of
9 rows of 270 bytes each,
for a total of 2430 bytes.
The first nine columns of
the frame are used for
frame overheads: SOH and
LOH.
The rest of the frame is
called the synchronous
payload envelope (SPE). It
contains user data and POH
needed at the user data
level. POH consists of 27
bytes for STM-1.
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 In SDH, the data rate of an STM-n signal is n times the
data rate of an STM-1 signal.
In SDH, the duration of any frame is 125 s.
Each tributary to the multiplex has its own payload
area, known as a tributary unit (TU). In North America,
a TU is called a virtual tributary (VT). Each column
contains 9 bytes (one from each row), with each byte
having 64 kbps capacity.
In the multiplexing process, the bytes from a tributary
are assembled into a container and a POH is added to
form a virtual container (VC).

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 Tutorial
STM-1 contains 63 primary 2-Mbps data streams and
each of them contains 30 time slots for speech.
(a) How many simultaneous calls (64 Kbps) can be
transmitted over a single fiber pair used by the STM-
16 optical system?
(b) What is the number of simultaneous calls if a DWDM
system using a 100-GHz wavelength grid from
1,528.77 nm/196.1 THz to 1,563.86 nm/191.7 THz is
implemented?
(c) The STM-16 signal is transmitted through each optical
channel. What will be the total data rate of the
DWDM system from part (b)?

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 SONET is designed to carry broadband payloads. Current
digital hierarchy data rates (DS-1 to DS-3), however, are lower
than STS-1.
To make SONET backward-compatible with the current
hierarchy, its frame design includes a system of virtual
tributaries (VTs) (see the following Figure).

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 A virtual tributary is a partial payload that can be inserted into an STS-1
and combined with other partial payloads to fill out the frame. Instead of
using all 86 payload columns of an STS-1 frame for data from one source,
we can subdivide the SPE and call each component a VT.
Four types of VTs have been defined to accommodate existing digital
hierarchies (see the following Figure). Notice that the number of columns
allowed for each type of VT can be determined by doubling the type
identification number (VT1.5 gets three columns,VT2 gets four columns,
etc.).

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 Four types of VTs can be used as follows:
VT1.5 accommodates the U.S. DS-1 service (1.544 Mbps).
VT2 accommodates the European CEPT-1 service (2.048 Mbps).
VT3 accommodates the DS-1C service (fractional DS-1, 3.152 Mbps).
VT6 accommodates the DS-2 service (6.312 Mbps).

When two or more tributaries are inserted

into a single STS-1 frame, they are interleaved
column by column.

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 Example
VT2 is a frame of 36 bytes that is made up of 4 columns and 9 rows. It is used for
transmission of an European E-1 line (can E-line can carry 30 voice channels). The data rate
of VT2 is
= 36 bytes 8 bits 8000 frames/sec
= 2.304 Mbps.
The following Figure shows VT2 framed into STS-1 frame.

How many number of VT2 containers can transmit over the STS-1 payload?

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