Modern

Telecommunication
Networks
by
Henry Dijkstra
Jan 2024

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 Table of Contents
1 Telecom Technologies
Mobile, FTTX, Legacy & Common Technologies

2 Telecom Sites
Core, CPE & Access Sites

3 Equipment Rooms
With Raised Floors, Without Raised Floors & Sites without Equipment Rooms

4 Telecom Nodes (Network Elements)

Active Nodes, Passive Nodes, Nodes that are also Sites & Power Nodes

5 Sub Nodes
Hardware Sub-Nodes & Software Sub-Nodes

6 Node Ports
Mechanical, Electrical, Optical & RF

7 Telecom Connections (Circuits)

Trenches, Ducts, Sub-Ducts, Cables, Transport Carriers, Transport, Interface

8 Telecom Network Data

9 Telecom Naming Convention

Sites, Speeds & Sequence Numbers

10 Common Technology Subnetworks (Signalling)

Signalling Networks, SS7 & IP-based Signalling Protocols

11 Conclusion

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1 Technologies
Modern telecom networks are made up of many di erent and interconnected
technologies. However, in simple terms, there are three basic technologies currently
being used, namely mobile, bre and legacy.

1.1 Mobile Networks

This currently includes 5G (5GC / 5G-NR) and 4G
(LTE) for customers with mobile devices. 5G
networks can either operate as a stand-alone
network (SA) or a non-stand-alone network (NSA).
SA networks are normally private 5G networks, while
NSA are public networks with connectivity to 4G and
legacy-based networks.
Both SA and NSA networks can be con gured for
Frequency range 1 (FR1) or Frequency Range (FR2).
FR2 networks use higher frequencies that employ
the most recent radio-based technologies, such as
full duplex, beam forming, small cell, and multiple in-
multiple out (MIMO) antennas.

1.2 Fibre to the X

This is referred to as FTTx, or Fibre to the x.
The letter x can be the home (FTTH), the
node (FTTN), the premises (FTTP), or the
curb (FTTC). This service uses Gigabit
Passive Optical Networks (GPON) and 10
times GPON technology. FTTx provides
internet access for customers with devices
accessing the Internet via Wi-Fi or directly
via an Ethernet cable to the customer’s
router.

1.3 Legacy Networks

This technology group covers older
networks like the Public Switched
Telephone Network (PSTN),
Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Lines
(ADSL), Very High Speed Digital
Subscriber Lines (VDSL), 3G Universal
Mobile Transport System (UMTS) and
other networks using circuit switched
(CS), packet switched (PS), frequency
division multiplexed (FDM), or time
division multiplexed (TDM)
technologies.
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 1.4 Common Technologies (Power and Transmission)

In addition to mobile, FTTx and legacy networks, power and transmission is deployed
to support these three network types.

AC POWER
Power systems for telecom networks
produce alternating current (ac) supplies
or direct current (DC) supplies. The ac
networks are at grid voltage and include
solar systems, uninterruptible power
supplies (UPS), generators, automatic
transfer switches (ATS), earthing systems
and distribution cabinets.
DC POWER
Power systems for telecom networks
also produce direct current (DC)
supplies. The DC networks normally
produce a nominal -48v, and include
recti ers, batteries, solar systems,
earthing systems, bus bars and
distribution cabinets.

TRANSMISSION
Backbone transmission to carry traffic from location to location comes in many
forms, depending upon the requirements. Normal physical transmission
bearers include satellite, optical cables, electrical cables, and microwave radio.

These bearers carry the logical transmission technologies, including:

Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM),
Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH),
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH),
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM),
Gigabit Ethernet (1GE, 10GE, 100GE),
Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM)
Multi-Packet Label Switching (MPLS)
Orthogonal FDM (OFDM)

to name just a few.

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 The type of technology that is used in a particular network depends upon how old the
network is, and what the network is used for. Pulse Network Manager is a fully
customisable telecom network inventory system, so its can register any technology
type.

2 Telecom Sites
Telecom sites are the buildings or large enclosures that accommodate the equipment
being used in telecom networks. Sites can be classi ed into three di erent types,
namely; core, customer premises equipment (CPE) and access.

2.1 Core Sites

Core sites may include telephone
exchanges, satellite earth stations, data
centres, sea cable landing stations, and
microwave shelters. In very general
terms, these core sites accommodate
the overall intelligence of the core
telecom network and provides the
interconnect to other telecom networks.
In many cases, core sites will be a
“general telecom building” with all or
some of the site functions mentioned
above.

2.2 Customer Premises Equipment Sites (CPE)

Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), as
the name suggests, are sites owned by
customers. From a telecommunications
perspective, these sites accommodate
xed line equipment that connect to the
network. A list of CPE sites will be a very
long one but will include industrial
buildings, retail outlets, o ces, and
housing
residential
canhousing.
be further
Residential
categorised into
single dwelling units (SDU), as would be
the case for a standalone house, and
multi-dwelling units (MDU), as would be
the case for a multi-story apartment
building.

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2.3 Access Sites
In order for customer’s tra c to connect to equipment in the core network, it will need
to pass through an access network. Most of the time, sites in the access network will
also be considered as being outside plant (OSP) sites. OSP sites are not generally a
building but more often, an enclosure or shelter.
Access network sites may include towers, masts, manholes, street cabinets, hand-holes
and cell site shelters.
Sometimes a telco may rent real estate from a customer
to accommodate some of their network equipment. An
example of this, would be an incumbent operator
renting space on a church steeple to mount an antenna.
If that same church also rented a landline from the
incumbent operator, the church site would be
considered both an access site (because of the
antenna) and a CPE site (because of the junction box
and telephone associated with the landline).
Sometimes, especially in outside plant (OSP)
scenarios, a site can be more than just a site. An
underground manhole for example, can be considered
both a site and a piece of equipment. A manhole is
considered a site only if its geographical location is
taken into account.
Telcos may need to apply to local government to instal
a manhole in a particular location and then provide a
physical address or GPS co-ordinates.
A manhole however is also a piece of equipment that is manufactured, is identi ed with a
model number and needs to be purchased.

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Depending upon the site type, PNM will apply certain database rules. For example,
PNM pays attention to security in core and access sites, but ignores security for
customer premises equipment sites.

There are many sites in even a small telecom network. It is important that each site is
correctly identi ed to avoid any confusion. The International Telecommunications Union
(ITU) recommendation M.1400 provides guidelines for a naming convention. For sites,
an abbreviation for the name is used, normally consisting of letters and numbers.
However, these recommendations were written for older networks and quite often,
cannot strictly be applied to newer networks. Most Telcos adopt their own “modern”
version of ITU M.1400 so that they can apply it to their networks, including its sites.

PNM allows telcos to make use of M.1400, a modi ed version of M.1400 or their own
naming convention to name not only their sites, but their entire network.

3 Equipment Rooms
A telecommunication site in the core network would have at least one equipment
room but normally more, depending upon its size and network function. A legacy
telephone exchange site may have three equipment rooms, one for power
equipment, one for the switching equipment and one for the transmission
equipment.

The equipment rooms are normally divided into rows. Each row contains a number of
racks. The equipment itself is installed within the racks.

3.1 Equipment Rooms with Raised Floors

Equipment rooms may have a raised oor. Tiles are mounted on rods. The rods support
a metal framework that holds a series of raised tiles. The rows of racks are placed on
the raised tiles. There may be, but there doesn’t have to be, a relationship between the
rows of tiles and the rows of equipment.
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Sometimes an equipment rack is the same size as the tile it is placed on, sometimes it is
larger and sometimes it is smaller. The amount of space an equipment rack requires is
known as a footprint. In an ideal world, one footprint would occupy one tile. However,
smaller footprints can occupy a fraction of a tile and larger footprints can occupy more
than one tile.

Not all tile positions can accommodate racks. A door opening, furniture, re hydrant,
emergency exit, or internal support structures such as a pillar, can render a oor tile
position unusable.

When a raised oor is used, the weight of the equipment becomes very important. If
there is an excess of weight on the raised oor, there is a risk that the supporting rods
will bend or break, thereby causing the raised oor to collapse. This will damage the
equipment, break inter-connecting cables and may cause serious injury or death to
anyone in the equipment room at the time. This is why heavy equipment such as large
battery banks are very seldomly installed in an equipment room with a raised oor.

For safety reasons, supporting rods and their associated metal framework that are used
for raised oors, should therefore be inspected regularly for damage and wear.

3.2 Equipment Rooms without Raised Floors

Not all access sites have equipment rooms. Those access network sites that do have
equipment rooms, like a microwave shelter, are normally smaller and tend to only have
one or two equipment rooms. The equipment rooms do not normally use raised oors.

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3.3 Sites without Equipment Rooms

Not all access sites have equipment

rooms. Those access network sites
that do have equipment rooms, like
a microwave shelter, are normally
smaller and tend to only have one
or two equipment rooms. The
equipment rooms do not normally
use raised oors.

Most access network sites do not

have an equipment room. Examples of those sites include towers, masts, manholes,
hand-holes, and street cabinets. Those sites do not normally accommodate very much
equipment, so racks are not required.

Pulse Telecom’s Network Manager (PNM), registers data concerning all equipment
rooms. For sites where racks are used, the data imported into PNM is used to
automatically generate equipment room oor plans. This allows technicians and
engineers to identify the exact location of equipment that is of interest to them. It also
allows technicians and telcos to accurately plan network expansion at a physical level,
in any equipment room within their network.

4 Telecom Nodes (Network Elements)

Nodes are the individual items of equipment, that are installed in equipment rooms – or
the individual items of equipment installed in sites without equipment rooms.
Sometimes nodes can also be called network elements (NE). In broad terms, there are
two types of nodes, active and passive.

4.1 Active Nodes

Active nodes are nodes that require
power. In many cases, active nodes
also have the ability of being managed
via a communication channel.
Examples of active nodes include:

• Servers
• Multiplexors
• Packet Shapers
• Radio Heads
• Etc.

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 4.2 Passive Nodes
Passive nodes are nodes that do not require power, nor do they have the ability to
consume power. Without power, they do not have the ability to be managed via a
communication channel.

Examples of passive nodes are

distribution nodes like:

• Main distribution frames (MDF)

• Optical distribution frames (ODF)
• Digital Distribution frames (DDF)
• Splitters
• External termination points (ETP)
• Etc.

4.3 Nodes that are also sites

As mentioned previously, some sites are also regarded as nodes. A manhole is such
an example. The manhole, as a geographic location, and a hole in the ground, is the
site.
The manhole as a product, does not require any power. It is impossible to plug a
laptop into a manhole and expect the manhole to report on its condition or
environment.

4.4 Power Nodes

Power nodes are always interesting but
di cult nodes to classify. Batteries for
instance, consume power when they are
charged, so therefore they are active nodes.
Recti ers consume power via their ac input,
but also produce power via their DC output.
An Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS), despite
switching power, doesn’t actually consume
power and must therefore be regarded as a
passive device – unless it has built in
electronics for management, in which case it
is an active device.

The same applies to ac and DC distribution boards that accommodate the required
circuit breakers and fuses. These nodes are functionally passive unless enhanced by
electronics requiring power. The node’s function is passive, but the node itself is
implemented as an active node.

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4.5 Node Properties
Each node has a certain group of properties. Some properties relate to that one
particular Node, for instance, it’s serial number or con guration. Other properties may
relate to that node model, for instance, its power consumption, physical dimensions or
its user manual.
PNM already has many common properties ready for data to be entered. However, PNM
also allows users to create their own properties.
A node’s particular property can be used entirely for the user’s bene t, or it can be used
by PNM for a capacity calculation. Some properties are used for both, depending upon
the particular property. For example, the amount of thermal radiation that a node
generates will be used by PNM for its thermal capacity calculations. This is so a report
can be generated to say whether there is su cient cooling capacity in the heat,
ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system to keep the equipment room at the correct
temperature.

For most people at a functional level, this level of node analytics is too deep to be
considered even interesting. However, for PNM, these de nitions are very important.
This is because PNM creates rules, relationships and calculations based upon these
classi cations.

5 Telecom Sub-Nodes
5.1 Hardware Sub-Nodes
Sometimes, a node is made up of a series of smaller nodes that live inside a host node.
There are two main types of sub-nodes, hardware sub-nodes and software sub-nodes.
A typical example of a hardware sub
node is an Add Drop Multiplexer
(ADM) within a SDH network. The
host node is the ADM itself. The ADM
might contain a number of E1
tributary cards. Each tributary card
has its own properties, similar to the
properties of its parent node. In some
cases, the sub-node may change the
properties of its host node. This might
be the case in an ADM node’s power
requirements, that will increase as
more E1 cards are added. The ADM’s
total power requirements will be
related to its con guration property,
which will de ne how many cards are
installed, their type and their
individual power requirements.

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 A host node could be regarded as a sub-node, depending
upon where it was installed. Following certain rules, the
same node type, for example an optical splitter, could be
a node in one site and a sub-node in another site, all in
the same network. This makes life very complicated and
needs to be avoided.
Imagine a splitter that is located in an equipment room
of an exchange building. The splitter is obviously
considered to be a node. If that same splitter was
installed in a manhole, and the manhole was
considered a node, that splitter would have to be a sub-node. From that splitter’s
perspective, we need to refer to a manhole as a site. This enables the splitter to always
be a node, regardless of where it is installed.
5.2 Software Sub-Nodes
A typical example of a software sub-node is an application that performs a network
function.
In 5G, these applications would include the access and mobility function (AMF),
session management function (SMF), user plane function (UPF), centralised unit (CU),
and distribution unit (DU), etc.

The software functions reside in a server. That server is a host node. The applications
inside the server are its sub node(s). The properties of a software sub-node are very
di erent from a hardware host node. A software sub node itself, doesn’t generate heat,
but may in uence the amount of heat generated by its host node. A software sub-node
doesn’t occupy a footprint in an equipment room, but does occupy storage in the host,
and consumes the host node’s processing power.

For a hardware or a software-based host node, its con guration would be dependent
upon the properties of its sub nodes. If relevant, these are sent internally within PNM
to its capacity calculator.

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6 Node Ports
Every node has ports. Ports terminate connections between the node and other nodes.
Ports are the gateway to the rest of the network via a connection of some description.
Even a simple bedside light has a port. This is a power port where the connection is the
power cord. Without ports, a node would have to be able to function without any
connection to any other node. These self-su cient type nodes, by pure de nition, can
never be part of a telecom network.

A node has one or more node types. For instance an ODF that has many identical ports
that terminate a speci c bre optic type connector would be regarded as one port type.
That same ODF might have multiple port types.

Physical properties fall into one of 4 main port type groups. These are:

• Mechanical
• Electrical
• Optical
• Radio frequency (RF).

6.1 Mechanical Ports 6.2 Electrical Ports

An example of a node having a
mechanical port type is a manhole,
when that manhole is being
considered as a node. The port is the
hole in the wall through which ducts
and cables can pass through. It’s
physical properties would include the
size of the hole. As a manhole is a
passive node, its ports would never
have any logical properties.
Electrical port types can be subdivided
even further into functions. An electrical
port may be used to send or receive
electrical power, or it may be used to
send and receive electrical
communication signals. Using a server
node as an example, it will have both
electrical power and communication
ports.
The Physical properties include the
physical interface. There are too many to
name but they include:

• Bayonet Neill-Cionceloman (BNC)

• Registered Jack 45 (RJ45)
• Krone Connectors
• Solder Tags

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6.3 Optical Ports
From a physical interface perspective,
optical port properties re similar to
electrical ports. Optical bres can be
terminated with a variety of
connectors. These include:
6.4 RF Ports
From a physical interface perspective, the
RF interface is very simple, as it is the air
or a wave guide. The air has no
connectors and so there are no ( xed)
properties.

• Subscriber Connector (SC) From a logical perspective, there are

• SC/Angled Physical Contact (SC/
APC)
• Straight Tip Connectors (ST)
• Ferrule Connectors (FC)
• Lucent Connectors (LC)
• FC/APC
similarities with optical ports. RF port
properties normally include frequency,
power levels, polarization, and modulation
type.

The logical properties may include

the laser’s wavelength, optical
output power, input sensitivity and
whether the optical transmission is
uni-directional or bi-directional.

To connect a host’s sub-node to another host, or another host’s sub-node, only the ports
on the host nodes are used. Imagine an ADM node with an E1 tributary card. The E1
tributary card is a sub-node. However, it still requires power to be able to function. The
power comes from the ADM host node, its incoming power received via its power port
that is sourced from a power distribution cabinet node. Inside the ADM, there will be a
port to send power to the E1 tributary card and a port on the E1 tributary port to receive
that power. However, these are internal ports and speci c to the manufacturer.
From PNM’s perspective, these internal ports do not require registration.
Sub-nodes that are software applications, follow the same rules. PNM can register
software ports, but these are 16-bit port numbers identifying well-known ports, (for
example HTTPS port 443), registered ports, dynamic, private ports and sockets. PNM
does not register the virtual ports within a server that allows the application to send and
receive signals to the server’s network interface card (NIC) and the associated external
node port.
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7 Connections (Circuits)
Connections in a telecom network are also sometimes called circuits or paths.
Connections that connect two nodes via their ports are called point-to-point
connections. Connections between more than one node is called a point to multi-point
connection.
For PNM to consider a connection to be a connection, the connection must be
terminated by a port in all of the relevant nodes.
A connection can be a:

• Physical connection
• Logical connection
• Virtual connection.

7.1 Physical Connections

A physical connection is a connection that

can be seen, touched and smelt.
Connections that belong to the group of
physical connections include trenches, ducts,
sub-ducts, cables, bres and conductors.
The physical layer carries the logical layer.

7.2 Logical Connections

STM-1 Frame Structure
Logical layers can be point-to-point, or versions of point-to-multipoint. The logical layer
is used to carry the virtual layer.
A logical connection is a connection type
that is a purposely-created transfer of
energy, including electrical, optical and RF.
The energy is sent and received in a very
manipulated way referred to as
multiplexing, modulation, polarisation, line
coding etc. This results in maximising the
amount of tra c that can be carried with a
minimum number of bit errors, noise or
interference. Multiplexing and modulation
techniques lead to protocols and standards
such as PDH, SDH, Ethernet, MPLS,
OFDM, etc.

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7.3 Virtual Connections
The virtual connection layer is the only layer out of the 3 layers that does not
have a planned and permanent connection, neither point to
point, nor point to multipoint. Virtual connections have
two or more node ports somewhere in the network that
need to connect with each other. The
virtual signal is split into packets of data.
The network then routes each
packet along its logical and physical
resources to its destination, using a best
attempt approach.
Each packet might
be transported
using a di erent
route depending
upon network conditions
such as quality, priority and congestion. Examples of virtual layers are the interfaces
that carry signals between 5G applications, such as the N1, N2 and N3, etc.

The connection types all have a relationship with each other. Most connections have a
payload, or a connection it carries. It also has a carrier, or a connection that carries it.
The bottom most layer is the trench in the physical connection group.

7.4 Trenches (Physical Layer)

A trench is a long, narrow ditch in the ground. It carries ducts, cables or both. If the
cable is installed into a trench, it must be a direct burial cable to avoid it from getting
damaged. PNM considers a trench by its function and not just by its physical
attributes. For PNM, an aerial wire route along the top of lamp posts is just as much a
trench, as an underground ditch is. The function is the same.

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Because a trench is at the bottom of the hierarchy, it doesn’t have a carrier, only a
payload.
Like all connections, a trench must have at least two nodes to connect to. A trench can
therefore terminate at a manhole (MH), a hand-hole (HH), a street cabinet (SC), or an
external termination point (ETP).

7.5 Ducts (Physical Connections)

There are two types of ducts, one type for use in the outside plant (OSP) and one type for
use within sites. An OSP duct is a long tube in a trench. It carries sub-ducts, cables or
both as payloads.
Like all connections, an OSP duct must have at least two nodes to connect to. An OSP
duct can therefore terminate at a manhole (MH), a hand-hole (HH), a street cabinet (SC),
or an external termination point (ETP).
For the OSP duct, its carrier will be the trench.

An inside plant (ISP) duct is installed between two or more footprints. An ISP duct
will normally carry cables, bres and conductors, but rarely sub-ducts. An ISP
duct will normally be laid above racks, or under a raised oor. PNM does not
consider that an ISP duct has a carrier.

7.6 Sub-Ducts (Physical Connections)

A sub-duct is a small tube inside a main duct. An OSP duct can have several sub-ducts.
ISP ducts do not have any.

It is standard practice in OSP ducts that only one cable is

run through a sub-duct as a payload.
Running another cable inside a sub-duct (unless they are
run at the same time), can damage both cables due to
friction.
Like all connections, a sub-duct must have at least two
nodes to connect to. A sub-duct can therefore terminate at
a manhole (MH), a handhole (HH), a street cabinet (SC), or
an external termination point (ETP).
For the sub-duct, its carrier will be the duct.

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7.7 Cables (Physical Connections)
Cables can be classi ed as being an outside
plant (OSP) cable, or an inside plant (ISP) cable.
Although this sounds quite straight forward in
real life, there is some grey area for PNM.

Imagine a cable running from one site to

another. The journey for the cable starts at a
node in site A. It runs via a cable chamber or
external termination point (ETP) along a trench
to site B, via site B’s ETP. The cable ends it
journey at a node in site B. Although this cable
can be found both inside the sites and
underground between the sites, PNM still
regards this as an OSP cable. This is because
the cable is an inter-site cable. It crosses the
site’s legal boundary.

Inside plant (ISP) cables do not cross a site’s

legal boundaries. This does not mean that they
do not go outside. PNM will still classify a cable
installed between an indoor server and an
externally mounted radio unit on a mast on the
same property, as an ISP cable.

Both ISP and OSP cables can be sub-classi ed

even further into optical cables and electrical
cables. Optical cables contain bres and
electrical cables contain conductors. For both
PNM and in the real world, a cable’s primary
function is to bundle its payload and to provide
them with protection. A cable itself does not
carry any signal, electrical power or optical
power.

Like all connections, cables must have at least

two nodes to connect to. An optical cable can
therefore terminate at an ODF or a node that has
optical ports. However because a cable does
not carry any signals, it does not require a port.

For PNM, electrical cables can be classi ed into

3 groups:

• Ethernet cables
• Non-Ethernet Comms cables
• Power cables

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The eight conductors inside an Ethernet cable perform the same function, have the same
pinout on a RJ45 and use the same colour code. An Ethernet cable is always plugged into
a RJ45 jack, there is no possibility to plug in individual conductors. For this
reason, PNM ignores the conductor layer as a payload and only
considers the next layer, which is the transport layer in the logical
connection group. The cable will require a port, but only
because its ignored payload still requires one. The same may
apply to some other non-Ethernet cables such as coax cables.

Most non-ethernet cables are multi-conductor cables. Like optical cables, the cable itself
doesn’t require a port. That requirement belongs to its payload, i.e. the conductors
inside the cable. A conductor from one cable may be connected to a conductor from
another cable to form a conductor-connection.

Power cables are sub-divided into 2 groups, ac

power and DC power. PNM treats ac power as it
treats an Ethernet cable. An ac power cable
normally has three conductors. These
conductors perform the same function, have the
same pinout on a RJ45 and use one of two
standard colour codes.
There is normally no possibility to plug in
individual conductors. For this reason, PNM
ignores the conductor layer as a payload and
only considers the next layer, which is the
transport layer in the logical connection group.
The cable will require a port, because its ignored
payload still requires one, and because unlike the
RJ45, ac ports have di erent physical interfaces.

DC POWER
DC power has two conductors and
PNM does recognise each conductor
individually. There is a second reason
as well. Like a multi-conductor
comms cable, a conductor from one
cable may be connected to a
conductor from another cable to
form a conductor-connection.
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 7.8 Transport Carrier - Fibre, Conductor, RF (Physical Connections)

The bres and conductors can be

carried within a cable as the cable’s
payload.
However, this isn’t always necessary.
For example, an optical jumper on an
ODF will not have a carrier. It is not
carried in a cable, sub-duct, duct or
trench.
An earth conductor may also not
always be run in a cable. It might be
run in an ISP duct or just directly on its
own.
Fibres from multiple cables may be connected together to form a bre connection.
The same applies to conductors from di erent cables. The conductor and bre layer is
the top most layer in the physical layer group. Their payload is the transport layer in
the logical layer group.

7.9 Transport (Logical Connection)

The transport layer is the logical layer that de nes the protocols of the signals being
sent, so that they are understood by the distant node. These protocols are not end-to-
end protocols between two end users but only the protocols relating to a particular
logical connection.

Typical examples of the transport layer include 100GE, 10GE, 1GE, IP/MPLS, SDH and
PDH. Within these transport layer groups, there are sub-categories. Within SDH for
example, a transport layer might be classi ed as a virtual container level 1-2 (VC12),
virtual level 3 (VC3), virtual container level 4 (VC4), and Synchronous Transport Module
level “n” (STM-n). Each sub-category has its owns data speeds, protocols and rules.
One sub-category can be the carrier for another sub-category. For example, an STM-1
can be the carrier for a VC4 and a STM-4’s payload. If the bottom most layer is that VC4,
it is the VC4, that will be the bre’s payload. The top most layer of the transport layer
group carries the tra c layer. This can be virtual tra c as is the case in 5G technology.

A transport layer
connection can be
a point-to-point
connection or a
point-to-multipoint
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7.10 Interface (Virtual Connection)
A virtual connection makes use of the logical transport layer on a packet by packet
basis. Each data packet of a virtual connection may be transported on a di erent
logical route, according to the latest information in a router’s routing table.
PNM initially assumes that all routes have an equal cost factor and pretends that all
packets will be transmitted and received along the same logical routes.
PNM will update its assumptions based upon live data from an OSS or another node to
say something di erent or upon manual changes in the connection properties
regarding speed and bandwidth.
The interface layer has no payload, as it is at the top of the hierarchy. Examples of
interfaces taken from a 5G network include Xn, N22 and N6.

8 Network Data
Network data can be stored in one of three ways;

• Dynamic data stored electronically.

• Static data stored electronically.
• Static data stored as a paper-based record.

In order for network data to be complete, accurate and useful, it must rst be captured.
The capturing can be achieved in one of three ways.

• Automatically via an API that is con gured to be in an auto discovery mode between
PNM and the data source.
• Automatically via an export function from the source to a common format such as a
spread sheet.
• Manually into a common format such as a spread sheet, using the data obtained as a
result of a network audit.
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 The data is normally captured using a project approach. Capturing the data from an
entire network can seem like an impossible task, especially when the data is
fragmented and suspected of being incomplete, inaccurate, corrupt, con icting or
missing altogether.
The capturing is therefore prioritised geography-based, technology-based or pain
point-based, or a combination of all three, depending upon the requirements. This
allows the capture scope to be simpli ed and easily manageable.

Once the data is captured, it must be validated. This prevents a typical “rubbish in
– rubbish out” scenario. PNM’s bulk loader provides the initial validation function
for all captured data that is not transferred directly into PNM via an API. Data that
cannot be validated is highlighted and needs to be validated and/or corrected
manually.

The nal step is to migrate the validated data into PNM. Once migrated using
PNM’s bulk loader function, or API, the imported data is once again validated using
any network data that has already been imported into PNM previously. Any issues
that are found are highlighted, enabling the data to be corrected.

STATIC DATA PAPER-BASED MISSING DATA DYNAMIC DATA

electronically electronically
records
stored stored

Export Conversion

Network
Audit

Common
Format
API
Spreadsheet

Validation & Migration

Pulse Network Manager

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The data can be used in a number of PNM features. Each feature is designed to
save the telco a signi cant amount of capital expenditure and operational
expenditure. Network related features include:

• Capacity calculations for electrical power availability versus electrical

consumption.
• Capacity calculations for HVAC cooling power versus node-generated thermal
radiation.
• Capacity calculations for physical quantities of payload connections versus the
availability of payload positions in a carrier connection.
• Capacity calculations for Optical and RF losses per connection, using transmitted
power levels and receiver input sensitivity values.
• Capacity calculations for bandwidth availability versus bandwidth consumption.
• Disaster Recovery management to enable prompt tra c restoration after an
unplanned outage.
• Cutover planning to enable a continuous telecom service during a planned
outage.
• The physical location of all OSP nodes and connection on a Google map.
• Automatic footprint generation so nobody gets lost and touches the wrong
equipment.
• Single Point of Failure identi cation and the identi cation of protected routes.
• The availability for a new customer onto a FTTx network.

9 Naming Convention
The naming convention on which most telcos base their own naming convention is ITU
recommendation M.1400. Because M.1400 was created for use with analogue and time
division multiplex circuits serving the international PSTN, adaption for IP-based and
national mobile networks became challenging.
By default, PNM uses a modi ed version of M.1400. Regardless, PNM allows telcos to
create their own naming convention.

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9.1 Site Naming Convention

PNM identi es sites with a 3-

character code. Auckland in New
Zealand might be abbreviated AKL.
Wellington in New Zealand might
be abbreviated WLG.

When M.1400 was rst introduced,

it was not important for the name
to identify the two nodes. Modern
digital technology has changed
that. Therefore, nodes are also
identi ed with an up to 4-character

code and are added onto to the site name. An MPLS router in Auckland would be
identi ed as AKL-MPLS. If there is more than one ODF in Auckland, they might be called
AKL-MPLS-1 and AKL-MPLS-2, etc.

In M.1400, node ports are not included in the naming convention as a change of port
does not change the connection’s originating destination, terminating destination, speed
or sequence number.

A connection between an MPLS router in Auckland and an MPLS router in Wellington

might be called AKL-MPLS-2—WLG-MPLS-3-speed-sequence number. Note that site A
and site B should in theory at least, be recorded alphabetically.

9.2 Speed Naming Convention

The speed of a connection really only applies to the transport levels in the logical layer.
A trench for example does not have a speed and nor does a 230v ac power grid supply.
Therefore, when referring to the speed of a physical connection, the word “trench”,
“duct”, “sub-duct”, “cable”, “ bre” and “conductor” is used.

In logical connections, PNM uses the standard M.1400 references. An E1 or 2Mb/s

signal, traditionally carried 30 voice channels, as time slot 0 was used for
synchronisation and alarms, and time slot 16 was used for channel associated signalling
(CAS). A 2Mb/s E1 signal is therefore referred to as 30N, an 8Mb/s signal as 120N, a 34
Mb/s signal as 120N, and a 140 Mb/s signal as 480N.

This carries on into SDH and IP-based connections. For example, a STM-4 in SDH is
identi ed as 4S. A 10 gigabit Ethernet connection is referred to 10GEn.

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9.3 Sequence Number Naming Convention
The sequence number is the number that follows the total number of connections that
have the same site names, node names and speed. For example there might be 12
connections running between Auckland-MPLS-2 and Wellington-MPLS-3 at 10 gigabits
per second. The next connection in the sequence will be:

AKL-MPLS-2—WLG-MPLS-3-10GEn13.

10 Common Technology Subnetworks

10.1 Signalling Networks
Telecommunication networks contain nodes, that contain ports, that terminate physical,
logical and virtual connections. The tra c carried on these networks is categorised
into:

• User Plane Tra c

• Control Plane Tra c

User plane tra c is tra c that is primarily generated and received by a telco’s
customers or users. The users can be either a human or a machine.

Control plane tra c is tra c that is primarily generated and received by telecom nodes
to set up, tear down or transfer call-related information between nodes. Telecom
networks use a sub-network, known as a signalling network, that crosses technology
boundaries. To a certain degree, it runs in parallel to the user plane network that it
serves.
For example, a signalling network would establish and tear down a call between a
PSTN user and a mobile user.
Historically there have been many di erent types and versions of signalling protocols
including:

• E&M (Ear & Mouth)

• MFC (Multi-Frequency Compelled)
• R2 (Register type 2)
• DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency)
• CAS (Channel Associated Signalling)

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 Signalling can be in-band or out-of-band. In-band means that the signaIling messages
are carried in the same channel as the user tra c is carried in. Out-of-band signalling
means that the signalling messages are carried in a separate channel than the user
tra c is carried in.
There are many di erent types of signalling networks including, but not limited to:

10.2 Signalling System Number 7 (SS7)

SS7 uses CCS (Common Channel Signalling), where one out-of-band signalling link
carries the signalling messages for multiple channels of user plane tra c. However,
despite SS7 still being widely used, it is being superseded by newer technologies.
The SS7 subnetwork contains nodes. These nodes can be dedicated hardware type
nodes, hardware-based sub-nodes that reside on host nodes, or a virtualised sub-
node function on a host node. Sometimes multiple SS7 nodes can reside on or in one
physical host. Examples of SS7 nodes include:

SSP (Signalling Switching Point): This node terminates SS7 messages. It is normally
built into a switching node such as a PSTN switch or a MSC/VLR.

STP (Signalling Transfer Point): This node switches SS7 messages between SSPs. It
can be regarded as a “telephone exchange” for SS7 messages.

SCP (Switching Control Point): These are databases for advanced call processing e.g.
translating 0800 and 0900 numbers into directory numbers.
A comprehensive SS7 network can be seen in the diagram below.

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SSPs, STPs and SCPs are connected together using the same transmission medium
types as the user tra c. For redundancy purposes, they use a mated pair con guration,
so that if one of the links fails, there is a second one available.

The SS7 network is made up of several types of links. These links are assigned a letter
and form access functions as follows:

• A-links (access links) for connecting SSPs to STPs and/or SCPs.

• C-Links (cross links) connect mated STP pairs.
• BD-Links (bridge-diagonal links) connect to other mated pairs at di erent hierarchical
levels.
• E (enhanced) links provide non-standard SS7 connectivity for unique tra c cases.
• F (Full Associated) links between SSPs further enhance reliability.

SS7 has a protocol suite similar to the OSI model consisting of Message Transfer
Protocols (MTP), SCCP (Signalling Connection Control Part) and Applications, e.g.,
Intelligent Network Application Part, Mobile Application Part, Transaction Capabilities
Application Part, and Integrated Services Digital Network User Part.

NETWORK APPLICATION
PHYSICAL DATA LINK
LAYER LAYER
LAYER LAYER
MTP Level 3 INAP, MAP, TCAP,
MTP Level 1 MTP Level 2
& SCCP CAP, ISUP, etc

10.3 IP-based Signalling Protocols

There are 5 basic types in use:

RADIUS primarily uses the UDP (User Datagram Protocol) as its transport protocol,
which is part of the TCP/IP suite. RADIUS messages are sent and received between a
RADIUS server and telecom network nodes that are its “clients”.

DIAMETER is a more modern version of RADIUS and uses TCP for a more reliable
method of communication. Both systems are primarily used for AAA (Authentication,
Authorization, and Accounting)

SIP (Session Initiated Protocol) is a signalling protocol used in telecommunications,

particularly in voice and video communications over the internet. SIP plays a vital role in
setting up, managing, and terminating multimedia sessions between two or more
participants.

SIGTRAN provides a means to transport signalling messages used in traditional

telecommunication networks (like SS7) over IP networks. It allows these messages to
be carried using IP protocols.

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SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol), is used to ensure reliable and ordered
delivery of signalling messages over IP networks. SCTP is preferred due to its features
like multi-homing, path redundancy, and congestion control.

PNM can register all of the above IP-based protocols. It is less complicated than SS7
since these protocols use existing IT networks that will already be registered.

11 Conclusion www.pulsetelecom.net

Telecommunication networks are

both complicated and dynamic. The
technologies used for telecom
networks keeps on changing and
improving. Mankind is on a never
ending mission to nd news ways of
sending more data from A to B at
speeds very much faster than in
previous generations of the
technology. This makes
telecommunication and its merger
with IT a very exciting world.

For more information on telecom

networks, how to import telecom
network data into a telecom network
inventory management system, and
how to use that data to save capex
and open, visit us on
www.pulsetelecom.net or email
talk2us@pulsetelecom.net

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