SONET/SDH Introduction

What is the Difference Between SONET and SDH?

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Why SDH/SONET?
SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) and SONET (Synchronous
Optical NETwork) are standards for interfacing optical networks.
Simple multiplexing processes
Easy access to various signals in a multiplexed high bit rate
signal
A flexible and efficient way of networking
Network Distribution: Add/Drop capability
Network survivability: APS (Automatic Protection Switching)
Traffic Cross connection: capacity management, bandwidth
management and protection route diversity
Support advance Network Management System (OAM&P)
Overhead bits for Fault, Configuration, Performance Monitoring,
Security and Accounting management
Standardized interface can support multi vendor interworking,
international connection and many different services; i.e. ATM,
IP
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SONET/SDH Digital Hierarchy

Optical
Level

SONET
Electrical
Level

SDH
Equivalent

Line Rate
(Mbps)

Payload
Rate
(Mbps)

Overhead
Rate
(Mbps)

SONET
Capacity

SDH
Capacity

OC-1

STS-1

51.840

50.112

1.728

28 DS-1s or
1 DS-3

21 E1s

OC-3

STS-3

STM-1

155.520

150.336

5.184

84 DS-1s or
3 DS-3s

63 E1s or
1 E4

OC-12

STS-12

STM-4

622.080

601.344

20.736

336 DS-1s or
12 DS-3s

252 E1s or
4 E4s

OC-48

STS-48

STM-16

2488.320

2405.376

82.944

1,344 DS-1s or
192 DS-3s

1,008 E1s or
16 E4s

OC-192

STS-192

STM-64

9953.280

9621.504

331.776

5,376 DS-1s or
192 DS-3s

4,032 E1s or
64 E4s

Note:
Although an SDH STM-1 has the same bit rate as the SONET STS-3, the two signals contain different frame structures.
STM = Synchronous Transport Module (ITU-T)
STS = Synchronous Transfer Signal (ANSI)
OC = Optical Carrier (ANSI)

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SDH and SONET Bit Rate

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SDH

Bit Rate

SONET

STM-0

51Mb/s

OC-1

STM-1

155Mb/s

OC-3

STM-4

622Mb/s

OC-12

STM-16

2.48Gb/s

OC-48

STM-64

9.95Gb/s

OC-192

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(STS-1)

What is different about SDH vs. SONET?

Together they are a set of global standards that interface

equipment from different vendors. SDH is basically the
international version of SONET, and SONET can be thought of
as the North American version of SDH.
There are some slight differences between SONET and SDH.

The main differences are in the basic SDH and SONET frame
formats, but SDH and SONET are essentially identical beyond
the STS-3 signal level. The base signal for SONET is STS-1 and
the base signal for SDH is STM-1. STS-3c is equivalent to STM-1
and the lower tributaries can be mapped interchangeably
between the two formats from that point on.

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What is different about SDH vs. SONET?

(Cont)

In SDH, both electrical and optical signals are referred to as STM

signals.

In SONET, however, electrical signals are called STS and optical

signals are referred to as OC.

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SONET
Defined by Bellcore and ANSI T1.X committees
Base rate (High Order) is 51.84Mbps (STS-1)
STS-1 Synchronous Payload Envelope (SPE) =
50.112M used for carrying tributaries or a DS3 signal
Tributaries (Low Order) used for SONET are:
VT1.5 (SPE Trib) = 1.728M for carrying DS1 (1.544)
VT2 (SPE Trib) = 2.304M for carrying CEPT (E1, 2.048)
VT6 (SPE Trib) = 6.912M, Never formalized same
rate as VT Group

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SONET Hierarchy
STS-N

x1

STS-N
SPE

xN

STS-1
SPE

Tributaries of Base Signal

(Low Order Payloads)

Data

x1

DS3
Broadband STS-N Payloads
(High Order Payloads)
x7

VT Group
x1

VT 6

VT6
SPE

VT 2

VT2
SPE

VT 1.5

VT1.5
SPE

x3

x4

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E1
DS1

STS-1 Frame with VT Mapping

3 bytes

3
1

87 bytes

Section OH
J1
STS Pointer

B3
C2

Line OH

G1

STS-1 SPE
STS-1 SPE Payload
DS3 Mapped or
7x VTG Mapped

F2
H4

ptr

F3
K3
Z3
VT

VT

VT

VT

VT

VT

VT

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Vx

V
T
1
5

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Points to Remember in SONET

The base layer is the STS-1 SPE
Single pointer to get to the STS-1 SPE (50MB level)
ALL tributary signals multiplex (via Pointer Processing)
to the STS-1 SPE
Each STS-1 has its own path overhead
TOH is called Section and Line Overhead
SS bits (in H1) is set to 00
Bellcore (Telcordia) Alarming and GR-820 Performance
Monitoring
Other Nuances:
Path Trace is 64bytes, Orderwire is Mu-Law, Z bytes
not used, No J2, APS is different
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SDH
Defined by ITU-T (previously CCITT) committees
Base rate (High Order) is 155.520 (STM-1)
Virtual Container 4 (VC-4) = 150.336M used for carrying
tributaries or an E4 signal (or data)

Tributaries (Low Order) used for SDH are:

VC-11 = 1.728M for carrying DS1 (1.544) (rarely used in
AU4)
VC-12 = 2.304M for carrying CEPT (E1)

Also a stuffing option for mapping VC11/1.5M to TU-12

VC-2 = 6.912M Just gaining acceptance (TU-2-Mc) for data
VC-3 = 50.112M (Same as STS-1 SPE) used for E3 AND DS3

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SDH Hierarchy
STM-64

AU-4-64c

VC-4-64c

C-4-64c

9039.872Mb/s

AU-4-16c

VC-4-16c

C-4-16c

2259.968Mb/s

AU-4-4c

VC-4-4c

C-4-4c

564.992Mb/s

AU-4

VC-4

C-4

E4: 139.264Mb/s

C-3

E3: 34.368Mb/s
DS3: 44.736Mb/s

x4
x64
STM-16
x16

x16
x4

STM-4
x4
STM-1

AUG

x3

x3
AU-3

TUG-3

High Order Payloads

Containers of Base Signal
(Low Order Payloads)

TU-3

VC-3

VC-3
x7
x7

STM-n
AUG
AU-n
VC-n

Synchronous Transport Module

x1
TUG-2

Administrative Unit Group: One or

more AU(s)

TU-2

VC-2

C-2

DS2:6.312 Mb/s

TU-12

VC-12

C-12

E1: 2.048Mb/s

TU-11

VC-11

C-11

DS1:1.544Mb/s

x3

Administrative Unit: VC + pointers

Virtual Container: payload + path
overhead

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x4

12

STM-1 Frame with AU-4 Mapping

9 bytes

Regenerator
Section OH

AU Pointer

Multiplex
Section
OH

261 bytes

J1
B3
C2
G1
F2
H4
F3

VC-4 Payload:
C4 or TUG-3 mapped
H1 H1 H1
H2 H2 H2
H3 H3 H3 J1

J1

B3

B3

C2

C2

K3
N1

G1

Higher Order
Path OH

F2
H4

5
bytes

C-3
Payload

ptr

G1
F2
H4

TUG-3

C-3

TUG-2/VC12

Payload

Muxed
Vx

F3

F3

K3

K3

N1

N1

C
1

Low Order
Path OH
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Points to Remember in SDH

The base layer is the VC-4 Container
Single pointer to get to the VC-4
ALL Low Order (LO) Signals multiplex (via PP) to the VC-4
Additional pointer to get to VC-3, the STS-1 equivalent: A
FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE between SONET and SDH
TUG-3 is NOT the same as an STS-1
TOH is called Regenerator Section (RS) and Multiplex Section
(MS) Overhead
SS bits (in H1) is set to 01
ITU-T Alarming and ITU-T Performance Monitoring
Other Nuances:
Path Trace (P-API) is 16 or 64 bytes, Orderwire is A-Law, Z
(N1) bytes used for TCM, APS is different
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SONET Vs. SDH

SONET UPSR = SDH SNCP (Sub-Network Connection
Protection)
WTR is up to 12 minutes in 1 minute increments
Hold-off timer for SDH 0-10S in 100mS increments
SONET BLSR = SDH MS-SPRing (Multiplex Section Shared
Protection Ring), SDH does not specify MS-SPRing @ STM-4
(but we allow it)
SONET APS = SDH MSP (Multiplex Section Protection)
SONET Mesh/ Virtual Ring = SDH Same as/Extension of SNCP
(and this has been around a while in SDH Networks)
SONET Path Trace = SDH Path Access Point Identifier (P-API, or
API)
SONET Alarms: CR, MJ, MN = SDH Alarms PMA (Prompt
Maintenance Activity), DMA (Deferred Maintenance Activity): We
kept the CR/MJ/MN and added the -PMA/DMA as a suffix
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SONET Vs. SDH (cont)

SDH Collects Errored Block Seconds, Errored Second Ratios
SDH is beginning to use Tandem Connection Monitoring
Path within a path
Adds additional Path Trace, BIP, FEBE and RDI to a high or
low-order path

SONET, STS-SPE (50.112M) is the base-rate payload SDH, the

base is 155M and the VC-3 (STS equivalent) is a tributary to
the VC-4
Its not a central office, its an Exchange

Its not a Class 5/ Class 4, its a Local Switch and a Transit

Switch
Its not a DCS, its a DXC
SONET uses 3/3s and 3/1s, SDH uses 4/4s and 4/3/1s

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Terminology Summary
Optical I/O Board

Path Type

SDH

SONET

STM-1

OC-3

STM-4
STM-16

SONET

Not applicable

STS-1

VC4

STS-3c

VC4-4c

STS-12c

VC4-8c

STS-24c

VC4-16c

STS-48c

VC4-64c

STS-192c

OC-12
OC-48

STM-64

OC-192

STM-256

OC-768

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SDH

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Terminology Summary
Protection Type

Overhead Naming

SDH

SONET

MSP

APS/FFP

MS-SPRing

BLSR

SNCP

PPMN/UPSR

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SDH

SONET

RS - Regenerator
Section

Section

MS - Multiplex
Section

Line

HP - High Order
Path

Path

18

Terminology Summary
Alarms

SDH

SONET

LOS

LOS

LOF

LOF

RS-TIM

TIM-S

MS-AIS
MS-RDI
MS-DEG
MS-EXC
MS-REI

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SDH

SONET

AU-LOP

LOP-P

AU-AIS

AIS-P

HP-UNEQ

UNEQ-P

HP-TIM

TIM-P

HP-SLM

SLM-P

HP-RDI

RDI-P/RFI-P

HP-DEG

SD-P

HP-EXC

SF-P

HP-REI

REI-P

AIS-L
RDI-L/RFI-L
SD-L
SF-L

REI-L

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Terminology Summary
PM Monitored Types

SDH

SONET

Not defined

CV Code Violation

EB Errored Block

Not defined

BBE Background Block Error

Not defined

ES Errored second

ES Errored second

Not defined

SEFS - Severely Errored Framing Seconds

SES - Severely Errored Second

SES - Severely Errored Second

Not defined

FC- Failure Count

UAS - Unavailable Second

UAS - Unavailable Second

BBER - Background Block Errored Ratio

Not defined

ESR Errored second Ratio

Not defined

SESR - Severely Errored Second Ratio

Not defined

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Terminology Summary
PM Monitored Entities

SDH

SONET

SDH

SONET

Not defined

FC-LNE

Not defined

CV-S

Not defined

FC-LFE

RS-EB

Not defined

MS-UAS-NE

UAS-LNE

RS-BBE

Not defined

MS-UAS-FE

UAS-LFE

RS-ES

ES-S

Not defined

CV-PNE

Not defined

CV-LNE

Not defined

CV-PFE

Not defined

CV-LFE

HP-EB-NE

Not defined

MS-EB-NE

Not defined

HP-EB-FE

Not defined

MS-EB-FE

Not defined

HP-BBE-NE

Not defined

MS-BBE-NE

Not defined

HP-BBE-FE

Not defined

MS-BBE-FE

Not defined

HP-ES-NE

ES-PNE

MS-ES-NE

ES-LNE

HP-ES-FE

ES-PFE

MS-ES-FE

ES-LFE

HP-SES-NE

SES-PNE

HP-SES-FE

SES-PFE

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Terminology Summary
PM Monitored Entities (Cont.)

SDH

SONET

Not defined

FC-PNE

Not defined

FC-PFE

HP-UAS-NE

UAS-PNE

HP-UAS-FE

UAS-PFE

HP-BBER-NE

Not defined

HP-BBER-FE

Not defined

HP-ESR-NE

Not defined

HP-ESR-FE

Not defined

HP-SESR-NE

Not defined

HP-SESR-FE

Not defined

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Cisco Systems

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