How OTN supercedes over SDH/SONET
Aug 5, 2014
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Here we will discuss what are the advantages of OTN(Optical Transport
Network) over SDH/SONET.
The OTN architecture concept was developed by the ITU-T initially a decade ago,
to build upon the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) and Dense Wavelength-
Division Multiplexing (DWDM) experience and provide bit rate efficiency,
resiliency and management at high capacity. OTN therefore looks a lot like
Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) / SDH in structure, with less overhead
and more management features.
It is a common misconception that OTN is just SDH with a few insignificant
changes. Although the multiplexing structure and terminology look the same, the
changes in OTN have a great impact on its use in, for example, a multi-vendor,
multi-domain environment. OTN was created to be a carrier technology, which is
why emphasis was put on enhancing transparency, reach, scalability and
monitoring of signals carried over large distances and through several
administrative and vendor domains.
The advantages of OTN compared to SDH are mainly related to the introduction
of the following changes:
Transparent Client Signals:
In OTN the Optical Channel Payload Unit-k (OPUk) container is defined to
include the entire SONET/SDH and Ethernet signal, including associated overhead
bytes, which is why no modification of the overhead is required when transporting
through OTN. This allows the end user to view exactly what was transmitted at the
far end and decreases the complexity of troubleshooting as transport and client
protocols aren’t the same technology.
OTN uses asynchronous mapping and demapping of client signals, which is
another reason why OTN is timing transparent.
Better Forward Error Correction:
OTN has increased the number of bytes reserved for Forward Error Correction
(FEC), allowing a theoretical improvement of the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) by
6.2 dB. This improvement can be used to enhance the optical systems in the
following areas:
Increase the reach of optical systems by increasing span length or increasing the
number of spans.
Increase the number of channels in the optical systems, as the required power
theoretical has been lowered 6.2 dB, thus also reducing the non- linear effects,
which are dependent on the total power in the system.
The increased power budget can ease the introduction of transparent optical
network elements, which can’t be introduced without a penalty. These elements
include Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (OADMs), Photonic Cross Connects
(PXCs), splitters, etc., which are fundamental for the evolution from point-to-point
optical networks to meshed ones.
The FEC part of OTN has been utilised on the line side of DWDM transponders
for at least the last 5 years, allowing a significant increase in reach/capacity.
Better scalability:
The old transport technologies like SONET/SDH were created to carry voice
circuits, which is why the granularity was very dense – down to 1.5 Mb/s. OTN is
designed to carry a payload of greater bulk, which is why the granularity is coarser
and the multiplexing structure less complicated.
Tandem Connection Monitoring:
The introduction of additional (six) Tandem Connection Monitoring (TCM)
combined with the decoupling of transport and payload protocols allow a
significant improvement in monitoring signals that are transported through several
administrative domains, e.g. a meshed network topology where the signals are
transported through several other operators before reaching the end users.
In a multi-domain scenario – “a classic carrier’s carrier scenario”, where the
originating domain can’t ensure performance or even monitor the signal when it
passes to another domain – TCM introduces a performance monitoring layer
between line and path monitoring allowing each involved network to be monitored,
thus reducing the complexity of troubleshooting as performance data is accessible
for each individual part of the route.
Also a major drawback with regards to SDH is that a lot of capacity during packet
transport is wasted in overhead and stuffing, which can also create delays in the
transmission, leading to problems for the end application, especially if it is
designed for asynchronous, bursty communications behavior. This over-
complexity is probably one of the reasons why the evolution of SDH has stopped
at STM 256 (40 Gbps).
Understand the difference between SDH, MSTP, OTN and PTN and get in touch in an
all-round way
Posted on May 16, 2015 by admin
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Should first say concept of TDM, TDM to reply, spend time, one long standard time (one second)
Divided ( 8000) into for several young time slots ,Every little time slot ‘ 1/8000 =125us) Transmit the
signals of No. one;
The circuit deployment of SDH system is based on TDM, so see it is TDM business that a lot of people
speak SDH business, it is the traditional circuit deployment, have theoretical foundation;
But when SDH is in the limelight, another war Ethernet and ATM (not cash dispensers oh) In the
World War, Ethernet is made and won in an all-round way, thus Ethernet propagates its belief on a
large scale, among them regard IP top as the advantage again, cause a lot of business sides IP of
today and have to talk about Ethernet XXXXX very much.
Question: SDH one big favourite follower, Ethernet is another big favourite follower, will you please
cooperate? ? ? Fitted in easily, MSTP was born!
The allotment of shares in the co-partnership company MSTP is not very even: Unless it own 70% of
shares SDH, own by 20% of shares Ethernet,other including own 10% of shares ATM,there are still
SDH, kernel or TDM on that wield, all inferior position of TDM is still kept, such as the rigidity
pipeline; Ethernet and ATM are because of stock right, not taking out the things like kind, but there
must be their tables (offer the corresponding interface)
With the popularizing energetically of Internet, computer, mobile phone, TV,etc. terminal station can
all surf the Net, the demand for the bandwidth increases sharply, the telecommunication operator’s
chance to make money has come, but the challenge has come, 1*155M can be supported thousands
of people well and phoned in the past, people would surf the Net while phoning now, the bandwidth
demand increases and the resources of the network present the contradiction now
Want, solve the contradiction, we come, see SDH how get along with people at ordinary times in the
favourite follower:
SDH these favourite follower has stick to one’s old way straight, overweening, never share public
resources with people, for example Second Ring Road sells me wholesale and runs, there mustn’t be
other vehicles to pass in Second Ring Road, the aspect, on a car of mine, at the very beginning, this
car of mine can draw a guest (STM-1) ,Then the efficiency of Second Ring Road transports one ‘
155M –STM-1) ,Having upgraded the car tonnage later, I can draw 64 guests (64*STM-1) ,Then the
efficiency of Second Ring Road is ‘ 10G-STM-64) ,This is ring speed; It is 40G to be the biggest at
present
Have pieces of the intersection of time slot and nobody need, transport, I empty to run then, see
scenery along the road, what it will be beauty, the efficiency at this moment is even if 0, even if other
roads stop up dying and has not closed with me either, because is more stubborn, have much
helplessness oneself, for example your car can hold 64 guests, have 65 guest now, I am sorry, I can
only transport 64 people, we ask rigidity pipeline such inefficient the intersection of operation and
way
It needs guests that transports to be more and more now, too busy to do it, the solution has three
routes:
First kind: Build more several road ‘ Newly-built optical cable) ,Shunt personnel; Shortcoming: Cost
and cycle is too long ——–PASS
Second kind: Escalate the car tonnage ‘ Raise the speed) ; Shortcoming: Car factory does not
research and develop big vehicle of load yet ‘ The electronic devices and components are limited) -
PASS
Third kind: Divide Second Ring Road into a plurality of lanes ‘ Wave one) ,A plurality of vehicles share
the road
After the leader sees, make comments and instructions immediately: The third scheme is feasible,
carry out immediately! The wave is divided and produces
Wave it divides WDM into to be a plurality of lanes ‘ Wave one) Vehicle ( Signal) Set free to the same
road ‘ Optic fibre) China conveys, the lane with good grounds here separates by the size and is
divided into two kinds:
Lane interval belong to 20nm, divide for sparse wave, also call thick wave divide;
The lane interval was no more than 0.8nm, divided for the intensive wave
The bandwidth like this has increased at double, has solved the problem insufficient in bandwidth
temporarily! All right rest & hellip; … … …
After WDM is put in an position, all parts imitate one after another, present WDM not merely uses
(the land unexpected turn of of the city is divided) in the main main road of the city ,Still used in the
trans-city, road transprovincially ‘ The long-distance wave is divided) ;
Is its concrete working way all kinds of goods or passengers (family property? ? Signal) Loaded in the
cars, the car, according to the assigned lane (wave one) in advance Go, the middle car needs to
cheer us on and also setting up the service station (only put the station OLA) ,The drivers need to
have a meal and having a rest to supplement physical power, we set up the temporary rest area
(relay point) for them ,We due to the intersection of traffic police and support of system certainly ‘
Only control OSC or electricity and control ESC)
With the constant increase of the demands of people, the lane is counted expanded to 40, 80, 160
quickly by 16 or 32 just begun too, at present the intersection of construction and competence ‘
Manufacturing process) Top, count by 200 lanes already ‘ Wave one) ,But our management level is
still very low, mainly embody in several respects:
1,The news of traffic administration can not transmit smoothly (OAM and scarcely) : The original
intention of WDM is not enough for the problem in order to solve the bandwidth, after not considering
the bandwidth is improved, management should keep up with too, the biggest problem is that there
are many vehicles now, how to have the state of every car at fingertips, traffic police (OSC) Feel
unable to do what one wishes; Several drivers of SDH talk about in a low voice at this moment: Our
SDH public transit system, there are unified management organizations, have drivers and conductors
on every car, it is clear to divide the work, control (monitor online) with the real-time video ,The
company can always understand the operation conditions of every car, WDM you are bad and too far
2,Deployment is not flexible enough: WDM has a major defect at the beginning of designing: For
example a piece of goods should be transported from Xi’an to Beijing, the assigned lane is 10 lanes
(the 10th wave) in advance ,It is in the 10th lane to go from Xi’an to the whole journey of Beijing,
can’t change, unless you, through several high-speed sections (only regenerate section) ,Such as
Xi’an – Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou – Beijing, then you can have a chance to change the lane in
Zhengzhou, and the cost to change lane build one path specially for the intersection of you and
behavior this time ‘ Place in the optic fibre) ; Repaired a large deployment centre in Zhengzhou at the
time of the situation that SDH was met and similar to in the past, all problems have been solved
3,Easy to stop up it (protect and does not improve) : On the main main road of the city or border
through street of the province, in order to raise the efficiency, consider the difference with the
ordinary road in the design of highway, set up several few export only, close, consequence that bring
like this to happen, gather around stop up or traffic accident, the passenger will make a noise awfully
busily ‘ The business is cut off) ; Thinking about our urban public transit SDH, as soon as the driver
sees that blocks up above, hold the path to flee, perhaps several passengers can’t get off at
destination ‘ A small amount of business is cut off) ,Most passengers can arrive smoothly, a large
number of can use the circuitous route to trace it to its cause, combine with flexible deployment ‘ The
driver can decide)
Shipping office of the traffic (ITU-T) See question, carry on the reform from several following
respects:
1,All set out on a journey the vehicle increases watch-dog and essential security administrator —-
Increase OAM expenses
2,Set up the deployment pivot in the node of hub of communications —–Increase the intersection of
business and deployment ‘ Deployment [one storey of deployment of electricity ] among deployment
[mere storey of deployment ] and goods or passenger among the lanes)
3,Rely on the deployment pivot, in addition, reserve some lanes or some vehicles on the road, offer
the complete guarantee for all vehicles —–Improve and protect the mechanism
SDH smiles: These what reform, we do it in this way, capacity you getting large no;
WDM responds: My capacity is really much larger than that of you, but these respects can not be
done as well as you;
They make friends again, have complementary advantages, a brand-new system was born ——OTN
Overview OTN:
OTN is on the basis of WDM, has merged some advantages of SDH, such as abundant OAM
expenses, flexible business deployment, complete protected mode,etc.,
OTN is divided into the deployment of the business: One layer of deployment of mere layer of
deployment and electricity
Mere layer of deployment can be interpreted as the category of WDM; One layer of deployment of
electricity can be interpreted as the category of SDH
So to put it briefly: OTN=WDM+SDH
But one layer of dispatcher’s working ways of electricity of OTN and SDH is still a bit different and
local:
Review the characteristic of SDH:
1,Unify the daparture frequency, depart 8000 times in one second, the system stipulates, unable to
change (follow PDH system) ;
2,Improved the capacity through researching and developing the vehicle of larger tonnage, the car of
the high capacity was generally spliced by 4 low cars of capacity rank, so the car structure of different
capacity is different;
One layer of working characteristics of deployment of OTN electricity:
1,The size, specification, capacity of all vehicles are unified, external dimension: 4*4080;
2,Improve the daparture frequency according to the demand
Advantage:
1,Do not need to research and develop the more high-capacity car constantly, lower the development
cost;
2,Unify the structure, it is easy to manage;
3,Transport convenient while being trans-regional ‘ Different producer’s intercommunication is
convenient) ;
4,In theory, can improve the capacity limitlessly through improving the daparture frequency, it is
more simple and more clear to realize the way;
The flowers are in bloom two, the number of every table is one, we do detailed description to the
favourite follower SDH development in the towns and villages all over the country in the past, present
SDH is only equivalent to a hall main fact under OTN person in charge too, then how does another
favourite follower develop it now?
That year, Ethernet and ATM, just like Huashan group, with the wonderful unrivalled martial arts
circles of sword-play, there is higher popularity in the martial arts circles, but divide in order to take
sword as the core with sword one and air relying mainly on angri to make sword subsidiary angry in
order to be complemented in Huashan is sent
Ethernet, just like the sword one, ATM is just like angry one
Ethernet is famous for briefly, it is apt to be grasped to attract numerous disciples; ATM is too
advanced because of the heart law of its exercises to benefit the internal organs, there are very few
people practising it. Ethernet is won completely in the last fight, this is not in conformity with plot in
the novel, hard to understand & hellip; …
Until one day, for how Ethernet send, develop door this worried again, in order to have such
advanced acrobatic skill to have no people to appreciate too ATM is gloomy at the same time, two
rivals in the past, meet by chance and talk, ATM want until network come, raise, influence very much,
Ethernet wants to borrow the marrow of exercises to benefit the internal organs of ATM to strengthen
momentum, fit in easily.
Two people discuss, and after one year, released a new acrobatic skill rare book – MPLS (many
agreement labels are exchanged) secretly together through several months
This department acrobatic skill rare book was adapted as a plurality of editions later, it was the
important foundation of other acrobatic skills, this is what happened latter!
The core is compared with:
ATM VPI VCI
MPLS TUNNEL VC
The momentum of Ethernet is greater and greater, in addition, have MPLS to cheer, has the capability
of SDH of can contend ing gradually, so just there is preliminary integration of SDH and Ethernet,
MSTP has emerged, but MSTP is because of stock right, the intersection of SDH and leading factor,
Ethernet, ATM can only supporting role, Ethernet unhappy, swear, want, change & hellip to some
extent; …
In order to oppose SDH camp, Ethernet develops one’s own sphere of influence in a more cost-
effective manner, the tactics of encircling the cities from the rural areas leave, first terminal IP ‘ Side
IP of business) . IP can be regarded as the goods of SDH, transmit through SDH, but the question
has come out:
SDH just has on goods strict appearances that required, must be & ldquo while developing originally;
Bulk structural & rdquo; ,And the size is standard, every seat was done according to this requirement
too, the ones that transported like this are the most effective; Later on the intersection of IP and the
peculiar feature ‘ Forms are different) Goods more and more,even if it is specially been develop by
MSTP,frankly speaking MSTP is last several seats special IP and ATM in SDH vehicle, transportation
that it can’t be very good that IP is still! Reason IP or capable disciple of Ethernet under the door,
Ethernet simple, unrestrained sending aiming for wound their by characteristic of doing one’s best
etc., so IP has this characteristic, some are small and exquisite, some are loose (IP frame is long and
variable) ,If there is less IP in SDH/MSTP, will have little trouble, if IP accounts for over half, I’m
afraid transforming the cost of the vehicle is too large
[MSTP: Below 50% of business that if divide into groups, there are cost advantages ];
But the present question is that there are more and more IP goods, I want oneself to establish the
carrier, and want me to have the final say, can’t be limited by in SDH any more; SDH thinks again too
at the same time whether can divide the carriage into two storeys, the original business that give on
the first floor, one layer is specially reserved for IP, can give consideration to in this way.
In period when really lets a hundred schools contend now, various new companies, new technologies
emerge out, we talk about SDH camp first, because before when MSTP establishes, the stock right is
distributed unevenly, have a lot of leftover problems, cause Ethernet to unsatisfied with seriously
now, SDH group puts out MSTP + (call HybridMSTP) after studying now ,50/50 of the stock rights are
distributed, the vehicle turns into two storeys, two storeys are managed and managed separately,
two sets of deployment systems (one pair of kernels cross) ; It is not a kind of good indemnifying
measure either
Besides, Ethernet camp, so free and easy as to spoil, two kinds of great difference appear now:
One kind does not think the carrier that we ourselves established allow the customer (TDM business)
of SDH Get on the bus, if must come in, must change to a new form – disguise (emulation) ,At the
same time the intersection of we and assurance at being free ‘ Have no time to move ahead
simultaneously) ,We serve for our Ethernet completely, our company is IP-RAN;
One kind thinks we should absorb the customer of some SDH, SDH has been managed for so many
years, its customer is still a lot ‘ There are a lot of TDM business demands) ,Want, change to a new
form – disguise come in too, ‘ Emulation) ,Then moved about in our faction, removed and disguised
and reduced into one’s own original look after the faction appeared, this company is named and
called PTN
No matter which way, disguise – apt to hold the skill always a lot, it is apt to hold the skill to develop
PWE3 shortly afterwards
There are 2 big groups in PTN Company:
A group merges MPLS, apt to hold the product of the skill PWE3 and MSTP ——–MPLS-TP group;
A group is a product which merges QinQ and MSTP ——————PBT group;
Unless for MPLS-TP group, there are numerous on supporter,it China for, resurgence, beacon, Allon,
Ericsson, in moving heavyweight star;
As to PBT group, the supporter only has Nortel Networks, form tendency orphans of people;
So PTN that we see now is most it is MPLS-TP groups;
With studying each other, the present difference between IP-RAN and PTN is smaller and smaller, the
advantage of IP-RAN is that three layers have no connection, but PTN can be realized now; PTN
called 1588 systems systematically simultaneously with clock in special construction period in order to
transmit the customer TDM business of SDH in the past, it is V2 edition that use now, V3 edition, in
course of testing, IP-RAN has been learnt too now, also supported this system.
Really in conformity with that sentence: Must shut and must divide to divide long for a long time
jointly!
MSTP+( Hybrid MSTP) Can regard as SDH the compromise of Ethernet, there is no alternative but for
it;
IP-RAN, and PTN reach unanimity now, difference, very, they may regard as the overall challenge of
initiating to SDH, it seems that they are the victory now!
The ITU's Optical Transport Network (OTN), as defined by recommendation G.709,
provides a network-wide framework that adds SONET/SDH-like features to WDM
equipment (also known as Wavelength Switched Optical Network equipment, or
WSON equipment). It creates a transparent, hierarchical network designed for use
on both WDM/WSON devices and TDM devices. Two switching layers are formed
(TDM and WSON) and functions of transport, multiplexing, routing, management,
supervision, and survivability are defined.
Carriers are continually looking for ways to reduce CAPEX/OPEX in their networks
while simultaneously addressing dramatic shifts in traffic type. The promise of the
Optical Transport Network (OTN) is designed to address these issues by delivering a
transparent framework to efficiently carry diverse traffic types. Defined by
recommendation G.709, the OTN creates a transparent, hierarchical network
designed for use on both WDM/WSON and TDM devices. Two switching layers are
formed (TDM and WSON) and functions of transport, multiplexing, routing,
management, supervision, and survivability are defined.
The OTN control plane, which is based on GMPLS, automates many of these
functions, with corresponding operational benefits relative to a statically provisioned
OTN network.
How does G.709 OTN work?
At a basic level, G.709 OTN defines a frame format that "wraps" data packets, in a
format quite similar to that of a SONET frame. There are six distinct layers to this
format.
OPU: Optical Channel Payload Unit. This contains the encapsulated client data, and a
header describing the type of that data. It is analogous to the ‘Path’ layer in SONET/SDH.
ODU: Optical Data Unit. This level adds optical path-level monitoring, alarm indication
signals and automatic protection switching. It performs similar functions to the ‘Line
Overhead’ in SONET/SDH.
OTU: Optical Transport Unit. This represents a physical optical port (such as OTU2,
10Gbps), and adds performance monitoring (for the optical layer) and the FEC (Forward
Error Correction). It is similar to the ‘Section Overhead’ in SONET/SDH.
OCh: Optical Channel. This represents an end-to-end optical path.
OMS: Optical Multiplex Section. This deals with fixed wavelength DWDM (Dense
Wavelength Division Multiplexing) between OADMs (Optical Add Drop Multiplexer).
OTS: Optical Transport Section. This deals with fixed wavelength DWDM between relays.
The G.709 OTN Control Plane
The G.709 OTN control plane extends GMPLS signaling to automate many of its
functions, with corresponding operational benefits relative to a statically provisioned
OTN network.
The control plane automatically calculates an optimal path for each client connection when
the connection is established.
It can also automatically calculate a path for a diversely routed protecting connection, on
which resources can either be held in reserve or pre-empted when required.
When resources are added to or removed from the network, the control plane can
automatically recalculate optimal routes for all existing connections to make best use of the
newly available resources.
Learn more: view the specification of our OTN solution.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Fig 1. Tandem connection monitoring (TCM) allows the definition of multiple arbitrary
pairs of connection monitoring end points so an operator is provided with a single set of
alarms and bit-error counts associated with any portion of its network.
1 of 2Enlarge image
Transport protocols have evolved over a very long time, and each generation has
inherited many attributes and behaviours from its predecessors. The dominant protocol
in the transport network over much of the past two decades has been the synchronous
digital hierarchy (SDH). Recently, however, the optical transport network (OTN) has
taken hold as the protocol of choice.
SDH was originally designed to efficiently transport DS1, DS3, and E1 by defining
containers of 1.5, 2, and 50 Mbits/s. This fine granularity was well suited for the typical
client bandwidths of that time, but it prevented SDH from scaling to efficiently carry
larger payloads such as 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GE).
Initially, SDH network elements were connected directly by fibre-optic cables and served
as the photonic and physical layers of the open systems interconnect (OSI) protocol
stack. Later, the need for increased bandwidth over a single fibre led to the deployment
of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology to create an underlying
transport network to the existing SDH network infrastructure. This resulted in service
providers needing to operate two separate transport layer networks.
Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) networks transport client data
transparently. While SDH technology transparently transports plesiochronous digital
hierarchy (PDH) signals, it requires adaptation or partial termination for data signals
and for multiplexing lower-rate SDH signals. This causes issues when transporting one
service provider’s SDH signals through another service provider’s network due to the
lack of overhead transparency.
The definition of OTN came at a time when all of these issues were well understood.
OTN was consequently expressly defined to focus on the transport of larger-bandwidth
signals, encompass both DWDM and time division multiplexing (TDM) transport
network layers, and provide transparent transport of client signals.
SDH Compared To OTN
It’s no surprise that OTN has many similarities to SDH, as many of its characteristics
were taken from previous technologies when SDH was defined. The similarities include:
Framing and scrambling
Layers (path, section)
Bit-interleaved parity 8 (BIP-8) error monitoring
Forward and backward error and alarm indications
Communication channels
Automatic protection switch (APS) protection signaling
Byte multiplexing
Despite all the obvious similarities, there are also some significant differences that result
from some lessons learned in the many years of deployment and operation of SDH
equipment.
Layers
SDH is defined to have three layers—regenerator section, multiplex section, and path—
whereas OTN includes only the section and path. The multiplex section was defined to
facilitate fault isolation and protection. The tandem connection monitoring (TCM)
functionality in OTN provides more flexible network fault monitoring and protection and
makes the line layer unnecessary.
Frame Structure And Signal Bit Rates
Like SDH, OTN has row- and column-oriented frame structures with framing bytes,
overhead bytes, and payload areas. Unlike the fixed frame rate and different frame sizes
of the various SDH signals, however, the OTN signals have fixed frame sizes and
different frame rates.
Also, each SDH signal rate is a multiple of four of the next lower rate in the hierarchy
(e.g., STM-16 = 4xSTM-4). In the OTN hierarchy, each higher rate is defined so the
payload area can carry multiple (usually four) of the next lower signals including all
overhead. When overhead is added to this payload area, the resulting multiple is not
exactly four.
Bit Error Detection
BIP-8 monitoring from SDH is largely carried over to OTN. But because of the
differences in frame structure, OTN does not suffer from the effect of a single BIP-8
count covering progressively larger numbers of bytes for bigger path signals (e.g., VC-4-
4c, VC-4-16c, etc.).
Transparency
One of the key properties of DWDM networks is their ability to transparently transport
clients, including OTN client signals. This means it’s possible to multiplex OTN signals
into higher-rate signals without sacrificing transparency for data, overhead, and timing.
SDH transports PDH signals transparently, but it cannot transport other SDH signals
without terminating timing and certain overhead.
Multi-Operator Networks
The management shortcomings of SDH include poor data integrity and fault isolation
methods for multi-operator environments. Whenever a particular end-to-end connection
passes through network elements (NEs) in more than one operator network, it is
important for each operator to monitor services between the NEs in its own network.
TCM allows the definition of multiple arbitrary pairs of connection monitoring end
points so an operator is provided with a single set of alarms and bit-error counts
associated with any portion of its network (Fig. 1). Tandem connection was eventually
introduced into SDH, but it was cumbersome and not heavily deployed.
Inclusion Of FEC
Forward error correction (FEC) is used in transport networks to correct transmission
errors that typically occur on long fiber routes. Some SDH equipment with proprietary
FEC capabilities (typically for STM-64) has been developed, but deployment is very
limited. By contrast, FEC is part of the OTN standard. There also are several proprietary
FEC schemes that have better performance than the Reed-Solomon FEC specified in the
OTN standard.
Mapping And Multiplexing
When multiplexing SDH containers into higher-rate signals, the payloads of all
containers are mapped to a common time base, and a pointer mechanism is used to
locate the frame boundary of each payload. In this manner, the section overhead of all
SDH containers is aligned and the actual payloads float with respect to each other.
Although various administrative group levels are defined in SDH, the multiplexing is
effectively single stage.
In OTN, the entire lower-level signal, including overhead and payload, is asynchronously
mapped into the payload of the higher-level signal using one of two mechanisms. The
first mechanism is the asynchronous mapping procedure (AMP), which allows for small
positive or negative frequency offsets of the lower rate signal relative to the higher rate.
The second is the generic mapping procedure (GMP), which allows for almost infinite
negative frequency offsets of the lower-rate signal relative to the higher rate. While the
OTN originally recommended single-stage multiplexing of containers, multi-stage
multiplexing is also now permitted (Fig. 2).
Typical Equipment Platforms
SDH network equipment began primarily with simple terminal multiplexers, which
mapped and multiplexed many PDH signals into STM-1, STM-4, and STM-16 transport
signals. Add/drop multiplexers (ADMs) were then developed to enable ring topologies
and linear add/drop chains.
The multi-service provisioning platform (MSPP) added capability for a larger variety of
client signals such as Ethernet and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). Lastly, these
MSPPs evolved into multi-service transport platforms (MSTPs), which typically included
DWDM and/or OTN capabilities.
OTN-capable equipment evolved from both the MSPPs of the SDH network as well as the
optical ADMs (OADMs) in the DWDM network. The earliest equipment implemented a
digital wrapper function where non-OTN signals were simply mapped into OTN prior to
transmission to take advantage of the FEC of the OTN protocol.
More recently, the OADM has evolved into a software-reconfigurable version known as
the reconfigurable OADM (ROADM). These systems typically have both transponder
cards (performing digital wrapper functionality) as well as muxponder cards, which
include a multiplexing stage to combine multiple lower-speed signals into a single OTN
signal.
The latest transport platform, known as the packet optical transport system (P-OTS),
combines transponder and muxponder functions present in the ROADM with OTN
container (i.e., ODUj) switching. In many cases, these systems are also capable of packet
switching for services such as Ethernet or MPLS to enable a more flexible transport
platform designed to natively handle both circuit and packet switching functions.
Deployment Of OTN
The deployment of OTN has primarily been for the transport of SDH and 10GE signals.
Many recent changes to the OTN standards have broadened functionality to support 40-
and 100-Gbit/s operation and added better capability for Gigabit Ethernet and other
protocols such as Fibre Channel and video.
While there is certainly a market for multiplexing and transporting many low-rate
signals (<10 Gbits/s), most OTN deployment will be in the core of the transport network
and continue to focus on large-bandwidth pipes.
The introduction of OTN switching through development of P-OTS equipment delivers
the true networking aspect of OTN and enables a wider set of deployment scenarios and
protection options in the network. Despite the linear and ring orientation of SDH
networks, it is likely that deployment of OTN equipment will be more focused around a
meshed network approach. The planned integration of packet switching capability with
OTN switching in P-OTS equipment may also have a significant effect on how OTN
equipment is deployed.
The Future
While OTN has taken many elements from previous network technologies such as PDH
and SDH, it is certainly a significant evolutionary step in transport technology. Service
providers around the world have committed to OTN as their transport technology of
choice, and much time and energy is being spent on developing new equipment to enable
a greatly expanded rollout of OTN into the service provider networks.
Fig 2. The generic mapping procedure (GMP) allows for almost infinite negative
frequency offsets of the lower-rate signal relative to the higher rate. While the OTN
originally recommended single stage multiplexing of containers, multi-stage
multiplexing is also now permitted.
2 of 2Enlarge image
Transport protocols have evolved over a very long time, and each generation has
inherited many attributes and behaviours from its predecessors. The dominant protocol
in the transport network over much of the past two decades has been the synchronous
digital hierarchy (SDH). Recently, however, the optical transport network (OTN) has
taken hold as the protocol of choice.
SDH was originally designed to efficiently transport DS1, DS3, and E1 by defining
containers of 1.5, 2, and 50 Mbits/s. This fine granularity was well suited for the typical
client bandwidths of that time, but it prevented SDH from scaling to efficiently carry
larger payloads such as 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GE).
Initially, SDH network elements were connected directly by fibre-optic cables and served
as the photonic and physical layers of the open systems interconnect (OSI) protocol
stack. Later, the need for increased bandwidth over a single fibre led to the deployment
of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology to create an underlying
transport network to the existing SDH network infrastructure. This resulted in service
providers needing to operate two separate transport layer networks.
Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) networks transport client data
transparently. While SDH technology transparently transports plesiochronous digital
hierarchy (PDH) signals, it requires adaptation or partial termination for data signals
and for multiplexing lower-rate SDH signals. This causes issues when transporting one
service provider’s SDH signals through another service provider’s network due to the
lack of overhead transparency.
The definition of OTN came at a time when all of these issues were well understood.
OTN was consequently expressly defined to focus on the transport of larger-bandwidth
signals, encompass both DWDM and time division multiplexing (TDM) transport
network layers, and provide transparent transport of client signals.
SDH Compared To OTN
It’s no surprise that OTN has many similarities to SDH, as many of its characteristics
were taken from previous technologies when SDH was defined. The similarities include:
Framing and scrambling
Layers (path, section)
Bit-interleaved parity 8 (BIP-8) error monitoring
Forward and backward error and alarm indications
Communication channels
Automatic protection switch (APS) protection signaling
Byte multiplexing
Despite all the obvious similarities, there are also some significant differences that result
from some lessons learned in the many years of deployment and operation of SDH
equipment.
Layers
SDH is defined to have three layers—regenerator section, multiplex section, and path—
whereas OTN includes only the section and path. The multiplex section was defined to
facilitate fault isolation and protection. The tandem connection monitoring (TCM)
functionality in OTN provides more flexible network fault monitoring and protection and
makes the line layer unnecessary.
Frame Structure And Signal Bit Rates
Like SDH, OTN has row- and column-oriented frame structures with framing bytes,
overhead bytes, and payload areas. Unlike the fixed frame rate and different frame sizes
of the various SDH signals, however, the OTN signals have fixed frame sizes and
different frame rates.
Also, each SDH signal rate is a multiple of four of the next lower rate in the hierarchy
(e.g., STM-16 = 4xSTM-4). In the OTN hierarchy, each higher rate is defined so the
payload area can carry multiple (usually four) of the next lower signals including all
overhead. When overhead is added to this payload area, the resulting multiple is not
exactly four.
Bit Error Detection
BIP-8 monitoring from SDH is largely carried over to OTN. But because of the
differences in frame structure, OTN does not suffer from the effect of a single BIP-8
count covering progressively larger numbers of bytes for bigger path signals (e.g., VC-4-
4c, VC-4-16c, etc.).
Transparency
One of the key properties of DWDM networks is their ability to transparently transport
clients, including OTN client signals. This means it’s possible to multiplex OTN signals
into higher-rate signals without sacrificing transparency for data, overhead, and timing.
SDH transports PDH signals transparently, but it cannot transport other SDH signals
without terminating timing and certain overhead.
Multi-Operator Networks
The management shortcomings of SDH include poor data integrity and fault isolation
methods for multi-operator environments. Whenever a particular end-to-end connection
passes through network elements (NEs) in more than one operator network, it is
important for each operator to monitor services between the NEs in its own network.
TCM allows the definition of multiple arbitrary pairs of connection monitoring end
points so an operator is provided with a single set of alarms and bit-error counts
associated with any portion of its network (Fig. 1). Tandem connection was eventually
introduced into SDH, but it was cumbersome and not heavily deployed.
Inclusion Of FEC
Forward error correction (FEC) is used in transport networks to correct transmission
errors that typically occur on long fiber routes. Some SDH equipment with proprietary
FEC capabilities (typically for STM-64) has been developed, but deployment is very
limited. By contrast, FEC is part of the OTN standard. There also are several proprietary
FEC schemes that have better performance than the Reed-Solomon FEC specified in the
OTN standard.
Mapping And Multiplexing
When multiplexing SDH containers into higher-rate signals, the payloads of all
containers are mapped to a common time base, and a pointer mechanism is used to
locate the frame boundary of each payload. In this manner, the section overhead of all
SDH containers is aligned and the actual payloads float with respect to each other.
Although various administrative group levels are defined in SDH, the multiplexing is
effectively single stage.
In OTN, the entire lower-level signal, including overhead and payload, is asynchronously
mapped into the payload of the higher-level signal using one of two mechanisms. The
first mechanism is the asynchronous mapping procedure (AMP), which allows for small
positive or negative frequency offsets of the lower rate signal relative to the higher rate.
The second is the generic mapping procedure (GMP), which allows for almost infinite
negative frequency offsets of the lower-rate signal relative to the higher rate. While the
OTN originally recommended single-stage multiplexing of containers, multi-stage
multiplexing is also now permitted (Fig. 2).
Typical Equipment Platforms
SDH network equipment began primarily with simple terminal multiplexers, which
mapped and multiplexed many PDH signals into STM-1, STM-4, and STM-16 transport
signals. Add/drop multiplexers (ADMs) were then developed to enable ring topologies
and linear add/drop chains.
The multi-service provisioning platform (MSPP) added capability for a larger variety of
client signals such as Ethernet and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). Lastly, these
MSPPs evolved into multi-service transport platforms (MSTPs), which typically included
DWDM and/or OTN capabilities.
OTN-capable equipment evolved from both the MSPPs of the SDH network as well as the
optical ADMs (OADMs) in the DWDM network. The earliest equipment implemented a
digital wrapper function where non-OTN signals were simply mapped into OTN prior to
transmission to take advantage of the FEC of the OTN protocol.
More recently, the OADM has evolved into a software-reconfigurable version known as
the reconfigurable OADM (ROADM). These systems typically have both transponder
cards (performing digital wrapper functionality) as well as muxponder cards, which
include a multiplexing stage to combine multiple lower-speed signals into a single OTN
signal.
The latest transport platform, known as the packet optical transport system (P-OTS),
combines transponder and muxponder functions present in the ROADM with OTN
container (i.e., ODUj) switching. In many cases, these systems are also capable of packet
switching for services such as Ethernet or MPLS to enable a more flexible transport
platform designed to natively handle both circuit and packet switching functions.
Deployment Of OTN
The deployment of OTN has primarily been for the transport of SDH and 10GE signals.
Many recent changes to the OTN standards have broadened functionality to support 40-
and 100-Gbit/s operation and added better capability for Gigabit Ethernet and other
protocols such as Fibre Channel and video.
While there is certainly a market for multiplexing and transporting many low-rate
signals (<10 Gbits/s), most OTN deployment will be in the core of the transport network
and continue to focus on large-bandwidth pipes.
The introduction of OTN switching through development of P-OTS equipment delivers
the true networking aspect of OTN and enables a wider set of deployment scenarios and
protection options in the network. Despite the linear and ring orientation of SDH
networks, it is likely that deployment of OTN equipment will be more focused around a
meshed network approach. The planned integration of packet switching capability with
OTN switching in P-OTS equipment may also have a significant effect on how OTN
equipment is deployed.
The Future
While OTN has taken many elements from previous network technologies such as PDH
and SDH, it is certainly a significant evolutionary step in transport technology. Service
providers around the world have committed to OTN as their transport technology of
choice, and much time and energy is being spent on developing new equipment to enable
a greatly expanded rollout of OTN into the service provider networks.