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T1/E1 ESSENTIALS REV. 1.00

3.0 INTRODUCTION TO E1

E1 is the European counter part to T1 which is supported everywhere in the world except
North America, Canada, and Japan. Although its structure is slightly different, it deploys
the same concepts when transmitting data from one locality to another.

3.1 Summary of E1 General Specifications

The following is a summary of E1 specifications.

TABLE 9: SUMMARY OF E1 SPECIFICATIONS

Parameter Specification
Nominal Bit Rate 2,048 kbps
Line Rate Accuracy +/- 50 ppm
Line Code HDB3
Medium Balanced Pair Coax Cable
Test Load 120 Ohms 75 Ohms
Pulse Amplitude 3.0v 2.37v

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3.2 Bit Stream Encoding/Decoding

For all digital bit streams rates, sufficient energy must exist such that network elements
can maintain timing extraction from the incoming data, known as Loop Timing Systems.
As such, too many consecutive zeros can lead to timing extraction issues and cause a
distruption in timing events and synchronization. In E1, the line coding used is HDB3 (High
Density Bipolar With 3 Zero Substitution). This method utilizes "violation" pulses so that
the recovering circuitry can distinguish between data and an encoded signal.

In HDB3 encoding, any sequence of four consecutive zeros will be replaced by 000V or
B00V. The choice is made so that the number of B pulses between consecutive V pulses
is odd. Successive V pulses are of alternate polarity to avoid the possibility of a DC
component.

FIGURE 9. EXAMPLE OF HDB3 FOR AN ALL ZERO BIT STREAM

B V

0 0 0 0 0 0

B V B

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3.3 Pulse Template Requirements

All marks of a valid signal must conform to the pulse mask shown below. The value V
corresponds to the nominal amplitude of the pulse. For Coax 75Ω, the nominal voltaga is
2.37v. For balanced twisted pair 120Ω, the nominal voltage is 3.0v.

FIGURE 10. E1 PULSE TEMPLATE

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4.0 THE E1 FRAMING STRUCTURE

A single E1 frame consists of 256 bits which is created 8,000 times per second. This yields a
bit-rate of 2.048Mbps. The 256 bits within each E1 frame are grouped into 32 octets or
timeslots. These timeslots are numbered from 0 to 31. Each timeslot is 8 bits in length and
is transmitted most significant bit first, numbered bit 0. Figure 11 presents a diagram of a
single E1 frame.

FIGURE 11. SINGLE E1 FRAME DIAGRAM

E1 Frame

Timeslot 0 Timeslot 1 Timeslot 29 Timeslot 30 Timeslot 31

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Not all of these timeslots are available to transmit voice or user data. For instance, timeslot 0 is
always reserved for system use and timeslot 16 is sometimes used (reserved) by the system.
Hence, within each E1 frame, either 30 or 31 of the 32 timeslots are available for
transporting user or voice data. In general, there are two types of E1 frames, FAS and
Non-FAS. In any E1 data stream, the E1 frame begins with a FAS frame followed by Non-
FAS frame and then alternates between the two.

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4.1 FAS Frame

Timeslot 0 within the FAS E1 frame contains a framing alignment pattern and therefore
supports framing. The bit-format of timeslot 0 is presented in Table 10. The Si bit within
the FAS E1 Frame typically carries the results of a CRC-4 calculation. The fixed framing
pattern (e.g., 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1) will be used by the Receive E1 Framer at the Remote
terminal for frame synchronization/alignment purposes.

TABLE 10: BIT FORMAT OF TIMESLOT 0 OCTET WITHIN A FAS E1 FRAME

BIT 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Value SI 0 0 1 1 0 1 1

Function International Bit Frame Alignment Signaling (FAS) Pattern

Descrip- In practice, the Si bit within the FAS E1 Frame carries The fixed framing pattern (e.g., 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1,
tion-Opera- the results of a CRC-4 calculation. 1) is used by the Receive E1 Framer at the
tion Remote terminal for frame synchronization/
alignment purposes.

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4.2 Non-FAS Frame

Timeslot 0 within the non-FAS E1 frame contains bits that support signaling or data link
message transmission. The bit-format of timeslot 0 is presented in Table 11. The Si bit in
the Non-FAS frame typically carries a specific value that will be used by the Receive E1
Framer for CRC Multi-frame alignment purposes.

TABLE 11: BIT FORMAT OF TIMESLOT 0 OCTET WITHIN A NON-FAS E1 FRAME

BIT 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Value Si 1 A Sa4 Sa5 Sa6 Sa7 Sa8

Function6 International Bit Fixed Value Yellow Alarm National bits

Descrip- International Bit Fixed at “1” FAS Frame Yellow Alarm National Bits
tion-Opera- The Si bit within the Bit-field “1” contains a Bit These bit-fields can be
tion non-FAS E1 Frame typi- fixed value “1”. This This bit-field is used to used to carry data link
cally carries a specific bit-field will be used transmit a Yellow alarm to information from the
value that will be used for FAS framing syn- the Remote Terminal. This Local transmitting termi-
by the Receive E1 chronization/align- bit-field is set to “0” during nal to the Remote
Framer for CRC Multi- ment purposes by the normal conditions, and is receiving terminal.
frame alignment pur- Remote Receive E1 set to “1” whenever the Since the National bits
poses. Framer. Receive E1 Framer only exist in the non-
detects an LOS (Loss of FAS frames, they offer a
Signal) or LOF (Loss of maximum signaling data
Framing) condition in the link bandwidth of
incoming E1 frame data. 20kbps.

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4.3 The E1 Multi-frame Structure

There are two types of E1 Multi-frame structures, CRC Multi-frame and CAS Multi-frame.
The CAS Multi-frame can be considered a subset of the CRC Multi-frame, in that CAS is
an option to carry signaling information within the CRC Multi-frame structure.

4.3.1 The CRC Multi-frame Structure

A CRC Multi-frame consists of 16 consecutive E1 frames, with the first of these frames
being a FAS frame. From a Frame Alignment point of view, timeslot 0 of each of these E1
frames within the Multi-frame are the most important 16 octets. Table 12 presents the bit-
format for all timeslot 0 octets within a 16 frame CRC Multi-frame.

TABLE 12: BIT FORMAT OF ALL TIMESLOT 0 OCTETS WITHIN A CRC MULTI-FRAME

FRAME
SMF BIT 0 BIT 1 BIT 2 BIT 3 BIT 4 BIT 5 BIT 6 BIT 7
NUMBER
1 0 C1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
1 0 1 A Sa4 Sa5 Sa6 Sa7 Sa8
2 C2 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
3 0 1 A Sa4 Sa5 Sa6 Sa7 Sa8
4 C3 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
5 1 1 A Sa4 Sa5 Sa6 Sa7 Sa8
6 C4 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
7 0 1 A Sa4 Sa5 Sa6 Sa7 Sa8
2 8 C1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
9 1 1 A Sa4 Sa5 Sa6 Sa7 Sa8
10 C2 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
11 1 1 A Sa4 Sa5 Sa6 Sa7 Sa8
12 C3 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
13 E 1 A Sa4 Sa5 Sa6 Sa7 Sa8
14 C4 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
15 E 1 A Sa4 Sa5 Sa6 Sa7 Sa8

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The CRC Multi-frame is divided into 2 sub Multi-Frames. Sub-Multi-Frame 1 is designated

as SMF1 and Sub-Multi-Frame 2 is designated as SMF2. SMF1 and SMF2 each consist
of 8 E1 frames having 4 FAS frames and 4 non-FAS frames. There are two interesting
things to note in Table 12. First, all of the bit-field 0 positions within each of the FAS
frames (within each SMF) are designated as C1, C2, C3 and C4. These four bit-fields
contain the CRC-4 values which have been computed over the previous SMF. Hence,
while the Transmit E1 Framer is assembling a given SMF, it computes the CRC-4 value for
that SMF and inserts these results into the C1 through C4 bit-fields within the very next
SMF. These CRC-4 values ultimately are used by the Remote Receive E1 Framer for
error detection purposes.

NOTE: This framing structure is referred to as a CRC Multi-Frame because it permits the remote
receiving terminal to locate and verify the CRC-4 bit-fields.

The second interesting thing to note regarding Table 12 is that the bit-field 0 positions
within each of the non-FAS frames (within the entire MF) are of a fixed 6-bit pattern 0, 0, 1,
0, 1, 1 along with two bits, each designated as “E”. This 6-bit pattern is referred to as the
CRC Multi-Frame alignment pattern, which can ultimately be used by the Remote Receive
E1 Framer for CRC Multi-Frame synchronization/alignment. The "E" bits are used to
indicate that the Local Receive E1 framer has detected errored sub-Multi-Frames.

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4.4 Channel Associated Signaling

If the user operates an E1 channel in Channel Associated Signaling, then timeslot 16

octets within each E1 frame will be reserved for signaling. Such signaling would convey
information such as On-Hook, Off-Hook conditions, call set-up, control, etc. In CAS, this
type of signaling data that is associated with a particular voice channel will be carried
within timeslot 16 of a particular E1 frame within a CAS Multi-Frame. The CAS is carried in
a Multi-Frame structure which consists of 16 consecutive E1 frames. The framing/byte
format of a CAS Multi-Frame is presented in Figure 12.

FIGURE 12. FRAME/BYTE FORMAT OF THE CAS MULTI-FRAME STRUCTURE

A Single CAS Multiframe

Timeslot 16 Timeslot 16 Timeslot 16 Timeslot 16
Frame 0 Frame 1 Frame 2 Frame 15

xyxx ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD

0000

Signaling Data Signaling Data Signaling Data

Associated with Associated with Associated with
CAS Multiframe Timeslot 1 Timeslot 2 Timeslot 15
Alignment Pattern Signaling Data
Associated with
Signaling Data Signaling Data Timeslot 31
Associated with Associated with
Timeslot 17 Timeslot 18

x = “dummy bits”
y = Carries the Multiframe “Yellow Alarm” bit

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Timeslot 16 within frame 0 is a special octet that is used to convey CAS Multi-Frame
alignment information, and to convey Multi-Frame alarm information to the Remote
Terminal. The bit-format of timeslot 16 within frame 0 of a CAS Multi-Frame is 0000 xyxx.
The upper nibble of this octet contains all zeros and is used to identify itself as the CAS
Multi-Frame alignment signal. If CAS is used, then the user is advised to insure that none
of the other timeslot 16 octets contain the value "0000". The lower nibble of this octet
contains the expression "xyxx". The x-bits are the spare bits and should be set to "0" if not
used. The y-bit is used to indicate a Multi-Frame alarm condition to the Remote terminal.
During normal operation, this bit-field is cleared to "0". However, if the Local Receive E1
Framer detects a problem with the incoming Multi-Frames, then the Local Transmit E1
Framer will set this bit-field within the next outbound CAS Multi-Frame to "1".

NOTE: The Local Transmit E1 Framer will continue to set the y-bit to "1" for the duration that the
Local Receive E1 Framer detects this problem.

Timeslot 16 within Frame 1 of the CAS Multi-Frame contains 4 bits of signaling data for
voice channel 1 and 4 bits of signaling data for voice channel 17. Timeslot 16 within Frame
2 contains 4 bits of signaling data for voice channel 2 and 4 bits of signaling data for voice
channel 18, and this continues for all E1 frames.

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4.5 Common Channel Signaling (CCS)

Common Channel Signaling is an alternative form of signaling from CAS. In CCS,

whatever signaling data which is transported via the outbound E1 data stream, carries
information that applies to all of the voice channels as a set (e.g., timeslots 1 through 15
and 17 through 31) in the E1 frame. There are numerous other variations of Common
Channel Signaling that are available. Some of these are listed below.

• 31 Voice Channels with the common channel signaling being transported via the
National Bits.
• 30 Voice Channels with the common channel signaling data being transported via the
National Bits and CAS data being transported via timeslot 16.
• 30 Voice Channels with the Common Channel Signaling being processed via timeslot
16. (e.g., Primary Rate ISDN Signaling).

FIGURE 13. E1 FRAME FORMAT

Time Slot 0 Time Slot 16 Time Slots 1-15, 17-31

a. Even Frames 0, 2, 4-14 a. Frame 0

1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 X Y X X

Channel Data
FAS CAS
b. Odd Frames 1, 3, 5-15 b. Frames 1-15
8 Bits/
1 1 A N N N N N A B C D A B C D 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time Slot
Non-FAS

TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS
32 Time Slots/Frame 0 1 2 3 - 14 15 16 17 18 - 28 29 30 31

16 Frames/ FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR
Multiframe 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

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5.0 REFERENCES

1. Bellcore Generic Requirements GR-499-CORE

Transport Systems Generic Requirements (TSGR): Common Requirements
2. International Telecommunications Union ITU-T G.703
Series G: Transmission Systems and Media, Digital Systems and Networks: Digital Terminal
Equipments - General

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