SONET Payload Pointer

• The payload pointer carried in the line

overhead is a new feature introduced in
SONET.
• Its purpose is to provide multiplexing
synchronization of the pleisiochronous frames
and to align the frames in an STS-N signal
• Low-data-rate signals are combined
(multiplexed) into higher data-rate signals for
trunk trans- mission
 Multiplexing

Data
sream1

Data
sream1
-
-
Data
sream1
• The usual multiplexing strategy of the
telecommunications industry is shown in Fig
• The incoming data streams have already been
multiplexed and might represent a DS3 signal (at
44. 736 Mb/s) in the United States, a CEPT-4
signal (at 139.264 Mb/s) in Europe, or a fifth-
level signal (at 397.20 Mb/s) in Japan.
• The multiplexer provides synchronization and
the addition of bits (bit stuffing) for performance
monitoring and maintenance functions.
• The multiplexing function is a simple interleave
of the tributary channels.
• The high-speed signal conditioner balances the
statistics into the data stream (e.g., to avoid long
strings of 0 values or 1 values or provide for the
insertion of block codes).
• The conditioned signal is then passed on to the
optical source for high-speed transmission. Two
types of conventional multiplexing have evolved,
bit stuffing and fixed-location mapping.
 Bit Stuffing
• In the bit-stuffing method, extra bits are
stuffed into the higher-speed channel to fill
up the data stream to capacity, as the
signals are multiplexed together (e.g., four
1.544 Mb/s DS1 tributary channels being
multiplexed into a 6.312 Mb/s DS2
stream).
• Bit-stuffing indicators are included in the
frame at fixed positions and tell whether
the stuffing bits contain some useful
system information or are just dummy bits.
• The method has the advantage of being
able to accommodate signals with widely
varying clock speeds, but has the
disadvantage of requiring de-stuffing of the
bits at the demultiplexer end
 Fixed-location Mapping
• In the second multiplexing method, the tributaries are
mapped into fixed, pre-assigned locations in the main
data stream.
• Fixed-location mapping requires that synchronized data
arrive at the multiplexer at just the right instant for
inclusion in the channel.
• In networks that are highly synchronized (e.g., long-
distance carriers), this required synchronization of the
tributaries is no problem, as it is already included in the
network.
•
• Even in these networks, however, there
can be phase misalignments due to
propagation delays and other effects, so
125 micro sec buffers (called "slip buffers")
are included in the multiplexers to align the
signals with their respective slots.
• In systems that are to multiplex signals from sources
with separate synchronizing clocks, this is a major
problem.
• The floating payload in the SONET frame is a
potential solution.
• There are two ways to align the signal within the
STS-1 frame-to "float" the payload at any arbitrary
location within the frame (and to use the payload
pointer to record the payload starting position) or to
rigidly fix the location of the payload and require that
the system timing be stringent enough to meet the
subsequent requirements.
 Floating payload
• Innovation of SONET
• Its advantage is in dealing with signals that
are not set by master clock
• DS3 signal is mapped directly with STS-1
frames in SONET
• No data buffer, master synchronization of
signal
• Payload pointer is contained in the HI and H2
bytes of the STS-l line overhead
• Indicates the starting byte location of the
payload.
• In the figure if we observe
– A late-starting payload is allowed to overlap into
the following STS-l frame .
– The payload is allowed to float both vertically and
horizontally within the STS-l frame
– While offering high flexibility to data stream
handling, the technique does have the
disadvantage of requiring pointer data
generation, reading, and interpretation.
– This new manipulation hardware and software
must be designed and integrated into SONET
equipment
• The payload pointer also has the function of
accommodating slippage in the data due to
slight differences in the data clock and the STS-l
clock.
• The figure shows the case where the data
clock is slightly faster than the frame clock.
• The payloads in frames #1 and #2 are at a given
location.
• In frame #3, the faster clock of the data places
the payload at a location that is one byte earlier
than the previous frames.
• A stuff byte is moved into the H3 location of the
payload pointer in this frame and the payload
pointer location (in bytes HI and H2) is
decreased by one to point to the new location of
the payload.
• In frame #4, the payload has adjusted to its new
position.
• This method of handling slippage in the data
without lengthy data delays is one of the primary
advantages of the floating payload structure.
• ~
• In another case a similar adjustment
• when the data clock is slightly slower than
the frame clock.
• In frame #3 the payload has moved to
one byte later in the frame.
• A stuff bit has been added immediately
after the H3 location and the payload
pointer is increased by .
 Fixed Payload
• An alternative use of the frame is to assign the
payload to a rigidly defined, fixed location in the STS-1
frame.
• The payload is not allowed to float, but must fit into
exactly the same location in each and every frame.
• This is accomplished by rigid synchronization of the
data clock with the frame clock, as sometimes found in
single-provider telecommunications networks.
• The data are synchronized to be at the input at the
proper time for inclusion at the proper location.
• As long as the synchronization is correct, the data will
be assigned their proper locations.
 Broadband Signal Handling
• One of the advantages of SONET is its
capability in handling higher data-rate
signals than today's standard DS3 signals.
• In fact, the European standard
transmission of 139.264 Mb/s means that
the European network cannot use the STS-
1 frame structure alone for its signals; the
STS-1 frame does not have a high enough
data rate. This upward compatibility
allowed SONET to be proposed as the
SDH international standard.)
• Higher data-rate signals are obtained by
byte interleaving N STS-1 frames into a
so-called STS-N frame.
• The frame is now N x 90 columns (bytes)
wide by 9 rows high.
• The time duration of the frames is 155N
micro sec.
• For example, three STS-1 frames can be
multiplexed to reach the 139 Mb/s rate
preferred by the European networks
• The payload pointers are used to multiplex
the N STS-l frames to STS-N .levels.
When multiplexed, the section and line
overhead bytes of the first STS-l frame are
used for the overhead information; the
overhead bytes in the rest of the
multiplexed frames are not used.
• The STS-N frame is then scrambled (to avoid
the possibility of long strings of 0s or 1s) and
converted to an Optical Carrier-Level N (OC-
N) signal. The line rate of the OC-N signal
will be exactly N times the rate of the OC-1
signal rate. The OC-N levels allowed by the
standard are shown in Table. These higher
data-rate signals provide upward
compatibility of future systems
 SONET signal rates
Level Line rate (Mb/s)
OC-1 51.84
OC-3 155.52
OC-9 466.56
OC-12 622.08
OC-18 933.12
OC-24 1244.16
OC-36 1866.24
OC-48 2488.32
• VIRTUAL TRIBUTARIES
• SONET COMPATIBILITY
• ATM AND SONET