SONET/SDH-Protection

Prof. G. Aarthi
Asst. Professor (SG)
SENSE

Protection in SONET/SDH
Two fundamental types of protection mechanisms are used in point-topoint links:
1 + 1 protection and 1:1 or, more generally, 1:N protection
Both operate in the line or multiplex section layer

(a) 1 + 1 protection, where the signal is simultaneously transmitted over

two paths;
(b) 1:1 protection, where the signal is transmitted over a working path
under normal conditions but switched to a protect path after a failure;
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Protection in SONET/SDH

(c) 1:N protection, which is a more generalized form of 1:1 protection,

where N working paths share a single protection path.
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1 + 1 protection
In 1 + 1 protection, traffic is transmitted simultaneously on two separate
fibers (usually over disjoint routes) from the source to the destination.
Assuming unidirectional protection switching, the destination simply
selects one of the two fibers for reception.

If that fiber is cut, the destination simply switches over to the other fiber
and continues to receive data.

This form of protection is very fast and requires no signalling protocol

between the two ends.

1:1 protection
In 1:1 protection, there are still two fibers from the source to the
destination.
However, traffic is transmitted over only one fiber at a time, say, the
working fiber.

If that fiber is cut, the source and destination both switch over to the
other protection fiber.

An APS protocol is required for signalling between the source and

destination.
For this reason, 1:1 protection is not as quick as unidirectional 1 + 1
protection in restoring traffic because of the added communication
overhead involved.
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Advantages of 1:1 over 1 + 1 protection

Under normal operation, the protection fiber is unused,therefore, it can
be used to transmit lower-priority traffic.
This lower-priority traffic must be discarded if the working fiber is cut.
SONET and SDH equipment in the field does provide support for this
lower-priority or extra traffic.
The 1:1 protection can be extended so as to share a single protection
fiber among many working fibers.

In a more general 1:N protection scheme, N working fibers share a

single protection fiber.

This arrangement can handle the failure of any single working fiber.

SONET/SDH Rings
Commonly called as selfhealing rings since the traffic flowing along
a certain path can be automatically switched to an alternate or
standby path in case of a link failure.
Ring Types
The different types of ring architectures differ in two aspects:
Directionality of traffic (Unidirectional or Bidirectional)
Protection mechanisms (2 or 4-fiber, Line Switching or Path
Switching)

SONET/SDH Rings
A unidirectional ring carries working traffic in only one direction of
the ring (say, clockwise)
A bidirectional ring carries working traffic in both directions.
In 2 fiber architecture, One fiber is used as the working fiber and
the other as the protection fiber
In 4 fiber architecture, Two fibers are used as working fibers, and
two are used for protection.

In Path Switching,the protection is performed at the path layer for

each connection.
In Line Switching,the protection is performed at the Line layer for
each connection.
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SONET/SDH Rings- 2-fiber UPSR

SONET/SDH Rings- 2-fiber UPSR

Traffic from node A to node B is sent simultaneously on the
working fiber in the clockwise direction and on the protection
fiber in the counterclockwise direction.
Node B continuously monitors both the working and protection
fiber and selects the better signal between the two for each
SONET connection.
Under normal operation, suppose node B receives traffic from the
working fiber.

If there is a link failure, say, of link AB, then B will switch over to
the protection fiber and continue to receive the data.
The switchover is done on a connection-by-connection basis
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SONET/SDH Rings- 2-fiber UPSR

Advantages
This protection scheme easily handles failures of links,
transmitters/ receivers, or nodes.
It is simple to implement and requires no signalling protocol or
communication between the nodes.
The capacity required for protection purposes is equal to the
working capacity.
Disadvantages
The main drawback with the UPSR is that it does not spatially
reuse the fiber capacity.
This is because each (bidirectional) connection uses up capacity
on every link in the ring and has dedicated protection bandwidth
associated with it.
Thus, there is no sharing of the protection bandwidth between
connections.
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SONET/SDH Rings- 2-fiber UPSR

UPSRs are popular topologies in lower-speed local exchange and
access networks, particularly where the traffic is primarily hubbed
from the access nodes into a hub node in the arriers central office.

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SONET/SDH Rings-BLSR/4 architecture

Architecture of a four-fiber bidirectional line-switched ring(BLSR)

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SONET/SDH Rings-BLSR/4 architecture

BLSRs are much more sophisticated than UPSRs and incorporate
additional protection mechanisms,

Unlike UPSRs, they operate at the line or multiplex section layer.

The BLSR equivalent in the SDH world is called a multiplex section
shared protection ring (MS-SPRing).
Two fibers are used as working fibers, and two are used for protection.
Unlike a UPSR, working traffic in a BLSR can be carried on both
directions
along
the
ring.

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SONET/SDH Rings-BLSR/4 architecture

For example, on the working fiber, traffic from node A to node B is
carried clockwise along the ring, whereas traffic from B to A is
carried counter clockwise along the ring.
Usually, traffic belonging to both directions of a connection is routed
on the shortest path between the two nodes in the ring.
However, in certain cases, traffic may be routed along the longer path
to reduce network congestion and make better use of the available
capacity.

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SONET/SDH Rings-BLSR/4 architecture

A BLSR/4 employs two types of protection mechanisms: span
switching and ring switching.
In span switching, if a transmitter or receiver on a working fiber fails,
the traffic is routed onto the protection fiber between the two nodes
on the same link
Span switching can also be used to restore traffic in the event of a
working fiber cut, provided the protection fibers on that span are
routed separately from the working fibers.
In ring swithing, service is restored case of a fiber or cable cut.
Suppose link AB fails. The traffic on the failed link is then rerouted by
nodes A and B around the ring on the protection fibers.
Ring switching is also used to protect against a node failure.

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Span Switching in a BLSR/4

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Ring Switching in a BLSR/4

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SONET/SDH Rings-BLSR/2 architecture

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SONET/SDH Rings-BLSR/2 architecture

A BLSR/2,can be thought of as a BLSR/4 with the protection fibers
e edded withi the worki g fibers.
In a BLSR/2, both of the fibers are used to carry working traffic, but half
the capacity on each fiber is reserved for protection purposes.

Unlike a BLSR/4, span switching is not possible here, but ring switching
works in much the same way as in a BLSR/4.
In the event of a link failure, the traffic on the failed link is rerouted
along the other part of the ring using the protection capacity available
in the two fibers.

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Four fiber-BLSR architecture Advantages

BLSRs are more efficient than UPSRs in protecting distributed traffic

patterns.
Their efficiency comes from the fact that the protection capacity in the
ring is shared among all the connections
BLSRs are widely deployed in long-haul and interoffice networks,
where the traffic pattern is more distributed than in access networks.