OTA000004

SDH Fundamentals

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Table of Contents

Course Description ...........................................................................................................................1

Course Introduction......................................................................................................................1
Targets of the course ...................................................................................................................1
References...................................................................................................................................1
Chapter 1 SDH Overview ..................................................................................................................2
1.1 Why SDH transmission system did emerge? ........................................................................2
1.2 Pros and Cons of SDH ..........................................................................................................3
Chapter 2 The Frame Structure and Multiplexing Method of SDH Signals .................................5
2.1 SDH Frame Structure ............................................................................................................5
2.2 SDH Multiplexing ...................................................................................................................7
2.2.2 140Mbit/s signal multiplexing ......................................................................................8
2.2.3 34Mbit/s signal multiplexing ........................................................................................8
2.2.4 2Mbit/s signal multiplexing ..........................................................................................9
2.2.5 Concatenation ...........................................................................................................10
Chapter 3 Overhead and Pointer ...................................................................................................11
1.1 Section Overhead ................................................................................................................12
1.1.1 Regenerator Section Overhead (RSOH) ..................................................................13
3.1.2 Multiplex Section Overhead (MSOH) ........................................................................13
3.2 Path Overhead.....................................................................................................................14
3.2.1 High-Order Path Overhead (HPOH) .........................................................................15
3.2.2 Low-Order Path Overhead (LPOH)...........................................................................17
3.3 Pointers................................................................................................................................19
1.1.1 Frequency Matching..................................................................................................19
3.3.2 Pointer Types ............................................................................................................21
Glossary ...........................................................................................................................................23

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List of Tables
Table 3-1 Regenerator section overhead ................................................................................ 13
Table 3-2 Multiplex section overhead ...................................................................................... 13
Table 3-3 High-order path overhead ........................................................................................ 15
Table 3-4 Low-order path overhead......................................................................................... 18

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Course Description

Course Introduction
The product version of this teaching material is OTA000004.
This course introduces the technical background of the SDH system, frame structure,
multiplexing paths, overhead and pointer bytes function and the logical functional
blocks. Its main purpose is to help readers to establish a general concept of SDH.

Targets of the course

Through this course, trainees should be able to:
Understand the background of SDH----Why did SDH transmission system
emerges?
To understand the frame structure of STM-N signals.
Have a general concept of the multiplexing of 2Mb/s, 34Mb/s and 140Mb/s signals
into STM-N signals.
Have a clear understanding of the overhead and pointers bytes.

References
ITU-T recommandations G.702, G.707, G.78, G.782, G.783, G.784.

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Chapter 1 SDH Overview

1.1 Why SDH transmission system did emerge?

SDH is the abbreviation of Synchronous Digital Hierarchy. It supersedes the pervious
plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH). SDH is a transmission system (protocol), which
defines the characteristic of digital signals, including frame structure, multiplexing
method, digital rates hierarchy, and interface code pattern, and so on.
The disadvantages of traditional PDH transmission system are as follows:

1. Interface

The present PDH digital signal hierarchy has three rate levels: European, North
American and Japanese Standard. Each of them has different electrical interface rate
levels, frame structures and multiplexing methods. This makes it difficult to interconnect.
The rate levels of the interfaces standard are shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1 Plesiochronous transmission rates

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2. Multiplexing method

In the present PDH system, only 1.5Mb/s and 2Mb/s rate signals (including Japanese
Standard 6312 kbit/s rate signal) are synchronous. All other signals are asynchronous
and require code rate justification for matching and accepting clock difference. As PDH
adopts asynchronous multiplexing method, the locations of the low-rate signals are
neither regular nor fixed when they are multiplexed into higher-rate signals. For
example, 2Mb/s signals can not be directly added/dropped from 140Mb/s signals.
Figure 1-2

Figure 1-2 Add/drop 2Mb/s signals from 140Mb/s signals

3. Operation maintenance

In the frame structure of the PDH signals, there are few overhead bytes used for
operation, administration and maintenance (OAM). This is the reason why redundancy
codes must be added during optical line coding for the equipment so as to fulfill the
monitoring function over line performance.

4. No universal network management interface

When buying a set of equipment from a vendor, you have to buy its network
management system. Different parts of the network may use different network
management systems, which are obstacles in forming an integrated
telecommunication management system (TMN).
Because of the above-mentioned, the PDH transmission system increasingly impedes
the development of transmission network. Therefore, Bell Telecommunication
Research Institute in the U.S. first proposed the synchronous optical network (SONET)
hierarchy that consisting of a complete set of standard digital transfer structures divided
into different levels. The concept of SONET was accepted by CCITT in 1988. SDH is a
general technique system both for optical fiber transmission and for microwave and
satellite transmission.

1.2 Pros and Cons of SDH

Since SDH transmission system evolves from PDH, it has unparalleled advantages
over PDH. Compared with PDH, SDH systems offer further advantages for the setup
and operation of modern network topologies:

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1. High transmission rate

Transmission rate of up to 10Gbit/s can be achieved. Therefore, SDH is the most

suitable technology for the backbone networks.

2. Simple add/drop function

Compared with PDH system, in SDH system is much easer to extract and insert the low
bit rate signals from or into high the high speed.

3. High availability and capacity matching

Here network providers can react quickly and easily to the customer requirements.
They can use standardized network elements that can be controlled and monitored by
means of telecommunications network management (TMN) system.

4. Reliability

Failure of a link or a network element does not lead to failure of the entire network,
which could be a disaster for the network providers.

5. Interconnection

The SDH interface interfaces are globally standardized, make it possible to combine
network elements from different manufacturers into a network.
One gains other loss. The above advantages of SDH are achieved at the cost of certain
aspects.
Low bandwidth utilization ratio
Complex mechanism of pointer justification
Influence of excessive use of software on system security

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Chapter 2 The Frame Structure and

Multiplexing Method of SDH Signals

2.1 SDH Frame Structure

What kind of frame structure do SDH signals need?
The arrangement of the frame structure shall ensure that the low-rate tributary signals
are allocated as uniformly and regularly in the frame as possible. Because this makes it
easier to implement synchronous multiplexing, cross-connect (XC), add/drop and
switching of tributaries. Therefore, ITU-T defines the frames of STM-N as rectangle
block frame structure in unit of byte (8bit), as illustrated in Figure 2-1.

Figure 2-1 STM-1 frame structure

As shown in the figure above, The STM-1 frame is the basic transmission format for
SDH. The frame lasts for 125 microseconds; therefore, there are 8000 frames per
second. The STM-1 frame consists of overhead, pointer (AU PTR) plus a information
payload. The first nine columns of each frame make up the
Section Overhead and the last 261 columns make up the Information Payload. The
Information Payload plus the pointers (H1, H2 and H3 bytes) is called the AU
(Administrative Unit).
Carried within the Information Payload, which has its own frame structure of nine rows
and 261 columns, is the Path Overhead and the Container. The first column is for Path
Overhead; it’s followed by the payload container, which can itself carry other
containers.
The STM frame is transmitted in a byte-serial fashion, row-by-row, and is scrambled
immediately prior to transmission to ensure adequate clock timing content for
downstream regenerators.

1. The Information Payload

Is a place in the STM-N frame structure to store various information code blocks to be
transmitted. It functions as the "wagon box" of the truck. Within the box are packed
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low-rate signals ---- cargoes to be shipped. To monitor the possible impairment to the
cargoes (the packed low-rate signals) on a real-time basis during transmission,
supervisory overhead bytes ---- Path Overhead (POH) bytes are added into the signals
when the low-rate signals are packed. As one part of payload, the POH, together with
the information code blocks, is loaded into STM-N and transmitted on the SDH network.
The POH is in charge of monitoring, administrating and controlling (somewhat similar to
a sensor) the path performances for the packed cargoes (the low-rate signals).

2. The Section Overhead (SOH)

Refers to the auxiliary bytes, which is necessary for network operation, administration
and maintenance (OAM) to guarantee normal and flexible transmission of Information
Payload. For example, the Section Overhead can monitor the impairment condition of
all "cargoes" in STM-N during transmission. The function of POH is to locate the certain
impaired cargo in case impairments occurred. SOH implements the overall monitoring
of cargoes while the POH monitors a specific cargo. SOH and POH also have some
administration functions
The Section Overhead is further classified into Regenerator Section Overhead (RSOH)
and Multiplex Section Overhead (MSOH). They respectively monitor their
corresponding sections and layers. As mentioned above, section can be regarded as a
large transmission path. The function of RSOH and MSOH is to monitor this
transmission path.
Then, what' s the difference between RSOH and MSOH? In fact, they have different
monitoring domains. For example, if STM-16 signals are transmitted in the fiber, the
RSOH monitors the overall transmission performance of STM-16 while the MSOH
monitors the performances of each STM-1 of the STM-16 signals.
The Regenerator Section Overhead bytes in a STM-N frame are located within row 1-3
of column 1 to 9N, 3% 9% N bytes in total .The Multiplex Section Overhead bytes in a
STM-N frame are located within row 5-9 of column 1 to 9 % N, 5% 9% N bytes in total.
Compared with the frame structure of PDH signals, the abundant section overhead is a
significant characteristic of the frame structures of SDH signals.

3. Administrative Unit Pointer ---- AU-PTR

The Administrative Unit Pointer within column 9 % N of row 4 of the STM-N frame is 9 %
N bytes in total. What' s the function of AU-PTR? We have mentioned before those
low-rate tributaries (e.g. 2Mb/s) could be added/dropped directly from high-rate SDH
signals. Because the locations of low-rate signals within a high-rate SDH frame
structure are predictable, i.e. regular. The predictability can be achieved via the pointer
overhead bytes function in the SDH frame structure. The AU-PTR indicates the exact
location of the first byte of the information payload within the STM-N frame so that the
information payload can be properly extracted at the receiving end according to the
value of this location indicator (the value of the pointer). Let's make it easier. Suppose
that there are many goods stored in a warehouse in unit of pile. Goods (low-rate signals)
of each pile are regularly arranged (via byte interleaved multiplexing). We can locate a
piece of goods within the warehouse by only locating the pile this piece of goods
belongs to. That is to say, as long as the location of the first piece of goods is known,
the precise location of any piece within the pile can be directly located according to the
regularity of their arrangement. In this way you can directly carry (directly add/drop) a
given piece of goods (low-rate tributary) from the warehouse. The function of AU-PTR
is to indicate the location of the first piece of goods within a given pile.

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In fact, the pointer is further classified into higher order pointer and low order pointer.
The higher order pointer is AU-PTR while the lower order pointer is TU-PTR (Tributary
Unit Pointer). The function of TU-PTR is similar to that of AU-PTR except that the
former indicates smaller "piles of goods".

2.2 SDH Multiplexing

SDH multiplexing includes two types: multiplexing of lower-order SDH signals into
higher-order SDH signals and multiplexing of low-rate tributary signals (e.g. 2Mb/s,
34Mb/s and 140Mb/s) into SDH signals ----STM-N.
The multiplexing principles of SDH follow, using these terms and definitions:
Mapping – A process used when tributaries are adapted into Virtual Containers (VCs)
by adding justification bits and Path Overhead (POH) information.
Aligning – This process takes place when a pointer is included in a Tributary Unit (TU)
or an Administrative Unit (AU), to allow the first byte of the Virtual Container to be
located.
Multiplexing – This process is used when multiple lower-order path layer signals are
adapted into a higher-order path signal, or when the higher-order path signals are
adapted into a Multiplex Section.
Stuffing – As the tributary signals are multiplexed and aligned, some spare capacity has
been designed into the SDH frame to provide enough space for all the various tributary
rates. Therefore, at certain points in the multiplexing hierarchy, this space capacity is
filled with “fixed stuffing” bits that carry no information, but are required to fill up the
particular frame.
ITU-T defined a complete multiplexing structure (i.e. multiplexing routes). Through
these routes, digital signals of three PDH hierarchies can be multiplexed into STM-N
signals via a variety of methods. The routes defined by ITU-T are illustrated in Figure
2-2.

Figure 2-2 SDH multiplexing structure

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2.2.2 140Mbit/s signal multiplexing

In SDH terms, multiplexing of PDH signals means adapting these signals to the
structure and timing of an STM-1 signal, enable these signals to be transported into the
SDH network. The first step is mapping. Mapping of PDH signal means increasing the
frequency of it to a predetermined frequency and adding overhead for each one of
these PDH signals.
The SDH multiplexing that defines 140Mbit/s transport is asynchronous 140Mbit/s. it is
the least flexible SDH multiplexing mode, because 140Mbit/s is the lowest level that
can be cross-connected without incurring the delay and hardware cost of
demultiplexing the entire SDH signal. To multiplex 140Mbit/s PDH signal into STM-1
signal requires a number of steps. Increasing the frequency of the 140Mbit/s signal
to value of 149.76Mbit/s, by using variable bit justification (C-4). adding nine
overhead bytes to C-4; this overhead bytes called path overhead (POH). The resulting
structure is called virtual container at level four (VC-4). adding the VC-4 pointer,
which resulting to structure called administrative unit at level four (AU-4). the last
step, MSOH and RSOH are added to the AU-4 to create an STM-1 signal.

Figure 2-3 Multiplexing a 140Mbit/s signal into STM-1

2.2.3 34Mbit/s signal multiplexing

Same as 140Mbit/s signals. The difference is that, the VC-4 payload capacity is
249.76Mbit/s, it can transport three signals of 34Mbit/s. Each of these signals is
assigned a separate set of POH, same as the one used in 140Mbit/s signal. The other
difference is that there are two levels of pointers. One pointer for the VC-4, and one
separate pointer for each of the three 34Mbit/s signals. The synchronized 34Mbit/s
signals are called containers at level three (C-3), and after adding the POH the
structure called virtual container at level three (VC-3). The three VC-3s with their
pointers are called tributary units at level three (TU-3). Then these TU-3s are combined
to form the payload of the VC-4.

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Figure 2-4 Multiplexing three 34Mbit/s signals into STM-1

2.2.4 2Mbit/s signal multiplexing

The 2Mbit/s multiplexing into STM-1 signal is similar to that of 34Mbit/s signals. In this
case, the STM-1 can transport 63 separate 2Mbit/s signals. As the case of 34Mbit/s
signals, there are two levels of pointers. Also the POH assigned to each 2Mbit/s signal
is different from the above mentioned. Unlike the mapping of 140 and 34Mbit/s signals,
the types of 2Mbit/s mappings are: asynchronous, bit synchronous and byte
synchronous. Each container at level one, order two (C-12) along with its POH is called
a virtual container at level one, order two (VC-12). And each VC-12 with its pointer is
called a tributary unit at level one, order two (TU-12). The payload of the VC-4 is formed
by combining 63 TU-12s.

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Figure 2-5 Multiplexing sixty-three 2Mbit/s signals into STM-1

Asynchronous Mapping: means that the 2Mbit/s signals are not synchronized to the
SDH signal. In the asynchronous mapping we impose no signal structure requirements,
so 2Mbit/s signals using this mapping do not need to be framed. This type of mapping
allows an easy interface with existing PDH systems.
Bit Synchronous Mapping: the rate of 2Mbit/s signals is synchronized with SDH signal;
however, the framing (if any) of the 2Mbit/s signal is not synchronized to the SDH signal.
So, the 2Mbit/s signals to be mapped must be already synchronized to the SDH
network. This type of mapping is not planned to for use in international networks;
maybe used in national networks.
Byte Synchronous Mapping: both rate and framing of the 2Mbit/s signal are
synchronized to the SDH signal. It requires G.704 framing on the 2Mbit/s signals. This
kind of mapping allows direct access to 64kbit/s timeslots, so this should be used for
Nx64kbit/s services and most 2Mbit/s signals in the SDH network.

2.2.5 Concatenation

If the payload is larger than the container available for it, it can be distributed to several
consecutive containers. The individual containers are concatenated by means of a
special pointer value. This pointer value is referred to as Concatenation Indication.
Example of a VC-4 concatenation: A number of four VC-4 containers are required for an
ATM cell stream of the broadband ISDN with a bit rate of 599.04 Mbit/s. In the first VC-4,
a valid POH is generated. The other three VC-4s are only filled up with payload and are
assembled to form one VC-4-4c Virtual Container.
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Chapter 3 Overhead and Pointer

For monitoring and controlling the SDH network, additional information is transmitted
together with the traffic data (payload). This information, called Overhead, is divided up
into two main groups, i.e. the Section Overhead and the Path Overhead.

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Figure 3-1 Overhead bytes

1.1 Section Overhead

The SOH is composed of a block consisting of nine rows of N x 9 columns each (N = 1,
4, 16 or 64). For operation, a distinction is made between the Regenerator Section
Overhead (RSOH) composed of rows 1 to 3 and the Multiplex Section Overhead
(MSOH) consisting of rows 5 to 9. Row 4 of the SOH contains the AU pointer bytes.
Then, how are these monitoring functions implemented?

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Figure 3-2 Overhead bytes

1.1.1 Regenerator Section Overhead (RSOH)

The Regenerator Section Overhead contains only the information required for the
elements located at both ends of a section. This might be two regenerators, a piece of
line terminating equipment and a regenerator, or two pieces of line terminating
equipment Figure 3-1
Table 3-1 Regenerator section overhead

A1, A2 Framing signal Assignment: A1 = 1111 0110, A2 = 0010 1000

J0 Path Trace 16 or 64 bytes telegram for connection check
D1,D2, Data RS Data Communications Channel (DCC) bytes – These
D3 Communication three bytes form a 192 kbit/s message channel providing
Channel a message-based channel for Operations, Administration
and Maintenance (OAM) between pieces of section
(DCC)
terminating equipment. The channel can be used from a
central location for control, monitoring, administration,
and other communication needs.
E1 RS Orderwire Only defined in STM-1 no. 1.
This byte can be used to generate a 64 kbit/s voice
channel for service channel purposes. This channel is
accessible at all regenerators and the associated
multiplexers.
B1 Bit Interleaved Only defined in STM-1 no. 1.
Parity 8
This byte is used for error monitoring on the Regenerator
Section. The BIP-8 value is calculated over all bits of the
current STM-N frame to receive an even parity and is
inserted in the next frame.
F1 User channel Only defined in STM-1 no. 1.
This byte is reserved for network operator purposes. This
channel is accessible at all regenerators and the
associated multiplexers.

3.1.2 Multiplex Section Overhead (MSOH)

The Multiplex Section Overhead contains the information required between the multiplex section
termination equipment at each end of the Multiplex section (that is, between consecutive network
elements excluding the regenerators). Figure 3-1

Table 3-2 Multiplex section overhead

B2 Bit Interleaved Multiplex Section (MS) bit interleaved parity code (MS
Parity Nx24 BIP-24) byte – This bit interleaved parity N x 24 code is used
to determine if a transmission error has
occurred over a multiplex section. It’s even parity, and is
calculated overall bits of the MS Overhead and the STM-N
frame of the previous STM-N frame before scrambling. The
value is placed in the three B2 bytes of the MS Overhead
before scrambling. These bytes are provided for all STM-1
signals in an STM-N signal.

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K1, K2 Automatic Only defined in STM-1 no. 1.

Protection
These two bytes can be used to control automatic protection
Switching
switching processes.
(APS)
The assignment of these bytes is defined for different
protection switching
configurations (1+1, 1:n). Bits 6, 7 and 8 of the K2 byte are
reserved for
future applications. The following assignments have been
defined:
’111’ for Multiplex Section AIS MS-AIS,
’110’ for Multiplex Section Remote Defect Indication MS-RDI.
D4 to MS Data Only defined in STM-1 no. 1.
D12 Communicati
These eight bytes form a common data channel ( DCCM)
on Channel
with 576 kbit/s for
(DCC)
the Multiplex Section.
S1 Synchronizati Only defined in STM-1 no. 1.
on status
The SSM informs the operator on the performance of the
clocks used in the unit
M1 Multiplex MS remote error indication – The M1 byte of an STM-1 or the
Section first STM-1 of an STM-N is used for a MS layer remote error
Remote Error indication (MS-REI).
Indication
Bits 2 to 8 of the M1 byte are used to carry the error count of
the interleaved bit blocks that the MS BIP-24xN has detected
to be in error at the far end
of the section. This value is truncated at 255 for STM-N >4..
E2 MS Orderwire Only defined in STM-1 no. 1.
This byte can be used to form a 64 kbit/s voice channel for
service channel
purposes. This channel is accessible only at multiplexers.

3.2 Path Overhead

As we mentioned the Section Overhead is responsible for section layer OAM functions
while the Path Overhead for path layer OAM functions. Like transporting the cargoes
loaded in the container: not only the overall impairment status of the cargoes (SOH) but
also the impairment status of each cargo (POH) shall be monitored.
According to the "width" of the monitored path (the size of the monitored cargo), the
Path Overhead is further classified into Higher Order Path Overhead and Lower Order
Path Overhead. In this curriculum the Higher Order Path Overhead refers to the
monitoring of VC-4 level paths which can monitor the transmission status of 140Mb/s
signal within the STM-N frame. The Lower Order Path Overhead implements the OAM
functions for VC-12 path level, i.e. monitoring the transmission performance of 2Mb/s
signals within the STM-N frame.

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3.2.1 High-Order Path Overhead (HPOH)

Figure 3-3 High-order path overhead bytes

The higher-order POH is located in the first column (9 bytes) of VC-3 or VC-4. It is
formed on generation of the VC-3 (VC-4) and remains unchanged (exception: N1 byte)
until the Virtual Container is disassembled in order to be able to monitor the complete
path.
Table 3-3 High-order path overhead

J1 Path trace This is the first byte in the VC-3/VC-4. Its position is
byte indicated by the pointer
and represents thus the reference point of the
VC-3/VC-4 structure. This byte
can be used to transmit either a repetitive telegram with
a length of 64 bytes
in any format or a 16-byte telegram in the so-called
E.164 format. The Path
Trace permits the link to be checked over the complete
path.
B3 Path BIP---8 This byte is used for error monitoring over the complete
Byte path. The BIP-8
value is calculated over all bits of the current VC3/VC-4
to obtain an even parity and is inserted into the next
VC3/VC-4.
C2 Signal label This byte is used as identifier for the VC contents. The
byte following gives an overview of the defined coding of the
C2 byte:

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MAN: Metropolitan Area Network

DQDB: Dual Queue Dual Bus
FDDI: Fiber Distributed Data Interface
G1 Path status Via this byte, the transmission performance data are
byte reported by the path end to the VC source. Thus, it is
possible to monitor the complete path from any point or
from any of the two ends.

Bit 1..4: VC Path Remote Error Indication (REI). The

binary value transmitted corresponds to the number of
parity violations detected on comparison of B3 with
BIP-8. Numbers higher than 8 are evaluated as 0 errors,
since the BIP-8 error monitoring method does not permit
errors > 8 to be detected.
Bit 5: VC Path Remote Defect Indication (RDI)
This signal is returned whenever the VC-3/VC-4
assembler does not receive a valid signal. The following
conditions have been defined:
a) Path AIS
b) Loss of signal
c) Wrong path trace (J1 byte)
In each of these cases, bit 5 is set to logic ’1’, otherwise it
is ’0’.
Bit 6...8: not yet defined.
F2 Path user This 64 kbit/s channel is available for communication
channels between the path start
bytes and path end for user purposes.
H4 TU position On generation of a payload multiframe, this byte is used
indicator byte in the lower-order VC for multiframe synchronization. It
is therefore payload-specific.
F3 Path user This 64 kbit/s channel is available for communication
channels between the path start

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bytes and path end for user purposes.

K3 Spare These bits are allocated for future use. These bits have
channel no defined value. The receiver is required to ignore their
content.

N1 Network This byte is allocated to provide a Tandem Connection

operator byte Monitoring (TCM) unction.

3.2.2 Low-Order Path Overhead (LPOH)

Figure 3-4 Low-order path overhead bytes

The LPOH here refers to the path overhead of the VC-12 that monitors the transmission
performance of the VC-12 path level, i.e. monitors the transmission status of 2Mb/s
PDH signals within the STM-N frame.
The bytes V5, J2, N2 and K4 are allocated to the VC-12 POH.
Where is the LPOH located within the VC-12? Figure 3-4 displays a VC-12 multi-frame
structure consisting of four VC-12 basic frames. The lower order POH is located in the
first byte of each VC-12 basic frame. An LP-POH consists of four bytes denoted V5, J2,
N2 and K4.

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Table 3-4 Low-order path overhead

V5 Path status V5 is the first byte in VC-12. The TU-12 pointer ’points’ at
and signal this byte and represents thus the reference point of the
label byte lower-order VC. V5 is used for
transmitting the following information:

Bit 1, 2: BIP-2 monitoring, these two bits are used for error
monitoring over the complete lower-order path. The result is
calculated to obtain an even parity. The calculation is
performed for the complete VC-12 including the POH bytes,
however, without bytes V1 to V4 of the TU-12 pointer. If
information is transmitted in byte V3 in negative justification
processes, this byte is included in the calculation.
Bit 3: Remote Error Indication (REI), by setting this bit to
logic ’1’, the VC source is informed that one or several parity
violations were detected in the BIP-2 calculation. If there are
no errors, this bit is logic ’0’.
Bit 4: Remote Failure Indication(RFI), on detection of a fault
or failure, this bit is set to logic ’1’. RFI is sent back to the VC
source.
Bit 5, 6, 7: Contents identifier, these three bits correspond
with the C2 byte of the higher-order POH. The use of the
three special mapping indicators 010, 011 and 100 is
optional. However, these values must not be used for other
purposes.

Bit 8: VC-Path Remote Defect Indication (RDI), this bit is

sent back to the VC source. In normal operation, it is
logic ’0’. On reception of TU12 Path AIS or detection of LOS
or wrong path trace (J2), it is set to logic ’1’.

J2 VC-12 path The function of this byte is identical with that of byte J1 of the
trace byte higher-order POH. This byte can be used to transmit a 16
byte telegram in the E.164 format. Using the Path Trace, it is
possible to check the link over the complete path.

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K4 Automatic Bits 1 to 4 are provided for controlling automatic protection

protection switching processes at the lower-order level. Bits 5 to 8 are
switching reserved for future applications.
N2 Synchronizati This byte is provided for management purposes, e.g.
on status Tandem Connection Maintenance.

3.3 Pointers
SDH provides payload pointers to permit differences in the phase and frequency of the
Virtual Containers (VC-N) with respect to the STM-N frame. Lower-order pointers are
also provided to permit phase differences between VC-12 and the higher-order
VC-3/VC-4.
On a frame-by-frame basis, the payload pointer indicates the offset between the VC
payload and the STM-N frame by identifying the location of the first byte of the VC in the
payload. In other words, the VC is allowed to “float” within the STM-1 frame capacity.
To make this possible, within each STM-N frame, there’s a pointer, known as the VC
Payload Pointer, which indicates where the actual payload container starts. For a VC-4
payload, this pointer is located in columns 1 and 4 of the fourth row of the Section
Overhead. The bytes H1 and H2 (two 8-bit bytes) of the Overhead can be viewed as
one value (see Figure 3-5).

Figure 3-5 Pointers 9-bytes

The pointer value indicates the offset in bytes from the pointer to the first byte of the VC,
which is the J1 byte. Because the Section Overhead bytes are not counted, and starting
points are at 3-byte increments for a VC-4 payload, the possible range is:
Total STM-1 bytes – Section Overhead bytes = Pointer value range
For example: (2430 – 81)/3 = 783 valid pointer positions
That is, the value of the pointer has a range of 0 to 782. For example, if the VC-4
Payload Pointer has a value of 0, then the VC-4 begins in the byte adjacent to the H3
byte of the Overhead; if the Payload Pointer has a value of 87, then the VC-4 begins in
the byte adjacent to the K2 byte of the Overhead in the next row.
The pointer value, which is a binary number, is carried in bits 7 through 16 of the H1-H2
pointer word. The first four bits of the VC-4 payload pointer make provision for
indicating a change in the VC, and thus an arbitrary change in the value of the pointer.
These four bits, the N-bits, are known as the New Data Flag. The VC pointer value that
accompanies the New Data Flag will indicate the new offset.

1.1.1 Frequency Matching

If the frequency of the STM-N frame is not exactly identical with the one of the VC frame,
the pointer value is increased or decreased by 1 at regular intervals, while frame
matching is simultaneously performed by a positive or negative justification process.

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After each pointer correction, at least three frames must be transmitted without pointer
modification.
The frequency matching process for AU pointers is explained in the following section.
The process for the TU pointers is identical.

2. Positive justification

If the frame frequency of the VC is lower than that of the STM-N frame, stuffing bytes
must be inserted and the pointer value must be increased by 1 at regular intervals.
The stuffing bytes are inserted directly behind the last H3 byte. For an AU-3 one stuffing
byte, for an AU-4 three stuffing bytes are inserted. The new pointer (P+1) is then
transmitted starting at the next frame.
The next VC starts at the position indicated by the new pointer.

Figure 3-6 Positive justification

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3. Negative justification

If the frame frequency of the VC is higher than that of the STM-N frame, additional
information of the VC must be transmitted in the H3 bytes and the pointer value must be
decreased by 1 at regular intervals.
The following three H3 bytes are filled with information. With AU-3, only the H3 byte
belonging to the VC to be stuffed is filled with information. The new pointer (P-1) is
transmitted starting at the next frame.
The next VC starts at the position indicated by the new pointer.

Figure 3-7 Negative justification

3.3.2 Pointer Types

In the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), there are two pointer types: the AU pointer
and the TU pointer:
AU pointer: AU-3, AU-4 pointers
TU pointer: TU-3, TU-12 pointer

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Glossary

APS Automatic Protection Switching

ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
AU-n Administrative Unit-n
AUG-N Administrative Unit Group-N
DCC Data Communication Channel
DQDB Distributed Queue Dual Bus
FDDI Fiber Distributed Data Interface
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
NDF New Data Flag
NPI Numbering Plan Identity
PDH Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy
PTE Path Terminating Equipment
PTR Pointer
RDI Remote Defect Indication
REI Remote Error Indication
RFI Remote Failure Indication
RSOH Regenerator Section Overhead
SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
SOH Section Overhead
STM(-N) Synchronous Transport Module (-N)
TCM Tandem Connection Monitoring
TU-n Tributary Unit-n
TUG(-n) Tributary Unit Group(-n)
UNEQ Unequipped
VC-n Virtual Container-n

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