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The Physical layer in the OSI model plays the role of interacting with actual hardware and
signaling mechanism. Physical layer is the only layer of the OSI network model which actually
deals with the physical connectivity of two different stations. This layer defines the hardware
equipment, cabling, wiring, frequencies, pulses used to represent binary signals etc.
Physical layer provides its services to Data-link layer at the receiving end while the Data-link layer
hands over frames to physical layer at the transmitting end. Physical layer converts them to
electrical pulses, which represent binary data. The binary data is then sent over the wired or
wireless media.

5.1 Signals
When data is sent over the physical medium, it needs first to be converted into electromagnetic
signals. Data itself can be analog such as human voice, or digital such as file on the disk. Both
analog and digital data can be represented in digital or analog signals.

5.1.1 Digital Signals

Digital signals are discrete in nature and represent a sequence of voltage pulses. Digital signals are
used within the circuitry of a computer system.

5.1.2 Analog Signals

Analog signals are in continuous wave form in nature and are represented by continuous
electromagnetic waves.

5.2 Transmission Impairments

When signals travel through the medium, they tend to deteriorate. This may have many reasons as
given below:

5.2.1 Attenuation
For the receiver to interpret the data accurately, the signal must be sufficiently strong. When the
signal passes through the medium, it tends to get weaker. As it covers distance, it loses strength.

5.2.2 Dispersion
As a signal travels through the media, it tends to spread and overlap. The amount of dispersion
depends upon the frequency used.

5.2.3 Delay Distortion

Signals are sent over the media with pre-defined speed and frequency. If the signal speed and
frequency do not match, there are possibilities that signal reaches destination in arbitrary fashion.
In digital media, this is very critical that some bits reach earlier than the previously sent ones.

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5.2.4 Noise
Random disturbance or fluctuation in an analog or digital signal is said to be Noise in signal, which
may distort the actual information being carried. Noise can be characterized in one of the following
class:

Thermal Noise
Heat agitates the electronic conductors of a medium which may introduce noise in the media. Up
to a certain level, thermal noise is unavoidable.

Intermodulation
When multiple frequencies share a medium, their interference can cause noise in the medium.
Intermodulation noise occurs if two different frequencies are sharing a medium and one of them
has excessive strength or the component itself is not functioning properly, then the resultant
frequency may not be delivered as expected.

Crosstalk
This sort of noise happens when a foreign signal enters into the media. This is because the signal
in one medium affects the signal of second medium.

Impulse
This noise is introduced because of irregular disturbances such as lightening, electricity, short-
circuit, or faulty components. Digital data is mostly affected by this sort of noise.

5.3 Data Transmission

Data or information can be stored in two ways, analog and digital. For a computer to use the data,
it must be in discrete digital form. Similar to data, signals can also be in analog and digital form.
To transmit data digitally, it needs first to be converted to digital form.

5.3.1 Digital-to-Digital Conversion

This section explains how to convert digital data into digital signals. It can be done in two ways,
line coding and block coding. For all communications, line coding is necessary whereas block
coding is optional.
5.3.1.1 Line Coding
The process for converting digital data into digital signal is said to be Line Coding. Digital data is
found in binary format. It is represented (stored) internally as series of 1s and 0s.

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Digital signal is denoted by discreet signal, which represents digital data. There are three types of
line coding schemes available:

1.Unipolar Coding
Unipolar encoding schemes use single voltage level to represent data. In this case, to represent
binary 1, high voltage is transmitted and to represent 0, no voltage is transmitted. It is also called
Unipolar-Non-return-to-zero, because there is no rest condition i.e. it either represents 1 or 0.

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2. Polar Encoding
Polar encoding scheme uses multiple voltage levels to represent binary values. Polar encodings is
available in four types: Polar Non Return to Zero (Polar NRZ). It uses two different voltage
levels to represent binary values. Generally, positive voltage represents 1 and negative value
represents 0. It is also called NRZ because there is no rest condition. NRZ scheme has two variants:
NRZ-L and NRZ-I.

NRZ-L changes voltage level at when a different bit is encountered whereas NRZ-I changes
voltage when a 1 is encountered.

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Return to Zero (RZ)

Problem with NRZ is that the receiver cannot conclude when a bit ended and when the next bit is
started, in case when sender and receiver’s clock are not synchronized.

RZ uses three voltage levels, positive voltage to represent 1, negative voltage to represent 0 and
zero voltage for none. Signals change during bits not between bits.

Manchester
This encoding scheme is a combination of RZ and NRZ-L. Bit time is divided into two halves. It
transits in the middle of the bit and changes phase when a different bit is encountered.

Differential Manchester
This encoding scheme is a combination of RZ and NRZ-I. It also transits at the middle of the bit
but changes phase only when 1 is encountered.
3. Bipolar Encoding
Bipolar encoding uses three voltage levels, positive, negative, and zero. Zero voltage represents
binary 0 and bit 1 is represented by altering positive and negative voltages.

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5.3.1.2 Block Coding

To ensure accuracy of the received data frame, redundant bits are used. For example, in even-
parity, one parity bit is added to make the count of 1s in the frame even. This way the original
number of bits is increased. It is called Block Coding. Block coding is represented by slash
notation, mB/nB. Means, m-bit block is substituted with n-bit block where n > m. Block coding
involves three steps:
1. Division
2. Substitution
3. Combination.
After block coding is done, it is line coded for transmission.

5.3.2 Analog-to-Digital Conversion

Microphones create analog voice and camera creates analog videos, which are treated as analog
data. To transmit this analog data over digital signals, we need analog to digital conversion. Analog
data is a continuous stream of data in the wave form whereas digital data is discrete. To convert
analog wave into digital data, we use Pulse Code Modulation (PCM).

PCM is one of the most commonly used method to convert analog data into digital form. It involves
three steps:
 Sampling
 Quantization
 Encoding.

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5.3.2.1 Sampling

The analog signal is sampled every T interval. Most important factor in sampling is the rate at
which analog signal is sampled. According to Nyquist Theorem, the sampling rate must be at least
two times of the highest frequency of the signal.
5.3.2.2 Quantization

Sampling yields discrete form of continuous analog signal. Every discrete pattern shows the
amplitude of the analog signal at that instance. The quantization is done between the maximum
amplitude value and the minimum amplitude value. Quantization is approximation of the
instantaneous analog value.
5.3.2.3 Encoding

In encoding, each approximated value is then converted into binary format.

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5.3.3 Transmission Lines

The transmission mode decides how data is transmitted between two computers. The binary data
in the form of 1s and 0s can be sent in two different modes: Parallel and Serial.
5.3.3.1 Parallel Transmission

The binary bits are organized into groups of fixed length. Both sender and receiver are connected
in parallel with an equal number of data lines. Both computers distinguish between high order and
low order data lines. The sender sends all the bits at once on all lines. Because the data lines are
equal to the number of bits in a group or data frame, a complete group of bits (data frame) is sent
in one go. Advantage of Parallel transmission is high speed and disadvantage is the cost of wires,
as it is equal to the number of bits sent in parallel.
5.3.3.2 Serial Transmission
In serial transmission, bits are sent one after another in a queue manner. Serial transmission
requires only one communication channel.

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Serial transmission can be either asynchronous or synchronous.

Asynchronous Serial Transmission

It is named so because there is no importance of timing. Data-bits have specific pattern and they
help receiver recognize the start and end data bits. For example, a 0 is prefixed on every data
byte and one or more 1s are added at the end. Two continuous data-frames (bytes) may have a
gap between them.

Synchronous Serial Transmission

Timing in synchronous transmission has importance as there is no mechanism followed to
recognize start and end data bits. There is no pattern or prefix/suffix method. Data bits are sent in
burst mode without maintaining gap between bytes (8-bits). Single burst of data bits may contain
a number of bytes. Therefore, timing becomes very important. It is up to the receiver to
recognize and separate bits into bytes. The advantage of synchronous transmission is high speed,
and it has no overhead of extra header and footer bits as in asynchronous transmission.

5.3.4 Analog Transmission

To send the digital data over an analog media, it needs to be converted into analog signal. There
can be two cases according to data formatting.

Bandpass: The filters are used to filter and pass frequencies of interest (signals found in a
particular band). A bandpass is a band of frequencies which can pass the filter.

Low-pass: Low-pass is a filter that passes low frequencies signals. When digital data is converted
into a bandpass analog signal, it is called digital-to-analog conversion. When low-pass analog
signal is converted into bandpass analog signal, it is called analog-to-analog conversion.
5.3.4.1 Digital-to-Analog Conversion
When data from one computer is sent to another via some analog carrier, it is first converted into
analog signals. Analog signals are modified to reflect digital data. An analog signal is characterized
by its amplitude, frequency, and phase. There are three kinds of digital-to-analog conversions:
1. Amplitude Shift Keying
In this conversion technique, the amplitude of analog carrier signal is modified to reflect binary
data.

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When binary data represents digit 1, the amplitude is held; otherwise it is set to 0. Both frequency
and phase remain same as in the original carrier signal.
2. Frequency Shift Keying
In this conversion technique, the frequency of the analog carrier signal is modified to reflect binary
data.

This technique uses two frequencies, f1 and f2. One of them, for example f1, is chosen to represent
binary digit 1 and the other one is used to represent binary digit 0. Both amplitude and phase of
the carrier wave are kept intact.

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3. Phase Shift Keying

In this conversion scheme, the phase of the original carrier signal is altered to reflect the binary
data.

When a new binary symbol is encountered, the phase of the signal is altered. Amplitude and
frequency of the original carrier signal is kept intact.
4. Quadrature Phase shift Keying
QPSK alters the phase to reflect two binary digits at once. This is done in two different phases.
The main stream of binary data is divided equally into two sub-streams. The serial data is converted
in to parallel in both sub-streams and then each stream is converted to digital signal using NRZ
technique. Later, both the digital signals are merged together.
5.3.4.2 Analog-to-Analog Modulation
Analog signals are modified to represent analog data. This conversion is also known as Analog
Modulation. Analog modulation is required when bandpass is used. Analog to analog conversion
can be done in three ways:

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1. Amplitude Modulation
In this modulation, the amplitude of the carrier signal is modified to reflect the analog data.

Amplitude modulation is implemented by means of a multiplier. The amplitude of modulating

signal (analog data) is multiplied by the amplitude of carrier frequency, which then reflects analog
data. The frequency and phase of carrier signal remain unchanged.
2. Frequency Modulation
In this modulation technique, the frequency of the carrier signal is modified to reflect the change
in the voltage levels of the modulating signal (analog data).

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The amplitude and phase of the carrier signal are not altered.
3. Phase Modulation
In the modulation technique, the phase of carrier signal is modulated in order to reflect the change
in voltage (amplitude) of analog data signal.

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Phase modulation is practically similar to Frequency Modulation, but in Phase

modulation frequency of the carrier signal is not increased. Frequency of carrier is signal is
changed (made dense and sparse) to reflect voltage change in the amplitude of modulating signal.

5.4 Transmission Media

The transmission media is nothing but the physical media over which communication takes place
in computer networks. Transmission media comes in two forms.

5.4.1 Guided Media

All communication wires/cables are guided media, such as twisted pair, coaxial cables, and fiber
Optics. In this medium, the sender and receiver are directly connected and the information is sent
(guided) through it.

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1. Twisted Pair Cables

A twisted pair cable is made of two plastic insulated copper wires twisted together to form a single
media. Out of these two wires, only one carries actual signal and another is used for ground
reference. The twists between wires are helpful in reducing noise (electro-magnetic interference)
and crosstalk.

There are two types of twisted pair cables:

 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable
 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable
STP cables comes with twisted wire pair covered in metal foil. This makes it more resistant to
noise and crosstalk.
UTP has seven categories, each suitable for specific use. In computer networks, Cat-5, Cat-5e,
and Cat-6 cables are mostly used. UTP cables are connected by RJ45 connectors.
2. Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable has two wires. The core wire lies in the center and it is made of solid conductor. The
core is enclosed in an insulating sheath. The second wire is wrapped around over the sheath and
that too in turn encased by insulator sheath. This all is covered by plastic cover.

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Because of its structure, the coaxial cable is capable of carrying high frequency signals than that
of twisted pair cable. The wrapped structure provides it a good shield against noise and cross talk.
Coaxial cables provide high bandwidth rates of up to 450 mbps.

There are three categories of coax cables namely, RG-59 (Cable TV), RG-58 (Thin Ethernet), and
RG-11 (Thick Ethernet). RG stands for Radio Government. Cables are connected using BNC
connector and BNC-T. BNC terminator is used to terminate the wire at the far ends.
3. Power Lines
Power Line communication (PLC) is Layer-1 (Physical Layer) technology which uses power
cables to transmit data signals. In PLC, modulated data is sent over the cables. The receiver on the
other end de-modulates and interprets the data. Because power lines are widely deployed, PLC can
make all powered devices controlled and monitored. PLC works in half-duplex.
There are two types of PLCs:
 Narrow band PLC
 Broad band PLC

Narrow band PLC provides lower data rates up to 100s of kbps, as they work at lower frequencies
(3-5000 kHz). They can be spread over several kilometers.
Broadband PLC provides higher data rates up to 100s of Mbps and works at higher frequencies
(1.8 – 250 MHz). They cannot be as much extended as Narrowband PLC.
4. Fiber Optics
Fiber Optic works on the properties of light. When light ray hits at critical angle, it tends to refracts
at 90 degree. This property has been used in fiber optic. The core of fiber optic cable is made of

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high quality glass or plastic. From one end of it light is emitted, it travels through it and at the
other end light detector detects light stream band converts it to electric data.

Fiber Optic provides the highest mode of speed. It comes in two modes, one is single mode fiber
and second is multimode fiber. Single mode fiber can carry a single ray of light whereas multimode
is capable of carrying multiple beams of light.

Fiber Optic also comes in unidirectional and bidirectional capabilities. To connect and access
fiber optic special type of connectors are used. These can be Subscriber Channel (SC), Straight
Tip (ST), or MT-RJ

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5.4.2 Unguided Transmission Media

Wireless or open air space is said to be unguided media, because there is no wired connection
between the sender and receiver. Information is spread over the air, and anyone including the actual
recipient may collect the information.
Wireless transmission is a form of unguided media. Wireless communication involves no physical
link established between two or more devices, communicating wirelessly. Wireless signals are
spread over in the air and are received and interpreted by appropriate antennas.

When an antenna is attached to the electrical circuit of a computer or wireless device, it

converts the digital data into wireless signals and spread all over within its frequency range. The
receptor on the other end receives these signals and converts them back to digital data.
A little part of electromagnetic spectrum can be used for wireless transmission.

1. Radio Transmission
Radio frequency is easier to generate and because of its large wavelength it can
penetrate through walls and structures alike. Radio waves can have wavelength from 1mm –
100,000km and have frequency ranging from 3Hz (Extremely Low Frequency) to 300 GHz
(Extremely High Frequency). Radio frequencies are sub-divided into six bands.
Radio waves at lower frequencies can travel through walls whereas higher RF can
travel in straight line and bounce back. The power of low frequency waves decreases sharply as
they cover long distance. High frequency radio waves have more power.
Lower frequencies such as VLF, LF, MF bands can travel on the ground up to 1000
kilometers, over the earth’s surface.

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Radio waves of high frequencies are prone to be absorbed by rain and other obstacles. They use
Ionosphere of the earth atmosphere. High frequency radio waves such as HF and VHF bands are
spread upwards. When they reach Ionosphere, they are refracted back to the earth.

2. Microwave Transmission
Electromagnetic waves above 100MHz tend to travel in a straight line and signals over them can
be sent by beaming those waves towards one particular station. Because Microwaves travels in
straight lines, both sender and receiver must be aligned to be strictly in line-of-sight.
Microwaves can have wavelength ranging from 1mm – 1meter and frequency ranging from
300MHz to 300GHz.

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Microwave antennas concentrate the waves making a beam of it. As shown in picture above,
multiple antennas can be aligned to reach farther. Microwaves have higher frequencies and do not
penetrate wall like obstacles.
Microwave transmission depends highly upon the weather conditions and the frequency it is using.
3. Infrared Transmission
Infrared wave lies in between visible light spectrum and microwaves. It has wavelength of 700nm
to 1mm and frequency ranges from 300GHz to 430THz.
Infrared wave is used for very short range communication purposes such as a television and it’s
remote. Infrared travels in a straight line hence it is directional by nature. Because of high
frequency range, Infrared cannot cross wall-like obstacles.
4. Light Transmission
The highest electromagnetic spectrum which can be used for data transmission is
light or optical signaling. This is achieved by means of LASER.

Because of the frequency light uses, it tends to travel strictly in straight line. Hence the sender and
receiver must be in the line-of-sight. Because laser transmission is unidirectional, at both ends of
communication the laser and the photo-detector needs to be installed. Laser beam is generally 1mm
wide hence it is a work of precision to align two far receptors each pointing to lasers source.

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Laser works as Tx (transmitter) and photo-detectors works as Rx (receiver).

Lasers cannot penetrate obstacles such as walls, rain, and thick fog. Additionally,
laser beam is distorted by wind, atmosphere temperature, or variation in temperature in the path.

Laser is safe for data transmission as it is very difficult to tap 1mm wide laser without interrupting
the communication channel.

5.5 Multiplexing
Multiplexing is a technique by which different analog and digital streams of
transmission can be simultaneously processed over a shared link. Multiplexing divides the high
capacity medium into low capacity logical medium which is then shared by different streams.
Communication is possible over the air (radio frequency), using a physical media
(cable), and light (optical fiber). All these media are capable of multiplexing.
When multiple senders try to send over a single medium, a device called Multiplexer divides the
physical channel and allocates one to each. On the other end of communication, a De-multiplexer
receives data from a single medium, identifies each, and sends to different receivers.

5.5.1 Frequency Division Multiplexing

When the carrier is frequency, FDM is used. FDM is an analog technology. FDM divides the
spectrum or carrier bandwidth in logical channels and allocates one user to each channel. Each
user can use the channel frequency independently and has exclusive access of it. All channels are

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divided in such a way that they do not overlap with each other. Channels are separated by guard
bands. Guard band is a frequency which is not used by either channel.

5.5.2 Time Division Multiplexing

TDM is applied primarily on digital signals but can be applied on analog signals as
well. In TDM the shared channel is divided among its user by means of time slot.
Each user can transmit data within the provided time slot only. Digital signals are
divided in frames, equivalent to time slot i.e. frame of an optimal size which can be
transmitted in given time slot.
TDM works in synchronized mode. Both ends, i.e. Multiplexer and De-multiplexer are timely
synchronized and both switch to next channel simultaneously.

When channel A transmits its frame at one end, the De-multiplexer provides media
to channel A on the other end. As soon as the channel A’s time slot expires, this side switches to

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channel B. On the other end, the De-multiplexer works in a synchronized manner and provides
media to channel B. Signals from different channels travel the path in interleaved manner.

5.5.3 Wavelength Division Multiplexing

Light has different wavelength (colors). In fiber optic mode, multiple optical carrier
signals are multiplexed into an optical fiber by using different wavelengths. This is an analog
multiplexing technique and is done conceptually in the same manner as FDM but uses light as
signals.

Further, on each wavelength time division multiplexing can be incorporated to accommodate more
data signals.

5.5.4 Code Division Multiplexing

Multiple data signals can be transmitted over a single frequency by using Code
Division Multiplexing. FDM divides the frequency in smaller channels but CDM allows
its users to use the full bandwidth and transmit signals all the time using a unique code. CDM uses
orthogonal codes to spread signals.
Each station is assigned with a unique code, called chip. Signals travel with these codes
independently, inside the whole bandwidth. The receiver knows in advance the chip code signal it
has to receive

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5.6 Fundamentals of Transmission

5.6.1 Modulation
The term modulation means to take the message-bearing signal and superimpose it on the carrier
signal for transmission. The characteristics of the carrier signal such as the amplitude, frequency,
phase etc., are varied in accordance with the information-bearing signal. The carrier signals are
usually of higher frequency than the message-bearing signal. Pulse modulation is a process in
which the characteristics of the individual pulse are modulated on to a carrier channel. The radio
carrier can be modulated in terms of amplitude, frequency and phase, thereby giving three major
modulation techniques: amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM) and phase (or
quadrature) modulation (PM). There are other modulations schemes such as amplitude shift keying
(ASK), frequency shift keying (FSK) and phase shift keying (PSK), which are primarily variants
of the analogue modulations. Depending on the discrete amplitude levels, frequencies and phase
states, a variety of modulation methods can be derived from these basic methods. Both in analogue
and digital modulations, the properties of the signal to be varied are similar, but the transmitted
signal has a direct impact on the output of modulation.

5.6.2 Multiple Access Schemes

5.6.2.1 Multiplexing
The field of telecommunication has come a long way from just communicating between two
individual users separately. Today on a single link many users seem to simultaneously
communicate. This has been possible due to the efforts of what is now very commonly known as
multiplexing.
With some 1000 million telephone connections in use around the world today and the number of
Internet users continuing to grow rapidly, the network providers have been faced with the task of
trying to deal effectively with increased telephone traffic. It was not feasible to give every user
his/her own separate channel. Therefore, in response to the growing market needs, a number of
methods and technologies have been developed within the last few decades to cater for the
increasing marketing needs as economically as possible. In the telecommunication field this
resulted in the introduction of one of the very first multiplexing techniques, i.e. the frequency
division multiplexing (FDM) technique.
In this technique, each individual telephone channel/signal is modulated with a different carrier
frequency such that the carrier frequencies are sufficiently separated and so the bandwidths of the
signals do not significantly overlap. These channels are separated by guard bands, which are
unused portions of the channel spectrum, to prevent interference. These modulated signals are then
shifted into different frequency ranges, enabling different telephone connections/signals to be sent
over the same channel/telephone cable.
Multiplexing was not confined to the frequency domain only, and with the introduction of digital
communication came the most successful multiplexing techniques, which today is used in most
telecommunication networks – time division multiplexing (TDM). Attention will turn to TDM

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after discussing another multiplexing technique, which has been the outcome of the invention of
the optical fibre – wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). Simply put, it multiplexes different
light wave signals by a diffraction grating and sends them on a single optical fibre to a destination
where the signals are split again. This type of multiplexing is independent of any protocol like
Ethernet, etc. With the amount of bandwidth the optical fibre has to offer, this technique shows
great potential for the years to come.
5.62.2 Time Division Multiplexing
Time division multiplexing (TDM) is by far the most commonly used and effective means of
subdividing the capacity of the digital transmission service/channel among a number of
sources/paths. Put in a different way, it can also be described as combining more than one signal
such that each piece of a particular signal gets the channel only for a small amount of time,
called its timeslot. This switching of different signals is done so quickly that the service users
feel that the entire channel is entirely dedicated to them only.
In TDM, capacity/channel allocation may be done either bitwise or wordwise. In bitwise
allocation, each source is assigned a timeslot corresponding to a single bit, as Figure 4.3 shows
for a four-signal multiplexing. In wordwise allocation, a time slot corresponds to some larger
number of bits (normally 4 or 8 bits), referred to as a word.

Figure 5.1: Time Division Multiplexing

With the advent of semiconductor circuits and the exponential growth of users of the telephone
network, a new type of digital transmission method, pulse code modulation (PCM), was developed
in the 1960s. With PCM, an analogue channel could be transmitted using the intermediate steps of
sampling, quantization and encoding. Thus, an analogue telephone voice signal is first sampled at
a rate more than the Nyquist criterion rate, i.e. at 3.1 kHz, then is quantized to set certain predefined
levels for transmission and finally these predefined quantized levels are encoded, usually by the
HDB3 (high density bipolar 3) encoding technique. The signal is then transmitted at the rate of 64
kbps. This is the basic rate of a single telephone voice channel more popularly/technically known
as digital signal 0 (DS0).
This basic voice channel is a very low bandwidth channel and thus a whole channel cannot be
dedicated to it as it would mean a total waste of the bandwidth. There is a need of multiplexing
these voice signals, which could make proper utilization of the available bandwidth. The

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level/order of multiplexing them and the method of doing so categorizes the TDM technique into
three major types, which are technologies in themselves. These types of multiplexing in the time
domain are:
 Plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH)
 Synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH)
 Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)

5.7 Digital Hierarchies – PDH and SDH

5.7.1 Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH)
The plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH) is a technology used in telecommunications networks
to transport large quantities of data over digital transport equipment such as fibre optic and
microwave radio systems. The multiplexing of basic voice signals is just not enough for the high
channels that are used these days. With the advent of optical fibres the capacity/bandwidth of the
channel has considerably increased. It is thus required to multiplex the signals at different levels
and not only once. Thus, the type of application required for a service decides the level/order of
multiplexing. For example, services such as the integrated services digital network (ISDN) require
more bandwidth for running applications like voice, video and data and thus the bandwidth
requirement is greater than required by an ordinary telephone/voice service. The more the order of
this digital hierarchy, the greater is the bandwidth of the channel.
The term ‘plesiochronous’ is derived from the Greek word plesio, meaning near, and chronous,
meaning time. This indicates that PDH networks run in a state where different parts of the network
are almost, but not quite perfectly, synchronized. Simply put, the data streams, also called the
tributaries, have the same nominal frequency but are not synchronized with each other; i.e. the
rising and falling edges of the pulses in each tributary do not coincide.
The European and American versions of PDH systems differ slightly in their data rates, but the
basic principles of multiplexing are the same. In the North American hierarchy, four primary
systems are combined/multiplexed to form an output having 96 channels. This is the second order
of multiplexing. Seven 96-channel systems can be multiplexed to give an output of 672 channels
(third order of multiplexing). Six 672-channel systems are multiplexed to give an output of 4032
channels (fourth order). Higher orders of multiplexing are also available but they employ another
technique called the synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH).
The first level of multiplexing can be looked at in more detail along with the construction of its
frame. Famously known as T1 in North America and Japan, the digital signal 1 (DS1) consists of
24 basic voice channels (64 kbps) multiplexed together to form a single frame. A frame consists
of 24×8=192 bits, plus one extra bit for framing, making it a total of 193 bits in all in every 125μs.
The 193rd bit is used for frame synchronization. Thus, the data rate of the T1 is calculated as 193
bits/125μs=1.544 Mbps. This rate is also known as the primary rate.

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When a T1 system is only for data just 23 frames carry the data/real information and the last frame
is used for synchronization and a signalling pattern. The frame structure of the T1 (DS1) system
is shown in Figure 5.2.
Details of the higher order PDH systems in North America are shown in Table 5.1.

Figure 5.2: The T1 carrier frame structure

Europe and the rest of the world (excluding North America and Japan) use the PDH hierarchy in
which 30 basic voice channels (64 kbps) are multiplexed together to form a primary system (first
order of multiplexing, E1). Four primary systems are combined/multiplexed to form an output
having 120 channels (second order of multiplexing, E2). Similarly, four 120-channel systems can
be multiplexed to give an output of 480 channels (third order of multiplexing, E3). Four 480-
channel systems are multiplexed to give an output of 1920 channels (fourth order of multiplexing,
E4) and four 1920-channel systems are multiplexed to give an output of 7680 channels (fifth order
of multiplexing, E5). All levels beyond the fifth level are now levels of SDH systems and are taken
care of by their multiplexers. The bit rates for each PDH order are shown in Table 5.2.

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Table 5.2: PDH for European systems

Thus, a summary of the PDH rates can now be depicted diagrammatically (Figure 5.3) to show a
clear picture of the various hierarchies in different regions. Major disadvantages faced by the
PDH are:
 Pulse stuffing or positive justification: As the name suggests, plesiochronous systems are
not perfectly synchronous. Hence the input data stream rates are very close but not identical
so the pulses do not arrive in a synchronized manner. In order to multiplex different PDH
signals at higher orders, bit stuffing is required to match the rates of the data streams. Pulse
stuffing involves intentionally making the output bit rate of a channel higher than the input
bit rate so that the data rate of that particular stream matches with the other tributaries and
is thus de-multiplexed/received without any errors.
 Add/drop facility not available: Whenever any signal is needed to be extracted from a
higher order multiplexed signal, it cannot be just dropped from the signal. Instead the signal
will be de-multiplexed till the needed signal is separated. The same applies when adding a
signal to an already multiplexed signal. Thus, no adding and dropping of signals can be
done, which is a very essential part of a multiplexed system, as will be seen in the next
section.

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Figure 5.3: Summary of plesiochronous transfer rates

5.7.2 SYNCHRONOUS DIGITAL HIERARCHY (SDH)

Communications networks gradually converted to digital technology after PCM was introduced in
the 1960s. Plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH) evolved to cope with the demand for ever-
higher bit rates. The bit rates start with the basic multiplex rate of 2 Mbps with further stages of 8,
34, and 140 Mbps. In North America and Japan, however, the primary rate is 1.5 Mbps with
additional stages of 6 and 44 Mbps. This fundamental developmental difference made gateway
setup between the networks both difficult and expensive.

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In response to the demand for increased bandwidth, reliability, and high-quality service, SDH
developed steadily during the 1980s, eliminating many inherent disadvantages in PDH.

5.7.2.1 Advantages of SDH

 High transmission rates: Transmission rates of up to 10 G can be achieved in modern
SDH systems making it the most suitable technology for backbones, the superhighways in
today’s telecommunications networks.
 Simplified add and drop function: Compared to the older PDH system, low-bit-rate
channels can be easily extracted from and inserted into the high-speed bit streams in SDH,
eliminating the need for costly demultiplexing and re-multiplexing the plesiochronous
structure.
 High availability and capacity matching: SDH enables network providers to react
quickly and easily to their customers’ requirements, such as switching leased lines in just
minutes. Network providers can use standardized network elements (NE) that they can
control and monitor from a central location with a telecommunications management
network (TMN) system.
 Reliability: Modern SDH networks include various automatic backup-circuit and repair
mechanisms that management can monitor to cope with system faults so that link or NE
failures do not lead to an entire network failure.
 Future -proof platform for new services: SDH is the ideal platform for a wide range of
services including POTS, ISDN, mobile radio, and data communications, such as LAN and
WAN. It can also handle more recent services such as video on demand and digital video
broadcasting via ATM.
 Interconnection: SDH simplifies gateway setup between different network providers and
to SONET systems. The SDH interfaces are globally standardized, making it possible to
combine NEs from different manufacturers into a single network which reduces equipment
costs.
5.7.2.2 SDH Integration of TDM Signals
The Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) has evolved as a result of standardization proposals in
the International Telecommunications Union—Telecommunications Services Sector (ITU-T) for
an international optical interface standard for carriers and features for improved network
management. The SDH format allows different types of signal formats to be transmitted over the
fiber-optic cable. It allows adding or dropping signals within a single multiplexer. Communication
between various localized networks is complex due to differences in digital signal hierarchies,
encoding techniques, and multiplexing strategies. Communications between time-division
multiplexed (TDM) networks previously described require complicated multiplexing,
demultiplexing, coding, and decoding to convert a signal from one format to another. To solve this
signal-conversion problem, SDH standardizes the rates, framing format, signaling, and termination
between SDH equipment. As illustrated in Figure 5.4, SDH multiplexer equipment accepts various
native TDM signal formats and multiplexes (adds) these signals without conversion. These signals
can be demultiplexed (dropped) at any node or intermediate node.

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Figure 5.4. SDH architecture

The ITU-T SDH standards define the bit rate, format, physical layer, network element (NE)
architectural features, and network operational criteria of SDH networks.
5.6.2.3 SDH Electrical and Optical Signals
The term Synchronous Transport Module-N (STM-N) refers to the SDH transmission
characteristics of an Nth-level transmission link. Unlike SONET, which uses the term OC-N to
refer to the optical carrier and the term STS-N to refer to the electrical signal level, SDH uses the
term STM-N to indicate the optical as well as electrical signal level. The basic unit of transmission
in SDH is 155.52 Mbps (STM-1). This offers partial compatibility and interworking with SONET
at the sub-STM-1 levels. However, interworking for alarms and performance management is
generally not possible between SDH and SONET systems, unless proprietary byte-mapping
methods are used. Higher SDH rates are defined as integer multiples of STM-1 in an N * 4
sequence. This offers rates from STM-1 up to STM-256, as indicated in Table 3.3. The upper
rate limits are set by technology rather than by lack of standards as was the case with PDH.
Each STM-N interface rate contains SDH overhead information to support a range of facilities and
a payload capacity for traffic. The overhead and payload areas can be fully or partially filled. In
the SDH multiplexing process, payloads are layered into lower-order (LO) and higher-order (HO)
virtual containers, each including a range of overhead functions for management and error
monitoring. Transmission is then supported by the attachment of further layers of overheads. SDH
management layer communications are transported within dedicated data communications channel
(DCC) time slots inside the interface rate.

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Table 5.3: SONET and SDH transmission speeds

5.7.2.4 SDH Multiplexing

It is very important to understand the SDH multiplexing hierarchy to truly understand and
appreciate SDH. Multiplexing follows a rigid hierarchy in SDH. From an extremely high-level
perspective, it is safe to say that low-level PDH signals are mapped to an SDH entity known
as a container (C). The C is mapped along with POH bytes to form another entity known as
a lower-order virtual container (VC). The lower-order VCs are aligned with tributary unit
(TU) pointers to form entities known as tributary units (TUs). The TUs are multiplexed to
form tributary unit groups (TUGs). The TUGs are further multiplexed to form higher-order
VCs. These higher-order VCs are aligned with fixed byte-stuffing and administration units
(AU) to form administration units (AUs). The AUs are further multiplexed to form
administrative unit groups (AUGs). The AUGs are finally multiplexed along with RSOH and
MSOH bytes to form the STM-N signal.
There are variations to the flow just described as you will notice in the subsequent discussion.
Before you read on, you need to understand a few simple terms. The multiplexing principles of
SDH use the following terms:

 Mapping: A process used when tributaries are adapted into VCs by adding justification
bits and POH information.
 Aligning: This process takes place when a pointer is included in a TU or an AU, to allow
the first byte of the VC 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.

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PDH traffic signals to be mapped into SDH are by definition continuous. Each PDH signal is
mapped to an SDH container (C). The Cs are mapped to VCs. The purpose of this function is to
create a uniform VC payload by using bit stuffing to bring all inputs to a common bit rate ready
for synchronous multiplexing.

There are two kinds of Cs: lower-order tributaries (Cs) and higher-order tributaries (Cs). Lower-
order Cs (C-Nx, where N = 1, 2, and x = 1, 2) typically accommodate PDH signals, such as DS1,
E1, and other PDH signals up to the DS2/J2 level. Higher-order Cs (C-N, where N = 3, 4) typically
accommodate PDH signals, such as E3, DS3, and other PDH signals up to the E4 level. Similarly,
there are two kinds of VCs: lower-order VCs and higher-order VCs. Lower-order VCs (VC-Nx,
where N = 1, 2 and x = 1, 2) typically accommodate PDH signals, such as DS1, E1, and other PDH
signals up to the DS2/J2 level. Higher-order VCs (VC-N, where N = 3, 4) typically accommodate
PDH signals, such as E3, DS3, and other PDH signals up to the E4 level. Various VCs ranging
from VC-11 to VC-4 are covered by the SDH hierarchy. Currently, the ITU-T has defined six SDH
Cs/VCs. The six VCs defined are VC-11, VC-12, VC-2, VC-3 (E3/J3/ISDN H31), VC-3
(DS3/ISDN H32), and VC-4. Table 3.4 lists the various SDH VC levels.

Table 5.4 illustrates the various SDH paths and associated overhead. Higher levels of the
synchronous hierarchy are formed by byte interleaving the payloads from a number N of STM–1
signals and then adding a transport overhead of size N times that of an STM–1 and filling it with
new management data and pointer values as appropriate. Before transmission, the STM–N signal
has scrambling applied overall to randomize the bit sequence for improved transmission
performance. A few bytes of overhead are left unscrambled to simplify subsequent demultiplexing.

Table 5.4: SDH Multiplexing Overhead

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Figure 5.5: Virtual containers with different capacities

5.6: Administrative unit

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1. SDH Multiplexing of E1 Signals

Low-level E1 (2.048-Mbps) signals are mapped to the C-12 container. As illustrated in Figure 5.7,
the C-12 container gets mapped with VC-12 POH bytes into a lower-order VC-12 virtual container.
The VC-12 along with TU-12 pointers gets aligned into a TU-12 tributary unit. The TU-12 gets
multiplexed (x3) to a TUG-2, which means that three TU-12s are multiplexed into a TUG-2. The
TUG-2 gets multiplexed (x7) into a higher-order VC-3. This VC-3 gets aligned with AU-3 pointers
to form an AU-3. The AU-3 can get directly multiplexed (x1) to form an STM-0 signal or get
multiplexed (x3) to form an AUG-1. The AUG-1 gets multiplexed (x1) along with MSOH and
RSOH bytes to form an STM-1.

Figure 5.7: SDH Multiplexing

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Figure 5.8: Generation of an STM-1 signal from a 2.048 Mbps signal

5.7.2.5 Basic Structure of SDH Frame

STM-N frame structure is shown in Figure 3.11. The three main areas of the STM-N frame are
indicated:
 SOH
 Administrative unit pointer(s).
 Information payload
Rows 1-3 of columns 1 to 9×of the STM-N in Figure 4.11 are dedicated to the Regenerator
SOH while row 4 of columns 1 to 9×N is available for administrative unit pointers and rows 5-9
of columns 1 to 9×of the STM-N are dedicated to the Multiplex SOH

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Figure 5.9: STM-N frame structure

SDH adopts a frame rate of 8000 frames per second. The STM-1 frame is the basic transmission
format for SDH. As illustrated in Figure 3.12, each two-dimensional frame has 9 rows and 270
columns of bytes with a total of 2430 bytes (9 rows * 270 columns = 2430 bytes). The STM-1
frame consists of a transport overhead plus a virtual container (VC-4) capacity. The first 9 columns
of each frame make up the transport overhead, and the remaining 261 columns make up the virtual
container (VC-4). The VC-4 plus the nine pointer bytes (H1 * 3, H2 * 3, H3 * 3) in row 4 is known
as the administrative unit (AU-4). The first column of the VC-4 is the POH, as indicated in Figure
6.13. Actually, the POH floats within the STM-1 frame and can occupy any column from column
10 to column 270 of the STM-1 frame. The STM-1 can accommodate a single VC-4 or three VC-
3s. The AU-N pointer bytes indicate the position of the VC-4 POH or VC-3 POHs within the STM-
1 frame. VCs can have any phase alignment within the AU, and this alignment is indicated by the
AU pointer in row 4. Within the transport overhead, the first three rows are used for the RSOH,
and the last five rows are used for the MSOH.

The SDH line rate is synchronous and is flexible enough to support many different signals. The
SDH STM-1 line rate of 155.520 Mbps can be computed as follows:

Line rate = 270 columns * 9 rows * 8 bits/byte * 8000 frames/sec = 155.520 Mbps

Columns 10 to 270 constitute the VC with the POH that provides a payload data rate of 150.336
Mbps. The actual data rate of the payload can be computed as follows:

Data rate = 261 columns * 9 rows * 8 bits/byte * 8000 frames/sec = 150.336 Mbps.

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Figure 5.10: SDH Framing

The STM-1 frame is transmitted starting from the first byte in row 1, column 1, to the last byte in
row 9, column 270. The most significant bit (MSB) of a byte is transmitted first. After the 270th
byte of row 1 is transmitted, the byte in the first column of row 2 is transmitted and so on. Higher
line rates are obtained by synchronous multiplexing the lower line rates. Standard STM-N rates
have values of N as 1, 4, 16, 64, and 256. Table 5.5 indicates line rates for various values of N. As
the line rates increase, the percentage of overhead increases, and in turn the useful payload capacity
decreases. The additional overheads are used for control, parity, stuffing, alarm, and signaling. For
SDH STM-N, the ratio of overhead to payload remains constant regardless of the value of N.

Table 5.5:
SDH Frame Data Rate
STM-1 155.52 Mbps
STM-4 622.08 Mbps
STM-16 2.488 Gbps
STM-64 9.953 Gbps
STM-256 39.812 Gbps

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