Telecommunication Networks (ECEg-4282)

Chapter Three
Introduction to Digital Telecom Technologies and Signaling

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 Outline
Multiplexing Techniques
 Digital Hierarchy Technologies
T-1 Carrier System
Plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH)
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)
Synchronous optical network (SONET)
 Switching and Signaling

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Introduction
 Telephone companies make use of multiplexing long distance calls onto
high speed trunks.
 International standard bodies issue multiplexing rates that from the digital
transmission hierarchy.
 Digital Carrier is a digital signaling representing a telecommunication
service.
 The base level in the hierarchy is the equivalent of a single 64Kbps
digitized voice.
 The hierarchy differs from region to region.
 Digital Service in North America defines a four level transmission
hierarchy called T-Carrier, range from T1, T2, T3 and T4
 In Europe and South America, there is a five level transmission hierarchy
called E-carrier, E1, E2, E3, E4 and E5.
 Both Systems use PCM to encode an analogue signal in digital form.

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T-1 Carrier System
 The first version Transmission System 1 (T-1), was introduced in 1962 in

the Bell System

 The T-1 carrier system was introduced to carry the traffic between

telephone central offices.

 Mainly the T1 Carrier system was to in increase the circuit density on

existing copper wiring between central offices.

 T1 Carries 24 digitized voice signals on a single set of copper wires.

 It uses a transmission frame that consists of 24 slots of 8 bits each.

 Each slot carries one PCM sample for a single connection.

 The beginning of each frame is indicated by a single bit that follows a

certain periodic pattern. 4

Basic T1 Circuit Components

• A basic T1 System consists of: Multiplexers, demultiplexers, Channels

Service Units (CSU), and the T1 circuit which is four copper wires with
repeaters with every mile or so.
5
Continued …
 Since T1 was designed to carry 24 trunks over 4
copper wires, the multiplexer has 24 hardware ports
each one running at 64kbps.
 The CSU is the interface device connecting the T1
multiplexer and the actual T1 circuit.
 The T1 circuit is four copper wires for each direction.
 Binary digits are represented on these copper wires
using pulses of voltage.
 Repeaters are spaced every 1 mile or 1.6km along
the T1 circuit.
Thus T1 is :-
•Full Duplex
•Purely Digital
•Uses Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
•Uses Pulse Code Division (PCM)
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 Table 3.1 Calculating Data Rate of T1 Carrier System

• Thus, the resulting transmission line has a speed (Data

rate)of:(1+24*8)bits/frame*8000 frames/seconds =
1.544Mbps.
Today, T1 is not used much for long distance circuits.
Fiber optic and Microwave based carrier systems are used for
long distance.
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 Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
 TDM is used in telephony.
 Voice analog signals are digitized at the end office using Pulse Code
Modulation (PCM).
 A voice signal is sampled 8000 times/sec, or every 125 sec
 That is a voice signal needs a bandwidth of 64Kb
 An 8-bit number is assigned to each sample at every 125 sec.
 Time division multiplexing allows a link to be utilized simultaneously by
many users.
1 1
D
2 M E 2
U link
M
X U
N X N

N input N output
8
links links
Fig. Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
TDM Cont’d …

 The transmission is organized into frames.

 Each frame contains a fixed number of time slots.

 Each time slot is pre-assigned to a specific input link.

 The duration of a time slot is either a bit or a byte.

 If the buffer of an input link has no data, then its associated

time slot is transmitted empty.

 A time slot dedicated to an input link repeats continuously

frame after frame, thus forming a channel or a trunk.

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Digital Transmission Hierarchies
 The growth of telephone network traffic and the advances in

digital transmission led to the development of a standard

digital transmission hierarchy.
 Different regions of the world use different digital

transmission hierarchies.
 There are three basic digital transmission hierarchies.

 Plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH)

 Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)
 Synchronous optical network (SONET)
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 PDH in North American
 The first generation of digital transport technology was the plesiochronous
digital hierarchy (PDH), of which the North American standard T1 and the
ITU-T equivalent standard E1 are probably the most well-known transport
schemes. T1/E1 was first deployed in the early 1960s to transport voice
traffic.
 The 24 channel PCM system is the primary order of Digital MUX.
 If it is necessary to transmit more than 24 channels, the system is build-up
using the PDH.
 Digital Signal (DS) standard is a North American standard that specifies
how to multiplex several voice calls onto a single link.
 The DS1 signal corresponds to the output of a T-1 multiplexer.
 It is the basic building block of the digital hierarchy.
 The DS2 signal is obtained by combining 4 DS1 signals.
 The DS3 signal is obtained by combining 28 DS1 signals.
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PDH in North American Cont’d…..
 The DS3 signal , with a speed of 44.736Mbps, has found extensive use in providing
high speed communications to large users such as corporations .

Fig. 3: North American Digital Hierarchy

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PDH in European

 The CEPT-1 (also referred to as E-1) signal is an European

standard digital hierarchy building block.

 It consists of 32 channels each with a capacity of 64Kbps.

 30 channels = used for voice channels

 1 channel = used for signaling
 1 channel = used for frame alignment and link maintenance
 The second, third and fourth levels of the hierarchy are
obtained by grouping 4 of the signals in the lower level.

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PDH in European Cont’d….

 The DS and CEPT hierarchy is known as the plesiochronous digital

hierarchy (PDH).
 Plesion means “nearly the same” and chronos means “time” in Greek.

Fig. 5: European Digital Hierarchy

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PDH in North American and European

Digital signal number Voice channels Data Rate (Mbps)

DS0 1 0.064
DS1 24 1.544
DS1C 48 3.152
DS2 96 6.312
DS3 672 44.736
DS3C 1344 91.053
DS4 4032 274.176

Table 1.1: The North American Hierarchy

Level number Voice channels Data Rate (Mbps)

E-0 1 0.064
E-1 30 2.048
E-2 120 8.448
E-3 480 34.368
E-4 1920 139.264
E-5 7680 565.148

Table 1.2: The International (ITU-T) Hierarchy

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PDH Hierarchies

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SDH and SONET Technologies

 SDH and SONET are standards for communicating large

quantities of digital information over optical fibers.

 SONET was developed by American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) and SDH was developed by ITU-T.
 SONET and SDH were developed to replace the PDH system
for transporting large amounts of telephone and data traffic.
 SONET and SDH are fundamentally similar and ultimately
compatible.
 SONET/SDH is a synchronous network using synchronous
TDM multiplexing.

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SONET Architecture

 The architecture of a SONET system are:

1. Signals,
2. Devices, and
3. Connections.

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1. Signals
 SONET defines a hierarchy of electrical signaling levels
called synchronous transport signals (STSs).
 Each STS level (STS-1 to STS-192) supports a certain
data rate, specified in megabits per second (see Table
below).
 The corresponding optical signals are called optical
carriers (OCs).
 SDH specifies a similar system called a synchronous
transport module (STM).
 STM is intended to be compatible with existing European
hierarchies, such as E lines, and with STS levels.
 To this end, the lowest STM level, STM-1, is defined as
155.520 Mbps, which is exactly equal to STS-3.

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The SONET/SDH Digital Hierarchy

Optical SONET SDH Data rate Overhead Payload

level level level (Mbps) rate rate
(electrical) (electrical) (Mbps) (Mbps)
OC-1 STS-1 - 51.840 1.728 50.112
OC-3 STS-3 STM-1 155.520 5.184 150.336
OC-9 STS-9 STM-3 466.560 15.552 451.008
OC-12 STS-12 STM-4 622.080 20.736 601.344
OC-18 STS-18 STM-6 933.120 31.104 902.016
OC-24 STS-24 STM-8 1244.160 41.472 1202.688
Oc-36 STS-36 STM-12 1866.240 62.208 1804.932
OC-48 STS-48 STM-16 2488.320 82.944 2405.376
OC-96 STS-96 STM-32 4976.640 165.888 4810.752
OC-192 STS-192 STM-64 9953.280 331.776 9621.504
OC-768 STS-768 STM-256 39813.120 1327.104 38486.016
OC-N STS-N STM-N/3 N*51.840 N*1.728 N*50.112

Table: SONET/SDH Digital Hierarchy

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SDH and SONET Signals Cont’d…..

 The STS-1 signal with a bit rate of 51.84Mbps is the basic

building block of the SONET hierarchy.

 A higher level signal in the hierarchy is obtained by

combining lower level component signals.

 Each STS-n electrical signal has a corresponding OC-n signal.

 The STM-1 signal with a bit rate of 155.52Mbps is the basic

building block of the SDH hierarchy.

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 The SDH/SONET Signal Hierarchy

 The SDH/SONET signal hierarchy deals with optical carrier levels, which refer

to the optical aspect of the transmission—the optical pulse as it travels through

the fibers.
 These optical pulses go through electronic muxes, and when the signal is going

through these network elements, the bits are packaged in a frame for transport
across the fiber. In the case of SONET, this frame is called the Synchronous
Transport Signal (STS), and in SDH, the frame is called Synchronous
Transport Module (STM).
Two types of rates are important in the realm of SDH/SONET:
 The payload rate refers to the capacity available to carry customer content, and
 the data rate refers to the total capacity available for customer content as well
as network management information.
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SONET Layers
 The SONET defines four layers:
1. Photonic,
2. Section,
3. Line, And
4. Path Layer.
• They correspond to both the physical and the data-link layers.

Fig.4.3 SONET Layers compared with OSI or Internet layers

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Path Layer
 The path layer is responsible for the movement of a signal from its optical

source to its optical destination.

 At the optical source, the signal is changed from an electronic form into an

optical form, multiplexed with other signals, and encapsulated in a frame.

 At the optical destination, the received frame is demultiplexed, and the

individual optical signals are changed back into their electronic forms.
 Path layer overhead is added at this layer.

 STS multiplexers provide path layer functions.

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 Line Layer
 The line layer is responsible for the movement of
a signal across a physical line.
 Line layer overhead is added to the frame at this
layer.
 STS multiplexers and add/drop multiplexers
provide line layer functions.

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Section Layer
 The section layer is responsible for the
movement of a signal across a physical section.
 It handles framing, scrambling, and error control.
Section layer overhead is added to the frame at
this layer.

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Photonic Layer
 The photonic layer corresponds to the physical
layer of the OSI model.
 It includes physical specifications for the optical
fiber channel, the sensitivity of the receiver,
multiplexing functions, and so on.
 SONET uses NRZ encoding, with the presence
of light representing 1 and the absence of light
representing 0.

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SONET Frames
 Each synchronous transfer signal STS-n is
composed of 8000 frames.
 Each frame is a two-dimensional matrix of bytes
with 9 rows by 90 × n columns.
 For example, an STS-1 frame is 9 rows by 90
columns (810 bytes), and an STS-3 is 9 rows by
270 columns (2430 bytes).
 Fig (next slide) Shows the general format of an
STS-1 and an STS-n.

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 Fig STS-1 and STS-n Frames

 A SONET STS-n signal is transmitted at 8000 frames per second.

 If we sample a voice signal and use 8 bits(1 byte) for each sample, we can
say that each byte in a SONET frame can carry information from a
digitized voice channel.
 In other words, an STS-1 signal can carry 774 voice channels
simultaneously (810 minus required bytes for overhead).
 Each byte in a SONET frame can carry a digitized voice channel.
 Note that in SONET there is an exact relationship between the data rates of
different STS signals.
 We could have found the data rate of STS-3 by using the data rate of STS-
1 (multiply the latter by 3).
 In SONET, the data rate of an STS-n signal is n times the data rate of an
STS-1 signal.
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Examples
Example 1: Find the data rate of an STS-1 signal.
Solution
 STS-1, like other STS signals, sends 8000 frames per second.
Each STS-1 frame is made of 9 by (1 ×90) bytes. Each byte is
made of 8 bits.
 Thus, the STS-1 data rate = 8000 ×9 ×(1 ×90) ×8 = 51.840
Mbps

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Example 2: Find the data rate of an STS-3 signal.
Solution
STS-3, like other STS signals, sends 8000 frames per second.
Each STS-3 frame is made of 9 by (3 ×90) bytes. Each byte is
made of 8 bits. The data rate is:
STS-3 data rate = 8000 ×9 ×(3 ×90) ×8 = 155.52 Mbps

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 Example 3: What is the duration of an STS-1 frame? STS-3 frame? STS-n
frame?
Solution
In SONET, 8000 frames are sent per second.
 This means that the duration of an STS-1, STS-3, or STS-n frame is the
same and equal to 1/8000 s, or 125 μs.

Note: In SONET, the duration of any frame is 125 μs.

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SONET Networks
 Using SONET equipment, we can create a SONET network that
can be used as a high-speed backbone carrying loads from
other networks such as ATM
 We can roughly divide SONET networks into three categories:
1. Linear,
2. Ring, and
3. Mesh Networks

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Fig.4.5 Taxonomy of SONET Networks

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Signaling
Introduction
 —What is Signalling ?
 —Signalling is the exchange of information between
two or more points in a network that:
 establishes,
 maintains (keeps control), and
 disconnects the connections of everyday phone calls.
 Signaling is carried out with the help of specific
signals or messages that indicate to the other end
what is requested of it by this connection.
Continued …
 Signaling is the nervous system of the
telecommunication network .
 It gives life to the resources of the telecommunication
network -switches, trunks etc.
 Signaling:
 carries the digits that you dial,
 notifies the network that you went on/off hook,
 translates toll free numbers into “real” numbers,
 validates credit/calling cards,
 sets-up/tears-down voice trunks,
 provides billing information,
 takes faulty trunks out of service,
 provides for supplementary services such as caller ID etc.
Continued …
 In general, the functionalities of signaling are:
 free phone numbers,
 lifeline services,
 caller ID,
 call forwarding and call waiting,
 as well as pre- and post-paid calling cards.

 Subscriber signaling is also known as access

signaling.
 Network signaling is also known as trunk signaling
or inter- exchange signaling.
History of Signaling
 —The earliest telephone exchanges were
“manual” switchboards, in which all calls were
set up and taken down by operators.
 The operator performs:
 Set up,
 supervise and
 clear the call
 —Signalling as we know it today started around
1889 with the invention of the first automatic
exchange.
Signaling Classification
The common methods are as follows:
1. Based on Network Classification
 Subscriber line signaling
 Inter-office signaling
2. Based on methods of signaling
 Channel Associated Signaling(CAS)
 Common Channel Signaling(CCS)

3. Based On Function
1. Line signaling
2. Route signaling
3. Management signaling
 Subscriber Line Signaling
—Subscriber signals can be broken down into four
categories:
1. Address Signals:
 represent the dialled digits that constitute the called
party number.
 takes place when the telephone is off-hook.
 is either conveyed by dial pulse or by dual-tone
multiple frequency (DTMF) methods.
n Supervisory Signals:
 Supervisory signals handle the on-hook/off-hook
condition.
 A network is always monitoring for these
supervisory signals to determine when
someone needs to activate or deactivate
service.
Off-hook and On-hook conditions
 Off-hook condition:
 The exchange notices that the subscriber has
raised the telephone hook (dc loop is connected)
and gives a dial tone to the subscriber.
 On-hook condition:
 The exchange notices that the subscriber has
finished the call (subscriber loop is
disconnected), clears the connection,and stops
billing.
3. Information Signals:
 Information signals are associated with activating and
delivering various enhanced features.
 Eg . dial-tone, ring-back, busy-tone, etc) sent by an exchange
to the calling party indicating the progress of a call.
4. Alert signals (power signaling):
 Alerting signals are the ringing tones, the busy tones,

and any specific busy alerts that are used to indicate

network congestion or unavailability.
 A forward signal sent by the exchange to the called
subscriber, to indicate the arrival of a call.
 It is known more specifically as power ringing to
distinguish it from audible ringing which is played to the
calling party to alert him that the called party phone is
ringing
— Channel Associated Signaling
(CAS)
 CAS is an outdated method of transmitting
signalling information that has been replaced by:
 the common channel signalling (CCS) method, of
which signalling system #7 (SS7) is the most
prevalent.

Channel-associated signaling, also known as per-trunk

signaling, is a form of digital communication signaling.
As with most telecommunication signaling methods, it
uses routing information to direct the payload of voice
or data to its destination.
Common Channel Signaling (CCS)
 CCS systems are packet based.
 The signalling information is transferred by
means of messages.
 Because CCS is packet based and there is not
a rigid tie between the signalling and the
circuits it controls.
 CCS Continued …
• Employs separate, dedicated path for signaling.
• —Voice trunks are used only when a
connection is established, not before.
• —Faster Call Setup.
Advantages of CCS
 —Much faster call set-up time.
 —Greater flexibility.
 —More cost effective than others.
 —Greater call control.
 —Greater degree of protection against fraud.

Disadvantages of CCS
 —CCS links can be a single point of failure.
 —No inherent testing of speech path by call setup
signalling
Based on Function
 Line Signaling:
 It is used for monitoring the hook-on/off state for
both caller & called party and the busy/idle status
of the equipment.
 So it is also called the monitoring signaling.
 Route signaling (selection signaling )
 It is capable of route selection, such as the called
number dialed by the caller.
 Management signaling
 It has operability and is used to manage and
maintain the telephone network.
 So it is also called maintenance signaling.
Signaling System Number 7(SS7)
 Signaling System Number (SS7) is a form of
Common Channel Signaling.
 SS7 was originally designed to support the
PSTN in:
 — Call setup,
 — Call management, and
 — Call release

between telephone offices and CPE (customer

premises equipment) to simply transport voice
traffic.
State Diagram of SS7
Continued….
 But now it has been further developed to
transport not only voice but also data/video
traffic.
 SS7 defines the procedures and protocols by
which elements in the PSTN exchange
information to handle:
 call setup,
 billing,
 routing and
 control
SS7 Features
 High Utilization of Channels
 Fast transmission speed
 Broad application
 Easy operation , Maintenance and anagement
 eg. Alternative billing service, toll free service
SS7 Protocol Stacks
 SS7 is a layered structure which is evolved
from OSI model definition.
 In general , SS7 is a data communication
system that transfers control information b/n
the control systems in Telecom networks
 Hence, SS7 is not a single protocol instead it
is stacks of protocols which is shown in below
SS7 Protocol Stacks Continued …
Message Transfer part (MTP)
 —Its function is to ensure that signaling traffic can
be transferred and delivered reliably between the
end-users and the network.
 MTP is provided at three levels:
 MTP Level 1: provide an interface to the actual
physical channel over which communication takes
place.
 Physical channels may include copper wire, fiber,
mobile radio, or satellite links, and are transparent
to the higher layers.
 It is equivalent to physical layer of OSI model
 bi-directional transmission for signalling and data (full
duplex)
 MTP Level 2: Provide a reliable link for the transfer of
traffic between two directly connected signaling points.
 In general, the functionalities of MTP2 are:

 Delimitation: is the boundary of start and end of

signaling unit
 Error detection
 Error correction
 Flow Control
MTP Level 3 :
 provide procedures that transfer messages
between signaling nodes.
Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP)
 It sits on top of MTP3 , and provide MTP with
gateway-based routes and routing functions.
 The SCCP functions are added with SS7 network to
provide supplementary services for mobile
communication and intelligent Network (IN).
Transaction Capability Application Part(TCAP):
 The main purpose of TCAP is to provide:
 information interaction of various services in the
network environment such as:

subscriber data,
 address translation ,

 charging and

 management information.

 It also supports remote control ability.

Operation Maintenance and Administration Part
(OMAP)

 Its functions include:

 monitoring,

 coordination, and

 control functions to ensure trouble free

communications.
 It is also used for network diagnostics.
MAP (Mobile Application Part):
 It is used to share cellular subscriber
information among different networks.
 It includes information such as:
 the mobile identification number (MIN), and
 the serial number of the cellular handset
which are used for roaming .
Telephone User Part(TUP): It defines inter-office
Signaling required for the call connection.

ISDN User Part:

 provides many non voice and supplementary
services
 It supports both analog and digital protocols for
basic call connect and data services.
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