Abstract:
The invention discloses a frame alignment method. Based on time-sharing structure of SDH/SONET data, the methods use one common circuit to complete functions like pointer interpretation, pointer generation and payload interception and storage, etc. The method stores information of every channel which is being processed respectively, and then controls reading and writing memories and the operations of the whole common circuit by the scheduling of input signals. The invention also opens a frame aligning circuit; improves circuit efficiency by multiplexing common circuit while decreases logistic scale of processing. The invention is mainly engaged to frame alignment of a SDH/SONET system.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2004/000305, which was filed on Apr. 2, 2004, and which, in turn, claimed the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 03108880.5, which was filed on Apr. 2, 2003, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Technology  
         [0003]     The invention generally relates to frame processing techniques for the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)/Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) and, more specifically, introduces a method and circuit for SDN/SONET frame alignment.  
         [0004]     2. Background of the Invention  
         [0005]     The SDH/SONET system is a signal transport system that transports signals at different rate levels on several standard-rate interfaces through an interleave multiplex and synchronous multiplex way. The SDH and the SONET are almost the same hierarchies except part of transmission rates and multiplexing paths are slightly different. Therefore, methods for the SDH system are introduced and those for the SONET system are completely same in principle. The ITU.T G707 has a detailed description of the SDH architecture.  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  shows the rate hierarchy supported by the SDH system.  FIG. 2  shows rates of Virtual Container with different rate levels and being supported by the SDH.  
         [0007]      FIG. 3  shows the frame structure of SDH STM-1 (Synchronous Transport Module-1), in which the VC 4 s are formed by 63 VC 12 s.  
         [0008]     The STM-2 frame is composed of 9 rows and 270 columns, namely totaling 2430 bytes, and takes 125 μs. Therefore, the rate of STM-1 in  FIG. 1  is 155.520 Mbps. The first 9 columns of each frame are pointer addresses for RSOH (Regenerator Section Overhead), MSOH (Multiplexer Section Overhead) and AU- 4  Pointer, and the rest  261  columns are for VC 4 . In the VC 4 , the first column is for Path Overhead (POH). When the VC 4  is formed by 63 VC 12 s, the 8 columns that follow the POH column are the byte stuff columns, and the 252 columns that follow the stuff columns are formed by 63 TU 12 s that are multiplexed to TUG 2 s and then to TUG 3 s. See  FIG. 9 .  
         [0009]      FIG. 4  shows the multiplexing paths defined by the G707 standard for different VC rates. In  FIG. 4 , the block with background color indicates pointer processing; the thick real line indicates multiplexing; the dot line indicates aligning and the thin real line indicates mapping.  
         [0010]     During multiplexing, it often happens that the VC rate doesn&#39;t match the rates of the TU or AU to which the VC want to be multiplexed. In this case, the SDH deploys a pointer to locate the VC starting byte from a fixed position in the frame (the fixed position is the H 3  byte for AU 4 , the H 3  byte for TU 3  and the V 2  byte for TU 1 ). The pointer value is adjusted with the positive justification and negative justification. For AU 4 , as shown in the  FIG. 5 , H 1  and H 2  are the pointers showing the starting byte of the VC- 4 , H 3  is for negative justification and the three bytes after H 3  is for positive justification. The  FIG. 6  shows the TU 3  pointer, and the  FIG. 7  shows the TU 12 /TU 11  pointer; wherein TU is the tributary unit, VC is the virtual container, V 1  is the first byte of the pointer and V 2  is the second byte of the pointer, V 3  is the negative justification byte and V 4  is a reserved byte.  
         [0011]      FIGS. 8 and 9  show an interleaving processing where the TU 11 /TU 12 s are multiplexed into the TUG 2 s, and then the TUG 2 s are multiplexed into the TUG 3 s, and finally the TUG 3 s are multiplexed into the VC 4 .  
         [0012]     The SDH multiplexing hierarchy defines a channel signal rate lower than VC 4  as the lower order channel and a channel signal rate above the VC 4  as the higher order channel. The lower order signals are interleaved into the TUG 2 s by columns, and then the TUG 3 s are interleaved into the TUG 3 s by columns, and then the TUG 3 s are interleaved into the VC 4  by columns. When multiplexing lower order signals to a higher order virtual container, the pointer of the higher order virtual container needs to be adjusted for rate matching, so pointers of different higher order virtual containers may have different values. Therefore, before interleaving, the virtual containers need to be aligned. At present, the alignment is made with the method called Tributary Unit Payload Processor (TUPP).  
         [0013]     From the ingress direction of a high order signal, the TUPP finds the pointers of the lower order signals. With interpretation of a lower order signal pointer, the lower order signal payload is obtained and stored in an FIFO queue. Later, based on aligning requirement, the timing signal is generated. With the timing signal, the FIFO output is controlled and a new pointer justification is generated. The payloads of lower order signals in the FIFO and the generated pointers form an aligned high order signal that is the egress signal of the TUPP.  
         [0014]     Taking the lower order traffic TU 12  as an example, shown in  FIG. 10 , the Receiving Timer and Transmitting Timer generate necessary timing signals; the pointer interpreters (PI) of the modules  1 ,  2 , . . .  63  make pointer interpretation of each channel respectively to obtain the payload position of each channel; under the control of the RecTiming signal, the payloads are stored in the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) memories; the Pointer Generator modules PG 1 , PG 2 , . . . PG 63  generate new pointers for each channel; and the Multiplexing module regenerates the payloads and their new pointers that are aligned for the higher order signal VC 4 .  
         [0015]     The alignment processing of the TU 11 , TU 3  or payloads mapped by them is similar as above.  
         [0016]     The above method meets demands of system for lower order signals in early SDH/SONET development phase when the system capacity is limited; However, with increase of system demands for lower order traffic, the method can hardly meet market needs. The TUPP is implemented by an ASIC on usual, and each ASIC can only process several channels, which leads to many ASICs in system. This makes serial problems for the system, such as system complexity increase, power consumption rising, system integration and system stability decrease etc.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     In accordance with one aspect, disclosed is a frame aligning method to overcome the low-level technology integration and the low utility of the present aligning integrated circuit.  
         [0018]     Another aspect of the disclosure provides a frame alignment integrated circuit that has higher integration level and higher utility factor.  
         [0019]     In accordance with one embodiment, the frame aligning method includes the steps of:  
         [0020]     processing every channel of a frame time-sharingly through common circuits including at least a common pointer interpreter module and a pointer generator module;  
         [0021]     based on the structure and control information of the frame to be aligned, said common circuit generating the receiving pulses indicating positions of a channel pointer&#39;s first byte and second byte;  
         [0022]     said common pointer interpreter module receiving the first-byte and second-byte information of all channel pointers according to said receiving pulses, and storing the first-byte information;  
         [0023]     according to the channel sequence, said common pointer interpreter module interpreting channel pointers to obtain pointer status information;  
         [0024]     according to the state information obtained, the common pointer interpreter module generating control signals to store channel payload;  
         [0025]     generating a time signal for a new frame required and providing to said pointer generator module;  
         [0026]     based on pointer offset and adjustment information of each channel, said pointer generator module creating new channel pointers for all channels;  
         [0027]     generating the control signal according to timing signals of said new frame and the new channel pointers generated by said pointer generator;  
         [0028]     with said control signal, reading the payload and generated pointer of each channel to form aligned data frame.  
         [0029]     In some cases, said obtaining pointer status information, respectively, includes the steps of:  
         [0030]     according to first-byte and second-byte pointer information, pointer status information and first-byte and second-byte information of last frame, pointer interpretation module interpreting current channel pointer and storing obtained status information of channel pointer.  
         [0031]     Said obtaining pointer state information may be realized according to ITU.  
         [0032]     Said creating new channel pointers, respectively, may include the steps of:  
         [0033]     depending on channel payload, pointer generator module calculating the offset of the channel pointer;  
         [0034]     the new pointer and state information of the channel being created and stored based on the offset, channel adjustment information and state information of last frame.  
         [0035]     Said creating new channel pointer may be realized according to ITU.  
         [0036]     Said payloads and generated pointers of all channels may be stored in one memory.  
         [0037]     Address collision may be avoided for said memory.  
         [0038]     In accordance with another aspect, the frame aligning integrated circuit, includes a receiving timer, a pointer interpreter module, a transmitting timer, a pointer generator module and a first memory;  
         [0039]     where said receiving timer is connected with the pointer interpreter module and the first memory respectively, receives frame to be aligned and the frame control signals, and then based on the frame control signals, it generates timing signals indicating different positions of frame signals; and sends the timing signals to pointer interpreter module; based on timing signals and pointer interpretation results given by pointer interpreter module, it controls the first memory to store frame data; and  
         [0040]     where said pointer interpreter module is connected with the receiving timer, receives frame to be aligned; under control by timing signals from the receiving timer, interprets channel pointers of Tributary Units in a frame; sends pointer interpretation results to the receiving timer; and,  
         [0041]     where said transmitting timer is connected with the pointer generator module and first memory, receives control signals for new frame system requires; based on the frame control signals, it generates timing signals indicating different positions of a new frame, based on timing signals and new channel pointer state sent by pointer generator module, controls the first memory to read frame data; and,  
         [0042]     where said pointer generator module is connected with the transmitting timer and first memory; under control of timing signals provided by the transmitting timer, creates new channel pointers of Tributary Units and stores the new channel pointers into the first memory; and,  
         [0043]     where said first memory is connected with the receiving timer, transmitting timer and pointer generator module, stores payloads of all channels under the control of timing signals provided by the receiving timer; and stores newly generated pointers of all channels, and outputs payloads and new pointers of all channels under the control of timing signals provided by the transmitting timer.  
         [0044]     Said pointer interpreter module includes a first read-write controller, a first memory, a second memory, a third memory, a fourth memory and a pointer interpreter finite-state-machine:  
         [0045]     where said first read-write controller is connected with the receiving timer, second memory, third memory and fourth memory, receives timing signals generated by the receiving timer to create read-write control signals to the second, third and fourth memories; and,  
         [0046]     where said second and third memories are connected with the first read-write controller and pointer interpreter finite-state-machine, under control of first read-write controller, store channel pointer information of frame received, or output the channel pointer information to the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine, and,  
         [0047]     where said fourth memory is connected with the first read-write controller and pointer interpreter finite-state-machine, under control of first read-write controller, stores pointer state information sent by the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine, or sends pointer state information to the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine; and,  
         [0048]     where said pointer interpreter finite-state-machine is connected with the second, third and fourth memories; at specific timing signals provided by said receiving timer, interprets signals in second, third and fourth memories and then stores interpretation results in the fourth memory and outputs them to the receiving timer.  
         [0049]     Said pointer generator module may include a second read-write controller, a fifth memory, a sixth memory and a pointer generator finite-state-machine:  
         [0050]     where said second read-write controller may be connected with the transmitting timer, fifth memory and sixth memory, receives timing signals from transmitting timer to generate read-write control signal for fifth and sixth memories; and,  
         [0051]     where said fifth memory may be connected with the second read-write controller and pointer generator finite-state-machine, stores the channel pointer offset and outputs them to the pointer generator finite-state-machine; and,  
         [0052]     where said sixth memory may be connected with the second read-write controller and pointer generator finite-state-machine, stores frame states; and,  
         [0053]     where said pointer generator finite-state-machine may be connected with the transmitting timer, fifth and sixth memories, under a specific timing signal from the transmitting timer and according to signals stored in the fifth and sixth memories, it generates new pointer and the pointer&#39;s state, and stores the state in the sixth memory and outputs the state to the first memory.  
         [0054]     Said pointer generator module may include a common counter for all channels;  
         [0055]     where said counter may be connected with the fifth memory; starts counting at the second address of each channel; increases count value of relevant channel by one after it reads one byte from the first memory; creates pointer offset and outputs it to the fifth memory.  
         [0056]     Said pointer generator module may include an address comparator,  
         [0057]     where said address comparator may be connected with the receiving timer and transmitting timer, receives the writing address generated by the receiving timer and reading address generated by the transmitting timer, and compares them to determine whether the positive justification or negative justification is needed, and then sends justification information to the pointer generator finite-state-machine.  
         [0058]     As a result, the following advantages are presented:  
         [0059]     With time-sharing, the circuit utility factor is raised; and,  
         [0060]     with multiplex structure, the integrated level of each ASIC is increased.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0061]      FIG. 1  shows SDH bit rates.  
         [0062]      FIG. 2  shows SDH Virtual Containers (VC).  
         [0063]      FIG. 3  shows a frame structure of the STM-1.  
         [0064]      FIG. 4  shows the multiplexing paths of SDH.  
         [0065]      FIG. 5  shows the AU 4  pointer.  
         [0066]      FIG. 6  shows the TU 3  pointer.  
         [0067]      FIG. 7  shows the TU 12 /TU 11  pointer.  
         [0068]      FIG. 8  shows the interleaving from TUG 3 s to VC 4 s.  
         [0069]      FIG. 9  shows the interleaving from TU 11 /TU 12 s to the TUG 3 s.  
         [0070]      FIG. 10  shows a diagram of present frame alignment processing.  
         [0071]      FIG. 11  shows a diagram of frame alignment of the invention.  
         [0072]      FIG. 12  shows a diagram of the pointer interpreter module of the invention.  
         [0073]      FIG. 13  shows a space division diagram of the first memory of the invention.  
         [0074]      FIG. 14  shows a diagram of the pointer generator module of the invention.  
         [0075]      FIG. 15  shows receiving timing of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0076]     The invention is a frame alignment method and circuit used for SDH/SONET. The characteristics of the invention are as follows: 
        The Pointer Interpreter (PI), Pointer Generator (PG) and Payload memory are common for every lower order channel (63 TU 12 s, or 84 TU 11 s, or 3 TU 3 s or their mixture), so each of them can be replaced by a common time-sharing circuit;     Having been processed by the common time-sharing circuits, pointer value of each channel is stored in a memory;     The ingress signal timing controls the common time-sharing circuit and access of the memory.        
 
         [0080]     In the following, an embodiment of the alignment of a VC 4  that is composed of TU 12 s is described in detail.  
         [0081]      FIG. 11  shows the frame alignment circuit includes a pointer interpreter module  110 , a receiving timer  111  that generates RecTiming signal, a first memory  112 , a pointer generator module  113  and a transmitting timer  114  that generates TransmitTiming signal.  
         [0082]     The pointer interpreter module  110 , the receiving timer  111  and the first memory  112  receive the VC 4  indication signals and the VC 4  frame data, vc 4 _data, which will be aligned.  
         [0083]     The receiving timer  111  is connected with the pointer interpreter module  110  and the first memory  112 , and generates related timing signals based on the SDH frame structure, the spe signal of payload in indication signals of VC 4  frame and starting signal j 1  of VC 4  frame.  
         [0084]     In detail, the positions of every signal in a VC 4  frame are relatively fixed to the starting signal j 1 , and the receiving timer  111  respectively generates the indicating pulses r_ts_v 1  and r_ts_v 2  for the first byte V 1  and the second byte V 2 , which are used to indicate pointers of 63 channels; the indicating pulses r_ts_v 3  and r_ts_v 3   p  for the pointer justification bytes V 3  and V 3   p  of the 63 channels; the sequential counter signal r_tu_num indicating sequence of the 63 channels and the indicating pulse r_ts_h 4  for the path overhead byte H 4 .  
         [0085]     The receiving timer  111  sends the indicating pulses r_ts_v 1 , r_ts_v 2  and r_tu_num to the pointer interpreter module  110 .  
         [0086]     Based on the r_ts_v 1 , r_ts_v 2 , r_tu_num and VC 4  frame signals, the pointer interpreter module  110  generates the interpretation results including the pointer value and positive justification or negative justification bytes, and then send them to the receiving timer  111 .  
         [0087]     Based on the interpretation results, the receiving timer  111  obtains the indicating payload signals r_ts_vc 12 _payload and generates the writing addresses of the first memory  112  for the 63 channels to control the writing operation; the writing addresses are sent to the pointer generator module  113  to generate the positive or negative justification signals inc_dec_req. The timing diagram of the signals is shown in  FIG. 15 .  
         [0088]     In this embodiment, the pointer interpreter module  110  is shown in  FIG. 12 . It includes: the first read-write controller (RAMReadWriteControl)  121 , the second memory  122 , the third memory  123 , the fourth memory  124  and the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine (PointerlntrpratFSM)  125 .  
         [0089]     The second memory  122 , the third memory  123  and the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine  125  receive the VC 4  frame data from the external system.  
         [0090]     The first read-write controller  121  is respectively connected with the receiving timer  112 , the second memory  122 , the third memory  123  and the fourth memory  124 , and controls the accesses of them in order to coordinate with the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine  125 .  
         [0091]     The second memory  122  and the third memory  123  latch the V 1  bytes of this frame and the V 1  and V 2  bytes of last frame respectively; the fourth memory  124  stores interpretation results including the states of the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine  125 , the pointer value, the positive and negative justification values, and outputs the results to the receiving timer  111 .  
         [0092]     The pointer interpreter finite-state-machine  125  is connected with the second memory  122 , the third memory  123 , the fourth memory  124  and the receiving timer  111  respectively. It interprets the pointer information of the received vc 4 _data and stores the interpretation results in the fourth memory  124 .  
         [0093]     The channel pointer of a TU 12  includes two bytes, V 1  and V 2 , and the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine  125  takes the r_ts_v 2  signal sent by the timer  111  as the enable signal, so the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine  125  runs on the V 2  byte of every frame, and its operation conforms to the related proposals of ITU. The operation of the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine  125  uses V 1  and V 2  bytes of the last and this frames, and it runs on the V 2  byte of this frame, so only the last frame V 1  and V 2  bytes and this frame V 1  byte need to be latched.  
         [0094]     In detail, the first read-write controller  121  receives the indicating pulses: r_ts_v 1 , r_ts_v 2  and r_tu_num, from the receiving timer  111  to control the intercepting and storing of the V 1  and V 2  bytes. When the r_ts_v 1  is coming, namely at the V 1  pulse position, the enable signal WEn 1  of the second memory  122  is made enabled to let the second memory  122  get V 1  information of all channels from the received vc 4 _data and store them. When the r_ts_v 2  is coming, namely at the V 2  pulse position, the enable signal WEna 2  of the third memory  123  is made enabled to let the third memory get V 2  information of all channels from the received vc 4 _data and the V 1  information from the second memory  122 , and store them.  
         [0095]     One step delays the V 2  pulse and when the pointer interpreter finite-state-machine  125  has processed one channel, the writing enable WEn 3  of the fourth memory  123  is enabled to store the interpretation results of a channel. Here, the r_tu_num is used to indicate which channel is being processed.  
         [0096]     In this embodiment, the first memory  112  is used to store each channel payload and pointers that are generated by the pointer generator module  113 . The first memory  112  stores the payload based on the payload-writing signal from the receiving timer  111 , and makes alignment and then outputs the aligned VC 4  frame based on the reading signal from the transmitting timer  114 . The first memory  112  stores the starting position of each VC frame, indication_or_v 5 _puls, which is used to indicate the starting position of each VC 12  frame for the pointer generator module  113 , and stores payloads of each channels.  
         [0097]     In this embodiment, the first memory  112  is divided into two parts: one is for storing the payload, and another is for storing the new pointer. In  FIG. 13 , there are 63 pieces of memory space for storing the payloads of 63 tributary units, and there are 63 bytes for storing the regenerated pointers. Since the new pointer is written into the first memory  112  by the pointer regenerator module  113  while the received payload is also written into the first memory, writing conflict may happen. It is necessary to avoid the writing conflict by adding conflict management in writing operation.  
         [0098]     The transmitting timer  114  has a similar function to the receiving timer  111 . According to the VC 4  frame signals, including the VC 4  payload indicating signal t_spe and the VC 4  frame starting signal t_j 1 , the transmitting timer  114  generates timing signals for the aligned VC 4  frame.  
         [0099]     In detail, the positions of every signal in a VC 4  frame are relatively fixed to the starting signal t_j 1 , and the transmitting timer  114  respectively generates the indicating pulses r_ts_v 1  and r_ts_v 2  for the first byte V 1  and the second byte V 2 , which are used to indicate pointers of 63 channels; the indicating pulses r_ts_v 3  and r_ts_v 3   p  for the pointer justification bytes V 3  and V 3   p  of the 63 channels; the sequential counter signal r_tu_num indicating sequence of the 63 channels and the indicating pulse r_ts_h 4  for the path overhead byte H 4 .  
         [0100]     Furthermore, according to results generated by pointer generator module  113 , including pointer value and positive or negative justification information, the t_ts_c 12 _payload signal indicating VC 12  payload of 63 channels is obtained. Based on t_ts_vc 12 _payload, reading address of the first memory  113  is created to control reading of the first memory and finally, the new aligned VC 4  is gotten. The time sequence in transmitting is similar to that in receiving, so the time sequence diagram of receiving can be as a reference. The t_ts_v 1 , t_ts_v 2  and t_tu_num are sent to the pointer regenerator module  113  by transmitting timer  114 .  
         [0101]     In this embodiment, the pointer regenerator module  113 , shown in  FIG. 14 , regenerates pointer, the positive justification or negative justification for every channel. It includes: the second read-write controller  141 , the fifth memory  142 , the sixth memory  143 , the pointer generator finite-state-machine (PointerGenerateFSM)  144 , the counter  145 , and the comparator  146 .  
         [0102]     The second read-write controller  141  is connected with the first memory  112 , the transmitting timer  114 , the fifth memory  142 , and the sixth memory  143 , respectively; it controls the reading and writing of the fifth memory  142  and the sixth memory  143 .  
         [0103]     The fifth memory  142  transmits the regenerated pointer. When the second read-write controller  141  has read a V 5 , namely indication_of_v 5   puls,  the first byte position signal of the VC 12 , it generates the writing address WA 1  and the write-enable signal WEn 1  for the fifth memory  142  and stores offset_from_v 2  of counter  145  into the fifth memory  142 .  
         [0104]     The counter  145  increases the channel counting value by one when one byte of related channel is read from the first memory  112 . It is used for all channels and begins counting at the V 2  byte of each channel.  
         [0105]     For the sixth memory  143 , the pointer generator finite-state-machine  144  begins running at the V 2  byte, namely at the moment when receiving the t_ts_v 2 , so it generates writing address WA 2  and writing enable signal WEn 1  one step delay the V 2  byte of each channel and stores the new created pointer state PrevState into the sixth memory  143 .  
         [0106]     The second read-write controller  141  reads the fifth memory  142  and the sixth memory  143  in the same way. Since the pointer generator finite-state-machine  144  begins running at the V 2  byte, the read control for the second read-write controller  141  is to make the pointer offsets, the last frame pointer states and the positive or negative justification information inc_dec_req of the two memories arrive at the same time.  
         [0107]     The second read-write controller  141  reads the pointer offset from the off_from_v 2  of the fifth memory  142 . The comparator  146  generates the positive or negative justification bytes inc_dec_req by comparing the writing address generated by the receiving timer  111  and the reading address generated by the transmitting timer  114 . The positive or negative justification bytes inc_dec_req is used to determine whether the generated pointer needs to be adjusted or whether the V 3  and V 3 P need to stuff effective data; this is determined by the receiving and transmitting rate difference. In this embodiment, the receiving and transmitting rate difference is the memory reading and writing rate difference. This means that the reading and writing address difference and the justification threshold determine whether the inc_dec_req is effective.  
         [0108]     The pointer generator finite-state-machine  144  is a finite-state-machine for generating pointer based on proposals from ITU.T. It begins running at the moment receiving the V 2  byte and reads pointer offset from the fifth memory  142  and the sixth memory  143 , the last frame states PrevState and the positive or negative justification information inc_dec_req to generate the new pointer and pointer state CurState. After new pointer generates, namely a step delay the t_ts_v 2 , the pointer generator  114  stores new pointer and pointer state CurState into the sixth memory  143  and output them to the first memory  112 .  
         [0109]     It can be seen from the above that the pointer interpreter module  110  and the pointer generator module  113  are two independent modules. The pointer interpreter module  110  interprets the receiving pointer to obtain the payload from the received data and store it in the first memory  112 . The pointer generator module  113  generates the new pointer for the new tributary unit based on the timing requirement and the rate difference between receiving and transmitting.  
         [0110]     The frame alignment procedure is described in the following:  
         [0111]     The receiving timer  111  generates the receiving pulse r_ts_v 1  that indicates the first byte V 1  position of TU 12  channel pointer based on information of frame structure, and the pointer interpreter module  110  receives and stores the first byte V 1  of all channels based on the receiving pulse r_ts_v 1 .  
         [0112]     The receiving timer  111  generates the receiving pulse r_ts_v 2  that indicates the position of the pointer second byte V 2  of the TU 12 , and the pointer interpreter module  110  receives and stores the second byte V 2  of all channels based on the receiving pulse r_ts_v 2 .  
         [0113]     While receiving the second byte receiving pulse of channel pointer, the pointer interpreter module  110  interprets the channel pointer to obtain the pointer states and then according to the states, the pointer interpreter module  110  generates control signal to store the channel payload into the first memory  112 .  
         [0114]     The transmitting timer  114  generates timing signals for the pointer generator module  113  based on the indicating signal of the new frame from an external system, and the pointer generator module  114  sequentially generates the new pointer of every channel according to the pointer offset and stuffing bytes of each channel and stores the new pointers into the first memory.  
         [0115]     The transmitting timer  114  generates control signals based on the new frame timing signal and results from pointer generator. With the control signals, the transmitting timer reads the payload and pointer of each channel from the first memory to form a data frame for the system.  
         [0116]     The TU 12  is taken as an example in above, and the method for TU 3 , TU 11  or the mixture of TU 11 , TU 12  and TU 3  is quite similar. The only difference is that different timing pulses are generated.  
         [0117]     For more tributaries alignment, such as four or even sixteen VC 4 s alignment, the same method can be used if only higher clock frequency or more memory capacity are provided.  
         [0118]     The SDH and the SONET are almost the same hierarchies except part of transmission rates and multiplexing paths are slightly different. The above embodiment uses SDH as an example, however, the principle can be completely applied in the SONET system.