Abstract:
A configuration for a transport node of a telecommunication system comprises a pair of transparent mux/demuxs provided at two sites and connected over a high rate span. The T-Muxs provide continuity of all tribs and maintain a lower bit rate linear or ring system through the higher bit rate span. The lower bit rate linear or ring system operates as if it were directly connected without the higher bit rate midsection. For the forward direction of the traffic, the T-Mux comprises a multi-channel receiver for receiving a the trib signals and providing for each trib signal a trib data signal and a trib OAM&amp;P signal. The data signals are multiplexed into a supercarrier data signal and the OAM&amp;P signals are processed to generate a supercarrier OAM&amp;P signal. A supercarrier transmitter maps the supercarrier data signal and the supercarrier OAM&amp;P signal into a supercarrier signal and transmits same over the high rate span. Reverse operations are effected for the reverse direction of traffic. With this invention, an entire ring system does not have to be upgraded to a higher line rate due to fiber exhaust on a single span. The invention is particularly applicable to SONET OC-48/OC-12/OC-3 linear and ring networks and the high rate span could be an OC-192 line.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention is directed to a configuration for a transport node of a telecommunication system, and more particularly, to a transparent multiplexer for telecommunication systems. 
     2. Background Art 
     Telecommunications network providers are feeling the pressure of modern technologies as users demand ever more capacity. That factor, along with the reality of fiber congestion in the network, is causing service providers to search for a solution that will increase capacity without forcing them to deploy additional fibers. At the moment, two practical solutions exist: using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) to combine multiple wavelengths on one set of fibers, or using a higher bit rate, time division multiplexing (TDM) systems. 
     Both solutions are viable, but each has disadvantages for certain applications. Linear systems have a different solution than rings, short spans have a different solution than long spans in each type of network, and even rings will have different solutions from one another, depending on the number of the nodes and the span lengths between the nodes. 
     In practice, there are many benefits to large bandwidths on a single SONET network element, especially in ring topologies. Network management can be simplified by reducing the number of network elements (NE). This also reduces the amount of equipment in the network, which means fewer trips to a location for equipment repairs and replacement. 
     For an existing linear system that is experiencing fiber exhaust on a given span, the traditional solution is to replace the relevant terminals to obtain a higher line rate system. However, for a ring configuration, the line rate of the entire ring must be upgraded even if only one span is short of fiber. It is thus easy to understand why some network providers are asking for other options. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Transparent transport is defined as the ability to provide continuity of all payloads and associated overhead bytes necessary to maintain a lower bit rate linear or ring system through a higher bit rate midsection. The lower bit rate linear or ring system shall operate as if it were directly connected without the higher bit rate midsection. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a configuration for a telecommunication system and a method for addressing the fiber exhaust on a per span basis, without having to replace the equipment of all tributary (trib) systems. With this invention, an entire ring system does not have to be upgraded to a higher line rate due to fiber exhaust on a single span. The invention is particularly applicable to OC-48 rings, although lower rates rings, such as OC-12 and OC-3 may also be upgraded, as well as higher rates, when available. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a configuration for a telecommunication system that permits tributary channels to be carried transparently over a high rate line, with no change in provisioning of tributary systems. For example, the tributaries may be OC-48/OC-12/OC-3 lines and the high rate line could be an OC-192 line. 
     Still another object of this invention is to provide a supercarrier for transporting a plurality of trib systems over a midsection of a network. This is obtained by provisioning a pair of transparent multiplexer/demultiplexers (TMuxs) at the ends of the midsection, which manipulate the tribs such as to maintain the protection switching, to effect line maintenance signalling, section/line/path performance monitoring, and to provide sufficient performance information for fault isolation. 
     Accordingly, the invention comprises a method for transporting a plurality (K) of trib signals over a high rate span, comprising the steps of connecting a plurality (K) of trib input ports to a like plurality (K) of trib networks, each trib input port for receiving a trib input signal from a corresponding trib network over a trib channel, transparently multiplexing all the trib input signals into a supercarrier signal, the supercarrier signal comprising operation, administration, maintenance and provisioning (OAM&amp;P) information on all the trib input signals and OAM&amp;P information on the supercarrier signal, and connecting a supercarrier output port to the high bit rate span for transmitting the supercarrier signal. 
     The invention further comprises a method for transporting a plurality (K) of trib signals over a high bit rate span, comprising the steps of connecting a supercarrier input port to the high rate span for receiving a supercarrier signal over a supercarrier channel, transparently demultiplexing the supercarrier signal into a plurality (K) of trib output signals, each the trib output signal comprising OAM&amp;P information on the trib output signal and OAM&amp;P information on the supercarrier signal, and connecting a plurality (K) of trib output ports to a like plurality of trib networks, each trib output for transmitting a trib output signal over a corresponding trib channel. 
     Further, in a plurality (K) of tributary networks, each trib network for transporting trib signals between a multitude of sites with protection switching capabilities, the trib networks having in common a first and a second site, a method for carrying all the trib signals between the first and the second site over a high rate span, with no change to the provisioning of the trib networks, the method comprising, at any of the first or the second site, the steps of providing a like plurality (K) of trib ports and connecting each the trib port to a corresponding trib network over an associated FW trib channel, an associated FP trib channel, an associated RW trib channel and an associated RP trib channel, providing a supercarrier port and connecting same to the high rate span over a FW, a FP, a RW and a RP supercarrier channel, receiving at each trib port, from the corresponding trib network, a FW trib signal over the associated FW trib channel, and a FP trib signal over the associated FP trib channel, transparently multiplexing all the FW trib signals into a FW supercarrier signal comprising OAM&amp;P information on all the FW trib signals and OAM&amp;P information on the FW supercarrier signal, and transparently multiplexing all the FP trib signals into a FP supercarrier signal comprising OAM&amp;P information on all the FP trib signals and OAM&amp;P information on the FP supercarrier signal. The invention further comprises the steps of at the supercarrier port, transmitting the FW supercarrier signal over the FW supercarrier channel and transmitting the FP supercarrier signal over the FP supercarrier channel. 
     The invention further comprises a transparent multiplexer/demultiplexer (T-Mux) for a telecommunication system, comprising a multi-channel receiver for receiving a plurality (K) of trib input signals, each from an associated trib network, delineating each the trib input signal into a trib data signal and a trib OAM&amp;P signal, means for multiplexing all the trib data signals into a supercarrier data signal, means for processing all the trib OAM&amp;P signals and generating a supercarrier OAM&amp;P signal, and a supercarrier transmitter for mapping the supercarrier data signal and the supercarrier OAM&amp;P signal into an output supercarrier signal of a high bit rate, and transmitting same over a high rate span. 
     Further, a transparent multiplexer/demultiplexer (T-Mux) for a telecommunication system comprises a supercarrier receiver for receiving a supercarrier signal of a high bit rate over a high rate span channel and delineating same into a supercarrier data signal and a supercarrier OAM&amp;P signal, means for demultiplexing the supercarrier data signal into a plurality (K) of trib data signals, means for processing the supercarrier OAM&amp;P signal into a like plurality (K) of trib OAM&amp;P signals, and a multi-channel transmitter for mapping each of the trib data signals and a corresponding one of the trib OAM&amp;P signals into a trib signal and transmitting each the trib signal to an associated trib network. 
     A basic advantage of this invention is per span relief for fiber exhaust where no changes to existing systems is desired. 
     Another advantage is that a pair of TMuxs at the sites connected by the high line rate span may be a less expensive solution than the WDM approach for some network applications. For example, only one OC-192 electrical repeater is needed on the high rate span according to the invention, while four electrical repeaters are necessary in the WDM approach. The cost of four OC-48 repeaters is about 1.6 times the cost of one OC-192 repeater. 
     In addition, the WDM approach to accommodate higher rates on an existing network requires replacing the initially installed transmitters with a set of wavelength-specific (e.g. 1533 nm, 1541 nm, 1549 and 1557 nm) transmitters, adding to the overall cost of the up-grade. 
     Another advantage of the transparency is that there are no potential mid-span meet problems with the TMux-trib system interface regarding protection or data communication protocols which may be the case for conventional Mux/trib system interfaces. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the preferred embodiments, as illustrated in the appended drawings, where: 
     FIG. 1 is a diagram of the byte allocation in the transport overhead (TOH) according to the SONET standard; 
     FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a network having a high capacity span between two sites (prior art); 
     FIG. 3A illustrates the equipment necessary at site A of the network of FIG. 2, with the WDM approach to solving the per span fiber exhaust; 
     FIG. 3B illustrates an electrical regenerator in between sites A and B for the WDM approach; 
     FIG. 4A shows the equipment necessary at site A of the network of FIG. 2, with a high rate mid-span according to the invention; 
     FIG. 4B illustrates an electrical regenerator in between sites A and B according to the invention; 
     FIG. 5A illustrates the “W-channel” option for carrying OC-48 tributary systems transparently by the OC-192 super-carrier; 
     FIG. 5B illustrates the “Extra Traffic” option for carrying OC-48 tributary systems transparently by the OC-192 super-carrier; 
     FIG. 5C illustrates the “nailed-up” option for carrying OC-48 tributary systems transparently by the OC-192 super-carrier; 
     FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the transparent multiplexer/demultiplexer the “nailed up” OC-192 option; 
     FIG. 7A illustrates how OC-12 tributary systems are carried transparently by an OC-192 super-carrier; and 
     FIG. 7B illustrates how OC-3 tributary systems are carried transparently by an OC-192 super-carrier. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The necessary background and terms used herein are provided in the following in connection with FIG. 1, which is a diagram showing the byte allocation in the transport overhead (TOH) according to the synchronous optical network (SONET) standard. 
     The SONET standards ANSI T1.105 and Bellcore GR-253-CORE, define the physical interface, optical line rates known as optical carrier (OC) signals, a frame format, and an operation, administration, maintenance and provisioning (OAM&amp;P) protocol. The user signals are converted into a standard electrical format called the synchronous transport signal (STS), which is the equivalent of the optical signal. The STS- 1  frame consists of 90 columns by 9 rows of bytes, the frame length is 125 microseconds. As such, STS- 1  has a rate of 51.840 Mb/s. Higher rates (STS-N, STS-Nc) are built from this one, and lower rates are subsets of this. The add/drop multiplexer multiplexes various STS-N input streams onto optical fiber channels. 
     A SONET frame comprises a transport overhead (TOH) consisting of three columns and 9 rows, and a synchronous payload envelope (SPE) comprising an 87 columns, one column for the path overhead (POH) and 86 columns for the payload. The TOH includes a section overhead field (SOH) consisting of three columns and three rows (3×3), and a line overhead (LOH) field consisting of three columns and six rows (3×6). 
     The section layer deals with the transport of multiplexed signals across the physical medium. A section is a portion of the transmission facility between two section terminating equipments (STE), such as regenerators and terminals. 
     The SOH includes framing bytes A 1 , A 2 , which consist of a unique bit sequence indicating the beginning of an STS- 1  frame. Byte J 0  is now used to physically identify the fibers and is present in the first STS- 1  (STS- 1  # 1 ) of a STS-N signal, while byte Z 0  represents an additional growth byte in all remaining STS- 1 s (STS- 1  # 2  to STS- 1  #N). Section error monitoring byte B 1  is used to determine if a transmission error has occurred over a section. Byte B 1  is defined for STS- 1  # 1 . A compounded bit interleaved parity (BIP- 8 ) code is placed in the B 1  byte of STS- 1  before scrambling. Its value is an 8-bit code using even parity, calculated over all bits of the previous STS-N frame after scrambling. 
     Local orderwire (LOW) byte E 1  provides a 64 Kb/s channel between section entities, and it is proposed as a voice channel for craftspersons and for communications between regenerators, hubs and remote terminal locations. 
     Byte F 1  is the section user byte set aside for the network provider&#39;s purposes. It is passed from one section level entity to another and is terminated at all section level equipment. It can be read/written at each section terminating equipment, and is defined only for STS- 1  # 1 . 
     The section data communication channel (DCC) bytes D 1 , D 2  and D 3  provide a 192 Kb/s data channel between section entities, which is used for alarms, controls, monitoring, administration, and other communication needs. It is available for internally generated, externally generated and manufacturer specific messages. These bytes are defined only for STS- 1  # 1 . 
     The line layer, or multiplex section, of SONET standard provides synchronization and multiplexing for the path layer. A line is a portion of the transmission facility between two consecutive line terminating equipments (LTE), which could be add-drop multiplexers (ADM) or terminals (TM). An ADM multiplexes/demultiplexes signals into/from a higher rate signal. It accesses signals that need to be dropped or inserted at the ADM site, the rest of the traffic continuing straight through. 
     The LOH includes payload pointers H 1 , H 2  used to specify the beginning of the synchronous payload envelope (SPE) within the frame. H 1  and H 2  are also used to accommodate frequency offsets between the received STS-N frame and the local system frame. As well, these bytes are used to indicate concatenation and STS- 1  path alarm inhibit signal (AIS). Pointer H 3  is defined for negative frequency justification, in which case it carries an extra SPE byte. 
     Byte B 2  is for line error monitoring and is provided in all STS- 1 s signals in a STS-N. Its role is similar to that of byte B 1 . Automatic Protection Switching (APS) bytes K 1  and K 2  are used for signalling between line level entities for automatic protection switching, for indicating line Alarm Inhibit Signal (AIS) and Line Remote Defect Indicator (RDI). Line Data Communication Channel (DCC) bytes D 4  to D 12  provide a 576 Kb/s message channel between line entities for OAM&amp;P information, available for internally generated, externally generated and manufacturer-specific messages. 
     Bytes S 1 /Z 1  and Z 2 /M 1  are defined depending on the position of the STS- 1  in an STS-N signal. Thus, S 1  is the synchronization message for STS- 1  # 1 , and Z 1  is a growth byte in STS- 1  # 2 - 48  of an STS- 192 . Byte M 1  is used for a line layer far-end block error (FEBE) function in STS- 1  # 7  of a STS-N, while Z 2  is the growth byte in STS- 1  # 1 - 6 , and  8 - 48  of an STS- 192 . Finally, express orderwire (EOW) byte E 2  provides a 64 Kb/s for use by craftpersons interconnecting only line entities. 
     The path layer of SONET deals with the transport of services, such as DS 1  or DS 3 , between path terminating equipments (PTE). The main function of the path layer is to map the services and path overhead (POH) into STS- 1 s, which is the format required by the line layer. 
     Trace byte J 1  is used to identify that the correct connection was made between the two end points of the path; it is a user programmable byte that repetitively transmits a 64-byte fixed length string so that a receiving terminal in a path can verify its continued connection to the intended transmitter. The path BIP- 8  code, the B 3  byte, uses even parity calculated over all bits of the previous STS-SPE before scrambling. 
     Signal label byte C 2  is used to indicate the type of payload mapping and number of constituent failed virtual tributaries (VTs). Byte G 1  is used to transmit path status information from the destination to the origination equipment, and permits the status and performance of the complete duplex path to be monitored at either end, or at any point along the path. Byte F 2  is allocated for network provider communication purposes between STS path terminating elements. 
     Multiframe indicator byte H 4  is used for VT structured payloads. It indicates a variety of different superframes for use by certain sub-STS- 1  payloads. Bytes Z 3  and Z 4  are allocated for future and as yet undefined purposes. Byte Z 5  is used for two purposes: tandem connection maintenance error count and a 32 kb/s path data communications channel. 
     FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a fiber optic network involving two sites,  10  and  20 . In this example, NEs  2 ,  4 ,  6  and  8  at site  10  are respectively connected to NEs  1 ,  3 ,  5 ,  7  at site  20 . NEs  1  and  2  may, for example, communicate with a ring  100 , NEs  3  and  4 , with a backbone linear system including spans  26 ,  27 , 23 , and  28 , while NEs  7  and  8  may be part of another ring  110 . A local connection  24  is provided between NEs  5  and  6 . There could be repeaters between the sites, not illustrated on FIG.  2 . Each span  22 , 23 , 24  and  25  is a 4-fiber span for bidirectional, working and protection traffic, which results in 16 fibers being deployed between sites  10  and  20 . As discussed above, the fiber count between rates  10  and  20  may be reduced using the WEM approach or the transparent transport solution according to the invention. A comparison between these two solutions follows. 
     FIG. 3A shows the equipment necessary at site  10  (site A) of the network of FIG. 2 with the WDM approach where 8 channels λ 1  to λ 8  are transmitted over a two-fiber span  30   a ,  30   b . Only the connections for nodes  2  and  4  are shown for simplification. Working signals of wavelengths λ 1  to λ 4  leave site  10  (forward direction), while working signals λ 5  to λ 8  arrive at site  10  from site  20  (reverse direction). Fiber  30   a  accommodates the working traffic, while fiber  30   b  accommodates the protection traffic. This arrangement requires four optical splitters/containers for reducing the fiber count from sixteen to four. Multi-wavelength splitter/combiner  43  consolidates the working forward traffic, multi-wavelength splitter/combiner  44 , the working reverse traffic, splitter/combiner  45 , the protection forward traffic and splitter/combiner  46 , the protection reverse traffic. In addition, bidirectional couplers  41  and  42  are necessary to accommodate the bidirectional nature of the traffic. 
     Provision of all these coupler/splitters has inherent disadvantages; not only these are expensive pieces of equipment, they also attenuate the signal. Thus, the additional loss must be factored into link budget design. The loss could be compensated for by using a bidirectional 4-wavelength amplifier for each fiber span. Furthermore, for long inter-office spans, electrical regenerators may also be required with the associated couplers to split off/combine the individual wavelengths. This is illustrated in FIG.  3 B. 
     FIG. 3B illustrates the regenerator site for the WDM approach, shown in FIG.  3 A. For using only two fibers between sites  10  and  20 , the channels must be separated before regeneration and re-assembled after. Thus, a bidirectional coupler  11  is necessary to separate the working forward and working reverse traffic. The working forward channels λ 1 -λ 4  are then separated using multi-wavelength splitter/combiner  12 , individually amplified by four regenerators  34 - 37 , re-assembled after regeneration using multi-wavelength splitter/combiner  12 ′, and combined with the reverse working traffic using coupler  13 . Similar operations are performed for the working reverse traffic, using multi-wavelength splitter/combiners  14 ′ and  14  before and after regeneration. An additional pair of bidirectional couplers  15 ,  17  is necessary for separating/combining the protection traffic for the forward and reverse directions. The protection forward channels are separated/re-assembled using multi-wavelength splitter/combiners  16  and  16 ′, while the reverse protection channels are separated/combined using bidirectional couplers  18 ′ and  18 . Each protection channel is individually amplified by regenerators  34 - 37 . 
     Finally, wavelength specific transmitters are required in each NE  2 ,  4 ,  6 , and  8  of site  10  and  1 ,  3 ,  5  and  7  of site  20 . These transmitters may not have been provided initially, and the existing transmitters would require upgrading. 
     FIG. 4A shows the configuration according to the invention, where the four fiber spans  22 - 25  shown in FIG. 2 between the two sites  10  and  20  are replaced by a high rate span  30   a ,  30   b . If each span  22 - 25  carries an OC-48, the high rate span  30  would carry traffic at OC-192 rate. As seen in connection with FIGS. 4A and 4B, bidirectional couplers  41  and  42  are still used to reduce the fiber count from four to two fibers. However, unlike the configuration of FIG. 3A, no multi-wavelength splitters/combiners are necessary at site A. Although wavelength specific OC-192 transmitters are required for providing the forward OC-192 channel λ F  and reverse OC-192 channel λ R , only one quarter as many are needed. 
     FIG. 4B shows a configuration when regeneration of the high speed signal is necessary in the case of long inter-office spans. Unlike the case illustrated in FIG. 3B for the WDM approach, only one 2-channel bidirectional regenerator  34  is necessary, resulting also in further savings on couplers. Thus, at the regenerator site, the working forward and reverse channels are separated by a bidirectional coupler  11 , and then combined by bidirectional coupler  13 , couplers  15  and  17  being used in a similar way for regenerating the protection traffic. No splitter/combiner, such as  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 ,  12 ′,  14 ′,  16 ′ and  18 ′ are needed. 
     It is to be understood that it is possible to carry transparently trib signals of different trib bit rates over the high rate span  30 , the invention is not limited to identical trib bit rates. The input tribs described in this invention have the same rate for an easier understanding of the general concept. In addition, the invention is not limited to SONET signals, but it can be applied to other transport technologies. As well, the invention is not limited to OC-3/OC-12/OC-48 signals, carried in a OC-192 supercarrier, but it is also adaptable to other bit rates, in accordance with the HW and SW evolution of transport networks. 
     In order to act transparently for the signals travelling on the high-rate span  30 , each site  10 ,  20  is equipped with a (TMux). FIG. 4A shows TMux  40  at site  10  connected to nodes  2 , 4 ,  6  and  8 , T-Mux  50  (not shown) being provided at site  20  and connected to nodes  1 ,  3 ,  5  and  7 . The TMuxs according to the invention allow for an unchanged operation of NEs  1  to  8  in the respective lower rate networks. For the forward direction, the signals input at site  10  are multiplexed by TMux  40  to a high rate signal (supercarrier) which is transmitted over optical fiber  30   a , demultiplexed at site  20  by a corresponding TMux  50  (not shown in FIG.  4 A), and output to the respective networks. Similar operations take place for the reverse channels and for the forward and reverse protection traffic. 
     As indicated above, the bytes of the trib TOH/POH are manipulated by the TMuxs such as to not alter the provisioning of the existing systems, to maintain the protection switching, to effect line maintenance signalling, section/line/path performance monitoring, and to provide sufficient performance information for fault isolation, as detailed next. 
     Protection Switching 
     In order to maintain protection switching of the existing systems, be they linear or ring, the APS bytes K 1  and K 2  of all tributary (trib) systems must be passed between sites  10  and  20  unaltered. Since the K 2  byte is passed through, the line AIS and line RDI indications also pass through automatically. 
     The routing options for providing trib protection depends on the trib protection scheme, which could be 1:N, 1+1 or  4 F-BLSR, and  2 F-BLSR. 
     a) For a 1:N trib system protection type, the protection channel may be best carried by including the trib P-channel over the OC-192 W-channel, by sacrificing some bandwidth, as shown in FIG.  5 A. In this case, the working and protection forward channels received from nodes  2  and  4  are directed over fiber  30   a ′, while the working and protection reverse channels received over fiber  30   a ″ are directed to the respective network, as symbolically illustrated by switches  73  to  76 . Protection fibers  30   b ′ and  30   b ″ are used for transporting extra-traffic (ET), switches  77 ,  78  illustrate the flow of extra-traffic (ET) for the respective forward/reverse directions between the sub-networks over fibers  30   b ′,  30   b″.    
     An alternative solution is to carry each trib P-channel within the OC-192 P-channel as extra-traffic (ET), as shown in FIG.  5 B. In this case, switches  39 ,  49  and  59  symbolically illustrate how the protection traffic is directed for this type of protection. Thus, it is apparent that the working forward channels input at nodes  2 ,  4 ,  6  and  8  from the respective sub-network are transported over fiber  30   a ′ of the high-rate span  30 . In the case of a protection switching, the affected incoming OC-48s would be transported over fiber  30   b ′ of the high-rate span  30 , as symbolized by switch  39 . Switch  49  illustrates how the working reverse traffic received over fiber  30   a ″ or over fiber  30   b ″ is directed to the respective network, while switch  59  shows how the AIS information is added to the outgoing signal for the respective sub-network in the case when protection reverse traffic is received over fiber  30   b ″ and  30 . 
     However, in this type of routing, when an OC-192 protection switch occurs, the P-channel of the trib system will see a loss of continuity of its datacom and APS channels, raising undesired alarms. 
     b) For a 1+1 or a  4 F-BLSR trib system protection type, the best solution is to carry the trib P-channel over a OC-192 P-channel without OC-192 protection switching enabled (hereinafter called the “nailed up” OC-192 option). In this arrangement, a failure of the OC-192 W-channel would trigger a span switch of all trib systems. As illustrated in FIG. 5C, the working channels for all OC-48 trib systems are carried in the forward direction, on the working (W) fiber  30   a ′, and the working traffic in the reverse direction, is carried on W-fiber  30   a ″, comprising the OC-192 W-channels. Similarly, the trib protection channels are carried in the forward direction over protection (P) fiber  30   b ′ and in the reverse direction over P-fiber  30   b ″, comprising the OC-192 P-channels. 
     The OC-192 W-channel and ET solutions above may also be used for a 1+1/ 4 F-BLSR trib system protection type. The same disadvantage as indicated above applies to the ET solution, while the OC-192 W-channel solution results in more bandwidth sacrificed because of carrying the trib P-channel in a one-to-one ratio rather than a 1:N ratio. 
     c) For a  2 F-BLSR trib system, the protection timeslots are interleaved with the working timeslots, and therefore the ET solution cannot be used. On the other hand, the trib W/P bandwidth can be carried within the OC-192 W-channel and OC-192 protection can be enabled without any operational issues. However, the most efficient approach for this trib system protection type is to carry the trib W/P bandwidth over nailed up OC-192 channels. Since the  2 F-BLSR effects a ring switch when a span fails, both the OC-192 W and P channels can be loaded up with  2 F-BLSRs. 
     The bandwidth available at the TMux should also be taken into consideration, as will be explained next. Table 1 indicates the protection  5  channel routing options and the results of protection action taken by the TMuxs for each case. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Protection channel routing options/issues 
               
             
          
           
               
                 OC-48 
                   
                 All trib traffic 
                   
                   
                 Max. trib 
               
               
                 trib 
                   
                 protected if 
                 OC-192 line 
                 Max. trib 
                 PBW 
               
               
                 system 
                 Trib P-channel 
                 OC-192 W 
                 switch affect on 
                 W BW on 
                 on OC- 
               
               
                 type 
                 treatment 
                 fails? 
                 trib systems 
                 OC-192 W 
                 192P 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 1:N 
                 ET on OC-192 
                 Yes 
                 P appears failed 
                 4×OC-48 
                 1×OC-48 
               
               
                   
                 nailed-up OC-192 P 
                 one trib only 
                 N/A 
                 4×OC-48 
                 1×OC-48 
               
               
                   
                 within OC-192 W 
                 Yes 
                 — 
                 3×OC-48 
                 N/A 
               
               
                 1 + 1 or 
                 ET on OC-192 P 
                 Yes 
                 P appears failed 
                 4×OC-48 
                 4×OC-48 
               
               
                 4F-BLSR 
               
               
                   
                 nailed-up OC-192 P 
                 Yes, tribspan 
                 N/A 
                 4×OC-48 
                 4×OC-48 
               
               
                   
                   
                 switch 
               
               
                   
                 within OC-192 W 
                 Yes 
                 — 
                 2×OC-48 
                 N/A 
               
               
                 2F-BLSR 
                 trib P + W over 
                 Yes, tribring 
                 N/A 
                 4×OC-48 
                 4×OC-48 
               
               
                   
                 nailed-up OC-192 P 
                 switch 
                   
                 2F-BLSR 
                 2F-BLSR 
               
               
                   
                 or W 
               
               
                   
                 within OC-192 W 
                 Yes 
                 — 
                 4×OC-48 
                 N/A 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 2F-BLSR 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Maintenance and Performance Monitoring 
     FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the TMux illustrating the blocks involved in carrying four OC-48 trib systems over an OC-192 from input TMux  40  to output TMux  50 , for the case of a nailed up OC-192 P-channel trib protection type. The operation for forward direction is illustrated and disclosed in the following for simplification, the T-Mux pair  40 ,  50  operates similarly for the reverse traffic. 
     TMux  40  comprises four trib input ports  61 - 64 , each input port for receiving an incoming SONET formatted optical signal OC-48 # 1 - 4  over a respective input span  51 ,  53 ,  55 , and  57  and converting same to an input STS- 48  # 1 - 4 . Trib input ports  61 - 64  perform SONET physical layer  5  operations, clock recovery/synthesis, descrambling, framing, manipulating the section overhead and the line overhead, demultiplexing the STS- 48 , and synchronization of the STS paths with the local clock provided by a synchronization unit  72 , and transmitting the input STS- 1 s to a STS- 1  manager  65 . 
     A trib transport overhead (TOH) processor  60  receives the SOH and LOH bytes of all input STS- 48 s and processes these bytes according to Table 2. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Trib TOH manipulation 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Byte name 
                 Definition 
                 Trib STS-1 
                 Manipulation 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 A1-2 
                 Framing 
                 STS-1 #1 
                 Term. 
               
               
                 J0 
                 Section Trace 
                 STS-1 #1 
                 Term. 
               
               
                 B1 
                 Section BIP-8 
                 STS-1 #1 
                 Term. 
               
               
                 E1 
                 Orderwire 
                 STS-1 #i 
                 Passthru 
               
               
                 F1 
                 User 
                 STS-1 #1 
                 Passthru 
               
               
                 D1-3 
                 Section Datacom 
                 STS-1 #1 
                 Passthru 
               
               
                 Z0 
                 Growth 
                 STS-1 #2-48 
                 Term. 
               
               
                 H1-3 
                 STS Path Pointer 
                 all STSs 
                 Processed 
               
               
                 B2 
                 Line BIP-8 
                 all STS-1s 
                 Term. 
               
               
                 K1 
                 APS 
                 STS-1 #1 
                 Passthru 
               
               
                 K2 
                 APS 
                 STS-1 #1 
                 Passthru 
               
               
                 D4-12 
                 Line Datacom 
                 STS-1 #1 
                 Passthru 
               
               
                 S1 
                 Sync Msg 
                 STS-1 #1 
                 Term. 
               
               
                 Z1 
                 Growth 
                 STSs #2 to 48 
                 Term. 
               
               
                 Z2 
                 Growth 
                 STS-1 #1-6, 8-48 
                 Term. 
               
               
                 M1 
                 Line FEBE 
                 STS #7 
                 Passthru 
               
               
                 E2 
                 Order Wire 
                 STS-1 #1 
                 Passthru 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     The framing information in bytes A 1 - 2  of the incoming signal must be terminated since there are many independent trib frame alignments but only one OC-192 frame alignment. Section trace byte J 0 , identifying the fibers, is also terminated, as it will be misleading to pass through this byte. 
     The section BIP- 8  byte (B 1 ) is terminated as usual, such that the TMux appears as a pseudo-repeater to facilitate fault isolation. However, any section errors that occur on the input span or internal span is replicated at the output span, as it will be disclosed later. 
     The section datacom bytes D 1  to D 3 , along with bytes E 1  (orderwire), and F 1  (user byte) of all trib systems must be passed through the input and output TMuxs. Any potential mid-span meet problems encountered at the high speed Mux/trib interface regarding section DCC protocols are avoided by the TMux. 
     The line BIP- 8  bytes are terminated. Again, any line errors which occur on an input span, for example span  51 , or the internal span  30 , is replicated at the output span, so that the trib systems can perform signal degraded (SD) protection switching as needed, and line performance monitoring. 
     The APS bytes are passed through transparently, as stated earlier, to enable normal protection operation on the tributary systems. Trib line AIS and RDI maintenance signals thereby pass through also. The line FEBE byte is passed through to enable normal performance monitoring. 
     The STS payload pointer bytes H 1 -H 3  must be processed to still point to the SPE when the new frame alignment is imposed. Also, they must be manipulated for small frequency offsets via stuff/destuff operations. 
     The synchronization byte S 1  must be terminated/sourced as it provides information about the timing source being used. Growth bytes Z 0  to Z 2  are undefined, thus they are terminated. 
     The line datacom bytes D 4  to D 12  and byte E 2  (orderwire) of all trib systems must be passed through the input and output TMuxs. This action avoids any mid-span meet problems regarding line DCC protocols. 
     A POH monitor  68  accesses the POH of each trib system. The trib STS POH is passed through to comply with the definition of the transparency, however some of these bytes are monitored for faults and alarms, as shown in Table 3. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Trib POH manipulation 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Byte name 
                 Definition 
                 Manipulation 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 J1 
                 Path Trace 
                 Monitored 
               
               
                   
                 B3 
                 Path BIP-8 
                 Monitored 
               
               
                   
                 C2 
                 Signal Label 
                 Monitored 
               
               
                   
                 G1 
                 Path Status 
                 Monitored 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     A fault detector  70  is provided for detecting errors on the input span and transmitting them to the far-end TMux, so that the trib systems detect errors appropriately. Fault detector unit  70  receives the BIP- 8  bytes B 1 , B 2  and B 3 , counts the section/line/path code violations (CV) for the trib systems, and performs comparisons with a provisioned line signal degrade (SD) threshold. Exceeding the threshold constitutes an SD in protection terminology. This information is passed to a transmit supercarrier TOH processor (SC TOHP)  66 , which generates a TMux message (TMux Msg) comprising four bytes, one to indicate the bit error rate (BER) of each input span. The TMux Msg byte is inserted in the K 2  timeslot of STS- 1  # 9  of each trib system. The fault detector  70  also monitors each tributary input for hard failure, and if detected, triggers line AIS insertion over the trib signal portion of the OC-192 SC. 
     A possible TMux Msg byte assignment is given in Table 4, together with the rate of uniformly distributed Line CVs for a given BER at OC-48 rate. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 4 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 TMux Msg Byte 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Code (hex) 
                 Indication (raw BER) 
                 Rate of Line CVs 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 00 
                 unmeasurable BER 
                   
               
               
                 01 
                 BER&lt;1E-12 
               
               
                 02 
                 BER˜1E-12 
                  1 CV every 3,215,021 frames 
               
               
                 03 
                 BER˜5E-12 
                  1 CV every 643,004 frames 
               
               
                 04 
                 BER˜1E-11 
                  1 CV every 321,502 frames 
               
               
                 05 
                 BER˜5E-11 
                  1 CV every 64,300 frames 
               
               
                 06 
                 BER˜1E-10 
                  1 CV every 32,150 frames 
               
               
                 07 
                 BER˜5E-10 
                  1 CV every 6,430 frames 
               
               
                 08 
                 BER˜1E-09 
                  1 CV every 3215 frames 
               
               
                 09 
                 BER˜SE-09 
                  1 CV every 643 frames 
               
               
                 0A 
                 BER˜1E-08 
                  1 CV every 322 frames 
               
               
                 0B 
                 BER˜5E-08 
                  1 CV every 64 frames 
               
               
                 0C 
                 BER˜1E-07 
                  1 CV every 32 frames 
               
               
                 0D 
                 BER˜5E-07 
                  1 CV every 6 frames 
               
               
                 0E 
                 BER˜1E-06 
                  1 CV every 3 frames 
               
               
                 0F 
                 BER˜5E-06 
                  2 CVs/frame 
               
               
                 10 
                 BER˜1E-05 
                  3 CVs/frame 
               
               
                 11 
                 BER˜5E-05 
                  16 CVs/frame 
               
               
                 12 
                 BER˜1E-04 
                  31 CVs/frame 
               
               
                 13 
                 BER˜5E-04 
                 156 CVs/frame 
               
               
                 14 
                 BER˜1E-03 
                 311 CVs/frame 
               
               
                 FF 
                 Line AIS 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     STS- 1  manager unit  65  is responsible with interchanging the STS- 1 s from the tributaries, in order to permit the use of the SC TOH in STS- 1 # 1 . Tables 5 and 6 illustrate by way of an example how the STS- 1 s of OC-48/OC12/OC-3 trib systems are arranged in the OC-192 supercarrier. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE 5 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Corresponding STS-1# on OC-192 
               
               
                   
                 Input OC-48 Trib # 
                 Line for OC-48 Trib TOH 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 1 
                 13 
               
               
                   
                 2 
                 49 
               
               
                   
                 3 
                 97 
               
               
                   
                 4 
                 145  
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE 6 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Corresponding STS-1 # on OC-192 
               
               
                   
                 Input OC-1213 Trib # 
                 Line for OC-12/3 Trib TOH 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 (1) (unequipped) 
                 — 
               
               
                   
                  2 
                  13 
               
               
                   
                  3 
                  25 
               
               
                   
                  4 
                  37 
               
               
                   
                  5 
                  46 
               
               
                   
                  6 
                  61 
               
               
                   
                  7 
                  73 
               
               
                   
                  8 
                  85 
               
               
                   
                  9 
                  97 
               
               
                   
                 10 
                 109 
               
               
                   
                 11 
                 121 
               
               
                   
                 12 
                 133 
               
               
                   
                 13 
                 145 
               
               
                   
                 14 
                 157 
               
               
                   
                 15 
                 169 
               
               
                   
                 16 
                 181 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Thus, for the OC-48 trib scenario, the OC-48 trib feed whose STS- 1 # 1  would coincide with SC STS- 1 # 1  is swapped in entirety (both the OH and the payload) with STS- 1 # 13  (or any STS- 1  not normally carrying TOH). For OC-3 or OC-12 tribs, the trib whose STS- 1 # 1  would coincide with OC-192 STS- 1 # 1  is not supported in the TMux. Thus, a maximum of 15 OC-12 tribs are supported. FIG. 7A illustrates how OC-12 tributary systems are carried transparently by an OC-192 SC, while FIG. 7B shows OC-3 tributries. 
     The SC TOHP  66  passes the trib TOH bytes from block  60  and aligns each byte into the correct timeslot before passing same to a supercarrier (SC) output port  71 . STS- 1  manager  65  routes the 4×48 component STS- 1 s received from the respective trib input port to SC output port  71  for multiplexing the STS-ls into the output supercarrier. 
     The SC output port  71  receives the output STS- 1 s from block  65  and the SC TOH from SC TOHP  66 , multiplexes the STS- 1 s into the supercarrier STS- 192 , adds the SC TOH, and is also responsible for scrambling, converting the output STS- 192  to the optical supercarrier OC-192, and transmitting it on fiber  30 . The SC output port  71  also performs clock synthesis based on the local clock from synchronization unit  72 . 
     An SC input port  91  at output TMux  50  receives the optical supercarrier OC-192 on fiber span  30  and converts it to an input STS- 192 . SC input port  91  performs SONET physical layer operations, clock recovery/synthesis, descrambling, stripping the SC TOH, demultiplexing, synchronization of the STS paths with the local clock provided by a synchronization unit  92 , and transmitting the incoming STS- 1 s to a STS- 1  manager  85 . 
     An SC receive overhead processor (SC ROHP)  86  receives the respective SOH and LOH bytes of the SC TOH and passes the trib TOH to trib TOH processor (TOHP)  80 . The trib TOH processor  80  extracts the TMux Msg bytes. Using a look-up table, each TMux value indicates the rate of errors that must be replicated on the outgoing trib signal. The errors are introduced by appropriately inverting B 1  and B 2  values. The remaining trib TOH is either passed through or generated, as in Table 2. 
     A POH monitor  88  accesses the POH bytes, but again, leaves them unchanged. These bytes are only monitored for faults and alarms, as shown in Table 3. 
     A fault detector  90  monitors the OC-192 SC TOH for B 2  errors and passes this count to the trib TOH processor  80 , which incorporates the OC-192 errors into the corrupted B 1  and B 2  values sent to each trib output port. For a hard failure on the OC-192 SC, the fault detector triggers the insertion of line AIS on all output tribs via the trib TOH processor. 
     STS- 1  manager  85  routes the component STS- 1 s of the supercarrier to a respective output port  81 - 84  for multiplexing the STS- 1 s into the outgoing OC-48s. STS- 1  manager  85  also swaps STS- 1  # 13  back to STS- 1  # 1 , or as the case may be for other granularity of input tributaries. A destination trib system receives its respective OC-48 through one of the four trib output ports  81 - 84 . Each trib output port  81 - 84  is responsible for receiving the outgoing STS- 1 s from block  85 , multiplexing the STS- 1 s into an output STS- 48 , adding the trib TOH received from block  80 , scrambling, converting the STS- 48  signal to the respective outgoing optical signal OC-48, and transmitting it on the respective output span. The trib output ports also perform clock synthesis based on the local clock of synchronization unit  92 . 
     Since E 1 - 2 , F 1  and D 1 -D 12  bytes of the originating trib systems are passed through transparently, there is no access to the trib orderwire (OW), user and datacom channels from a TMux. However, since each TMux is co-located with the trib systems, as seen for example on FIG. 4A, each originating trib system  2 ,  4 ,  6 , and  8  can access its own OWs, user, and datacom channel. Access to the OC-192 E 1 - 2 , F 1  and D 1 -D 12  bytes is supported by the TMuxs. 
     The J 0  section trace bytes from the original trib systems could be regenerated at the output TMux trib outputs so that the downstream trib systems still see the same J 0 s and do not need to change their provisioning. 
     The supported trib rates/quantities are four OC-48,  15  OC-12 or  15  OC-3. The OC-12 or OC-3 trib whose STS- 1  # 1  would correspond to STS- 1  # 1  on the OC-192 line is not supported to avoid TOH conflicts. 
     Fault Isolation 
     The interaction between TMuxs  40  and  50  and the trib systems in response to line degrades and failures is described next in connection with FIG. 6, for the case of the nailed up OC-192 option. 
     As indicated above, the TMux must replicate signal fail (SF) and signal degrade (SD) conditions which occur on the input span and internal span, at the output span, so that the trib systems may perform protection switching as needed, and performance monitoring. 
     Both line RDI (remote defect indication) message and the line FEBE (far end block error) byte M 1  for each trib are passed through the TMux span, so that proper maintenance signalling can be performed. 
     (a) Forward span reaction to line degrade. 
     When a line degrade condition occurs on either the tributary input span or the OC-192 internal span, the output TMux trib must corrupt the B 2 s such that the combined BER of the tributary input span and the OC-192 internal span is mimicked. This will ensure that the downstream trib system could initiate an SD level protection switch if needed. The B 1 s must also be corrupted to provide consistent performance monitoring counts. 
     (i) A line degrade condition on the input span  51  is alarmed at TMux  40 , and fault detector  70  counts the line code violations (CVs). A TMux Msg byte is generated in block  66  to indicate the bit error rate (BER) of the input span  51 . The line error counting and TMux Msg byte generation occur always, regardless of whether or not the BER has crossed the SD threshold. No protection action is taken by TMux  40 . 
     TMux  50  receives a clean OC-192 line from TMux  40 , however it counts path CVs at the path layer of the corresponding trib with detector  90 , and path SD alarms might be raised. The TMux Msg byte is extracted and a BER is generated via block  80  on the corresponding output span  52  to mimic the BER on the affected input span. The destination trib receives a degraded line from TMux  50 . In response, it counts line code violations. It could potentially raise a line SD alarm and initiate protection switching, namely send a K 1  request back to the input trib system. 
     (ii) A line degrade condition on the internal span  30  is also alarmed at the output TMux  50 . Fault detector  90  passes the line error count to block  80  which generates the appropriate BERs for the output spans  52 ,  54 ,  56  and  58 . Each destination trib system reacts individually. 
     Since in practice simultaneous degrades may appear on one or more input spans and the internal span, the actual operation of the TMux is a combination of the above two scenarios. The trib TOH processor then sums the BER from the OC-192 line with the BER indicated by each TMux Msg byte extracted locally from each trib signal. The resultant BER is replicated on each outgoing span  52 ,  54 ,  56  and  58 . 
     (b) Reverse Span Reaction to line degrade. 
     A degrade on the input span  51  triggers Line FEBE counts to be sent back by the respective destination trib system connected over span  52  to output TMux  50 . 
     A degrade on the internal span  30  triggers the Line FEBE counts to be sent back by all destination trib systems. 
     For the combined case of a degrade on an input span and a degrade on the internal span, the Line FEBE counts sent back correspond to the combined degrade. 
     (c) Forward Span Reaction to line failure (SF). 
     When a line failure condition occurs on either tributary input span  51 ,  53 ,  55 , or  57 , or the internal span  30 , the output TMux trib output must send Line Alarm Inhibit Signal (AIS). This will ensure that the downstream trib system will initiate protection. 
     (i) An SF condition on the input spans  51 ,  53 ,  55  and  57  is alarmed at the input TMux  40  and the destination systems. The destination trib systems report the SF as being due to line AIS, as this is generated by the input TMux  40 . Only the input TMux reports the correct cause of the SF. This alarm reporting action is similar to that of a regenerator. 
     If the SF is due to a loss of frame (LOF), input TMux  40  counts Severely Errored Frame Seconds-Section, Errored Seconds-Section and Severely Errored Seconds-Section. Input TMux  40  inserts the line AIS over the affected trib bandwidth. This automatically results in setting path AIS. Any path layer alarm is inhibited by the higher layer failure. 
     Output TMux  50  receives a clean OC-192 line from input TMux  40 . At the path layer, TMux  50  raises STS path AIS alarms on the affected paths and counts Unavailable Seconds-Path and Failure Counts-Path, on the affected paths. The embedded trib Line AIS is passed out the trib output port as usual line AIS. 
     The downstream trib system raises a Line AIS alarm and counts Severely Errored Frame Seconds-Section, Errored Seconds-Section, Severely Errored Seconds-Section, etc., and initiates protection switching, namely it sends the K 1  byte request back towards the input trib system. 
     (ii) An SF on the internal span  30  would be alarmed at the output TMux  50  and all destination trib systems. 
     If there are simultaneous SFs on one or more input spans and the internal span, the system reaction is a combination of the two scenarios above. 
     (d) Reverse Span Reaction to line failure (SF). 
     An SF condition on the input span triggers Line RDI to be sent back by the destination trib system. An SF on the internal span triggers the Line RDI to be sent back by all the destination trib systems. 
     For the combined case of an SF on an input span and an SF on the internal span, line RDI is sent back by all the destination trib systems. The SF on the input span is not silent, input TMux  40  alarms it. For the combined case of an SD on the input span and an SF on the internal span, Line RDI is sent back by all destination trib systems. Again, the SD on the input span is not silent, input TMux  40  alarms it. 
     For the combined case of an SF on the input span and an SD on the internal span, Line RDI is sent back by the respective destination trib system and Line FEBEs are counted by the other destination trib systems. 
     While the invention has been described with reference to particular example embodiments, further modifications and improvements which will occur to those skilled in the art, may be made within the purview of the appended claims, without departing from the scope of the invention in its broader aspect.