SYNCHRONOUS OPTICAL NETWORKING
The synchronous optical network, commonly known as SONET, is a standard for communicating digital information using lasers or light emitting diodes (LEDs) over optical fiber as defined by GR-253-CORE from Telcordia. It was developed to replace the Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) system for transporting large amounts of telephone and data traffic and to allow for interoperability between equipment from different vendors. The more recent synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) standard developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is built on experience in the development of SONET. It is documented in standard G.707 and its extension G.708. Both SDH and SONET are widely used today; SONET in the U.S. and Canada, SDH in the rest of the world. SDH is growing in popularity and is currently the main concern with SONET now being considered as the variation.
SONET differs from PDH in that the exact rates that are used to transport the data are tightly synchronized across the entire network, made possible by atomic clocks. This synchronization system allows entire inter-country networks to operate synchronously, greatly reducing the amount of buffering required between each element in the network.
Both SONET and SDH can be used to encapsulate earlier digital transmission standards, such as the PDH standard, or used directly to support either ATM or so-called Packet over SONET networking. As such, it is inaccurate to think of SONET as a communications protocol in and of itself, but rather as a generic and all-purpose transport container for moving both voice and data.
The synchronous optical network, commonly known as SONET, is a standard for communicating digital information using lasers or light emitting diodes (LEDs) over optical fiber as defined by GR-253-CORE from Telcordia. It was developed to replace the Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) system for transporting large amounts of telephone and data traffic and to allow for interoperability between equipment from different vendors. The more recent synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) standard developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is built on experience in the development of SONET. It is documented in standard G.707 and its extension G.708. Both SDH and SONET are widely used today; SONET in the U.S. and Canada, SDH in the rest of the world. SDH is growing in popularity and is currently the main concern with SONET now being considered as the variation.
SONET differs from PDH in that the exact rates that are used to transport the data are tightly synchronized across the entire network, made possible by atomic clocks. This synchronization system allows entire inter-country networks to operate synchronously, greatly reducing the amount of buffering required between each element in the network.
Both SONET and SDH can be used to encapsulate earlier digital transmission standards, such as the PDH standard, or used directly to support either ATM or so-called Packet over SONET networking. As such, it is inaccurate to think of SONET as a communications protocol in and of itself, but rather as a generic and all-purpose transport container for moving both voice and data.
