SONET

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SONET

(Synchronous Optical NETwork) A fiber-optic transmission system for high-speed digital traffic. Employed by telephone companies and common carriers, speeds range from 51 Mbps to 200 Gbps.

SONET is an intelligent system that provides advanced network management and a standard optical interface. Specified in the Broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) standard, SONET backbones are widely used to aggregate T1 and T3 lines.

SONET and SDH
SONET is employed in the U.S. and Canada, whereas SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) is the SONET counterpart in the rest of the world. Although the terms "SONET/SDH" and "SDH/SONET" are widely used, there are differences in frame size and terminology.

Self Healing
SONET can be built in a self-healing ring architecture that uses two or more transmission paths between nodes. In the event one path fails, traffic can be rerouted (see SONET ring).

TDM Multiplexing
SONET uses time division multiplexing (TDM) to send multiple data streams simultaneously. Its smallest increment of provisioning is VT-1.5, which provides 1.7 Mbps of bandwidth. The next increment, STS-1, jumps to 51.84 Mbps. Any data stream that does not fill that channel goes wasted.

ATM Over SONET
Telcordia's GR-2837 standard maps ATM cells onto SONET, turning a SONET pipe into a cell-switched (packet-switched) transmission carrier that utilizes the full bandwidth of the medium without waste. See 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

SONET CIRCUITSOptical  Electrical            SpeedLevel    Level                (Mbps)

 OC-1     STS-1    ----         51.84
 OC-3     STS-3    STM-1       155.52
 OC-9     STS-9    STM-3       466.56
 OC-12    STS-12   STM-4       622.08
 OC-18    STS-18   STM-6       933.12
 OC-24    STS-24   STM-8      1244.16
 OC-36    STS-36   STM-13     1866.24
 OC-48    STS-48   STM-16     2488.32
 OC-192   STS-192  STM-64     9953.28
 OC-768   STS-768  STM-256   39813.12
 OC-1920  STS-1920 STM-640   99532.80
 OC-3840  STS-3840 STM-1280 200000.00

 OC    = Optical Carrier
 STS-1 = Basic SONET building block
 STM-1 = Basic SDH building block

Transporting IP

In a WAN or over the Internet, IP traffic is widely carried over SONET lines, either using ATM as a management layer or over SONET directly. In the future, IP is expected to travel directly over DWDM fiber (rightmost diagram).

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References in periodicals archive

"The addition of SoNET's expertise will further strengthen our ability to capitalise on this growth opportunity."

RM Buys Australian Software Firm SoNET Systems For GBP7 Million

More than 20 kinds of aerosol parameter products (Table 3) can be obtained from SONET measurements, which are classified into four major categories (optical, physical, chemical, and radiative properties).

COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF OPTICAL, PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL, AND RADIATIVE PROPERTIES OF TOTAL COLUMNAR ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOLS OVER CHINA: An Overview of Sun-Sky Radiometer Observation Network (SONET) Measurements

Situation 2: The facts are the same as in Situation 1, except that A does not have multiple business locations, and Z uses a dedicated circuit, instead of a SONET ring, to transmit A's telecommunications to the PSTN and others' telecommunications from the PSTN.

Guidance on characterizing gross receipts from telecommunications services

Advances in silicon VLSI technology over the last few years, combined with a patent-pending compact cross connect implementation, now enable entire ADM implementations on a single piece of silicon, which create dramatic reductions in cost and power while providing scalability, flexibility, density and simplicity in building the next generation of data aware SONET and SDH systems.

PARAMA NETWORKS LAUNCHES ADM-ON-A-CHIP

A Storage over SONET extension device broadens this capability by connecting disparate applications and equipment.

Cost-effective connectivity: a storage network can keep your business up and running in the event of a disaster without depleting your finances. (Technology)

"SBC's leadership in the introduction of OC-192 extends our existing SONET services portfolio and affirms our commitment to continue to support our customers with a network that is second to none."

SBC LAUNCHES OC-192 OPTICAL SERVICE

The SONET ring infrastructure supports traditional private line, transport for Ethernet private line, and Ethernet packet ring services delivered to Deltacom's business and enterprise customers and to its Interstate FiberNet wholesale customers.

Alcatel-Lucent provides optical transport solution to Deltacom

While metro Ethernet was expected by some to compete with synchronous optical networks (SONET), the reality is that next generation SONET is an enabler of Ethernet services.

Gain an edge with optical Ethernet: by leveraging metro Ethernet, enterprises can normally realize savings over leased-line alternatives.

A Sonet Film release of an Omega Film production, in association with Sonet Film, Filmpool Nord, Persson-Mothander Film, Chimney Pot.

The Dog Trick

Akara, a developer of Storage over SONET extension solutions with the lowest MByte per mile cost across the MAN/WAN has unveiled that its OUSP data center multiplexer has been verified as Brocade Fabric Aware with Brocade's SilkWorm 3800 Enterprise Fabric switch and SilkWorm 12000 Core Fabric switch through the Brocade Fabric Aware Program.

AKARA EXTENDS BROCADE FABRIC AWARE QUALIFICATION

This article summarizes much of the material that has already been published, but explains it in an understandable way to the reader who may be considering the synchronous optical network (SONET) for the first time.

An overview of the synchronous optical network