Synchronous optical networking

The Synchronous Optical Network (SONET ) is a standard technology for synchronous ANSI multiplexed data streams, and is designed for transfer rate of 51.84 Mbit / s to 2.5 Gbit / s. It was developed by the U.S. Bell Labs ( Bellcore ).

On the older SONET ITU standard Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH ) is based from 1988; the specifications of SONET and SDH are the same, except for small variations in the header of a frame, and have the same data rates. Therefore, according to SONET and SDH after working multiplexers are compatible.

SONET hierarchy

Data rates of the SONET hierarchy ( Optical Carrier N):

Note: The exact speeds are derived by multiplying the basic value (OC -1) with corresponding level. OC-1 corresponds more precisely: 51,840,000 bits / sec ( transfer rate ) and 49.438 million b / s ( user data ).