Purpose of TDM over Packet technology

Telecom companies and enterprise users can save network and equipment cost and generate additional revenue by offering different types of (Gigabit Ethernet, E1 and E3) services over a single packet-switched infrastructure by the use of E3oP equipment. As the networks migrate to an IP based infrastructure, the E3 over Ethernet equipment becomes a valuable tool for enabling E3 services for inter-connecting legacy E3 equipment over Gigabit Ethernet optical fiber links, or over wired / wireless Ethernet/IP networks.

How the TDM over Packet (E3 over Ethernet) equipment works?

The E3 channel received from the customer side equipment on the E3 interface of the E3 over Ethernet equipment is converted by its E3oP engine to Ethernet data packets (of a fixed size – user configurable) and transported over the Ethernet network with UDP / IP, MEF or MPLS headers. At the receiving end the E3 over Ethernet E3oP equipment reconstructs the original data streams by removing the IP, MEF or MPLS headers and converts the Ethernet data packets back to E3 frames using highly reliable and accurate clock recovery mechanism. The 'VCL-E3oP’, E3 over IP/ Ethernet equipment uses standard SAToP, E3 to packet and packet to E3 conversion mechanism making it suitable for use over all types of Ethernet / IP or MPLS infrastructure.

E3 and E3oP Interface

• Each terminal supports one E3 interface.
• Suitable for point-to-point applications.
• Internal, External, Adaptive and Recovered clock options for E3 synchronization. Automatic clock priority selection with fall back.
• Supports E3 Framed and Unframed formats.
• Supports SAToP transport mechanism.
• Supports network latency / packet delay variation / jitter buffer of up to 60ms.
• Supports IP, MPLS and MEF8 (Metro Ethernet) tagging.
• Jitter and Wander conforms to G.823 / G.824 and G.8261 and TDM specifications.
• Absolute and Differential times tamps.
• 75 Ohms BNC interface.
• E3 Local and Remote (RLOOP) Loopback facility for testing and diagnostics.

System Management, Monitoring and Alarm Interfaces

• NMS (Network Management System) to monitor multiple units from single Central Location.
• External Alarm - Dry contact relay alarms are also available at rear of the system to connect the system to an external alarm.
• Supports system temperature monitoring with High Temperature threshold and Low Temperature threshold alarms and SNMP Traps.
• Supports SNMP V2 Monitoring and Traps.
• Self-test for checking system errors upon system bootup.
• Event Logging.
• Clock Performance Alarms.
• Network Performance Alarms.
• Network Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics.
• Online / remote upgrade of firmware.

Ethernet / IP Network Interface

• Switching Capacity upto 6 Gbps, non-blocking
• 4 GigE Ports.
• Optical SFP based (1000Base-FX) and Electrical (10/100/1000Base-T) Ethernet port options.
• 2 x 10/100/1000BaseT Copper Ports.
• 2 x 1000BaseFX Optical Fiber Ports.
• Port Control Ingress Rate Limiting.
• 1+1 Ethernet link redundancy
• Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol.
• Ethernet Port Trunking
• Point-to-point applications
• User configurable MTU (E3oP payload) packet size up to 1800 Bytes.
• Switch supports jumbo frame sizes of up to 9000 Bytes.
• Supports 802.1Q based QoS, 802.1p based packet priority.
• Port Based Priority (Classifying Services)
• DSCP and 802.1Q / 802.1p based packet tagging and prioritization
• Flow Control in an Ethernet Packet Networks: (Regulating Traffic)
• Port / Customer based bandwidth allocation (Port Rate Limiting)
• MPLS, MEF and UDP tagging for Ethernet traffic.
• Compatible with AES/DES Encryption Data
• Separate IP Address for TDM traffic and equipment management
• VLAN tagging for TDM traffic and equipment access / management
• Single / Double 802.1 VLAN tagging (Q in Q VLAN Tagging) - User configurable.
• UDP-specific “Special” Ethernet type.
• In band VCCV ARP.
• Broadcast DA.

Few Key Features Explained

Port Based Priority (Classifying Services) - Port based Priority feature allows the user to assign priority to the individual Ethernet ports, so that traffic can be regulated according to the port on which that service is connected. The user may also assign highest priority to TDM (T1/DS3/T3) traffic and Ethernet services on a lower priority.

VLAN Based Priority (Classifying Services) - VLAN based Priority feature allows the user to assign priorities to different VLANs carrying various types of services / traffic according based on user categories and preferences. The user may assign highest priority to TDM (T1/DS3/T3) traffic and Ethernet services on a lower priority. User may also configure which TDM link should be given preference over the other TDM links when the uplink bandwidth falls below a particular threshold.

Flow Control in an Ethernet Packet Networks (Regulating Traffic) - Flow Control feature allows the user to regulate Ethernet traffic flow to minimize packet loss due to data bursts.

Port / Customer based bandwidth allocation (Port Rate Limiting) - Port based Ingress Ethernet Rate Limiting allows the user to assign the bandwidth as per port / service requirements, in addition to provisioning traffic by using 802.1Q and 802.1p VLANs and packet priority.