Patent Application
20090317073
The present invention relates generally to optical and data networking, and more specifically to systems and methods for Ethernet extension and demarcation utilizing pluggable transceiver devices configured to utilize Optical Transport Network (OTN) framing to provide operations, administration, maintenance, and provisioning (OAM&P).
Pluggable transceivers are defined through multi-source agreements (MSAs). MSAs are agreements for specifications of pluggable transceivers agreed to by two or more vendors and promulgated for other vendors and network operators to utilize. MSAs allow other vendors to design transceivers to the same specifications reducing risk for vendors and operators, increasing flexibility, and accelerating the introduction of new technology. Exemplary MSAs include XFP, XPAK, XENPAK, X2, XFP-E, SFP, and SFP+. Additionally, new MSAs are emerging to address new services and advanced technology. Each MSA defines the transceiver's mechanical characteristics, management interfaces, electrical characteristics, optical characteristics, and thermal requirements. Because of MSA specifications, MSA-compliant pluggable transceivers are standardized among equipment vendors and network operators to support multiple sources for pluggable transceivers and interoperability. As such, MSA-compliant pluggable transceivers have become the dominant form of optical transmitters and receivers in the industry.
Advantageously, MSA-compliant pluggable transceivers ensure engineering re-use and compatibility between various applications and the physical media dependent transceivers. Further, equipment vendors realize streamlined manufacturing and inventory control by removing wavelength specific decisions from the manufacturing process. For example, all line cards are manufactured the same, and the pluggable transceiver module with the desired wavelength (e.g. 850 nm, 1310 nm, 1550 nm, coarse wave division multiplexed (CWDM), dense wave division multiplexed (DWDM), etc.) is plugged in as a function of the specific application or development configuration. Network operators and service providers have adopted pluggable transceivers to reduce sparing costs. Further, significant cost reductions are realized by MSA standardization of pluggable transceivers because of multiple independent manufacturing sources.
The MSA specifications tightly define the mechanical characteristics, management interfaces, electrical characteristics, optical characteristics, and thermal requirements of pluggable transceivers. Advantageously, this enables interoperability among equipment vendors of pluggable transceivers, i.e. any MSA-compatible pluggable transceiver can be used in any host system designed to the MSA specification; however, these tightly defined characteristics limit the performance of pluggable transceivers since the MSA specifications were designed to maximize density and minimize cost, and not to provide advanced optical performance. To date, pluggable transceivers such as XFP, XPAK, XENPAK, X2, XFP-E, SFP, and SFP+ have been limited to short reach (less than 80 km) point-to-point applications without the need for high performance, extended reach, or advanced optical layer OAM&P. The MSA specifications have not addressed performance enhancements to enable pluggable transceivers to extend reach beyond 80 km and to provide carrier-grade optical management and performance. Where required to extend reach and to provide carrier-grade management and performance, host devices are designed with external circuitry interfaced to pluggable transceivers or pluggable transceivers are connected to optical transponders. As such, the use of pluggable transceivers to date has been limited to intra-office connections, short reach enterprise and metro networks (less than 80 km), and connection to an optical transponder capable of extended reach typically beyond 80 km.
Due to the low-cost, high-density, and widespread deployment of pluggable transceivers, both equipment vendors and network operators recognize a need to extend the benefits of pluggable transceivers to metro, regional and core network applications to enable carrier-grade wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) transport without the need for additional equipment such as optical transponders or additional circuitry performance enhancements. Such a need also must preserve the MSA mechanical characteristics, management interfaces, electrical characteristics, optical characteristics, and thermal requirements to maintain interoperability with existing host systems.
Ethernet services are proliferating from local area network (LAN)-based services to corporate wide area network (WAN)-based services all the way to service provider backbone-based services, i.e. Ethernet is becoming the protocol of choice for all network levels. As service providers move towards Ethernet as the predominate service, there has been movement in standards to develop Carrier Ethernet including Ethernet operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM). Standards include the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) certifications, IEEE 802.1ag Service Layer OAM (Connectivity Fault Management), IEEE 802.3ah Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM), IEEE 802.1aj Two Port MAC Relay. As OAM is introduced in Ethernet, a requirement has emerged to “demarcate” network points to enable testing, monitoring, service level agreements (SLA), and the like.
Referring to
Here, the service provider is providing Ethernet access from the CPE 16 to the core data network 14. Conventionally, demarcation devices 22 are required between the CPE 16 and the access/metro network 12 and between the core data network 14 and the access/metro network 12. Under MEF Carrier Ethernet terminology, the demarcation devices 22 are a user network interface (UNI) or a network to network interface (NNI). The UNI and NNI are physical Ethernet interfaces operating at 10 Mbs, 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps, etc. provided by the service provider. UNI is used between a CPE and the access/metro network 12, and NNI is used between the access/metro network 12 and the core data network 14. The UNI and NNI are necessary to enable testing and monitoring of Ethernet services provided to the CPE 16 and the core data network 14. The demarcation devices 22 effectively provide separation in terms of management, alarms, physical location, and the like between networks.
For the access/metro network 12, service providers are moving towards ITU-T G.709-compliant interfaces to provide transparency and carrier-grade OAM&P of wavelength and Ethernet services. ITU-T Recommendation G.709 (Interface for the optical transport network (OTN)) is an example of a framing and data encapsulation technique. G.709 is a standardized method for managing optical wavelengths in an optical network. G.709 allows for transparency in wavelength services, improvement in optical link performance through out-of-band forward error correction (FEC), improved management through full transparency, and interoperability with other G.709 clients. G.709 defines a wrapper in which a client signal (e.g. OC-48, STM-16, OC-192, STM-64, 1 GbE, 10 GbE, etc.) is encapsulated. The G.709 wrapper includes overhead bytes for optical layer OAM&P and FEC overhead for error correction. Traditionally, G.709 signals are used in a carrier-grade network to provide robust performance and OAM&P while transporting client signals with full transparency.
Disadvantageously, the demarcation devices 22 are often 10 Gbps and 2.5 Gbps G.709 transponders or externally mounted and managed layer ½ termination devices to interface the access/metro network 12. Here, the CPE 16 requires an expensive transponder or external demarcation devices to be collocated to provide Ethernet extension from the access/metro network 12 and to provide demarcation functionality. The transponder interfaces in one direction to the access/metro network 12 utilizing G.709 framing and to the CPE 16 utilizing standard Ethernet rates. Additionally, this adds an extra layer of optical-electrical conversions requiring an interface from the transponder at the CPE 16 to the CPE 16 itself.
It would be advantageous to provide a solution for Ethernet extensions and demarcations that utilize the advantages of ITU-T G.709 without requiring extra equipment and costs.
In various exemplary embodiments, the present invention provides Ethernet extension and demarcation functionality through a pluggable transceiver in a customer device. The pluggable transceiver is configured to frame an Ethernet client signal and to provide OAM&P functionality, such as with G.709 framing. The pluggable transceiver operates within existing multi-source agreement (MSA) specifications. Accordingly, the pluggable transceiver can operate in any customer device compliant to the MSA specifications. Additionally, the framing and OAM&P functionality are transparent to the customer device, but instead utilized by a service provider for demarcation functionality, eliminating the requirements for external demarcation equipment and for external transponders.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a demarcated network utilizing pluggable optical transceivers includes a first network element including a first pluggable optical transceiver; and a second network element including a second pluggable optical transceiver in communication with the first pluggable optical transceiver; wherein the second pluggable optical transceiver is configured to provide overhead information to the first pluggable optical transceiver through a communication channel; and wherein the overhead information is terminated on the first pluggable optical transceiver and the second pluggable optical transceiver. The second network element can include a customer network element, and the second pluggable optical transceiver is configured to provide a demarcation point. Optionally, the first pluggable optical transceiver and the second pluggable optical transceiver each are configured to utilize G.709 overhead. The first pluggable optical transceiver and the second pluggable optical transceiver each include integrated framing circuitry to utilize the G.709 overhead; wherein the first pluggable optical transceiver and the second pluggable optical transceiver are compliant to one or more multi-source agreements; and wherein the integrated framing circuitry preserves specifications associated with the one or more multi-source agreements. The communication channel can utilize one or more bytes in the G.709 overhead, wherein the bytes include one of unused and unspecified bytes in the G.709 overhead. Optionally, the first network element is configured to communicate with the integrated framing circuitry on the first pluggable optical transceiver to perform operations, administration, maintenance, and provisioning functions associated with the first pluggable optical transceiver and the second pluggable optical transceiver. The second network element is configured to communicate with the second pluggable optical transceiver through mechanisms in the one or more multi-source agreements. The second pluggable optical transceiver is configured to be provisioned and monitored from the first pluggable optical transceiver and the first network element. Optionally, the one or more multi-source agreement includes any of XFP, XPAK, XENPAK, X2, XFP-E, SFP, and SFP+.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an Ethernet network includes a service provider router/switch configured with a first pluggable optical transceiver; customer premises equipment configured with a second pluggable optical transceiver in communication with the first pluggable optical transceiver to provide an Ethernet service to a customer; wherein the second pluggable optical transceiver operates as an Ethernet demarcation device between a service provider and the customer providing operations, administration, maintenance, and provisioning information related to the Ethernet service based upon overhead shared between the first pluggable optical transceiver and the second first pluggable optical transceiver. The service provider router/switch can be configured to interface with the operations, administration, maintenance, and provisioning information related to the Ethernet service, and wherein the customer premises equipment does not interface with the operations, administration, maintenance, and provisioning information related to the Ethernet service. Optionally, the first pluggable optical transceiver and the second pluggable optical transceiver each are configured to utilize G.709 overhead. The first pluggable optical transceiver and the second pluggable optical transceiver each include integrated framing circuitry to utilize the G.709 overhead; wherein the first pluggable optical transceiver and the second pluggable optical transceiver are compliant to one or more multi-source agreements; and wherein the integrated framing circuitry preserves specifications associated with the one or more multi-source agreements. Optionally, the communication channel utilizes one or more bytes in the G.709 overhead, and the bytes include one of unused and unspecified bytes in the G.709 overhead. The customer premises equipment can be configured to communicate with the second pluggable optical transceiver through mechanisms in the one or more multi-source agreements. The second pluggable optical transceiver is configured to be provisioned and monitored from the first pluggable optical transceiver and the first network element. Optionally, the one or more multi-source agreement includes any of XFP, XPAK, XENPAK, X2, XFP-E, SFP, and SFP+.
In yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method for Ethernet demarcation in a network includes providing an Ethernet service from a first pluggable optical transceiver, wherein the first optical pluggable transceiver is configured to frame the Ethernet service with overhead; receiving the Ethernet service at a customer device with a second pluggable optical transceiver, wherein the second pluggable optical transceiver is configured to frame the Ethernet service with overhead; and monitoring the Ethernet service at the customer device based on the overhead, wherein the overhead information is terminated on the first pluggable optical transceiver and the second pluggable optical transceiver. The method for Ethernet demarcation can further include provisioning the second pluggable optical transceiver from the first pluggable optical transceiver through the overhead. Optionally, the method for Ethernet demarcation further includes providing a service level agreement to the customer device based on monitoring the overhead from the second pluggable optical transceiver to the first pluggable optical transceiver; and performing troubleshooting and fault isolation from alarms on the overhead.
The present invention is illustrated and described herein with reference to the various drawings, in which like reference numbers denote like method steps and/or system components, respectively, and in which:
a-3b are block diagrams of pluggable transceivers included on devices for wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) transmission into a multiplexer and an amplifier;
a-5b are block diagrams of existing pluggable transceivers which do not include circuitry for data encapsulation, integrated G.709 framing, OAM&P, and FEC;
a-6b are block diagrams of XENPAK, X2, and XPAK pluggable transceivers including integrated circuitry to perform G.709 framing, optical layer OAM&P, and FEC internal to the pluggable transceiver while preserving specifications of the XENPAK, X2, and XPAK MSAs;
a-12b are block diagrams illustrating frame overhead management data terminated internally in a pluggable transceiver or passed to a host system;
a-14b are diagrams illustrating frame error reporting in G.709 and an network discovery and connection management;
In various exemplary embodiments, the present invention provides Ethernet extension and demarcation functionality through a pluggable transceiver in a customer or remote device. The pluggable transceiver is configured to frame an Ethernet client signal and to provide OAM&P functionality, such as with G.709 framing. The pluggable transceiver operates within existing multi-source agreement (MSA) specifications. Accordingly, the pluggable transceiver can operate in any customer device compliant to the MSA specifications. Additionally, the framing and OAM&P functionality can be transparent to the customer or remote device, and can be instead utilized by a service provider for demarcation functionality, eliminating the requirements for external demarcation equipment and for external transponders.
Referring to
The CPE 16 is shown for illustration purposes, and those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a remote router/switch, a backhaul device, and the like can also be utilized in the Ethernet extension/demarcation applications described herein. Additionally, the present invention is described with respect to Ethernet demarcation as an exemplary embodiment. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize the present invention can also be used for SONET/SDH CPEs or remote COs, for Fibre Channel, and other applications.
The NEs 34 can include G.709 compliant interfaces connected to pluggable transceivers in the CPE 16 and the router 20. The CPE 16 and the router 20 are both configured to utilize MSA-defined pluggable transceivers. MSAs are agreements for specifications of pluggable transceivers agreed to by two or more vendors and promulgated for other vendors and network operators to utilize. MSAs allow other vendors to design transceivers to the same specifications reducing risk for vendors and operators, increasing flexibility, and accelerating the introduction of new technology. Exemplary MSAs include XFP, XPAK, XENPAK, X2, XFP-E, SFP, and SFP+. Additionally, new MSAs are emerging to address new services and advanced technology. Each MSA defines the transceiver's mechanical characteristics, management interfaces, electrical characteristics, optical characteristics, and thermal requirements. Because of MSA specifications, MSA-compliant pluggable transceivers are standardized among equipment vendors and network operators to support multiple sources for pluggable transceivers and interoperability. As such, MSA-compliant pluggable transceivers have become the dominant form of optical transmitters and receivers in the industry. The MSA specifications also define vendor-specific management registers to allow vendors to implement additional features within the MSA pluggable while maintaining MSA compliance.
In the present invention, the pluggable transceivers in the CPE 16 and the router 20 include additional circuitry to provide demarcation, such as through G.709. However, the pluggable transceivers are still configured to operate within MSA specifications, i.e. the additional circuitry provides the demarcation functionality while preserving the MSA operating specifications. Effectively, the pluggable transceivers remove the requirements for the demarcation devices 22 in
Referring to
a illustrates the prior art with the device 101 equipped with pluggable transceivers 110 where the transceivers 110 are designed to support native optical line rates such as 9.96 Gbps for SONET OC-192 and SDH STM-64, 10.3 Gbps for GbE LAN PHY, and 10.5 Gbps for 10 G Fiber Channel. Further, the transceivers 110 do not support G.709 wrappers, FEC, and optical layer OAM&P integrated within the transceiver 110. The transceivers 110 are configured to accept an electrical signal and to convert it to an optical signal without additional functions such as adding G.709 overhead, processing G.709 management bytes, encoding FEC overhead, etc. As such, devices 101 equipped with transceivers 110 require transponders such as G.709 transponders 120 to offer G.709 wrappers, FEC, and G.709/OTN OAM&P. The transceivers 110 typically provide un-amplified optical reach up to 80 km with no transparency and optical layer OAM&P.
The present invention provides G.709/OTN optical OAM&P based on the G.709 and OTN network principals. Existing, CPE boxes do have OAM&P, just not G.709 and OTN related. Likewise the standard XFPs do have LOS, CDR LOC, low power, loopback and fault alarms at layer 0. However, these are not sufficient for demarcation.
b illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention with the device 151 equipped with pluggable transceivers 160 where the transceivers 160 include integrated G.709 wrapper, FEC, and OAM&P functionality. The transceivers 160 remove the need for external transponders to support G.709, FEC, and OAM&P by incorporating these functions internal to the transceiver 160 while maintaining the same interface to the device 151 as the transceiver 110 does with the device 101. This is done by adding the G.709 wrapper, FEC, and OAM&P within the specifications of the transceiver 110.
Transceivers 160 extend the OTN framework benefits for seamless interconnection applications and for OAM&P functions necessary for metro, regional, and core applications. Further, the transceivers 160 are configured to transparently transport asynchronous traffic such as IEEE 802.3 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE), 10 Gbps Fiber Channel traffic, or any 10 Gbps constant bit-rate (CBR) traffic seamlessly and efficiently across multiple networks using the OTN framework. This removes the need to sacrifice bandwidth utilization such as in SONET concatenation or the need to introduce another layer of adaptation such as generic framing procedure (GFP). Some vendors also want GFP mapping to limit the bandwidth to SONET/SDH rates, and the transceivers 160 can rate limit the client traffic to provide rate compatibility to other G.709 OTN systems, if required.
ITU-T Recommendation G.709 (Interface for the optical transport network (OTN)) is an example of a framing and data encapsulation technique. G.709 is a standardized method for managing optical wavelengths in an optical network. G.709 allows for transparency in wavelength services, improvement in optical link performance through out-of-band forward error correction (FEC), improved management through full transparency, and interoperability with other G.709 clients. G.709 defines a wrapper in which a client signal (e.g. OC-48, STM-16, OC-192, STM-64, 10 GbE, 1 GbE, etc.) is encapsulated. The G.709 wrapper includes overhead bytes for optical layer OAM&P and FEC overhead for error correction. Traditionally, G.709 signals are used in a carrier-grade network to provide robust performance and OAM&P while transporting client signals with full transparency. Currently, MSA specifications such as XFP, XPAK, XENPAK, X2, XFP-E, SFP, and SFP+ do not address integration of G.709 within the pluggable transceiver.
Referring to
The XENPAK 202 MSA supports the proposed 802.3ae IEEE 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) standard, and specifies a uniform form factor, size, connector type and electrical pin-outs. XENPAK 202 simplifies management of architecture shifts and integration, minimizes system costs, ensures multiple vendors for market supply, and guarantees thermal performance for high density 10 GbE ports. XENPAK 202 requires power dissipation of no more than 6 W for 1310 nm and 850 nm wavelengths and power dissipation of no more than 10 W for 1550 nm wavelengths. The XENPAK 202 MSA is available at www.xenpak.org/MSA.asp and is hereby incorporated by reference.
The X2 204 MSA defines a small form-factor 10 Gbps pluggable fiber optic transceiver optimized for 802.3ae Ethernet, ANSI/ITUT OC192/STM-64 SONET/SDH interfaces, ITU-T G.709, OIF OC192 VSR, INCITS/ANSI 10GFC (10 Gigabit Fiber Channel) and other 10 Gigabit applications. X2 204 is physically smaller than XENPAK 202 but maintains the same electrical I/O specification defined by the XENPAK 202 MSA and continues to provide robust thermal performance and electromagnetic shielding. X2 204 uses the same 70-pin electrical connectors as XENPAK 202 supporting four wire XAUI (10-gigabit attachment unit interface). X2 204 supports an input signal of G.709, but does not support framing a non-G.709 signal internal to the pluggable transceiver and also does not support FEC and optical layer OAM&P. The X2 204 MSA is available at www.x2 msa.org/MSA.asp and is hereby incorporate by reference.
The XFP (10 Gigabit Small Form Factor Pluggable) 206 is a hot-swappable, protocol independent optical transceiver, typically operating at 1310 nm or 1550 nm, for 10 Gigabit SONET/SDH, Fiber Channel, Gigabit Ethernet and other applications. The XFP 206 MSA is available from www.xfpmsa.org and is hereby incorporated by reference. The XFP 206 MSA defines a specification for a module, cage hardware, and IC interfaces for a 10 Gbps hot pluggable module converting serial electrical signals to external serial optical or electrical signals. The technology is intended to be flexible enough to support bit rates between 9.95 Gbps and 11.1 Gbps for services such as OC-192/STM-64, 10 G Fiber Channel, G.709, and 10 G Ethernet. XFP 206 supports native G.709 signals, but does not support the ability to frame a non-G.709 signal into a G.709 wrapper with FEC and OAM&P internal to the XFP 206 module. Currently, these features are done external to the XFP 206 module and a G.709 signal is sent to the XFP 206 module for optical transmission. XFP-E (not shown in
XPAK (not shown in
The SFP+ (not shown in
The XFP, XPAK, XENPAK, X2, XFP-E, SFP, and SFP+MSAs all share similar design constraints in power and space. Some of these MSAs have been designed to accept G.709 framed signals (i.e. 10.7 Gbps and 11.1 Gbps), but the MSAs do not disclose integrated G.709 framing, optical layer OAM&P, and FEC internal to the pluggable transceivers. MSAs define input signal interfaces, mechanical, thermal, and software management interfaces. The present invention introduces G.709 framing, OAM&P, and FEC without changing any of the MSA interfaces or mechanical characteristics.
Referring to
In
The XAUI-XFI transceiver 304 accepts the XAUI signal and converts it into a serial connection such as a 10.3125 Gbps XFI signal for transmission by the optical module 310. The optical module 310 includes a transmitter (TX) 312 and a receiver (RX) 314. The TX/RX 312,314 can include 850 nm, 1310 nm, 1550 nm, DWDM, CWDM, and the like depending on the application requirements. The TX/RX 312,314 connect to the CDR 306 module where a clock is generated by retrieving the phase information of an input signal and retiming occurs on an output signal. In some embodiments, the functionality of the CDR 306 is included in the XAUI-XFI transceiver 304. While the pluggable transceiver 300 provides functionality to convert between XAUI and XFI, the transceiver 300 does not include integrated G.709 framing, OTN layer OAM&P (e.g., ITU-T G.798, G.826, G.8201, etc.), and FEC functionality.
Additionally, the pluggable transceiver 300 includes management data input/output (MDIO) 316 and digital optical monitoring (DOM) 318 for communications and performance monitoring between the transceiver 300 and the host 302. MDIO 316 is a standard-driven, dedicated-bus approach that is specified by IEEE workgroup 802.3.
The MDIO 316 interface is implemented by two pins, an MDIO pin and a Management Data Clock (MDC) pin. The MDIO 316 interface is defined in relationship to the accessing and modification of various registers within physical-layer (PHY) devices, and how they relate to connecting to media access controllers (MACs) in 1- and 10-Gbit/s Ethernet solutions. One MDIO 316 interface can access up to 32 registers, in 32 different devices. A device driving an MDIO 316 bus is called a station management entity (STA), and the device being managed by the STA is called the MDIO Manageable Device (MMD). The STA drives the MDC line. It initiates a command using an MDIO frame and provides the target register address. During a write command, the STA also provides the data. In the case of a read command, the MMD takes over the bus and supplies the STA with the data. DOM 318 is an optical monitoring scheme utilized by each MSA specification for performance monitoring on the pluggable transceiver. For example, the DOM 318 can provide performance monitoring data such as optical output power, optical input power, laser bias current, etc. While DOM 318 provides some performance monitoring capabilities, it does not provide OTN OAM&P capable of operating carrier-grade networks. DOM 318 provides component level performance monitoring information and DOM 318 does not provide optical link layer OAM&P.
In
Referring to
In
The pluggable transceiver 400 includes two multiplexers/de-multiplexers 402,406 connected to the G.709 framer with FEC 404. The input and output from the XAUI-XFI transceiver 304 is a 10 Gbps XFI signal. The multiplexer/de-multiplexer 402 is configured to adapt the input and output from the XAUI-XFI transceiver 304 to an appropriate rate for the G.709 framer with FEC 404 to operate on the signal to perform framing, OAM&P, and FEC. The input and output to the CDR 306 is a 10 Gbps XFI signal. The multiplexer/de-multiplexer 406 is configured to adapt the input and output from the G.709 framer with FEC 404 back to the XFI rate for input and output to the CDR 306. Optionally, the multiplexer/de-multiplexer 406 can be integrated with the FEC 404 and the CDR 306 in a single chip. Also, the multiplexer/de-multiplexer 406 are not necessary and can be optional in the design (i.e. the FEC 404 can stand alone without the multiplexer/de-multiplexer 406).
In the exemplary embodiments of
The G.709 framer with FEC 404 is configured to pass overhead to the host 302 either through the MDIO 316 or through a direct connection. Using the MDIO 316, the pluggable transceiver 400 utilizes unused MDIO 316 registers to communicate overhead data in a manner fully supported by the MSA specifications. For example, the XENPAK, XPAK, and X2 MSAs include unused registers which can be used to implement advanced features such as passing management overhead externally from the pluggable transceiver 400. These registers can be used both for passing G.709 OAM&P and FEC information when the overhead is terminated on the transceiver 400. In the case of terminating the overhead on the transceiver 400, a subset of G.709 overhead is terminated due to limitations in the MDIO 316 access. The present invention can provide all or a subset of G.709 OAM&P to comply with the communication requirements in the MSAs. Additionally, the G.709 framer with FEC 404 can be configured to pass the entire G.709 overhead to the host 302 through a direct connection.
The G.709 framer with FEC 404 is an integrated circuit such as a custom built application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The design of G.709 framer with FEC 404 is such to minimize power dissipation and each device is designed for less than 1.5 W of power consumption to ensure the pluggable transceiver 400 meets or exceeds the XPAK, XENPAK, and X2 MSA specifications.
Additionally, the G.709 framer with FEC 404 is configured to add/remove and process FEC overhead on an optical signal. The addition of FEC in the pluggable transceiver 400 provides an additional 6 to 9 dB of coding gain that can provide improved link budgets, higher system margins for robust connections, relaxed specifications on the optical components, real time monitoring of the link health status and historical BER data, and real-time monitoring of link degradation without affecting the quality of the link. In one exemplary embodiment, the FEC is Reed-Solomon (255, 239) code as defined in G.709 and is capable of correcting eight symbol errors per block. Additionally, the present invention can be modified by one skilled in the art to enable other framing and FEC techniques on pluggable transceivers 400.
In
Optionally, the pluggable transceivers 400,450 can include an electronic dispersion compensating (EDC) 408 circuit configured to electronically compensate for the optical fiber chromatic and/or polarization mode dispersion on the TX 312 and RX 314. The EDC 408 circuit removes the requirement to include dispersion compensating elements such as dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) in-line with the pluggable transceivers 400,450. Such DCF modules increase system cost and reduce system performance. Additionally, the EDC 408 can include the functionality of the CDR 306, removing the need to have a separate CDR 306 circuit.
Referring to
The G.709 framer 535 accepts an output from the PCS 525 module and de-multiplexes it to an appropriate rate for the G.709 framer 535 to operate on the signal. The G.709 framer 535 is configured to provide G.709 framing, G.709 scrambling, FEC encoding, and G.709 overhead processing. The G.709 framer 535 is configured to communicate with the MDIO 550 utilizing unused registers to communicate overhead to the host system or to communicate through a direct connection to receive G.709 overhead from the host system. Further, the G.709 framer 535 multiplexes the framed signal to input the signal to an optical transmitter off the transceiver 500.
A receiver (RX) clock and data recovery circuit 545 is configured to accept an input from an optical receiver external to the transceiver 500 and to retime, recover the clock, and pass the inputted signal to a G.709 de-framer 540. The G.709 de-framer 540 de-multiplexes the signal to an appropriate rate for the G.709 de-framer 540 to operate on the signal. The G.709 de-framer 540 is configured to provide G.709 de-framing, G.709 de-scrambling, FEC decoding, and G.709 overhead processing. The G.709 de-framer 540 is configured to communicate with the MDIO 550 utilizing unused registers to communicate overhead to the host system or to communicate through a direct connection to pass G.709 overhead to the host system. Further, the G.709 de-framer 540 provides an unframed signal to a PCS 530 module.
The PCS 530 module performs 64B/66B decoding and PCS de-scrambling. The PCS 530 module outputs to a PHY XS 8B/10B encoder 520. The encode 520 is configured to de-multiplex an XFI signal into four XAUI signals running at 3.125 Gbps using 8B/10B encoding and pass the output to four XAUI drivers 510. The XAUI drivers 510 provide four 3.125 Gbps signals to the host system. Additionally, the XAUI-XFI transceiver 500 includes a serial packet interface (SPI) and I2C interface 555 for communications to the host system. The MDIO 550 interface is utilized to provide standard MSA-compliant communications to the host system. Additionally, the present invention utilizes the MDIO 550 to communicate a subset of OAM&P and FEC overhead to the host system from the G.709 framer 535 and G.709 de-framer 540 through unused MDIO registers.
Referring to
The pluggable transceiver 600 includes two multiplexers/de-multiplexers 602,606 connected to the G.709 framer with FEC 604. The input and output from the CDR 354 is a 10 Gbps serial signal. The multiplexer/de-multiplexer 602 is configured to adapt the input and output from a host with a 10 Gbps serial interface 352 to an appropriate rate for the G.709 framer with FEC 604 to operate on the signal to perform framing, OAM&P, and FEC. The input and output to the CDR 354 is a 10 Gbps serial signal. The multiplexer/de-multiplexer 606 is configured to adapt the input and output from the G.709 framer with FEC 604 back to the 10 Gbps rate for input and output from the CDR 354.
In the exemplary embodiment of
The G.709 framer with FEC 604 is configured to pass overhead to the host 352 either through the I2C 370 or through a direct connection. Using the I2C 37-, the pluggable transceiver 600 communicates overhead data in a manner fully supported by the MSA specifications. In the case of terminating the overhead on the transceiver 600, a subset of G.709 overhead is terminated due to limitations in the I2C 370 access. The present invention provides a subset of G.709 OAM&P to comply with the communication requirements in the MSAs. Additionally, the G.709 framer with FEC 604 can be configured to pass the entire G.709 overhead to the host 352 through a direct connection.
The G.709 framer with FEC 604 is an integrated circuit such as a custom built application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The design of G.709 framer with FEC 604 is such to minimize power dissipation and to keep the power as small as possible to fit within thermal requirements of the host system. Further, the functionality of the multiplexer/de-multiplexer 602,606 and the CDR 354 can be integrated within the G.709 framer with FEC 604 in a single ASIC.
Additionally, the G.709 framer with FEC 604 is configured to add/remove and process FEC overhead on an optical signal. The addition of FEC in the pluggable transceiver 600 provides an additional 6 to 9 dB of coding gain that can provide improved link budgets, higher system margins for robust connections, relaxed specifications on the optical components, real time monitoring of the link health status and historical BER data, and real-time monitoring of link degradation without affecting the quality of the link. In one exemplary embodiment, the FEC is Reed-Solomon (255, 239) code as defined in G.709 and is capable of correcting eight symbol errors per block. Additionally, the present invention can be modified by one skilled in the art to enable other framing and FEC techniques on pluggable transceivers 600.
Optionally, the pluggable transceiver 600 can include an electronic dispersion compensating (EDC) 608 circuit configured to electronically compensate for the optical fiber chromatic and/or polarization mode dispersion on the TX 362 and RX 364. The EDC 608 circuit removes the requirement to include dispersion compensating elements such as dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) in-line with the pluggable transceiver 600. Such DCF modules increase system cost and reduce system performance. Additionally, the EDC 608 can include the functionality of the CDR 354, removing the need to have a separate CDR 354 circuit.
The G.709 framer with FEC 404,604 and XAUI-XFI transceiver including integrated G.709 framer with FEC 460 in
Referring to
The pluggable transceiver 700 includes a transmitter (TX) 702 and a receiver (RX) 704 connected at 10 Gbps to an SFI-4 SerDes 706. SFI-4 is SerDes Framer Interface standard level 4 from the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF). SIF-4 is one example of an interface to the G.709 framer 708. Other interfaces to the G.709 frame can include XGMII, XFI, and XAUI. The SFI-4 SerDes 706 connects to the G.709 framer 708 with an SFI 4.1 signal. The G.709 framer 708 connects at 10 Gbps to the XAUI SerDes 710 which in turn connects to a host device.
The MDIO bridge includes a control field programmable gate array (FPGA) 716 which is configured to bridge the MDIO interface between the G.709 framer 708 and the XAUI SerDes 710. The FPGA 716 connects to the G.709 framer 708 and to the XAUI SerDes 710 and provides a single external MDIO 720 interface to the host device. This external MDIO interface 720 includes data from both the XAUI SerDes 710 and the G.709 framer 708. The FPGA 716 connects to the XAUI SerDes 710 through a XAUI MDIO 718 connection and to the G.709 framer 708 through a parallel microprocessor bus 712. Additionally, the FPGA 716 provides discrete control and status 714 to the SFI-4 SerDes 706. The FPGA 716 has a serial packet interface (SPI) to a processor 724 which in turn has a 2-wire input/output (I/O) connection 726 to the XAUI SerDes 710 and a SPI interface to another processor 722.
The FPGA 716 is configured to decode MDIO addresses and pass MDIO data between both the G.709 framer 708 and the XAUI SerDes 710. Also, the FPGA 716 is configured to combine MDIO data from both the G.709 framer 708 and the XAUI SerDes 710 to the external MDIO 720. As such, the MDIO bridge provides a mechanism for a single, MSA-compliant MDIO interface to operate with the additional circuitry of the G.709 framer with FEC 708.
Referring to
Referring to
The optical network 900 includes client devices 930,980 each equipped with one or more pluggable transceivers 160 of the present invention. The pluggable transceivers 160 of the client device 930 are connected to an optical terminal 940, an optical transport unit (OTU) regen 950, an in-line line amplifier (ILA) 960, and a second optical terminal 970 which is connected to the pluggable transceivers 160 of the second client device 980. The optical channel data unit (ODU) 910 layer is between optical client elements. In the example of
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, G.709 framing is integrated into pluggable transceivers specified by MSAs such as XFP, XPAK, XENPAK, X2, XFP-E, SFP, and SFP+. The G.709 framing in the pluggable transceivers provides the ability to monitor OAM&P associated with the G.709 ODU 910 and OTU 920 layers to enable optical layer OAM&P functions necessary for metro, regional and core applications direct from pluggable transceivers. The monitoring of the ODU 910 and OTU 920 layers allows isolation of OAM&P and error monitoring between optical sections of the pluggable transceivers. Further, the pluggable transceivers are capable of being monitored by industry-compliant network management systems (NMS) through the I2C or MDIO. The pluggable transceivers of the present invention can support any framing method capable of OAM&P at the optical layer in addition to G.709.
Referring to
The pluggable transceiver 1000 includes circuitry configured to manage OAM&P through the frame overhead. In an example embodiment, the framing technique is G.709 and the pluggable transceiver 1000 is configured to terminate selected overhead bytes from the G.709 overhead to provide for optical layer OAM&P. The data terminated from these bytes can be provided to the host system (i.e. line card, blade) through vendor-specific (i.e., unused or unspecified) MDIO registers in the MSA specification. For example, XENPAK, XPAK, and X2 include MDIO registers reserved for future use. OAM&P access can be implemented on these registers while maintaining compliance with the MSA specification. Pluggable transceiver 1000 provides access to a subset of G.709 management overhead similar to WAN PHY in that it does not terminate all OAM&P on G.709 due to power, space, and host communication constraints, but it does allow for carrier grade OAM&P on the transceiver 1000 without the extra features not current defined or commonly used. From a hardware perspective, the host system is designed to read the MDIO according to the MSA specification. The host system can be modified through software only to read and process the OAM&P data received on the MDIO registers.
With regards to XFP, XFP-E, SFP, and SFP+, the OAM&P data access is done through the inter-integrated circuit (I2C) serial bus. I2C is a serial communications bus through which a pluggable transceiver, such as XFP, XFP-E, and SFP+, communicates to the host system. DOM 1010 is a monitoring scheme for physical layer parameters utilized by each MSA specification for performance monitoring on the pluggable transceiver. For example, the DOM 1010 can provide PMs such as optical output power, optical input power, laser bias current, etc.
In
Referring to
The subset of G.709 overhead terminated on chip includes the frame alignment signal (FAS) bytes and the multi-frame alignment signal (MFAS) which are the OTU frame alignment bytes. Also, the subset of G.709 overhead includes the section monitoring (SM) bytes and the path monitoring (PM) bytes to provide optical layer error management between optical section and path in G.709. The SM bytes include dedicated BIP-8 monitoring to cover the payload signal, and these are accessible at each pluggable transceiver. The first byte of the SM used for Trail Trace Identifier (TTI) which is a 64-byte character string similar to a section trace in SONET. The SM/PM bytes include dedicated BIP-8 monitoring to cover the payload signal, and these are accessible at each pluggable transceiver. The first byte of the SM/PM is used for TTI which is similar to path trace in SONET. The general communication channel 0 (GCC0) bytes provide a communications channel between adjacent G.709 nodes.
Additionally, the subset of G.709 overhead terminated on chip includes the payload signal identifier (PSI), justification control (JC), and negative justification opportunity (NJO). For asynchronous clients such as 10 GbE and 10 G FC, NJO and PJO are used as stuff bytes similar to PDH. If the client rate is lower than OPU rate, then extra stuffing bytes may be inserted to fill out the OPU. Similarly, if the incoming signal to the pluggable transceiver is slightly higher than the OPU rate, NJO and PJO bytes may be replaced with signal information, i.e. the OPU payload capacity is increased slightly to accommodate the extra traffic on the pluggable transceiver, and the JC bytes reflect whether NJO and PJO are data or stuff bytes the JC bytes are used at the off-ramp to correctly de-map the signal. The PSI provides an identification of the payload signal.
Because the current MSA specifications were never envisioned to carry full OAM&P overhead data on and off a pluggable transceiver, the present invention provides a subset of OAM&P access to minimize power, space, cost, and host communications in the circuitry on the pluggable transceiver to fit within the MSA specification and to continue offering the benefits of pluggable transceivers such as low cost. However, this subset of OAM&P still allows network operators to realize carrier-grade optical layer performance monitoring directly off pluggable transceivers without additional hardware. Further, the above exemplary embodiment with G.709 OAM&P can be utilized in any framing technique on a pluggable transceiver. The subset of G.709 overhead terminated in
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, unused bytes in the G.709 overhead 1100 can be utilized to create a closed loop communications channel between a near end and a far end pluggable transceiver. For example, the EXP (experimental) overhead in the ODU path overhead could be used. The EXP overhead does not impact the payload bit rate or transparency and is transparent to OTU regenerators. The closed loop communications channel can be configured to provide far end PM counts, far end loopback initiation and release, far end PRBS injection, far end alarms, far end general communications, and the like.
The closed loop communications channel can be utilized for accessing the far end pluggable transceiver in the Ethernet demarcation application. Here, the far end pluggable transceiver can be configured to not provide OAM&P to a remote host system since the host system is a CPE device which likely is not configured for accessing OAM&P from the pluggable transceiver. Instead, the far end provides its OAM&P to the near end through the communications channel allowing for Ethernet demarcation at the far end to be monitored and executed locally.
Referring to
b includes a table 1250 illustrating a TTI byte used for connection management and network discovery. The pluggable transceiver of the present invention includes OTU and ODU trail trace identifier (TTI) support through, for example, the 64-byte G.709 standard implementation which includes a 16-byte SAPI/DAPI, and a 32-byte user specific field. Further, the pluggable transceiver supports a TTI mismatch alarm.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention providing G.709 framing support in a pluggable transceiver, the pluggable transceiver can be configured to provide support of G.709 standardized alarms for fault isolation at the far or near end including:
Further, the MDIO interface provides full control support of the pluggable transceiver including:
Further, the pluggable transceiver module status and error registers include the following:
Referring to
Referring to
The pluggable transceivers 160 of the present invention support robust, carrier-grade features directly, allowing the application space for pluggable transceivers to move beyond short, interconnect applications. In metro/core ring 1400, the pluggable transceivers 160 of the present invention reduce the amount of amplifiers required, enable more flexible routing options for wavelengths, and provide overall more design flexibility. Existing pluggable transceivers are generally limited to less than 80 km (20 dB or less) and offer no G.709 layer OAM&P. The present invention extends the benefits of pluggable transceivers into metro, regional, and core applications.
Referring to
The present invention, by incorporating framing such as G.709 and FEC in pluggable transceivers specified by MSAs, significantly enhances performance and OAM&P functions. This allows pluggable transceivers to be used in IP/Ethernet/ATM/Frame Relay/Fiber Channel over WDM, high density/high performance applications, G.709 interconnection applications, and applications requiring comprehensive optical OAM&P. Traditionally, pluggable transceivers have accorded benefits to equipment vendors and network operators such as engineering re-use, streamlined manufacturing and sparing, low cost and multiple manufacturing sources. The present invention builds upon the existing benefits of pluggable transceivers by increasing the application space of pluggable transceivers from short, interconnect applications to metro, regional, and core network applications requiring carrier-grade, robust monitoring and performance.
Referring to
The XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 includes an XFI interface 1802 configured to interconnect to a host device in a host system. The XFI interface 1802 is configured to transmit/receive a 10.3 Gb/s signal to/from the host system. The XFI interface 1802 connects to both a G.709 encoder 1804 and a G.709 decoder 1806. The G.709 encoder 1804 includes FEC, Remote OAM capability, G.709 framing, SERDES, and CDR functionality as described herein. The G.709 encoder 1804 is configured to receive a signal from the XFI interface 1802, such as an Ethernet client or the like, and provide framing, OAM&P processing, and FEC encoding. The G.709 decoder 1806 includes FEC, remote OAM capability, G.709 de-framing, SERDES, and CDR functionality as described herein. The G.709 decoder 1806 is configured to de-frame a G.709 signal, process OAM&P, and decode FEC and to provide a signal, such as an Ethernet client or the like, to the XFI interface 1802.
The XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 includes a Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) 1808,1810. The PMD Tx 1808 is configured to receive a framed signal from the G.709 encoder 1804 and transmit an optical signal on an interface 1812. For example, the interface 1812 can include an XFI interface, a parallel interface, or the like. The PMD Rx 1810 is configured to receive an optical signal on the interface 1812 and to provide the received optical signal to the G.709 decoder 1806. The PMD Tx/Rx 1808,1810 can include 850 nm, 1310 nm, 1550 nm, DWDM, CWDM, and the like depending on the application requirements.
The XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 is configured to interface to any host device configured to operate with pluggable transceivers compliant to the XFP MSA. For example, the host device can include a router, switch, optical network element, and the like. The host device can include customer premises equipment (CPE) and service provider equipment. The XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 includes an I2C interface 1814 for communications with the host device. The XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 is configured to utilize the communications detailed in the XFP MSA specification.
When the XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 is configured in a CPE device or other remote device for demarcation, the XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 is configured to only provide standard XFP MSA-based communications over the I2C interface 1814 to the host device. Accordingly, the host device is unaware of the additional framing, FEC, and OAM&P functionality. This enables any XFP-compliant host device to utilize the XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 for demarcation. Here, the OAM&P is provided to a host device at a far end, such as described herein with a closed loop communication channel.
When the XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 is configured in a service provider device or the like, the XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 is configured to provide standard XFP MSA-based communications and G.709 OAM&P information over the I2C interface 1814, such as described in
Referring to
The XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 includes a XAUI interface 1902 configured to interconnect to a host device in a host system. The XAUI interface 1902 is configured to transmit/receive a 4×3.125 Gb/s signal to/from the host system. The XAUI interface 1902 connects to both an 8B/10B decoder 1904 and an 8B/10B encoder 1906 which are configured to perform 8B/10B decoding and encoding, respectively, on a signal from/to the XAUI interface 1902. The 8B/10B decoder 1904 connects to a PCS 64/66encoder 1908 configured to perform 64/66encoding on the output signal from the 8B/10B decoder 1904. The 8B/10B encoder 1906 receives an input signal from a PCS 64/66decoder 1910 which is configured to perform 64/66decoding.
The XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 includes a G.709 encoder with FEC 1912 and a G.709 decoder with FEC 1914. The G.709 encoder 1912 includes FEC, Remote OAM capability, G.709 framing, SERDES, and CDR functionality as described herein. The G.709 encoder 1912 is configured to receive a signal from the PCS 64/66 encoder 1908, such as an Ethernet client or the like, and provide framing, OAM&P processing, and FEC encoding. The G.709 decoder 1914 includes FEC, remote OAM capability, G.709 de-framing, SERDES, and CDR functionality as described herein. The G.709 decoder 1914 is configured to de-frame a G.709 signal, process OAM&P, and decode FEC and to provide a signal, such as an Ethernet client or the like, to the PCS 64/66decoder 1910. Optionally, the XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 can include an EDC 1916 configured to perform electronic dispersion compensation.
The XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 includes a Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) 1918,1920. The PMD Tx 1918 is configured to receive a framed signal from the G.709 encoder 1912 (or the EDC 1916) and transmit an optical signal on an interface 1922. For example, the interface 1922 can include an XFI interface, a parallel interface, or the like. The PMD Rx 1920 is configured to receive an optical signal on the interface 1922 and to provide the received optical signal to the G.709 decoder 1914 (or the EDC 1916). The PMD Tx/Rx 1918,1920 can include 850 nm, 1310 nm, 1550 nm, DWDM, CWDM, and the like depending on the application requirements. Additionally, the XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 can include a WIS encoder/decoder between the PCS 1908,1910 and G.709 1912,1914 blocks.
The XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 is configured to interface to any host device configured to operate with pluggable transceivers compliant to the XENPAK MSA. For example, the host device can include a router, switch, optical network element, and the like. The host device can include customer premises equipment (CPE) and service provider equipment. The XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 includes an MDIO interface 1924 for communications with the host device. The XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 is configured to utilize the communications detailed in the XENPAK MSA specification.
When the XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 is configured in a CPE device or other remote device for demarcation, the XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 is configured to only provide standard XENPAK MSA-based communications over the MDIO interface 1924 to the host device. Accordingly, the host device is unaware of the additional framing, FEC, and OAM&P functionality. This enables any XENPAK-compliant host device to utilize the XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 for demarcation. Here, the OAM&P is provided to a host device at a far end, such as described herein with a closed loop communication channel.
When the XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 is configured in a service provider device or the like, the XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 is configured to provide standard XENPAK MSA-based communications and G.709 OAM&P information over the MDIO interface 1924, such as described in
With respect to Ethernet demarcation, the XFP pluggable transceiver 1800 and XENPAK pluggable transceiver 1900 provides network operators and customers significant advantages. For example, demarcation through a pluggable device significantly reduces capital costs, footprint, power, and installation/turn-up requirements.
Referring to
The router/switch 2002 can establish end-to-end communication through G.709 overhead between the pluggable transceivers in both of the routers/switches 2002,2004. For example, a communication channel 2008 can be established between the pluggable transceiver in the router/switch 2002 and the pluggable transceiver in the router/switch 2004. This can be through the GCC, EXP, or other bytes in the G.709 overhead with no impact on standard G.709 overhead usage. For example, it is possible to obtain some remote PMs from the SM/PM. Also, BDI is from the SM/PM bytes. The communication channel 2008 is utilized to provide alarming, PM, provisioning, and the like from the remote end at the router/switch 2004 to the carrier at the router/switch 2002.
Referring to
With respect to alarming, the remote pluggable transceiver can be monitored and troubleshot to determine where faults occur, i.e. traditional demarcation functions. Alarming can include G.709 standard backward alarming and remotely fetched alarms. With respect to performance monitoring, the remote pluggable transceiver can be monitored for end-to-end service level agreements (SLAs) as are typical of demarcation devices. This can include monitoring far end PMs and FEC errors.
Referring to
SFP transceivers are available with a variety of different transmitter (Tx) 2204 and receiver (Rx) 2206 types, allowing users to select the appropriate transceiver for each link to provide the required optical reach over the available optical fiber type (e.g. multi-mode fiber or single-mode fiber). Optical SFP modules 2200 are commonly available in four different categories: 850 nm (SX), 1310 nm (LX), 1550 nm (ZX), and DWDM. SFP transceivers 2200 are also available with a “copper” cable interface, allowing a host device designed primarily for optical fiber communications to also communicate over unshielded twisted pair networking cable. There are also CWDM and single-optic (1310/1490 nm upstream/downstream) SFPs. The different categories of SFP modules 2200 are based on different PMD Tx Transmitter Optical Subassemblies (TOSA) 2204 and PMD Rx Receiver Optical Subassemblies (ROSA) 2206.
The SFP transceiver 2200 is specified by a multi-source agreement (MSA) between competing manufacturers. The SFP transceiver 2200 is commercially available with capability for data rates up to 4.25 Gbit/s or higher. The SFP transceiver 2200 supports digital optical monitoring (DOM) functions according to the industry-standard SFF-8472 Multi Source Agreement (MSA). This feature gives an end user the ability to monitor real-time parameters of the SFP, such as optical output power, optical input power, temperature, laser bias current, and transceiver supply voltage.
The SFP transceiver 2200 includes a TOSA driver 2208 which is configured to interface to a Tx serial interface on the line card 2202. The TOSA driver 2208 provides the serial input to the PMD Tx TOSA 2204. The PMD Rx ROSA 2206 is configured to receive an optical signal and provide the received optical signal to a Rx pre-amp 2210 which interfaces to a Rx serial interface on the line card 2204. In conventional SFP transceivers 2200, the line card 2200 (or other host device) includes a CDR and clocked output, and this functionality is not included on the SFP transceiver 2200, i.e. the SFP transceiver 2200 does not include an internal reference clock. Additionally, the SFP transceiver 2200 includes an I2C management interface 2212 which interfaces to the line card 2202 to provide the DOM and other MSA-based communications. Note, in the SFP MSA, the I2C management interface 221 has very limited functions.
Referring to
The SFP transceiver 2300 can include the same PMD Tx TOSA 2204 and PMD Tx ROSA 2206 as utilized in conventional SFP modules. Additionally, the SFP transceiver 2300 includes a G.709 encoder/decoder 2302, integrated timing 2304, and an advanced I2C management interface 2306. The G.709 encoder/decoder 2302 is utilized in place of the TOSA driver 2208 and Rx pre-amp 2210, and includes the same Tx driver and Rx pre-amp functionality. The G.709 encoder/decoder 2302 also includes an integrated CDR, and connects to the integrated timing 2304 for synchronization.
The G.709 encoder/decoder 2302 is configured to frame/un-frame a signal from/to the line card 2202. The framing utilizes G.709 to provide OAM&P and FEC integrated within the SFP transceiver 2300. The SFP transceiver 2300 is configured to frame any input signal from the line card 2202 within SFP specifications, i.e. 155 Mb/s to 4.25 Gb/s. This is done utilizing non-standard OTN rates described herein.
The I2C management interface 2306 can communicate standard MSA defined information to the line card 2202 as well as OAM&P information. For example, the line card can be configured to read unused registers on the SFP transceiver 2300 through the I2C management interface 2306 to interface to the overhead information. Alternatively, the line card 2202 does not have to interface with the overhead information as is the case in the demarcation application where the SFP transceiver 2300 is installed in a CPE device, and utilizes the closed loop communication channel to report OAM&P information to the far end.
Referring to
Referring to
For example, an OC-3/STM-1 has an input bit rate into an SFP of 0.1555 Gb/s. The SFP transceiver 2300 is configured to frame the input OC-3/STM-1 into an OTN frame with a G.709 bit rate of 0.16733 Gb/s (255/237) or 0.16663 Gb/s (255/238). The overhead and FEC are utilized with the additional bit rate. The table 2500 also illustrates different bit rates for OC-12/STM-4, IG FC, 1 GbE, 2 G FC, OC-48/STM-16, and 4 G FC for both 255/237 and 255/238 bit rates.
Although the present invention has been illustrated and described herein with reference to preferred embodiments and specific examples thereof, it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments and examples may perform similar functions and/or achieve like results. All such equivalent embodiments and examples are within the spirit and scope of the present invention and are intended to be covered by the following claims.
The present non-provisional patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/029,821, filed Feb. 19, 2008, and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ETHERNET EXTENSION AND DEMARCATION,” which is incorporated in full by reference herein. Further, the present non-provisional patent application is a continuation-in-part of commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/581,201, filed on Oct. 13, 2006, and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR THE INTEGRATION OF FRAMING, OAM&P, AND FORWARD ERROR CORRECTION IN PLUGGABLE OPTICAL TRANSCEIVER DEVICES,” which is incorporated in full by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61029821 | Feb 2008 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11581201 | Oct 2006 | US |
| Child | 12120170 | US |
