Network Working Group                                           A. Malis
Request for Comments: 4842                        Verizon Communications
Category: Standards Track                                        P. Pate
                                                      Overture Networks
                                                          R. Cohen, Ed.
                                                      Resolute Networks
                                                               D. Zelig
                                                      Corrigent Systems
                                                             April 2007


Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SONET/SDH)
                 Circuit Emulation over Packet (CEP)

Status of This Memo

  This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
  Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
  improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
  Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
  and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

  Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007).

Abstract

  This document provides encapsulation formats and semantics for
  emulating Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
  (SONET/SDH) circuits and services over MPLS.




















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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


Table of Contents

  1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
  2.  Scope  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
  3.  Requirements Notation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
  4.  Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
  5.  CEP Encapsulation Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
    5.1.  SONET/SDH Fragment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
    5.2.  CEP Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
    5.3.  RTP Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
    5.4.  PSN Encapsulation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  6.  CEP Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
    6.1.  CEP Packetizer and De-Packetizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
    6.2.  Packet Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
      6.2.1.  Acquisition of Packet Synchronization  . . . . . . . . 13
      6.2.2.  Loss of Packet Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  7.  SONET/SDH Maintenance Signals  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
    7.1.  SONET/SDH to PSN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
      7.1.1.  CEP-AIS: AIS-P/V Indication  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
      7.1.2.  Unequipped Indication  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
      7.1.3.  CEP-RDI: Remote Defect Indication  . . . . . . . . . . 15
    7.2.  PSN to SONET/SDH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
      7.2.1.  CEP-AIS: AIS-P/V Indication  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
      7.2.2.  Unequipped Indication  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  8.  SONET/SDH Transport Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  9.  SONET/SDH Pointer Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
    9.1.  Explicit Pointer Adjustment Relay (EPAR) . . . . . . . . . 17
    9.2.  Adaptive Pointer Management (APM)  . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  10. CEP Performance Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
    10.1. Near-End Performance Monitors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
    10.2. Far-End Performance Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
  11. Payload Compression Options  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
    11.1. Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
    11.2. Service-Specific Payload Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
      11.2.1. Fractional STS-1 (VC-3) Encapsulation  . . . . . . . . 21
        11.2.1.1.  Fractional STS-1 CEP Header . . . . . . . . . . . 23
        11.2.1.2.  B3 Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
        11.2.1.3.  Actual Payload Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
      11.2.2. Asynchronous T3/E3 STS-1 (VC-3) Encapsulation  . . . . 25
        11.2.2.1.  T3 Payload Compression  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
        11.2.2.2.  E3 Payload Compression  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
      11.2.3. Fractional VC-4 Encapsulation  . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
        11.2.3.1.  Fractional VC-4 Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
        11.2.3.2.  Fractional VC-4 CEP Header  . . . . . . . . . . . 28
        11.2.3.3.  B3 Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
        11.2.3.4.  Actual Payload Sizes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  12. Signaling of CEP Pseudowires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
    12.1. CEP/TDM Payload Bytes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31



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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


    12.2. CEP/TDM Bit Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
    12.3. CEP Options  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  13. Congestion Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  14. Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  15. IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  16. Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  17. Co-Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  Appendix A.  SONET/SDH Rates and Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  Appendix B.  Example Network Diagrams  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  18. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
    18.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
    18.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41







































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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


1.  Introduction

  This document provides encapsulation formats and semantics for
  emulating SONET/SDH circuits and services over MPLS.

2.  Scope

  The generic requirements and architecture for Pseudowire Emulation
  Edge-to-Edge (PWE3) are described in [PWE3-REQ] and [PWE3-ARCH].
  Additional requirements for emulation of SONET/SDH and lower-rate TDM
  circuits are described in [PWE3-TDM-REQ].

  This document provides encapsulation formats and semantics for
  emulating SONET/SDH circuits and services over MPLS packet-switched
  networks (PSNs).  Emulation of the following digital signals are
  defined:

  1.  Synchronous Payload Envelope (SPE)/Virtual Container (VC-n): STS-
      1/VC-3, STS-3c/VC-4, STS-12c/VC-4-4c, STS-48c/VC-4-16c, STS-192c/
      VC-4-64c, etc.

  2.  Virtual Tributary (VT)/Virtual Container (VC-n): VT1.5/VC-11,
      VT2/VC-12, VT3, VT6/VC-2

  For the remainder of this document, these constructs are referred to
  as SONET/SDH channels.

3.  Requirements Notation

  The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
  "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
  document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

4.  Acronyms

  ADM    Add Drop Multiplexer
  AIS    Alarm Indication Signal
  APM    Adaptive Pointer Management
  AU-n   Administrative Unit-n (SDH)
  AUG    Administrative Unit Group (SDH)
  BIP    Bit Interleaved Parity
  BITS   Building Integrated Timing Supply
  CEP    Circuit Emulation over Packet
  DBA    Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation
  EBM    Equipped Bit Mask
  EPAR   Explicit Pointer Adjustment Relay





Malis, et al.               Standards Track                     [Page 4]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


  LOF    Loss of Frame
  LOS    Loss of Signal
  LTE    Line Terminating Equipment
  POH    Path Overhead
  PSN    Packet Switched Network
  PTE    Path Terminating Equipment
  PW     Pseudowire
  RDI    Remote Defect Indication
  SDH    Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
  SONET  Synchronous Optical Network
  SPE    Synchronous Payload Envelope
  STM-n  Synchronous Transport Module-n (SDH)
  STS-n  Synchronous Transport Signal-n (SONET)
  TDM    Time Division Multiplexing
  TOH    Transport Overhead
  TU-n   Tributary Unit-n (SDH)
  TUG-n  Tributary Unit Group-n (SDH)
  UNEQ   Unequipped
  VC-n   Virtual Container-n (SDH)
  VT     Virtual Tributary (SONET)
  VTG    Virtual Tributary Group (SONET)

5.  CEP Encapsulation Format

  In order to transport SONET/SDH circuits through a packet-oriented
  network, the SPE (or VT) is broken into fragments, and a CEP header
  and optionally an RTP header are prepended to each fragment.
























Malis, et al.               Standards Track                     [Page 5]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


  The basic CEP packet appears in Figure 1.

               +-----------------------------------+
               |   PSN and Multiplexing Layer      |
               |             Headers               |
               +-----------------------------------+
               |           CEP Header              |
               +-----------------------------------+
               |           RTP Header              |
               |           (RFC 3550)              |
               +-----------------------------------+
               |                                   |
               |                                   |
               |           SONET/SDH               |
               |            Fragment               |
               |                                   |
               |                                   |
               +-----------------------------------+

                       Figure 1: Basic CEP Packet

5.1.  SONET/SDH Fragment

  The SONET/SDH fragments MUST be byte aligned with the SONET/SDH SPE
  or VT.  The first bit received from each byte of the SONET/SDH MUST
  be the Most Significant Bit of each byte in the SONET/SDH fragment.

  SONET/SDH bytes are placed into the SONET/SDH fragment in the same
  order in which they are received.

  SONET/SDH optical interfaces use binary coding and therefore are
  scrambled prior to transmission to ensure an adequate number of
  transitions.  For clarity, this scrambling is referred to as physical
  layer scrambling/descrambling.

  In addition, many payload formats (such as for Asynchronous Transfer
  Mode (ATM) and High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC)) include an
  additional layer of scrambling to provide protection against
  transition density violations within the SPEs.  This function is
  referred to as payload scrambling/unscrambling.

  CEP assumes that physical layer scrambling/unscrambling occurs as
  part of the SONET/SDH section/line termination Native Service
  Processing (NSP) functions.







Malis, et al.               Standards Track                     [Page 6]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


  However, CEP makes no assumption about payload scrambling.  The
  SONET/SDH fragments MUST be constructed without knowledge or
  processing of any incidental payload scrambling.

  CEP implementations MUST include the H3 (or V3) byte in the SONET/SDH
  fragment during negative pointer adjustment events, and MUST remove
  the stuff byte from the SONET/SDH fragment during positive pointer
  adjustment events.

  VT emulation implementations MUST NOT carry the VT pointer bytes V1,
  V2, V3, and V4 as part of the CEP payload.  The only exception is the
  carriage of V3 during negative pointer adjustment as described above.

  All CEP SPE implementations MUST support a packet size of 783 bytes
  and MAY support other packet sizes.

  VT emulation implementations MUST support payload size of full VT
  super-frame, and MAY support 1/2 and 1/4 VT super-frame payload
  sizes.

  Table 1 below describes single super-frame payload size per VT type.

                     +-------------+--------------+
                     | VT type     | Size (Bytes) |
                     +-------------+--------------+
                     | VT1.5/VC-11 |      104     |
                     | VT2/VC-12   |      140     |
                     | VT3         |      212     |
                     | VT6/VC-2    |      428     |
                     +-------------+--------------+

                  Table 1: VT Super-Frame Payload Sizes

  OPTIONAL SONET/SDH Fragment formats have been defined to reduce the
  bandwidth requirements of the emulated SONET/SDH circuits under
  certain conditions.  These OPTIONAL formats are included in
  Section 11.

5.2.  CEP Header

  The CEP header supports both a basic and extended mode.  The Basic
  CEP header provides the minimum functionality necessary to accurately
  emulate a SONET/SDH circuit over a PSN.  Extended headers are
  utilized for some of the OPTIONAL SONET/SDH fragment formats
  described in Section 11.

  Enhanced functionality and commonality with other real-time Internet
  applications is provided by RTP encapsulation.



Malis, et al.               Standards Track                     [Page 7]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


  The CEP header has the following format:

      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |0|0|0|0|L|R|N|P|FRG|Length[0:5]|    Sequence Number[0:15]      |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |               Reserved                |Structure Pointer[0:11]|
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                       Figure 2: CEP Header Format

  L bit:  CEP-AIS.  This bit MUST be set to 1 to signal to the
     downstream PE that a failure condition has been detected on the
     attachment circuit.  Failure conditions leading to generation of
     CEP-AIS and the mapping of CEP-AIS signal on the downstream
     attachment circuit are described in Section 7.

  R bit:  CEP-RDI.  This bit MUST be set to 1 to signal to the upstream
     PE that a loss of packet synchronization has occurred.  This bit
     MUST be set to 0 once packet synchronization is acquired.  See
     Section 6.2 for details.

  N and P bits:  These bits are used to explicitly relay negative and
     positive pointer adjustments events across the PSN.  The use of N
     and P bits is OPTIONAL.  If not used, N and P bits MUST be set to
     0.  See Section 9 for details.

     Table 2 describes the interpretation of N and P bits settings.

                 +---+---+-----------------------------+
                 | N | P | Interpretation              |
                 +---+---+-----------------------------+
                 | 0 | 0 | No Pointer Adjustments      |
                 | 0 | 1 | Positive Pointer Adjustment |
                 | 1 | 0 | Negative Pointer Adjustment |
                 | 1 | 1 | Loss of Pointer Alarm       |
                 +---+---+-----------------------------+

                 Table 2: Interpretation of N and P Bits

  FRG bits:  FRG bits MUST be set to 0 by sender and ignored by
     receiver.

     SONET data is continuously fragmented into packets.  The structure
     pointer field designates the offset between the SONET SPE or VT
     structure and the packet boundary.




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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


  Length [0:5]:  The Length field, if other than zero, indicates the
     length of the CEP header, plus the length of the RTP header if
     used, plus the length of the payload.  The Length field MUST be
     set if the length of CEP header plus RTP header if used, plus
     payload is less than or equal to 64 bytes and MUST be set to 0
     otherwise.  In particular, if the payload is suppressed (e.g.,
     DBA) the Length field MUST be set to the CEP header length plus
     the RTP header length if used.

  Sequence Number [0:15]:  The packet sequence number MUST continuously
     cycle from 0 to 0xFFFF.  It is generated and processed in
     accordance with the rules established in [RTP].

  Structure Pointer [0:11]:  The structure pointer MUST contain the
     offset of the first byte of the SONET structure within the packet
     payload.  For SPE emulation, the structure pointer locates the J1
     byte within the CEP packet.  For VT emulation, the structure
     pointer locates the V5 byte within the packet.  The structure
     pointer value ranges between 0 to 0xFFE, where 0 represents the
     first byte after the CEP header.  The structure pointer MUST be
     set to 0xFFF if a packet does not carry the J1 (or V5) byte.  An
     arbitrary pointer change (New Data Flag (NDF) event) in the
     attachment circuit changes the offset of the SONET structure
     within the CEP packet and therefore changes the structure pointer
     value.

  Reserved field:  The reserved field MUST be set to 0 by the sender
     and ignored by receiver.

5.3.  RTP Header

  Usage of the RTP header is OPTIONAL.  Although CEP MAY employ an RTP
  header when explicit transfer of timing information is required, this
  is purely a formal reuse of the header format.  RTP mechanisms, such
  as header extensions, contributing source (CSRC) list, padding, RTP
  Control Protocol (RTCP), RTP header compression, Secure Realtime
  Transport Protocol (SRTP), etc., are not applicable to pseudowires.
  CEP uses the RTP Header as shown below.













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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |V=2|P|X|  CC   |M|     PT      |       Sequence Number         |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                           Timestamp                           |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |           Synchronization Source (SSRC) Identifier            |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                          Figure 3: RTP Header

  V: Version.  The Version field MUST be set to 2.

  P: Padding.  No padding is required.  The P bit MUST be set to 0 by
     sender and ignored by receiver.

  X: Header extension.  No extensions are defined.  The X bit MUST be
     set to 0 by sender and ignored by receiver.

  CC:  CSRC count.  The CC field MUST be set to 0 by sender and ignored
     by receiver.

  M: Marker.  The M bit MUST be set to 0 by sender and ignored by
     receiver.

  PT [0:6]:  Payload type.  A PT value SHOULD be allocated from the
     range of dynamic values for each direction of the PW.  The same PT
     value MAY be reused both for direction and between different CEP
     PWs.

  Sequence Number [0:15]:  The packet sequence number MUST continuously
     cycle from 0 to 0xFFFF.  It is generated and processed in
     accordance with the rules established in [RTP].  The CEP receiver
     MUST sequence packets according to the Sequence Number field of
     the CEP header and MAY verify correct sequencing using RTP
     Sequence Number field.

  Timestamp [0:31]:  Timestamp values are used in accordance with the
     rules established in [RTP].  Frequency of the clock used for
     generating timestamps MUST be 19.44 MHz based on a local
     reference.

  SSRC [0:31]:  Synchronization source.  The SSRC field MAY be used for
     detection of misconnections.






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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


5.4.  PSN Encapsulation

  This document defines the transport of CEP over MPLS PSNs.  The
  bottom label in the MPLS label stack MUST be used to de-multiplex
  individual CEP channels.  In keeping with the conventions used in
  [PWE3-CONTROL], this de-multiplexing label is referred to as the PW
  Label and the upper labels are referred to as Tunnel Labels.  The CEP
  header follows the generic PWE3 Control Word format specified in
  [PWE3-MPLSCW] for use over an MPLS PSN.

  Transport of CEP over other PSN technologies is out of scope of this
  document.

6.  CEP Operation

  A CEP implementation MUST support a normal mode of operation and MAY
  support additional bandwidth conserving modes as described in
  Section 11.  During normal operation, SONET/SDH payloads are
  fragmented, prepended with the appropriate headers, and then
  transmitted into the packet network.

6.1.  CEP Packetizer and De-Packetizer

  As with all adaptation functions, CEP has two distinct components:
  adapting TDM SONET/SDH into a CEP packet stream, and converting the
  CEP packet stream back into a TDM SONET/SDH.  The first function is
  referred to as CEP packetizer or sender and the second as CEP de-
  packetizer or receiver.  This terminology is illustrated below.

               +------------+              +---------------+
               |            |              |               |
     SONET --> |    CEP     | --> PSN  --> |      CEP      | --> SONET
      SDH      | Packetizer |              | De-Packetizer |      SDH
               |            |              |               |
               +------------+              +---------------+
                  (sender)                    (receiver)

                        Figure 4: CEP Terminology

  The CEP de-packetizer requires a buffering mechanism to account for
  delay variation in the CEP packet stream.  This buffering mechanism
  is generically referred to as the CEP jitter buffer.

  During normal operation, the CEP packetizer receives a fixed-rate
  byte stream from a SONET/SDH interface.  When a packet worth of data
  is received from a SONET/SDH channel, the necessary headers are
  prepended to the SPE fragment and the resulting CEP packet is
  transmitted into the packet network.  Because all CEP packets



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  associated with a specific SONET/SDH channel have the same length,
  the transmission of CEP packets for that channel SHOULD occur at
  regular intervals.

  At the far end of the packet network, the CEP de-packetizer receives
  packets into a jitter buffer and then plays out the received byte
  stream at a fixed rate onto the corresponding SONET/SDH channel.  The
  jitter buffer SHOULD be adjustable in length to account for varying
  network delay behavior.  On average, the receive packet rate from the
  packet network should be balanced by the transmission rate onto the
  SONET/SDH channel.

  The CEP sequence numbers provide a mechanism to detect lost and/or
  misordered packets.  The sequence number in the CEP header MUST be
  used when transmission of the RTP header is suppressed.  The CEP de-
  packetizer MUST detect lost or misordered packets.  The CEP de-
  packetizer SHOULD play out an all-ones pattern (AIS) in place of any
  dropped packets.  The CEP de-packetizer SHOULD re-order packets
  received out of order.  If the CEP de-packetizer does not support re-
  ordering, it MUST drop misordered packets.

6.2.  Packet Synchronization

  A key component in declaring the state of a CEP service is whether or
  not the CEP de-packetizer is in or out of packet synchronization.
  The following paragraphs describe how that determination is made.

  As packets are received from the PSN, they are placed into a jitter
  buffer prior to play out on the SONET/SDH interface.  If a CEP de-
  packetizer supports re-ordering, any packet received before its play
  out time will still be considered valid.

  The determination of acquisition or loss of packet synchronization is
  always made at SONET/SDH play out time.  During SONET/SDH play out,
  the CEP de-packetizer will play received CEP packets onto the SONET/
  SDH interface.  However, if the jitter buffer is empty or the packet
  to be played out has not been received, the CEP de-packetizer will
  play out an 'empty packet' composed of an all-ones AIS pattern onto
  the SONET/SDH interface in place of the unavailable packet.

  The acquisition of packet synchronization is based on the number of
  sequential CEP packets that are played onto the SONET/SDH interface.
  Loss of packet synchronization is based on the number of sequential
  'empty' packets that are played onto the SONET/SDH interface.
  Specific details of these two cases are described below.






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6.2.1.  Acquisition of Packet Synchronization

  At startup, a CEP de-packetizer will be out of packet synchronization
  by default.  To declare packet synchronization at startup or after a
  loss of packet synchronization, the CEP de-packetizer must play out a
  configurable number of CEP packets with sequential sequence numbers
  towards the SONET/SDH interface.

6.2.2.   Loss of Packet Synchronization

  Once a CEP de-packetizer is in packet synchronization state, it may
  encounter a set of events that will cause it to lose packet
  synchronization.

  If the CEP de-packetizer encounters more than a configurable number
  of sequential empty packets, the CEP de-packetizer MUST declare a
  Loss of Packet Synchronization (LOPS) defect.

  LOPS failure is declared after 2.5 +/- 0.5 seconds of LOPS defect,
  and cleared after 10 seconds free of LOPS defect state.  The circuit
  is considered down as long as LOPS failure is declared.

7.  SONET/SDH Maintenance Signals

  This section describes the mapping of maintenance and alarm signals
  between the SONET/SDH network and the CEP pseudowire.  For clarity,
  the mappings are split into two groups: SONET/SDH to PSN, and PSN to
  SONET/SDH.

  For coherent failure detection, isolation, monitoring, and
  troubleshooting, SONET/SDH failure indications MUST be transferred
  correctly over the CEP pseudowire, and CEP connection failures MUST
  be mapped to SONET/SDH SPE/VT failure indications.  Failure detection
  capabilities and performance monitoring capabilities are dependent on
  the NSP functionality, e.g., LTE, PTE, Tandem Connection Monitoring
  [G.707], or Non-intrusive Monitoring (intermediate connection
  monitoring).

7.1.  SONET/SDH to PSN

  The following sections describe the mapping of SONET/SDH Maintenance
  Signals and Alarm conditions into CEP pseudowire indications.

7.1.1.  CEP-AIS: AIS-P/V Indication

  SONET/SDH Path outages are signaled by using maintenance alarms such
  as Path AIS (AIS-P).  AIS-P, in particular, indicates that the SONET/
  SDH Path is not currently transmitting valid end-user data, and the



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  SPE contains all ones.  Similarly, AIS-V indicates that the VT is not
  currently transmitting valid end-user data, and the VT contains all
  ones.

  It should be noted that nearly every type of service-affecting
  section or line defect would result in an AIS-P/V condition.

  The mapping of SONET/SDH failures into the SPE/VT layer is considered
  part of the NSP function and is based on the principles specified in
  [GR253], [SONET], [G.707], [G.806], and [G.783].  For example, should
  the SONET Section Layer detect a Loss of Signal (LOS) or Loss of
  Frame (LOF) or Section Trace Mismatch (TIM) conditions, an AIS-L is
  sent up to the Line Layer.  If the Line Layer detects AIS-L or Loss
  of Pointer (LOP), an AIS-P is sent to the Path Layer.  If the Path is
  terminated at the PE (i.e., a PTE) and the Path Layer detects AIS-P
  or UNEQ-P or TIM-P or PLM-P an AIS-V is sent to the VT Layer.

  The AIS-P/V indication is transferred to the CEP packetizer.  During
  AIS-P/V, CEP packets are generated as usual.  The L bit in the CEP
  header MUST be set to 1 to signal AIS-P/V explicitly through the
  packet network.  The N and P bits SHOULD be set to 1 to indicate loss
  of pointer indication.

  If DBA has been enabled for AIS-P/V, only the necessary headers and
  optional padding are transmitted into the packet network.  The Length
  field MUST be set to the size of the CEP header plus the size of the
  RTP header if used.

7.1.2.  Unequipped Indication

  Unequipped indication is used for bandwidth conserving modes defined
  in Section 11 as a trigger for payload removal.

  The declaration of the SPE/VT channel as Unequipped MUST conform to
  [GR253], [SONET], [G.806], and [G.783].  Unequipped circuits do not
  carry valid end-user data, but MAY be used for transporting valid
  information in the SPE/VT overhead bytes.  Supervisory Unequipped
  signals and Tandem Connection transport are two such applications:

     Supervisory Unequipped signal (called TEST-P in [SONET]) is used
     to provide a test signal for pre-service testing or in-service
     supervision of a path connection to a remote PTE from a PTE or an
     intermediate non-terminating path network element.  Both
     Unequipped and Supervisory Unequipped signals carry Unequipped
     Signal Label defined to be zero.  To distinguish between
     Unequipped and Supervisory Unequipped signals, [G.806] recommends
     that the SPE/VT Trace bytes J1/J2 be set to a non-zero value in
     Supervisory Unequipped signals.



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     The SPE/VT overhead bytes N1/Z6 (SDH refers to Z6 as N2)
     optionally transport Tandem Connection signals between
     intermediate network elements.  Unequipped signals transporting
     Tandem Connection would have non-zero N1 or N2/Z6 bytes.

  Therefore, the CEP packetizer MUST declare a circuit unequipped only
  if the Signal Label, Trace (J1/J2), and Tandem Connection (N1/N2/Z6)
  bytes all have zero value.

  During SPE/VT Unequipped, the N and P bits MUST be interpreted as
  usual.  The SPE/VT MUST be transmitted into the packet network along
  with the appropriate headers.

  If DBA has been enabled for Unequipped SPE/VT, only the necessary
  headers and optional padding are transmitted into the packet network.
  The Length field MUST be set to the size of the CEP header plus the
  size of the RTP header if used.  The N and P bits MAY be used to
  signal pointer adjustments as normal.

7.1.3.  CEP-RDI: Remote Defect Indication

  The CEP function MUST send CEP-RDI indication towards the packet
  network during loss of packet synchronization by setting the R bit to
  one in the CEP header.  The CEP function SHOULD clear the R bit once
  packet synchronization is restored.

7.2.  PSN to SONET/SDH

  The following sections describe the mapping of pseudowire indications
  to SONET/SDH Maintenance Signals and Alarm conditions.

7.2.1.  CEP-AIS: AIS-P/V Indication

  There are several conditions in the packet network that cause the CEP
  de-packetization function to play out an AIS-P/V indication towards a
  SONET/SDH channel.  The CEP de-packetizer MUST play out one packet's
  worth of all ones for each packet received, and MUST set the SONET/
  SDH Overhead to signal AIS-P/V as defined in [SONET], [GR253], and
  [G.707].

  The first of these is the receipt of CEP packets with the L bit set
  to one indicating that the far end has detected an error leading to
  declaration of AIS-P/V alarm.  In addition to the play out of
  AIS-P/V, the CEP de-packetizer SHOULD set the pointer value to all-
  ones value.






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  The second case that will cause a CEP de-packetization function to
  play out an AIS-P/V indication onto a SONET/SDH channel is during
  loss of packet synchronization.

  The third case is the receipt of CEP packets with both the N and P
  bits set to 1.  This is an explicit indication of Loss of Pointer
  LOP-P/V received at the far-end of the packet network.  In addition
  to play out of AIS-P/V, the CEP de-packetizer SHOULD set the pointer
  value to all-ones value.

7.2.2.  Unequipped Indication

  There are several conditions in the packet network that cause the CEP
  function to transmit Unequipped indications onto the SONET/SDH
  channel.

  The first, which is transparent to CEP, is the receipt of regular CEP
  packets that happen to carry an SPE/VT containing the appropriate
  Path overhead or VT overhead set to Unequipped.  This case does not
  require any special processing on the part of the CEP de-packetizer.

  The second case is the receipt of CEP packets with the Length field
  indicating that the payload was removed by DBA, while the L bit is
  set to 0, indicating that the DBA was triggered by an Unequipped
  indication and not by an AIS-P/V indication.  The CEP de-packetizer
  MUST use this information to transmit a packet of all zeros onto the
  SONET/SDH interface.

  The third case when a CEP de-packetizer MUST play out an SPE/VT
  Unequipped indication towards the SONET/SDH interface is when the
  circuit has been de-provisioned.

8.  SONET/SDH Transport Timing

  It is assumed that the distribution of SONET/SDH transport timing
  information is addressed either through external mechanisms such as
  Building Integrated Timing Supply (BITS), Stand Alone Synchronization
  Equipment (SASE), Global Positioning System (GPS), or other such
  methods, or is obtained through an adaptive timing recovery
  mechanism.

  Details about specific adaptive algorithms for recovery of SONET/SDH
  transport timing are not considered to be within scope for this
  document.  The wander and jitter limits for networks based on the SDH
  hierarchy are defined in [G.825] and for the SONET hierarchy in
  [GR253].  The wander and jitter limits specified in these standards
  must be maintained when CEP PWs are used.




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9.  SONET/SDH Pointer Management

  A pointer management system is defined as part of the definition of
  SONET/SDH.  Details on SONET/SDH pointer management can be found in
  [SONET], [GR253], [G.707], and [G.783].  If there is a frequency
  offset between the frame rate of the transport overhead and that of
  the SONET/SDH SPE, the alignment of the SPE will periodically slip
  back or advance in time through positive or negative stuffing.
  Similarly, if there is a frequency offset between the SPE rate and
  the VT rate it carries, the alignment of the VT will periodically
  slip back or advance in time through positive or negative stuffing
  within the SPE.

  The emulation of this aspect of SONET/SDH networks may be
  accomplished using a variety of techniques including Explicit Pointer
  Adjustment Relay (EPAR) and Adaptive Pointer Management (APM).

  In any case, the handling of the SPE or VT data by the CEP packetizer
  is the same.

  During a negative pointer adjustment event, the CEP packetizer MUST
  incorporate the H3 (or V3) byte from the SONET/SDH stream into the
  CEP packet payload in order with the rest of the SPE (or VT).  During
  a positive pointer adjustment event, the CEP packetizer MUST strip
  the stuff byte from the CEP packet payload.

  When playing out a negative pointer adjustment event, the appropriate
  byte of the CEP payload MUST be placed into the H3 (or V3) byte of
  the SONET/SDH stream.  When playing out a positive pointer
  adjustment, the CEP de-packetizer MUST insert a stuff byte into the
  appropriate position within the SONET/SDH stream.

  The details regarding the use of the H3 (and V3) byte and stuff byte
  during positive and negative pointer adjustments can be found in
  [SONET], [GR253], and [G.707].

9.1.  Explicit Pointer Adjustment Relay (EPAR)

  CEP provides an OPTIONAL mechanism to explicitly relay pointer
  adjustment events from one side of the PSN to the other.  This
  technique is referred to as Explicit Pointer Adjustment Relay (EPAR).
  EPAR is only effective when both ends of the PW have access to a
  common timing reference.

  The following text only applies to CEP implementations that choose to
  implement EPAR.  Any CEP implementation that does not support EPAR
  MUST set the N and P bits to 0.




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  The pointer adjustment event MUST be transmitted in three consecutive
  packets by the packetizer.  The de-packetizer MUST play out the
  pointer adjustment event when any one packet with N/P bit set is
  received.  The CEP de-packetizer MUST utilize the CEP sequence
  numbers to ensure that SONET/SDH pointer adjustment events are not
  played any more frequently than once per every three CEP packets
  transmitted by the remote CEP packetizer.

  The VT EPAR packetizer MUST relay pointer adjustment indications
  received at the SPE level in addition to relaying VT pointer
  adjustment indications.  Because of the rate differences between VT
  and SPE, the magnitude of a VT pointer adjustment is much larger than
  that of an SPE adjustment.  Therefore, the VT EPAR packetizer has to
  convert multiple SPE pointer adjustments to fewer VT pointer
  adjustment indications signaled over the PSN using the N and P CEP
  header bits.  A simple algorithm can be used for this purpose using
  an accumulator (counter):

     The accumulator value is reset to 0 when the circuit is in Loss of
     Packet Synchronization (LOPS) state.

     A positive pointer adjustment indication increases the accumulator
     value by a fixed quota, while negative pointer adjustment
     subtracts the same quota from the accumulator.  A VT pointer
     adjustment changes the accumulator value by 783 units (one STS-1
     SPE size).  An SPE pointer adjustment changes the accumulator
     value by quota that depends on the VT emulation type.  The quota
     is 1/4 of the VT size as defined in Table 1, e.g., 26 bytes for
     VT1.5 emulation and 35 bytes for VT2 emulation.

     When the accumulator value is larger than or equal to 783 units, a
     positive pointer adjustment is signaled towards the PSN using the
     CEP header P bit and 783 units are subtracted from the
     accumulator.

     When the accumulator value is smaller than or equal to minus 783
     units, a negative pointer adjustment is signaled towards the PSN
     using the CEP header N bit and 783 units are added to the
     accumulator.

  The same algorithm is applicable for SDH Virtual Container carried in
  VC-4, i.e., positive VC-4 pointer adjustment adds 35 units to a VC-12
  accumulator, while positive VC-12 pointer adjustment adds 783 units
  to the accumulator.







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  If both N and P bits are set, then a Loss of Pointer event has been
  detected at the PW ingress, making the pointer invalid.  The de-
  packetizer MUST play out an AIS-P/V indication and SHOULD set the
  pointer value to all-ones value.

9.2.  Adaptive Pointer Management (APM)

  Another OPTIONAL method that may be used to emulate SONET/SDH pointer
  management is Adaptive Pointer Management (APM).  In basic terms, APM
  uses information about the depth of the CEP jitter buffers to
  introduce pointer adjustments in the reassembled SONET/SDH SPE.

  Details about specific APM algorithms are not considered to be within
  scope for this document.

10.  CEP Performance Monitors

  SONET/SDH as defined in [SONET], [GR253], [G.707], and [G.784]
  includes a definition of several counters used to monitor the
  performance of SONET/SDH services.  These counters are referred to as
  Performance Monitors.

  In order for CEP to be utilized by traditional SONET/SDH network
  operators, CEP SHOULD provide similar functionality.  The following
  sections describe a number of counters that are collectively referred
  to as CEP Performance Monitors.

10.1.  Near-End Performance Monitors

  These performance monitors are maintained by the CEP de-packetizer
  during reassembly of the SONET/SDH stream.

  The performance monitors are based on two types of defects.

     Type 1: missing or dropped packet.

     Type 2: buffer underrun, buffer overrun, LOPS, missing packets
             above predefined configurable threshold.

  The specific performance monitors defined for CEP are as follows:

     ES-CEP    - CEP Errored Seconds
     SES-CEP   - CEP Severely Errored Seconds
     UAS-CEP   - CEP Unavailable Seconds







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  Each second that contains at least one type 1 defect SHALL be
  declared as ES-CEP.  Each second that contains at least one type 2
  defect SHALL be declared as SES-CEP.

  UAS-CEP SHALL be declared after configurable number of consecutive
  SES-CEP, and cleared after a configurable number of consecutive
  seconds without SES-CEP.  Default value for each is 10 seconds.

  Once unavailability is declared, ES and SES counts SHALL be inhibited
  up to the point where the unavailability was started.  Once
  unavailability is removed, ES and SES that occurred along the
  clearing period SHALL be added to the ES and SES counts.

  CEP-NE failure is declared after 2.5 +/- 0.5 seconds of CEP-NE type 2
  defect, and cleared after 10 seconds free of CEP-NE defect state.
  Sending notification to the OS for CEP-NE failure is local policy.

10.2.  Far-End Performance Monitors

  Far-end performance monitors provide insight into the CEP de-
  packetizer at the far end of the PSN.

  Far-end statistics are based on the CEP-RDI indication carried in the
  CEP header R bit.  CEP-FE defect is declared when CEP-RDI is set in
  the incoming CEP packets.

  CEP-FE failure is declared after 2.5 +/- 0.5 seconds of CEP-FE
  defect, and cleared after 10 seconds free of CEP-FE defect state.
  Sending notification to the OS for CEP-FE failure is local policy.

11.  Payload Compression Options

  In addition to pure emulation, CEP also offers a number of options
  for reducing the total bandwidth utilized by the emulated circuit.
  These options fall into two categories: Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation
  (DBA) and Service-Specific Payload Formats.

  DBA suppresses transmission of the CEP payload altogether under
  certain circumstances such as AIS-P/V and SPE/VT Unequipped.  The use
  of DBA is dependent on network architectures, e.g., support of Tandem
  Connection Monitoring, test signals (TEST-P) [SONET], or Supervisory
  Unequipped [G.806] signals.

  Service-Specific Payload Formats reduce bandwidth by suppressing
  transmission of portions of the SPE based on specific knowledge of
  the SPE payload.





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  Details on these payload compression options are described in the
  following subsections.

11.1.  Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation

  Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation (DBA) is an OPTIONAL mechanism for
  suppressing the transmission of the SPE (or VT) fragment when one of
  two trigger conditions are met, AIS-P/V or SPE/VT Unequipped.

  Implementations that support DBA MUST include a mechanism for
  disabling DBA on a channel-by-channel basis to allow for
  interoperability with implementations that do not support DBA.

  When a DBA trigger is recognized at PW ingress, the CEP payload will
  be suppressed.  The CEP Length field MUST be set to the CEP header
  length plus the RTP header length if used, and padding bytes SHOULD
  be added if the intervening packet network has a minimum packet size
  that is larger than the payload-suppressed DBA packet.

  Other than the suppression of the CEP payload, the CEP behavior
  during DBA should be equivalent to normal CEP behavior.  In
  particular, the packet transmission rate during DBA should be
  equivalent to the normal packet transmission rate.

11.2.  Service-Specific Payload Formats

  In addition to the standard payload encapsulations for SPE and VT
  transport, several OPTIONAL payload formats have been defined to
  provide varying amounts of payload compression depending on the type
  and amount of user traffic present within the SPE.  These are
  described below.

11.2.1.  Fractional STS-1 (VC-3) Encapsulation

  Fractional STS-1 (VC-3) encapsulation carries only a selected set of
  VTs within an STS-1 container.  This mode is applicable for STS-1
  with POH signal label byte C2=2 (VT-structured SPE) and for C2=3
  (Locked VT mode).

  Implementations of fractional STS-1 (VC-3) encapsulation MUST support
  payload length of one SPE and MAY support payload length of 1/3 SPE.

  The mapping of VTs into an STS-1 container is described in Section
  3.2.4 of [GR253], and the mapping into VC-3 is defined in Section
  7.2.4 in [G.707].  The CEP packetizer removes all fixed column bytes
  (columns 30 and 59) and all bytes belonging to the removed VTs.  Only





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  STS-1 POH bytes and bytes that belong to the selected VTs are carried
  within the payload.  The CEP de-packetizer adds the fixed stuff bytes
  and generates unequipped VT data replacing the removed VT bytes.

  The figure below illustrates VT1.5 mapping into an STS-1 SPE.

       1   2   3  * * *  29 30 31 32   * * *  58 59 60  61  * * *  87
      +--+------------------+-+------------------+-+------------------+
    1 |J1|  Byte 1 (V1-V4)  |R|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |
      +--+---+---+------+---+-+------------------+-+------------------+
    2 |B3|VT |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |
      +--+1.5|   |      |   +-+---+---+------+---+-+------------------+
    3 |C2|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |
      +--+   |   |      |   +-+---+---+------+---+-+------------------+
    4 |G1|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |
      +--+   |   |      |   +-+---+---+------+---+-+------------------+
    5 |F2|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |
      +--|1-1|2-1| * * *|7-4|-|1-1|2-1| * * *|7-4|-|1-1|2-1| * * *|7-4|
    6 |H4|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |
      +--+   |   |      |   +-+---+---+------+---+-+------------------+
    7 |Z3|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |
      +--+   |   |      |   +-+---+---+------+---+-+------------------+
    8 |Z4|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |
      +--+   |   |      |   +-+---+---+------+---+-+------------------+
    9 |Z5|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |R|   |   |      |   |
      +--+---+---+------+---+-+---+---+------+---+-+------------------+
       |                     |                    |
       +-- Path Overhead     +--------------------+-- Fixed Stuffs

                  Figure 5: SONET SPE Mapping of VT1.5

  The SPE always contains seven interleaved VT groups (VTGs).  Each VTG
  contains a single type of VT, and each VTG occupies 12 columns (108
  bytes) within each SPE.  A VTG can contain 4 VT1.5s (T1s), 3 VT2s
  (E1s), 2 VT3s, or a single VT6.  Altogether, the SPE can carry 28 T1s
  or carry 21 E1s.

  The fractional STS-1 encapsulation can optionally carry a bit mask
  that specifies which VTs are carried within the STS-1 payload and
  which VTs have been removed.  This optional bit mask attribute allows
  the ingress circuit emulation node to remove an unequipped VT on the
  fly, providing the egress circuit emulation node enough information
  for reconstructing the VTs in the right order.  The use of bit mask
  enables on-the-fly compression, whereby only equipped VTs (carrying
  actual data) are sent.






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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


11.2.1.1.  Fractional STS-1 CEP Header

  The fractional STS-1 CEP header uses the STS-1 CEP header
  encapsulation as defined in this document.  Optionally, an additional
  4-byte header extension word is added.

  The extended header has the following format:

      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |0|0|0|0|L|R|N|P|FRG|Length[0:5]|    Sequence Number[0:15]      |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |               Reserved                |Structure Pointer[0:11]|
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |0|0|0|0|            Equipped Bit Mask (EBM) [0:27]             |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

               Figure 6: Extended Fractional STS-1 Header

  The L, R, N, P, FRG, Length, Sequence Number, and Structured Pointer
  fields are used as defined in this document for STS-1 encapsulation.

  Each bit within the Equipped Bit Mask (EBM) field refers to a
  different VT within the STS-1 container.  A bit set to 1 indicates
  that the corresponding VT is equipped, hence carried within the
  fractional STS-1 payload.

  The STS-1 EBM has the following format:

      0                   1                   2
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |  VTG7 |  VTG6 |  VTG5 |  VTG4 |  VTG3 |  VTG2 |  VTG1 |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

         Figure 7: Equipped Bit Mask (EBM) for Fractional STS-1

  The 28 bits of the EBM are divided into groups of 4 bits, each
  corresponding to a different VTG within the STS container.  All 4
  bits are used to indicate whether VT1.5 (T1) tributaries are carried
  within a VTG.  The first 3 bits read from right to left are used to
  indicate whether VT2 (E1) tributaries are carried within a VTG.  The
  first 2 bits are used to indicate whether VT3 (DS1C) tributaries are
  carried within a VTG.  The rightmost bit is used to indicate whether
  a VT6 (DS2) is carried within the VTG.  The VTs within the VTG are
  numbered from right to left, starting from the first VT as the first
  bit on the right.  For example, the EBM of a fully occupied STS-1



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  with VT1.5 tributaries is all ones, while that of an STS-1 fully
  occupied with VT2 (E1) tributaries has the binary value
  0111011101110111011101110111.

11.2.1.2.  B3 Compensation

  Fractional STS-1 encapsulation can be implemented in Line Terminating
  Equipment (LTE) or in Path Terminating Equipment (PTE).  PTE
  implementations terminate the path layer at the ingress PE and
  generate a new path layer at the egress PE.

  LTE implementations do not terminate the path layer, and therefore
  need to keep the content and integrity of the POH bytes across the
  PSN.  In LTE implementations, special care must be taken to maintain
  the B3 bit-wise parity POH byte.  The B3 compensation algorithm is
  defined below.

  Since the BIP-8 value in a given frame reflects the parity check over
  the previous frame, the changes made to BIP-8 bits in the previous
  frame shall also be considered in the compensation of BIP-8 in the
  current frame.  Therefore, the following equation shall be used for
  compensation of the individual bits of the BIP-8:

     B3[i]'(t) = B3[i](t-1) || B3[i]'(t-1) || B3[i](t) || B*3[i](t-1)

     Where:

        B3[i]   = the existing B3[i] value in the incoming signal
        B3[i]'  = the new (compensated) B3[i] value
        B3*[i]  = the B3[i] value of the unequipped VTs in the
                  incoming signal
        ||  =  exclusive OR operator
        t   =  the time of the current frame
        t-1 =  the time of the previous frame

  The egress PE MUST reconstruct the unequipped VTs and modify the B3
  parity value in the same manner to accommodate the additional VTs
  added.  In this way, the end-to-end BIP is preserved.

11.2.1.3.  Actual Payload Size

  The actual CEP payload size depends on the number of virtual
  tributaries carried within the fractional SPE.  The contributions of
  each tributary to the fractional STS-1 payload size as well as the
  path overhead contribution are described below.

     Each VT1.5 contributes 27 bytes




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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


     Each VT2 contributes 36 bytes

     Each VT3 contributes 54 bytes

     Each VT6 contributes 108 bytes

     STS-1 POH contributes 9 bytes

  For example, a fractional STS-1 carrying 7 VT2 circuit in full-SPE
  encapsulation would have an actual size of 261=36*7+9 bytes.  Divide
  by 3 to calculate the third-SPE encapsulation actual payload sizes.

11.2.2.  Asynchronous T3/E3 STS-1 (VC-3) Encapsulation

  Asynchronous T3/E3 STS-1 (VC-3) encapsulation is applicable for
  signals with POH signal label byte C2=4, carrying asynchronously
  mapped T3 or E3 signals.

  Implementations of asynchronous T3/E3 STS-1 (VC-3) encapsulation MUST
  support payload length of one SPE and MAY support payload length of
  1/3 SPE.

11.2.2.1.  T3 Payload Compression

  A T3 is encapsulated asynchronously into an STS-1 SPE using the
  format defined in Section 3.4.2.1 of [GR253].  The STS-1 SPE is then
  encapsulated as defined in this document.

  Optionally, the STS-1 SPE can be compressed by removing the fixed
  columns leaving only data columns.  STS-1 columns are numbered 1 to
  87, starting from the POH column numbered 1.  The following columns
  have fixed values and are removed: 2, 3, 30, 31, 59, and 60.

  Bandwidth saving is approximately 7% (6 columns out of 87).  The B3
  parity byte need not be modified as the parity of the fixed columns
  amounts to 0.  The actual payload size for full-SPE encapsulation
  would be 729 bytes and 243 bytes for third-SPE encapsulation.

  A T3 is encapsulated asynchronously into a VC-3 container as
  described in Section 10.1.2.1 of [G.707].  VC-3 container has only 85
  data columns, which is identical to the STS-1 container with the two
  fixed stuff columns 30 and 59 removed.  Other than that, the mapping
  is identical.








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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


11.2.2.2.  E3 Payload Compression

  An E3 is encapsulated asynchronously into a VC-3 SPE using the format
  defined in Section 10.1.2.2 of [G.707].  The VC-3 SPE is then
  encapsulated as defined in this document.

  Optionally, the VC-3 SPE can be compressed by removing the fixed
  columns leaving only data columns.  VC-3 columns are numbered 1 to 85
  (and not 87), starting from the POH column numbered 1.  The following
  columns have fixed values and are removed: 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 19, 23,
  27, 31, 35, 39, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 61, 65, 69, 73, 77, and 81.

  Bandwidth saving is approximately 28% (24 columns out of 85).  The B3
  parity byte need not be modified as the parity of the fixed columns
  amounts to 0.  The actual payload size for full-SPE encapsulation
  would be 567 bytes and 189 bytes for third-SPE encapsulation.

11.2.3.  Fractional VC-4 Encapsulation

  SDH defines a mapping of VC-11, VC-12, VC-2, and VC-3 directly into
  VC-4.  This mapping does not have an equivalent within the SONET
  hierarchy.  The VC-4 mapping is common in SDH implementations.

      VC-4 <--x3-- TUG-3 <--------x1-------- TU-3 <-- VC-3 <---- E3/T3
                       |
                       +--x7-- TUG-2 <--x1-- TU-2 <-- VC-2 <---- DS2
                                |
                                +----x3---- TU-12 <-- VC-12<---- E1
                                |
                                +----x4---- TU-11 <-- VC-11<---- T1

                   Figure 8: Mapping of VCs into VC-4

  Figure 8 describes the mapping options of VCs into VC-4.  A VC-4
  contains three TUG-3s.  Each TUG-3 is composed of either a single
  TU-3 or 7 TUG-2s.  A TU-3 contains a single VC-3.  A TUG-2 contains
  either 4 VC-11s (T1s), 3 VC-12s (E1s), or one VC-2.  Therefore, a
  VC-4 may contain 3 VC-3s, 1 VC-3 and 42 VC-12s, 63 VC-12s, etc.

  Fractional VC-4 encapsulation carries only a selected set of VCs
  within a VC-4 container.  This mode is applicable for VC-4 with POH
  signal label byte C2=2 (TUG structure) and for C2=3 (Locked TU-n).
  The mapping of VCs into a VC-4 container is described in Section 7.2
  of [G.707].  The CEP packetizer removes all fixed column bytes and
  all bytes that belong to the removed VCs.  Only VC-4 POH bytes and
  bytes that belong to the selected VCs are carried within the payload.
  The CEP de-packetizer adds the fixed stuff bytes and generates
  unequipped VC data replacing the removed VC bytes.



Malis, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 26]

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  The fractional VC-4 encapsulation can optionally carry a bit mask
  that specifies which VCs are carried within the VC-4 payload and
  which VCs have been removed.  This optional bit mask attribute allows
  the ingress circuit emulation node to remove unequipped VCs on the
  fly, providing the egress circuit emulation node enough information
  for reconstructing the VCs in the right order.  The use of bit mask
  enables on-the-fly compression, whereby only equipped VCs (carrying
  actual data) are sent.

  VC-3 carrying asynchronous T3/E3 signals within the VC-4 container
  can optionally be compressed by removing the fixed column bytes as
  described in Section 11.2.2, providing additional bandwidth saving.

  Implementations of fractional VC-4 encapsulation MUST support payload
  length of 1/3 SPE and MAY support payload lengths of 4/9, 5/9, 6/9,
  7/9, 8/9, and full SPE.  The actual payload size of fractional VC-4
  encapsulation depends on the number of VCs carried within the
  payload.

11.2.3.1.  Fractional VC-4 Mapping

  [G.707] defines the mapping of TUG-3 to a VC-4 in Section 7.2.1.
  Each TUG-3 includes 86 columns.  TUG-3#1, TUG-3#2, and TUG-3#3 are
  byte multiplexed, starting from column 4.  Column 1 is the VC-4 POH,
  while columns 2 and 3 are fixed and therefore removed in the
  fractional VC-4 encapsulation.

  The mapping of TU-3 into TUG-3 is defined in Section 7.2.2 of
  [G.707].  The TU-3 consists of the VC-3 with a 9-byte VC-3 POH and
  the TU-3 pointer.  The first column of the 9-row-by-86-column TUG-3
  is allocated to the TU-3 pointer (bytes H1, H2, H3) and fixed stuff.
  The phase of the VC-3 with respect to the TUG-3 is indicated by the
  TU-3 pointer.

  The mapping of TUG-2 into TUG-3 is defined in Section 7.2.3 of
  [G.707].  The first two columns of the TUG-3 are fixed and therefore
  removed in the fractional VC-4 encapsulation.  The 7 TUG-2s, each 12
  columns wide, are byte multiplexed starting from column 3 of the
  TUG-3.  This is the equivalent of multiplexing 7 VTGs within STS-1
  container in SONET terminology, except for the location of the fixed
  columns.

  The static fractional VC-4 mapping assumes that both the ingress and
  egress nodes are preconfigured with the set of equipped VCs carried
  within the fractional VC-4 encapsulation.  The ingress emulation edge
  removes the fixed columns as well as columns of the VCs agreed upon
  by the two edges, and updates the B3 VC-4 byte.  The egress side adds
  the fixed columns and the unequipped VCs and updates B3.



Malis, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 27]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


11.2.3.2.  Fractional VC-4 CEP Header

  The fractional VC-4 CEP header uses the VC-4 CEP header defined in
  this document.  Optionally, an additional 12-byte header extension
  word is added.

  The extended header has the following format:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |0|0|0|0|L|R|N|P|FRG|Length[0:5]|    Sequence Number[0:15]      |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |               Reserved                |Structure Pointer[0:11]|
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |0|0|         Equipped Bit Mask #1 (EBM) [0:29] TUG-3#1         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |0|0|         Equipped Bit Mask #2 (EBM) [0:29] TUG-3#2         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |0|0|         Equipped Bit Mask #3 (EBM) [0:29] TUG-3#3         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                Figure 9: Extended Fractional VC-4 Header

  The L, R, N, P, FRG, Length, Sequence Number, and Structured Pointer
  fields are used as defined in this document for STS-1 encapsulation.

  Each bit within the Equipped Bit Mask (EBM) field refers to a
  different tributary within the VC-4 container.  A bit set to 1
  indicates that the corresponding tributary is equipped, hence carried
  within the fractional VC-4 payload.

  Three EBM fields are used.  Each EBM field corresponds to a different
  TUG-3 within the VC-4.  The EBM includes 7 groups of 4 bits per
  TUG-2.  A bit set to 1 indicates that the corresponding VC is
  equipped, hence carried within the fractional VC-4 payload.  An
  additional 2 bits within the EBM indicate whether VC-3 carried within
  the TUG-3 is equipped and whether it is in AIS mode.













Malis, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 28]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


  The VC-4 EBM has the following format:

          0                   1                   2
          0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
         |A|T|TUG2#7 |TUG2#6 |TUG2#5 |TUG2#4 |TUG2#3 |TUG2#2 |TUG2#1 |
         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

         Figure 10: Equipped Bit Mask (EBM) for Fractional VC-4

  The 30 bits of the EBM are divided into 2 bits that control the VC-3
  within the TUG-3 and 7 groups of 4 bits, each corresponding to a
  different TUG-2 within the TUG-3 container.

  For a TUG-3 containing TUG-2, the first two A and T bits MUST be set
  to 0.  The TUG-2 bits indicate whether the VCs within the TUG-2 are
  equipped.  All 4 bits are used to indicate whether VC-11 (T1)
  tributaries are carried within a TUG-2.  The first 3 bits read right
  to left are used to indicate whether VC-12 (E1) tributaries are
  carried within a TUG-2.  The first bit is used to indicate that a
  VC-2 is carried within a TUG-2.  The VCs within the TUG-2 are
  numbered from right to left, starting from the first VC as the first
  bit on the right.  For example, 28 bits of the EBM of a fully
  occupied TUG-3 with VC-11 tributaries are all ones, while that of a
  TUG-3 fully occupied with VC-12 tributaries has the binary value
  000111011101110111011101110111.

  For a TUG-3 containing VC-3, all TUG-2 bits MUST be set to 0.  The A
  and T bits are defined as follows:

  T: TUG-3 carried bit.  If set to 1, the VC-3 payload is carried
  within the TUG-3 container.  If set to 0, all the TUG-3 columns are
  not carried within the fractional VC-4 encapsulation.  The TUG-3
  columns are removed either because the VC-3 is unequipped or in AIS
  mode.

  A: VC-3 AIS bit.  The A bit MUST be set to 0 when the T bit is 1
  (i.e., when the TUG-3 columns are carried within the fractional VC-4
  encapsulation).  The A bit indicate the reason for removal of the
  entire TUG-3 columns.  If set to 0, the TUG-3 columns were removed
  because the VC-3 is unequipped.  If set to 1, the TUG-3 columns were
  removed because the VC-3 is in AIS mode.

11.2.3.3.  B3 Compensation

  Fractional VC-4 encapsulation can be implemented in Line Terminating
  Equipment (LTE) or in Path Terminating Equipment (PTE).  PTE
  implementations terminate the path layer at the ingress PE and



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  generate a new path layer at the egress PE.  LTE implementations do
  not terminate the path layer, and therefore need to keep the content
  and integrity of the POH bytes across the PSN.  In LTE
  implementations, special care must be taken to maintain the B3 bit-
  wise parity POH byte.  The same procedures for B3 compensation as
  described in Section 11.2.1.2 for fractional STS-1 encapsulation are
  used.

11.2.3.4.  Actual Payload Sizes

  The actual CEP payload size depends on the number of virtual
  tributaries carried within the fractional SPE.  The contributions of
  each tributary to the fractional VC-4 payload length as well as the
  path overhead contribution are described below.

     Each VC-11 contributes 27 bytes

     Each VC-12 contributes 36 bytes

     Each VC-2 contributes 108 bytes

     Each VC-3(T3) contributes 738 bytes

     Each VC-3(E3) contributes 576 bytes

     Each VC-3(uncompressed) contributes 774 bytes

     VC-4 POH contributes 9 bytes

  The VC-3 contribution includes the AU-3 pointer.  For example, the
  payload size of a fractional VC-4 configured to third-SPE
  encapsulation that carries a single compressed T3 VC-3 and 6 VC-12s
  would be: 321=(9 + 6*36 + 738) / 3 bytes payload per each packet.

12.  Signaling of CEP Pseudowires

  [PWE3-CONTROL] specifies the use of the MPLS Label Distribution
  Protocol, LDP, as a protocol for setting up and maintaining
  pseudowires.  In particular, it provides a way to bind a de-
  multiplexer field value to a pseudo-wire, specifying procedures for
  reporting pseudowire status changes and for releasing the bindings.
  [PWE3-CONTROL] assumes that the pseudowire de-multiplexer field is an
  MPLS label; however, the PSN tunnel itself can be either an IP or
  MPLS PSN.

  The use of LDP for setting up and maintaining CEP pseudowires is
  OPTIONAL.  This section describes the use of the CEP-specific fields
  and error codes.



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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


  The PW Type field in PWid Forwarding Equivalence Class (FEC) and PW
  generalized ID FEC elements MUST be set to SONET/SDH Circuit
  Emulation over Packet (CEP) [PWE3-IANA].

  The control word is REQUIRED for CEP pseudowires.  Therefore, the C
  bit in PWid FEC and PW generalized ID FEC elements MUST be set.  If
  the C bit is not set, the pseudowire MUST not be established and a
  Label Release MUST be sent with an Illegal C bit status code
  [PWE3-IANA].

  The PWid FEC and PW generalized ID FEC elements can include one or
  more Interface Parameters fields.  The Interface Parameters fields
  are used to validate that the two ends of the pseudowire have the
  necessary capabilities to interoperate with each other.  The CEP-
  specific Interface Parameters fields are the CEP/TDM Payload Bytes,
  the CEP/TDM Bit Rate, and the CEP Options parameters.

12.1.  CEP/TDM Payload Bytes

  This parameter MUST contain the expected CEP payload size in bytes.
  The payload size does not include network headers, CEP header or
  padding.  If payload compression is used, the CEP/TDM Payload Bytes
  parameter MUST be set to the uncompressed payload size as if payload
  compression was disabled.  In particular, when Fractional SPE (STS-1/
  VC-3 or VC-4) payload compression is used, the Payload Bytes
  parameter MUST be set to the payload size before removal of the
  unequipped VT containers and fixed value columns.  Therefore, when
  fractional SPE mode is used, the actual (i.e., on the wire) packet
  length would normally be less than advertised, and in dynamic
  fractional SPE, even change while the connection is active.
  Similarly, when DBA payload compression is used, the CEP/TDM Payload
  Bytes parameter MUST be set to the payload size prior to compression.

  The CEP/TDM Payload Bytes parameter is OPTIONAL.  Default payload
  sizes are assumed if this parameter is not included as part of the
  Interface Parameters fields.  The default payload size for VT is a
  single super frame.  The default payload size for SPE is 783 bytes.

  A PE that receives a label-mapping request with request for a CEP/TDM
  Payload Bytes value that is not locally supported MUST return CEP/TDM
  misconfiguration status error code [PWE3-IANA], and the pseudowire
  MUST not be established.

12.2.  CEP/TDM Bit Rate

  The CEP/TDM Bit Rate parameter MUST be set to the data rate in 64-
  Kbps units of the CEP payload.  If payload compression is used, the
  CEP/TDM Bit Rate parameter MUST be set to the uncompressed payload



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  data rate as if payload compression was disabled.  Table 3 specifies
  the CEP/TDM Bit Rate parameters that MUST be set for each of the
  pseudowire circuits.

                 +-------------+-----------------------+
                 | Circuit     |   Bit Rate Parameter  |
                 +-------------+-----------------------+
                 | VT1.5/VC-11 |           26          |
                 | VT2/VC-12   |           35          |
                 | VT3         |           53          |
                 | VT6/VC-2    |          107          |
                 | STS-Nc      | 783*N N=1,3,12,48,192 |
                 +-------------+-----------------------+

                       Table 3: CEP/TDM Bit Rates

  The CEP/TDM Bit Rate parameter is REQUIRED.  Attempts to establish a
  pseudowire between two peers with different bit rates MUST be
  rejected with incompatible bit rate status error code [PWE3-IANA],
  and the pseudowire MUST not be established.

12.3.  CEP Options

  The CEP Options parameter is REQUIRED.  The format of the CEP Options
  parameter is described below:

       0                                       1
       0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   1   2   3   4   5
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
     |AIS|UNE|RTP|EBM|      Reserved [0:6]       | CEP Type  | Async |
     |   |   |   |   |                           |    [0:2]  |T3 |E3 |
     +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

                         Figure 11: CEP Options

  AIS:  When set, indicates that the PE sending the label-mapping
     request is configured to send DBA packets when AIS indication is
     detected.

  UNE:  When set, indicates that the PE sending the label-mapping
     request is configured to send DBA packets when unequipped circuit
     indication is detected.

  RTP:  When set, indicates that the PE sending the label-mapping
     request is configured to send packets with RTP header.






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  EBM:  When set, indicates that the PE sending the label-mapping
     request is configured to send packets with EBM extension header.

  CEP Type:  indicates the CEP connection type:

        0x0 SPE mode (STS-1/STS-Mc)

        0x1 VT mode (VT1.5/VT2/VT3/VT6)

        0x2 Fractional SPE (STS-1/VC-3/VC-4)

  Async Type:  indicates the Async E3/T3 bandwidth reduction
     configuration.  Relevant only when CEP type is set to fractional
     SPE, and fractional SPE is expected to carry Asynchronous T3/E3
     payload:

        T3: When set, indicates that the PE sending the label-mapping
        request is configured to send Fractional SPE packets with T3
        bandwidth reduction.

        E3: When set, indicates that the PE sending the label-mapping
        request is configured to send Fractional SPE packets with E3
        bandwidth reduction.

  Reserved field:  MUST be set to 0 by the PE sending the label-mapping
     request and ignored by the receiver.

  A PE that does not support one of the CEP options set in the label-
  mapping request MUST send a label-release message with status code of
  CEP/TDM misconfiguration [PWE3-IANA], report to the operator, and
  wait for a new consistent label-mapping.  A PE MUST send a new label-
  mapping request once it is reconfigured or when it receives a label-
  mapping request from its peer with consistent configuration.

  A pseudowire can be configured asymmetrically.  One PE can be
  configured to use bandwidth reduction modes, while the other PE can
  be configured to send the entire circuit unmodified.  A PE can
  compare the CEP Options settings received in the label-mapping
  request with its own configuration and detect an asymmetric
  pseudowire configuration.  A PE that identifies an asymmetric
  configuration MAY report it to the operator.










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13.  Congestion Control

  The PSN carrying the CEP PW may be subject to congestion.  Congestion
  considerations for PWs are described in Section 6.5 of [PWE3-ARCH].
  CEP PWs represent inelastic constant bit rate (CBR) flows and cannot
  respond to congestion in a TCP-friendly manner prescribed by [CONG].
  CEP PWs SHOULD be carried across traffic-engineered PSNs that provide
  either bandwidth reservation and admission control or forwarding
  prioritization and boundary traffic conditioning mechanisms.
  Intserv-enabled domains [INTSERV] supporting Guaranteed Service [GS]
  and Diffserv-enabled domains [DIFFSERV] supporting Expedited
  Forwarding [EF] provide examples of such PSNs.  It is expected that
  PWs emulating high-rate SONET STS-Nc or SDH virtual circuits will be
  tunneled over traffic-engineered MPLS PSN.

  CEP PWs SHOULD monitor packet loss in order to detect "severe
  congestion".  If such a condition is detected, a CEP PW SHOULD shut
  down bi-directionally.  This specification does not define the exact
  criteria for detecting "severe congestion" using the CEP packet loss
  rate and the consequent restart criteria after a suitable delay.
  This is left for further study.

  If the CEP PW has been set up using the PWE3 control protocol
  [PWE3-CONTROL], the regular PW teardown procedures SHOULD be used
  upon detection of "severe congestion".

  The SONET/SDH services emulated by CEP PWs have high availability
  objectives that MUST be taken into account when deciding on temporary
  shutdown of CEP PWs.  CEP performance monitoring provides entry and
  exit criteria for the CEP PW unavailable state (UAS-CEP).  Detection
  of "severe congestion" MAY be based on unavailability criteria of the
  CEP PW.

14.  Security Considerations

  The CEP encapsulation is subject to all of the general security
  considerations discussed in [PWE3-ARCH].  In addition, this document
  specifies only encapsulations, and not the protocols used to carry
  the encapsulated packets across the PSN.  Each such protocol may have
  its own set of security issues, but those issues are not affected by
  the encapsulations specified herein.  Note that the security of the
  transported CEP service will only be as good as the security of the
  PSN.  This level of security may be less rigorous than that available
  from a native TDM service due to the inherent differences between
  circuit-switched and packet-switched public networks.






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  Although CEP MAY employ an RTP header when explicit transfer of
  timing information is required, SRTP [RFC3711] mechanisms are not a
  substitute for securing the PW and underlying MPLS network.

15.  IANA Considerations

  IANA considerations for pseudowires are covered in [PWE3-IANA].  CEP
  does not introduce additional requirements from IANA.

16.  Acknowledgments

  The authors would like to thank the members of the PWE3 Working Group
  for their assistance on this document.  We thank Sasha Vainshtein,
  Deborah Brungard, Juergen Heiles, and Nick Weeds for their review and
  valuable feedback.

17.  Co-Authors

  The individuals listed below are co-authors of this document.  Tom
  Johnson from Litchfield Communications was the editor of this
  document from the pre-WG versions of the SONET SPE work through
  version 01 of this document.

          Craig White          Level3 Communications
          Ed Hallman           Litchfield Communications
          Jeremy Brayley       Laurel Networks
          Jim Boyle            Juniper Networks
          John Shirron         Laurel Networks
          Luca Martini         Cisco Systems
          Marlene Drost        Litchfield Communications
          Steve Vogelsang      Laurel Networks
          Tom Johnson          Litchfield Communications
          Ken Hsu              Tellabs


















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RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


Appendix A.  SONET/SDH Rates and Formats

  For simplicity, the discussion in this section uses SONET
  terminology, but it applies equally to SDH as well.  SDH-equivalent
  terminology is shown in the tables.

  The basic SONET modular signal is the synchronous transport signal-
  level 1 (STS-1).  A number of STS-1s may be multiplexed into higher-
  level signals denoted as STS-N, with N synchronous payload envelopes
  (SPEs).  The optical counterpart of the STS-N is the Optical Carrier-
  level N, or OC-N.  Table 4 lists standard SONET line rates discussed
  in this document.

  +-------------+--------+---------+----------+-----------+-----------+
  | OC Level    |   OC-1 |    OC-3 |    OC-12 |     OC-48 |    OC-192 |
  +-------------+--------+---------+----------+-----------+-----------+
  | SDH Term    |      - |   STM-1 |    STM-4 |    STM-16 |    STM-64 |
  | Line        | 51.840 | 155.520 |  622.080 | 2,488.320 | 9,953.280 |
  | Rate(Mb/s)  |        |         |          |           |           |
  +-------------+--------+---------+----------+-----------+-----------+

                   Table 4: Standard SONET Line Rates

  Each SONET frame is 125us and consists of nine rows.  An STS-N frame
  has nine rows and N*90 columns.  Of the N*90 columns, the first N*3
  columns are transport overhead and the other N*87 columns are SPEs.
  A number of STS-1s may also be linked together to form a super-rate
  signal with only one SPE.  The optical super-rate signal is denoted
  as OC-Nc, which has a higher payload capacity than OC-N.

  The first 9-byte column of each SPE is the path overhead (POH) and
  the remaining columns form the payload capacity with fixed stuff
  (STS-Nc only).  The fixed stuff, which is purely overhead, is N/3-1
  columns for STS-Nc.  Thus, STS-1 and STS-3c do not have any fixed
  stuff, STS-12c has three columns of fixed stuff, and so on.

  The POH of an STS-1 or STS-Nc is always 9 bytes in nine rows.  The
  payload capacity of an STS-1 is 86 columns (774 bytes) per frame.
  The payload capacity of an STS-Nc is (N*87)-(N/3) columns per frame.
  Thus, the payload capacity of an STS-3c is (3*87 - 1)*9 = 2,340 bytes
  per frame.  As another example, the payload capacity of an STS-192c
  is 149,760 bytes, which is 64 times the capacity of an STS-3c.

  There are 8,000 SONET frames per second.  Therefore, the SPE size,
  (POH plus payload capacity) of an STS-1 is 783*8*8,000 = 50.112 Mb/s.
  The SPE size of a concatenated STS-3c is 2,349 bytes per frame or





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  150.336 Mb/s.  The payload capacity of an STS-192c is 149,760 bytes
  per frame, which is equivalent to 9,584.640 Mb/s.  Table 5 lists the
  SPE and payload rates supported.

  +-------------+--------+---------+----------+-----------+-----------+
  | SONET STS   |  STS-1 |  STS-3c |   OC-12c |    OC-48c |   OC-192c |
  | Level       |        |         |          |           |           |
  +-------------+--------+---------+----------+-----------+-----------+
  | SDH VC      |   VC-3 |    VC-4 |  VC-4-4c |  VC-4-16c |  VC-4-64c |
  | Level       |        |         |          |           |           |
  | Payload     |    774 |   2,340 |    9,360 |    37,440 |   149,760 |
  | Size(Bytes) |        |         |          |           |           |
  | Payload     | 49.536 | 149.760 |  599.040 | 2,396.160 | 9,584.640 |
  | Rate(Mb/s)  |        |         |          |           |           |
  | SPE         |    783 |   2,349 |    9,396 |    37,584 |   150,336 |
  | Size(Bytes) |        |         |          |           |           |
  | SPE         | 50.112 | 150.336 |  601.344 | 2,405.376 | 9,621.504 |
  | Rate(Mb/s)  |        |         |          |           |           |
  +-------------+--------+---------+----------+-----------+-----------+

                     Table 5: Payload Size and Rate

  To support circuit emulation, the entire SPE of a SONET STS or SDH VC
  level is encapsulated into packets, using the encapsulation defined
  in Section 5, for carriage across packet-switched networks.

  VTs are organized in SONET super-frames, where a SONET super-frame is
  a sequence of four SONET SPEs.  The SPE path overhead byte H4
  indicates the SPE number within the super-frame.  The VT data can
  float relative to the SPE position.  The overhead bytes V1, V2, and
  V3 are used as pointer and stuffing byte similar to the use of the
  H1, H2, and H3 TOH bytes.

Appendix B.  Example Network Diagrams

  Figure 12 below illustrates a SONET interconnect example.  Site A and
  Site B are connected back to a Hub Site, Site C by means of a SONET
  infrastructure.  The OC-12 from Site A and the OC-12 from Site B are
  partially equipped.  Each of them is transported through a SONET
  network back to a hub site C.  Equipped SPEs (or VTs) are then
  groomed onto the OC-12 towards site C.










Malis, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 37]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


                                SONET Network
                           ____     ___       ____
                          /    \___/   \    _/    \__
    +------+ Physical    /              \__/         \
    |Site A|    OC-12   /    +---+     OC-12           \       Hub Site
    |      |=================|\S/|-------------+-----+  \      +------+
    |      |           \     |/ \|=============|\   /|   \     |      |
    +------+           /\    +---+-------------| \ / |  / OC-12|      |
                      /                        |  S  |=========|Site C|
    +------+ Physical/       +---+-------------| / \ |  \      |      |
    |Site B|   OC-12 \       |\S/|=============|/   \|   \     |      |
    |      |=================|/ \|-------------+-----+   /     +------+
    |      |          \      +---+     OC-12     __     /
    +------+           \                      __/  \   /
                        \   ___      ___     /      \_/
                         \_/   \____/   \___/

              Figure 12: SONET Interconnect Example Diagram

  Figure 13 below illustrates the same pair of OC-12s being emulated
  over a PSN.  This configuration frees up bandwidth in the grooming
  network, since only equipped SPEs (or VTs) are sent through the PSN.
  Additional bandwidth savings can be realized by taking advantage of
  the various payload compression options described in Section 11.


                           SONET/TDM/Packet Network
                          ____     ___       ____
                         /    \___/   \     /    \__
    +------+ Physical   /+-+            \__/         \_
    |Site A|   OC-12   / | | +---+                     \       Hub Site
    |      |=============|P|=| R |   +---+ +-+ +-----+  \      +------+
    |      |           \ |E| |   |===|   | | |=|\   /|   \     |      |
    +------+           /\+-+ +---+   |   | | | | \ / |  / OC-12|      |
                      /              | R |=|P| |  S  |=========|Site C|
    +------+ Physical/   +-+ +---+   |   | |E| | / \ |  \      |      |
    |Site B|   OC-12 \   |P| | R |===|   | | |=|/   \|   \     |      |
    |      |=============|E|=|   |   +---+ +-+ +-----+   /     +------+
    |      |          \  | | +---+               __     /
    +------+           \ +-+                  __/  \   /
                        \   ___      ___     /      \_/
                         \_/   \____/   \___/

         Figure 13: SONET Interconnect Emulation Example Diagram







Malis, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 38]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


  Figure 14 below shows an example of T1 grooming into OC-12 in access
  networks.  The VT encapsulation is used to transport the T1s from the
  Hub site to customer sites, maintaining SONET/SDH Operations and
  Management (OAM).


                         SONET/TDM/Packet Network
                          ____     ___       ____
                         /    \___/   \     /    \__
    +------+ Physical   /+-+            \__/         \_
    |Site A|    T1     / | | +---+                     \       Hub Site
    |      |=============|P|=| R |   +---+ +-+ +-----+  \      +------+
    |      |           \ |E| |   |===|   | | |=|\   /|   \     |      |
    +------+           /\+-+ +---+   |   | | | | \ / |  / OC-12|      |
                      /              | R |=|P| |  S  |=========|Site C|
    +------+ Physical/   +-+ +---+   |   | |E| | / \ |  \      |      |
    |Site B|    T1   \   |P| | R |===|   | | |=|/   \|   \     |      |
    |      |=============|E|=|   |   +---+ +-+ +-----+   /     +------+
    |      |          \  | | +---+               __     /
    +------+           \ +-+                  __/  \   /
                        \   ___      ___     /      \_/
                         \_/   \____/   \___/

        Figure 14: T1 to OC-12 Grooming Emulation Example Diagram



























Malis, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 39]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


18.  References

18.1.  Normative References

  [G.707]         "Network Node Interface For The Synchronous Digital
                  Hierarchy", ITU-T Recommendation G.707,
                  December 2003.

  [G.783]         "Characteristics of synchronous digital hierarchy
                  (SDH) equipment functional blocks", ITU-T
                  Recommendation G.783, February 2004.

  [G.784]         "Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) management",
                  ITU-T Recommendation G.784, July 1999.

  [G.806]         "Characteristics of transport equipment-Description
                  methodology and generic functionality", ITU-T
                  Recommendation G.806, February 2004.

  [G.825]         "The control of jitter and wander within digital
                  networks which are based on the synchronous digital
                  hierarchy (SDH)", ITU-T Recommendation G.825,
                  March 2000.

  [GR253]         "Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) Transport
                  Systems: Common Generic Criteria", Telcordia GR-253-
                  CORE Issue 3, September 2000.

  [MPLS]          Rosen, E., Tappan, D., Fedorkow, G., Rekhter, Y.,
                  Farinacci, D., Li, T., and A. Conta, "MPLS Label
                  Stack Encoding", RFC 3032, January 2001.

  [PWE3-CONTROL]  Martini, L., Rosen, E., El-Aawar, N., Smith, T., and
                  G. Heron, "Pseudowire Setup and Maintenance Using the
                  Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)", RFC 4447,
                  April 2006.

  [PWE3-IANA]     Martini, L., "IANA Allocations for Pseudowire Edge to
                  Edge Emulation (PWE3)", BCP 116, RFC 4446,
                  April 2006.

  [RFC2119]       Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
                  Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

  [RTP]           Schulzrinne, H., Casner, S., Frederick, R., and V.
                  Jacobson, "RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time
                  Applications", STD 64, RFC 3005, July 2003.




Malis, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 40]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


  [SONET]         "Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) - Basic
                  Description including Multiplex Structure, Rates and
                  Formats", ANSI T1.105-2001, October 2001.

18.2.  Informative References

  [CONG]          Floyd, S., "Congestion Control Principles", RFC 2914,
                  September 2000.

  [DIFFSERV]      Blake, S., Black, D., Carlson, M., Davies, E., Wang,
                  Z., and W. Weiss, "An Architecture for Differentiated
                  Services", RFC 2475, December 1998.

  [EF]            Davie, B., Charny, A., Bennett, J., Benson, K., Le
                  Boudec, J., Courtney, W., Davari, S., Firoiu, V., and
                  D. Stiliadis, "An Expedited Forwarding PHB (Per-Hop
                  Behavior)", RFC 3246, March 2002.

  [GS]            Shenker, S., Partridge, C., and R. Guerin,
                  "Specification of Guaranteed Quality of Service",
                  RFC 2212, September 1997.

  [INTSERV]       Braden, R., Clark, D., and S. Shenker, "Integrated
                  Services in the Internet Architecture: an Overview",
                  RFC 1633, June 1994.

  [PWE3-ARCH]     Bryant, S. and P. Pate, "PWE3 Architecture",
                  RFC 3985, March 2005.

  [PWE3-MPLSCW]   Bryant, S., Swallow, G., and D. McPherson, "Control
                  Word for Use over an MPLS PSN", RFC 4385,
                  February 2006.

  [PWE3-REQ]      Xiao, X., McPherson, D., and P. Pate, "Requirements
                  for Pseudo Wire Emulation Edge-to-Edge (PWE3)",
                  RFC 3916, September 2004.

  [PWE3-TDM-REQ]  Riegel, M., "Requirements for Edge-to-Edge Emulation
                  of TDM Circuits over Packet Switching Networks
                  (PSN)", RFC 4197, October 2005.

  [RFC3711]       Baugher, M., McGrew, D., Naslund, N., Carrara, E.,
                  and K. Norrman, "The Secure Real-time Transport
                  Protocol (SRTP)", RFC 3711, March 2004.







Malis, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 41]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


Authors' Addresses

  Andrew G. Malis
  Verizon Communications
  40 Sylvan Road
  Waltham, MA  02451
  USA

  EMail: [email protected]


  Prayson Pate
  Overture Networks
  507 Airport Blvd, Suite 111
  Morrisville, NC  27560
  USA

  EMail: [email protected]


  Ron Cohen (editor)
  Resolute Networks
  15 Central Avenue
  Modiin,   71700
  Israel

  EMail: [email protected]


  David Zelig
  Corrigent Systems
  126 Yigal Alon st.
  Tel Aviv,
  Israel

  EMail: [email protected]















Malis, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 42]

RFC 4842              SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation             April 2007


Full Copyright Statement

  Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007).

  This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
  contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
  retain all their rights.

  This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
  "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
  OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY, THE IETF TRUST AND
  THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS
  OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF
  THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
  WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

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  The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
  Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
  pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
  this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
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Acknowledgement

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