Universal plesiochronous multiplexing (UPM) for arbitrary rate isochronous circuit emulation

The authors consider an alternative to ATM for the transport of arbitrary rate isochronous signals without cell loss, with minimal delay, and with the low jitter characteristic of PDH/SDH multiplexing. Configurable pulse-stuffing multiplex circuits implement a custom multiplexing format, as required for each application rate. The authors analyse the theoretical frequency coverage of the concept, and compare experimental against predicted jitter in test cases. The authors suggest a unified method and circuit architecture for the bulk mapping of any isochronous tributary into the corresponding SONET, DS3 or SDH carrier signal