SDH and its management

Because of its regulatory position, the UK has a number of independent SDH networks, highlighting the factors involved in interworking. These networks vary from a few rings to a complex network with highly integrated management. Such a network has to be extremely robust, not just at traffic level, but also in terms of the supporting functions such as data communications and synchronisation. The lessons which GPT has learned in meeting that challenge, in supplying SDH networks to BT, Southwestern Bell, and other networks in the UK and elsewhere, form the background to this paper. It gives a view of some of the more important issues which arise in the planning of a management system for an SDH network. In this paper the focus is on the network and element levels