Luigi Ronchetti

Synchronization techniques in backhauling networks

Synchronization in transport networks was a hot topic for telecom in early 90s with the advent of SDH, replacing PDH. When packet networks and the Internet began to spread, it subsided for some years, until mobile technologies evolved from TDM (2G) to packets (3G, 4G). Nowadays the transport of frequency and time over transport networks is one of the most debated topics both in the industry and within international standard bodies, presenting several challenging aspects that even tend to multiply as new technologies not originally thought to carry synchronization are used for mobile backhauling, ranging from packets (L2 and L3), to TDM and WDM (OTN, CPRI). In this paper we analyse from a technical and economical point of view common problems and solutions related to the transport of frequency and time across several types of TDM and packet networks, summarizing latest research results, open issues and possible directions for evolution.

Extending the scope of OTN to access and metro networks

Network based on OTN standard (ITU-T G.709), originally devised for core networks, are foreseen to play an important role also in metro and possibly access optical networks, because of the always increasing bandwidth needs as well as of some new (at least numerically) requirements like latency and jitter control. In a historical timeframe in which the standardization activity is primarily focused on the extension of the hierarchy beyond 100 Gb/s, in this paper we quickly recap the basics of OTN, some more recent standard trends, and describe a couple of access and metro applications to which the technology can be easily adapted, both for evolving legacy services, which still exist, to new transmission platforms and for delivering new 5G oriented services.