Synchronous transmission

Target audience:

This course is designed for technicians and engineers involved in the design, commissioning and maintenance of synchronous transmission networks. This course is a useful primer for the subsequent study of the PTT courses: "SDH principles" and "Optical transport networks".

 

Course prerequisites:

An understanding of the characteristics of digital signals. It is recommended that the PTT online courses "Analogue and digital signals" and "Signal impairments" are studied before attempting this "Synchronous transmission " course.

 

Course objectives:
By the end of this course you will be able to:

• describe the principles and applications of time division multiplexing (TDM).
• describe the role and basic operation of different types of synchronous equipment inc. terminal multiplexers, drop and insert multiplexers and cross-connect equipment.
• compare the multiplexing capabilities of equipment in a network employing the synchronisation digital hierarchy (SDH) with those in an optical transport network (OTN).
• explain the need for timing control in a synchronous transmission network.
• define jitter and explain causes of jitter and methods of minimising the impairment.
• describe the various methods employed in SDH networks and optical transport networks of compensating for variations in bit rate of multiplexed signals.
• describe the hierarchical structure of a timing distribution network.
• describe the roles of, and relationship between, primary and secondary timing sources with reference to their respective timing stabilities and suitable types of clock.
• compare frequency, phase, and time synchronisation with reference to their applications.
• describe methods of distributing timing over synchronous and asynchronous networks.
• explain the the role of the precision time protocol in radio access networks.

 

Approximate study time: 5 hours 

 

Delivery platform requirements:
To access the course, a computer/tablet running a browser such as Chrome, Safari, Edge etc. is required. The device should have an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024x768.