An experimental 2.488 gigabit/sec SONET STS-3c to STS-48 byte multiplexer and demultiplexer

To study the key technical issues in SONET (synchronous optical network byte multiplexing at gigabit/s data rates and the interworking of SONET and other broadband network elements, the authors implemented an experimental SONET STS-48 (synchronous transport signal) (2.488 Gb/s) testbed with broadband user interfaces (STS-3c and higher data rates). The testbed includes a SONET-compatible experimental STS-3c to STS-48 byte multiplexer and demultiplexer. A description is presented of the architecture, implementation, and experimental results of the high-speed components of the byte multiplexer and demultiplexer. The implementation employs a combination of custom VLSI integrated circuits and off-the-shelf components for rapid prototyping and verifying the validity of the architecture