SONET intra-office interconnect signal

The authors suggest that deployment of SONET-compatible equipment will lead to a scenario, especially in a large central office, in which SONET signals interconnect equipment in the same central office. Some of the section and line overhead functions and capabilities which are essential for transport network applications will not be needed for these intra-office interconnect signals. Furthermore, because of the short distances involved for the interconnect signals, low-cost optical transmitters and receivers with requirements less stringent than those specified in the SONET optical interface specifications could be used for such applications. Alternatively, in some cases, so-called SONET electrical signals could be used. The authors consider the physical layer parameters of the interface and a basic set of section and line overhead features that an intra-office interconnect signal should support. The motivation is the minimization of overall SONET transport network cost