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Introduction:

ISDN definition:

ISDN: in terms it is Integrated Services Digital Network.

In fact it is many things, it is an enhancement to the conventional telephone local loop that allows voice and data to be curried over the same line.

It allows access to the network and its infrastructure

Needs of ISDN:

• Needs for international digital communication system
• The demand for increased bandwidth
• Eliminate the problem of different access methods by providing single set of wires and protocols. So it gives a uniform solution to users on a single CPE.

ISDN standards provide the rules for the user interface to the network and do not describe the network itself.

They define the services and not their implementations or methods of utilization.

It defines the interface between the user and the network
 
 

Terms:

B (Bearer) Channel

A 64 Kbps channel used exclusively for carrying user information (voice, video or data).

BRI (Basic Rate Interface)

An ISDN interface which provides a total bandwidth of 160 Kbps over a single 2-wire facility. BRI consists of 2 bearer (B) channels at 64 Kbps each, and 1 delta (D) channel at 16 Kbps. This configuration is commonly referred to as 2B + D.

C.O. (Central Office)

This is one of the local telephone company's offices, from which circuits are run to support the surrounding area. ISDN circuits can extend up to 18,000 feet (5.5 Km) from a Central Office.

CPE (Customer Premises Equipment)

Equipment owned by the customer, not the network provider (LEC).

D (delta) Channel

A channel which carries all signaling between the CPE and the network. For PRI, the delta channel runs at 64 Kbps and cannot carry any user data. For BRI, the delta channel runs at 16 Kbps, and about 9.6 Kbps of the channel can be used to carry user data.

ISDN Island

An ISDN C.O. that can only connect users to others within the same office (this is caused by switching equipment that does not interoperate with the switching equipment used by other telephone companies).

IXC (Inter Exchange Carrier)

A long distance telephone company, the largest being AT&T, MCI and Sprint.

LEC (local Exchange Carrier)

A local telephone company, such as Ameritech, or any of the regional Bell operating companies.

National ISDN 1

A specific implementation of ISDN now being implemented in the United States, designed to standardize equipment, services and procedures used by telephone companies within the U.S.

NI (Network Interface)

The connection point between customer-owned and network-owned wiring and equipment. The NI is provided by the LEC. It also protects against induced voltage spikes.

NT1 (Network Terminator 1)

Hardware purchased by the customer, the NT1 is a device, which provides an interface between the 2-wire facility used by the telephone company, and the 4-wire facility at the customer's site. The

NT1 multiplexes the 2 B and D channels onto a single ISDN line. It also translates bit encoding schemes.

PRI (Primary Rate Interface)

An ISDN interface intended primarily for businesses, it provides a total bandwidth of 1.544 Mbps across a 4-wire facility. This facility is split into 23 B (bearer) channels and 1 D (delta) channel, each

providing 64 Kbps.

T Interface

The interface between the NT1 and the customer-owned circuit. This is a 4-wire interface, and is designed to multiplex the 2 B channels and the 1 D channel through a single facility, operating at short distances with little noise.

U Interface

The interface between the NT1 and the telephone company's network (the local loop). This is a 2-wire facility, and is designed to deal with relatively long circuit lengths (up to 18,000 feet) and a noisy environment.
 
 
 
 

ISDN Rates & Channels:

D-Channel: carries signaling information between the user and the network

B-Channel: carries the user information including voice, data, and video…. At D0-0 rate (64kbps)

H-Channel: the same as B-channel but at bit rate higher than DS-0 through grouping of B-channels

H₀ 384kbps

H₁ 1.472Mbps
 
 

BRI - Basic Rate Interface (also known as 2B + D) (Basic Rate Access)

BRI provides a total bandwidth of 160 Kbps. This bandwidth is divided up into:

2 B (bearer) channels at 64 Kbps each

1 D (delta) channel at 16 Kbps

The remaining 8 Kbps is used for diagnostics and network operations.

The B channels can be used for any type of user data (voice, video, data). They can also be combined into a single 128 Kbps channel.

The D channel is used by the Central Office for signaling, but the entire 16 Kbps is not required for this purpose. Up to 9.6 Kbps can be used to carry user data.

Each D channel performs the signaling for single ISDN node but sometimes for devices that have multiple interfaces it can use this channel for all devices

It provides ISDN access between residential or business customers to ISDN Local Exchange.

It provides ISDN access between user equipment and an ISDN compatible PBXs.

PRI - Primary Rate Interface (Primary Rate Access)

PRI provides a total bandwidth of 1.544 Mbps. This bandwidth is divided up into:

23 B (bearer) channels at 64 Kbps each

1 D (delta) channel at 64 Kbps

The remaining 8 Kbps is used for framing and overhead

The B channels can be used for any type of user data (voice, video, data).

The D channel is used for signaling and all network functions for the 23 B channels. With PRI, the D channel cannot be used to carry user data.
 
 

ISDN interfaces:

ISDN standards define different types of devices that have certain functions but may not represent physical devices so they called functional devices.

ISDN devices:

LE : Local Exchange

1. Provides the ISDN services.
2. It is the Network side of the ISDN local loop.
3. It is responsible for, maintenance, physical interface, timing and user request services.
4. It can be divided into two subgroups: local termination (LT) and exchange termination (ET).
5. LT: it handles functions associated with local loop termination.
6. ET: it handles switching functions
7. Signaling support. For packet mode and frame mode. Packet handler and Frame handler.

1. Local loop terminator
2. Physical connection between customer side and LE.
3. Responsible of line performance, monitoring , timing and physical signaling conversion
4. Owned by the network administrator that makes the local loop part.

1. Provides multiplexing and switching on customer site.
2. It includes PBXs, routers, hosts,…
3. It may be absent in some ISDN environment "residential"

1. End user device that utilizes ISDN protocol.

1. End user device that is non-ISDN compatible.

Allows non-ISDN devices (TE2) to communicate with the network.

These devices communicate between each other through interfaces and special protocols. These interfaces are called reference points. Shown in the next figures

ITU-T I series defines the reference configuration. It concerns the Customer Premise Equipment (CPE). There are two groups, Terminal Equipment (TE) and Network Termination (NT)
 
 

S: supports point-to-multipoint with one NT2 and up to 8 TE’s

T: supports point-to-point

S Interface:

• 4 wires
• two wires for transmit from TE to NT and two for transmission on the opposite side
• clock is extracted from the data
• 144 kbps 2B+D BRI
• up to 8 TE’s multidrop arch
• baseband transmission
• after framming and mux info but rate is 192 kbps
• between user equipment (TE1 or TA) and network termination equipment (NT1 or NT2)

• between customer site switching equipment (NT2) and local loop termination (NT1)

• between NT1 and LE

• Interface between non-isdn terminal and TA
• It will allow TE2 to appear as ISND device on the network.
• There is no specific standard for it

In the U.S., the Telephone Company will be providing it's BRI customers with a U interface. The U interface is a two-wire (single pair) interface from the phone switch. It supports full-duplex data transfer

over a single pair of wires, therefore only a single device can be connected to a U interface. This device is called an Network Termination 1 (NT-1). The situation is different elsewhere in the world, where

the phone company is allowed to supply the NT-1, and thereby the customer is given an S/T interface.

The NT-1 is a relatively simple device that converts the 2-wire U interface into the 4-wire S/T interface. The S/T interface supports multiple devices (up to 7 devices can be placed on the S/T bus) because,

while it is still a full-duplex interface, there is now a pair of wires for receive data, and another for transmit data. Today, many devices have NT-1s built into their design. This has the advantage of making the

devices less expensive and easier to install, but often reduces flexibility by preventing additional devices from being connected.

Technically, ISDN devices must go through an Network Termination 2 (NT-2) device, which converts the T interface into the S interface (Note: the S and T interfaces are electrically equivalent). Virtually all

ISDN devices include an NT-2 in their design. The NT-2 communicates with terminal equipment, and handles the Layer 2 and 3 ISDN protocols. Devices most commonly expect either a U interface

connection (these have a built-in NT-1), or an S/T interface connection.

Devices that connect to the S/T (or S) interface include ISDN capable telephones and FAX machines, video teleconferencing equipment, bridge/routers, and terminal adapters. All devices that are designed

for ISDN are designated Terminal Equipment 1 (TE1). All other communication devices that are not ISDN capable, but have a POTS telephone interface (also called the R interface), including ordinary

analog telephones, FAX machines, and modems, are designated Terminal Equipment 2 (TE2). A Terminal Adapters (TA) connects a TE2 to an ISDN S/T bus.

Going one step in the opposite direction takes us inside the telephone switch. Remember that the U interface connects the switch to the customer premisis equipment. This local loop connection is called Line

Termination (LT function). The connection to other switches within the phone network is called Exchange Termination (ET function). The LT function and the ET function communicate via the V interface.
 
 
 
 

ISDN services

The user requests a service over the D-channel

Bearer services: allows the user to send information from one device to another on the network.. It involves only lower layers (1-3 depending on the service)

It is defined by ITU-T in terms of access ,information transfer and general attributes.

Access:

• is the characteristics the describe how the user accesses the network.
• Do not describe how the network should carry user information
• It describes access channel and rate.

General attributes: all other attributes for this service. Such as QoS, and internetworking
 
 

Teleservices: are value-added services (VAS) provided by the network. It provides end-to-end communication. (Includes facsimile, email…) and OSI higher layers

Supplementary services: It is an enhancement to bearer services.

B-ISDN services; those services that require PRI channel rate. It can be divided into two categories, Communication services "Conversational, messaging and retrieval services" and Distribution services " without user individual presentation control or broadcast service and with individual presentation control".

ISDN protocols and Layers:

To support the implementation of user information and signaling the ITU-T introduced the concept of control and user plans (c-plane and u-plane) another plan is the management plane, which manages the traffic. Transport planes .

Physical Layer Protocols:

• BRI layer1 is more complicated than PRI because it has to deal with customers with different specifications
• BRI has to accommodate multiple devices on the line.
• ITU-T defined it for (S/T reference points )but not U point which left for the network provider
• ISDN devices consumes power more than traditional telephones which makes it not easy to supply CPE with power from the network side.
• NT devices may need to support power distribution.

Frame format for S/T ref point and for U point.

Bits interleaving
 
 

Data link protocols

• Provides error free communication "error check and correction"
• Responsible for packaging information from higher layers.
• Link management
• Framing
• Addressing
• Flow and Error control
• It applies to D-Channel only

There are two types of subsystems: call control and data transfer

Call control is standard while

Layer 2 for call control is called Link Access Protocol D channel (LAPD)

LAPD provides the followings:

• Handles more than one data link connection
• Frame alignment and packaging
• Sequence control of multi frame transmission/ reception
• Error detection
• Error recovery
• Flow control

LAPD frame format

Is similar to LAPB frames because both are derived from HDLC protocol.
 

Flag

Address

Control

Information

CRC

Flag

Flag (1 octet) - This is always 7E₁₆ (0111 1110₂)

Different types of frames according to the control field:

• Supervisory (S) : used to supervise the frame transfer (acknowledgements, flow control)
• Information (I) : used to transfer layer 3 information across the interface (signaling or user data)
• Unnumbered (U) : used to provide additional data link functions (establish and terminate logical connections, negotiate data link parameters, indicate errors)

SAPI (Service access point identifier), 6-bits (see below)
C/R (Command/Response) bit indicates if the frame is a command or a response
EA0 (Address Extension) bit indicates whether this is the final octet of the address or not
TEI (Terminal Endpoint Identifier) 7-bit device identifier
EA1 (Address Extension) bit, same as EA0

Control (2 octets) - The frame level control field indicates the frame type (Information, Supervisory, or Unnumbered) and sequence numbers (N(r) and N(s)) as required.
Information – layer3 protocol information and User data
CRC (2 octets) - Cyclic Redundancy Check is a low-level test for bit errors on the user data.
Flag (1 octet) - This is always 7E₁₆ (0111 1110₂)

SAPIs

TEIs

Using SAPI and TEI can address different devices and applications.

TEI management: are managed using LAPD in UI unnumbered information frames with SAPI 63 (layer 2 management) and TEI 127 (broad cast)
 
 

Point-to-Multipoint

1. Based on Contention scheme
2. LE echoes back the contents of the transmitted D-channel back to TE.
3. TE senses echoed D-channel and detects if it is the same as what it sent
4. Idle devices send continuos 1s
5. Logic 1 means no voltage
6. Logic 0 means either positive or negative voltage.

1. SAPI = 0 class1 highest priority
2. Normal and lower priority based on number of continuos 1 bits to wait before start the transmission.

Network Layer Protocols

Responsible for establishing the connection between TE and NT.

It provides:

• Allocation of the B channel
• Altering the called party (ringing)
• Sending dialing information
• Activating the data link layer
• Checking the support for a request service
• In a simple telephone, it will control all the features for the user.
• In NT, it will handle control of the interface between the line and the PCM highway.
• It uses Q.931 message format that goes in the Information field of the LAPD frame.

Protocol Discriminator: identifies the Layer 3 protocol.
 

Length: indicates the length of the next field, the CRV.
 

Call Reference Value (CRV) :

• (1 or 2 octets) It is one octet in BRI and 2 in PRI.
• used to uniquely identify each call on the user-network interface.
• This value is assigned at the beginning of a call, and this value becomes available for another call when the call is cleared.
• Not end-to-end it is local user to network interface.
• CRF: Call reference flag used to identify which end of the user-network interface originated the call.
• The originator sets it to 0 and the destination sets it to 1.
• Global CRV of value 0 is used for all current calls and when there are no active calls it is used for maintenance.

Message Type: identifies the message type (i.e., SETUP, CONNECT, etc.). This determines what additional information is required and allowed.
 

Mandatory and Optional Information Elements: (variable length) - are options that are set depending on the Message Type.
 
 

Layer 3 Call Setup (circuit-mode)

1. Caller sends a SETUP to the Switch.
2. If the SETUP is OK, the switch sends a CALL PROCeeding to the Caller, and then a SETUP to the Receiver.
3. The Receiver gets the SETUP. If it is OK, then it rings the phone and sends an ALERTING message to the Switch.
4. The Switch forwards the ALERTING message to the Caller.
5. When the receiver answers the call, is sends a CONNECT message to the Switch
6. The Switch forwards the CONNECT message to the Caller.
7. The Caller sends a CONNECT ACKnowledge message to the Switch
8. The Switch forwards the CONNECT ACK message to the Receiver.
9. Done. The connection is now up.

Layer 3 Call Setup (Packet- and frame-mode)

• A virtual circuit (VC) service is used.
• ISDN has to provide access connection between data nodes and its VC service
• There are three methods for setting up the connection:
• Dial-up access over B-channel using the circuit mode.
• Packet of frame mode access over B-channel
• Packet of frame mode access over D-channel