GL Communications Advances SONET/SDH Testing and Monitoring with SonetExpert

/EIN News/ -- GAITHERSBURG, Md., March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GL Communications Inc., a global leader in telecom testing solutions, addressed the press regarding their solutions for testing Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) networks. GL’s solutions can generate and monitor traffic over both Channelized TDM and Unchannelized Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Packet over SONET (PoS) traffic. The hardware device, known as SonetExpert™, supports up to OC-192/STM-64 networks and features automatic detection of SONET/SDH structures and their components.

[For illustration, refer to Sonetexpert-analyzer.jpg]

Vijay Kulkarni, CEO of GL Communications, states, “GL’s SonetExpert™ is a powerful network testing solution for generating and monitoring traffic over SONET and SDH networks. It enables real-time network monitoring with detailed analysis and reporting across various SONET/SDH channels, including STS-1, STS-3c, STS-12c, STS-48c, and STS-192c. The software features an intuitive graphical user interface, accessible via a web browser.”

This device efficiently analyzes SONET and SDH networks, supporting both channelized and unchannelized interfaces. It enables traffic scanning, ATM/PoS network analysis, and performance evaluation through Bit Error Rate Testing (BERT). The device supports SONET/SDH emulation and analysis in channelized mode for OC-3/STM-1 and OC-12/STM-4, and unchannelized mode for OC-3/STM-1 to OC-192/STM-64. For lab testing, a rack-mount enclosure accommodates up to three devices, while a portable USB-controlled version is available for field testing.

SonetExpert™ Channelized Analyzer

GL’s SonetExpert™ Channelized Analyzer is a high-performance solution for real-time monitoring, analysis, and testing of SONET/SDH networks for OC-3/STM-1 and OC-12/STM-4. Supporting wirespeed processing on two optical ports, it efficiently handles multiple independent framed and unframed T1 or E1 streams.

Equipped with both hardware and software, the analyzer captures, emulates, and analyzes protocols over SONET and SDH links. It integrates with GL’s Soft T1 E1 Analyzer, offering the same functionality as GL’s hardware-based T1 E1 Analyzers, but with T1 or E1 frames multiplexed into SONET/SDH traffic over optical lines.

The analyzer supports channelized SONET and SDH mapping of T1 and E1 payloads, providing direct access to all 84 T1s or 63 E1s on an OC-3/STM-1 and 336 T1s or 252 E1s on an OC-12/STM-4 for analysis and emulation within a single PC. A key advantage is that T1, E1, or DS0 testing can be performed without electrical access, complex cabling, or lengthy setup.

SonetExpert™ Unchannelized Analyzer

GL’s SonetExpert™ Unchannelized Analyzer is capable of SONET/SDH testing up to OC-192/STM-64 networks. Each device contains two high-speed ports (SFP cages). The device control is via a web-based interface accessible from any browser on devices such as PCs, laptops, and tablets. The analyzer supports BERT over RAW SONET/SDH testing up to OC-192/STM-64 and various applications such as ATM and PoS for up to OC-12/STM-4 rates.

[For more information, refer to sonetExpert-unchannelized-analyzer-mode ]

SonetExpert™ is a comprehensive SONET/SDH testing solution supporting BERT up to OC-192/STM-64. It treats OC-3 to OC-192 as a single pipe, transmitting and analyzing bit patterns using concatenated STS-3c, STS-12c, STS-48c, and STS-192c signals for end-to-end qualification before examining smaller subchannels. It also supports BERT for PoS and ATM payloads up to OC-12/STM-4.

The analyzer offers real-time alarm monitoring, detecting and reporting Section, Path, Line, and BERT alarms while plotting up to seven days of historical alarm data for trend analysis. It supports alarm generation, error insertion, and hardware indicators for Loss of Signal and Frame errors, ensuring effective troubleshooting.

SonetExpert™ enables real-time traffic capture and protocol analysis for PoS, ATM, and RAW traffic, decoding SONET/SDH frames on both ports simultaneously. It captures wirespeed traffic on two ports, storing it with hardware filtering and timestamping for later playback. Depending on the mode, it records and replays PPP packets (PoS mode), ATM cells (ATM mode), or SONET/SDH frames (RAW mode) on one or both ports.

For traffic analysis and visualization, SonetExpert™ provides an intuitive, multicolor graphical interface, highlighting subchannels within the main pipe down to STS-3 level, distinguishing equipped and unequipped channels. Selecting an equipped channel reveals detailed substructures down to T1 or E1, offering deep network insight.

About GL Communications Inc.

GL Communications is a global provider of telecom test and measurement solutions. GL’s solutions are used to verify the quality and reliability of Wireless, Fiber Optic, TDM and Analog networks.

Warm Regards,

Vikram Kulkarni, PhD

Phone: 301-670-4784 x114

Email: info@gl.com