SONET/SDH vs ATM

[nick finn]

Hello all,

I'm extremely naive on the subject of SONET vs ATM. However, I've
done quite a bit of reading, mostly from publications such as
Telephony and America's Network. What I haven't been able to piece
together is what exactly is the difference between SONET and ATM?

At first I thought they were competing protocols. However, I've seen
schematics of networks where the two seem to be mixed. What is the
significance of synchronous versus asynchrounous?

Are there any good online tutorials available to learn more? How
about publiations that would be available at a large school library
(in this case, NYU.)?

My undergrad degree is in electrical engineering, so I know enough to
be dangerous, but not enough to be knowledgable.

All help is most appreciated.

Thank you.

Nick

[nick finn]

One more thing: what other usenet groups would be good to check out
for related discussions (ATM/SONET/Frame-Relay etc.)

thanks again

[NJK Mohan]

> Are there any good online tutorials available to learn more? How
> about publiations that would be available at a large school library
> (in this case, NYU.)?
>

you can try this site given below. they have some real good
tutorial on lots of subjects. you can try checking out the
communication networks and broadband services section.

http://www.webproforum.com/wpf.html

hope this helps you.

Regards.
Mohan.

[Brad Reese]

Hi Nick,

Other newsgroups that perhaps may be of interest to you:

comp.dcom.frame-relay

comp.dcom.cell-relay (The ATM Newsgroup)

comp.dcom.wan

As for tutorials you may wish to investigate the Sprint SONET Tutorial
(sorry registration required):

http://www.alliancedatacom.com/sprint-sonet-tutorial.htm

The Nortel SONET Tutorial (PDF):

http://www.nortel.com/broadband/pdf/sonet_101.pdf

Introduction to SONET (PDF):

http://www.nortel.com/broadband/pdf/IntroSONETnet.pdf

Techfest has great SDH/SONET links:

http://www.techfest.com/networking/wan.htm

And Irwin Lazar has outstanding SONET links:

http://www.itprc.com/physical.htm

Hope this helps.

Brad Reese
Alliance Datacom Frame Relay Resource Center
http://www.alliancedatacom.com/
11130 Petal Street, Suite 800
Dallas, Texas 75238
800-444-5851 Toll Free
214-503-7400 Office

nick finn wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm extremely naive on the subject of SONET vs ATM. However, I've
> done quite a bit of reading, mostly from publications such as
> Telephony and America's Network. What I haven't been able to piece
> together is what exactly is the difference between SONET and ATM?
>
> At first I thought they were competing protocols. However, I've seen
> schematics of networks where the two seem to be mixed. What is the
> significance of synchronous versus asynchrounous?
>

> Are there any good online tutorials available to learn more? How
> about publiations that would be available at a large school library
> (in this case, NYU.)?
>

[nick finn]

Guys, thanks for your help!