User Manual

User Reference and Installation Manual 2-14
MDS 5800 II
Figure 2-5. Ring Configuration.
SONET/SDH rings are inherently self-healing. Each ring has both an active path and a standby
path. Network traffic normally uses the active path. Should one section of the ring fail, the network
will switch to the standby path. Switchover occurs in seconds. There may be a brief delay in
service, but no loss of payload, thus maintaining high levels of network availability.
The consecutive point architecture implemented in the MDS 5800 II Digital Radio family is based
on a point-to-point-to-point topology that mimics fiber rings, with broadband wireless links
replacing in-ground fiber cable. A typical consecutive point network consists of a POP and
several customer sites connected using MDS 5800 II units. These units are typically in a building
in an east/west configuration. Using east/west configurations, each unit installed at a customer
site is logically connected to two other units via an over-the-air radio frequency (RF) link to a unit
at an adjacent site.
Each consecutive point network typically starts and ends at a POP. A pattern of wireless links and
in-building connections is repeated at each site until all buildings in the network are connected in
a ring as shown in Figure 2-6.