Payload mapping in synchronous networks

A method of receiving Ethernet frame based data carried in a synchronous transmission communications network payload comprising the steps of:

• recovering a stream of encoded Ethernet data frames from said synchronous transmission communications network payload;
• identifying in said recovered data stream at least one marker designating a boundary of an encoded data frame;
• and
• using said marker to recover said Ethernet data frame from said data stream.

A method of carrying Ethernet data frames over a synchronous digital hierarchy network, said method comprising the steps of:

• delineating a plurality of said Ethernet data frames from a received Ethernet data frame bit sequence;
• encoding each one of said plurality of Ethernet data frames to mark at least one boundary of each of said Ethernet data frames;
• and
• incorporating each of said encoded data frames into a synchronous network payload without any intermediate encapsulation of said Ethernet frame based data.

A method of adapting Ethernet frame based data for inclusion in a synchronous digital channel, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving said Ethernet frame based data over a physical interface;
• adapting a data rate of said Ethernet frame based data to a rate approximating a synchronous digital data rate of a synchronous network payload;
• identifying frame boundaries of a plurality of said Ethernet data frames;
• encoding each one of said plurality of Ethernet data frames with an encoding scheme which designates said frame boundaries;
• and
• including said encoded data frames into said synchronous network payload on said synchronous channel without any intermediate encapsulation of said Ethernet frame based data.

A method of decoding encoded Ethernet frame based data carried over a synchronous digital channel, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving said encoded data frames included in a synchronous network payload of said synchronous digital channel;
• decoding said encoded data frames to obtain a plurality of markers, each marker designating a boundary of an Ethernet data frame;
• and
• using said markers to recover Ethernet frame based data from a synchronous digital bit-stream without any intermediate de-encapsulation of said Ethernet frame based data.

A method of encoding Ethernet frame based data into a format suitable for inclusion into a plurality of virtual containers of a synchronous digital network without any intermediate encapsulation of the_Ethernet frame based data, said method comprising the steps of:

• dividing an Ethernet data frame into a plurality of data blocks, each having a predetermined number of bits;
• for each said data block, appending an extra bit to said data block, said extra bit designating that said data block comprises said Ethernet data frame;
• and
• for a last data block of said Ethernet data frame, appending a second bit, said second bit designating said last data block as an end of said Ethernet data frame.