Configuring Interface Encapsulation on SONET/SDH Interfaces
Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) encapsulation is the default encapsulation type for physical interfaces. You need not configure encapsulation for any physical interfaces that support PPP encapsulation. If you do not configure encapsulation, PPP is used by default. For physical interfaces that do not support PPP encapsulation, you must configure an encapsulation to use for packets transmitted on the interface. You can optionally configure an encapsulation on a logical interface, which is the encapsulation used within certain packet types.
Configuring the Encapsulation on a Physical SONET/SDH Interface
For SONET/SDH interfaces, the physical interface encapsulation can be one of the following:
- Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)—PPP encapsulation
is defined in RFC 1661, The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)
for the Transmission of Multiprotocol Datagrams over Point-to-Point
Links. PPP is the default encapsulation type for physical
interfaces. Two related versions are supported:
- Circuit cross-connect (CCC) version (ppp-ccc)—The logical interfaces do not require an encapsulation statement. When you use this encapsulation type, you can configure the ccc family only.
- Translational cross-connect (TCC) version (ppp-tcc)—Similar to CCC and has the same configuration restrictions, but used for circuits with different media on either side of the connection.
- Cisco HDLC—E1, E3, SONET/SDH, T1, and T3 interfaces
can use Cisco HDLC encapsulation. Two related versions are supported:
- CCC version (cisco-hdlc-ccc)—The logical interfaces do not require an encapsulation statement. When you use this encapsulation type, you can configure the ccc family only.
- TCC version (cisco-hdlc-tcc)—Similar to CCC and has the same configuration restrictions, but used for circuits with different media on either side of the connection.
- Frame Relay—Defined in RFC 1490, Multiprotocol
Interconnect over Frame Relay. E1, E3, SONET/SDH, T1, and
T3 interfaces can use Frame Relay encapsulation. Two related versions
are supported:
- CCC version (frame-relay-ccc)—The same as standard Frame Relay for DLCIs 0 through 511. DLCIs 512 through 1022 are dedicated to CCC. This numbering restriction does not apply to IQ and IQE interfaces. The logical interface must also have frame-relay-ccc encapsulation.
- TCC version (frame-relay-tcc)—Similar to Frame Relay CCC and has the same configuration restrictions, but used for circuits with different media on either side of the connection.
- Frame Relay Ether Type (frame-relay-ether-type)—Physical interfaces can use Frame Relay ether type encapsulation
for compatibility with Cisco Frame Relay. IETF Frame Relay encapsulation
identifies the payload format using NLPID and SNAP formats. Cisco-compatible
Frame Relay encapsulation uses the Ethernet type to identify the type
of payload. Two related versions are supported:
- TCC version (frame-relay-ether-type-tcc)—Cisco-compatible Frame Relay for DLCIs 0 through 511. DLCIs 512 through 1022 are dedicated to TCC. This numbering restriction does not apply to IQ and IQE interfaces. This encapsulation is used for circuits with different media on either side of the connection.
- Extended TCC version (extended-frame-relay-ether-type-tcc)—This encapsulation allows you to dedicate Cisco-compatible Frame Relay TCC for DLCIs 1 through 1022. This encapsulation is used for circuits with different media on either side of the connection. All ether type TCC encapsulation is supported on the same PICs as non-ether type Frame Relay TCC encapsulation.
![]() | Note: When the encapsulation type is set to Cisco-compatible Frame Relay encapsulation, ensure that the LMI type is set to ANSI or Q933-A. |
To configure the encapsulation on a physical interface, include the encapsulation statement at the [edit interfaces interface-name] hierarchy level:
When you configure a point-to-point encapsulation (such as PPP or Cisco HDLC) on a physical interface, the physical interface can have only one logical interface (that is, only one unit statement) associated with it. When you configure a multipoint encapsulation (such as Frame Relay), the physical interface can have multiple logical units, and the units can be either point to point or multipoint. Use PPP if you are running Cisco IOS Release 12.0 or later. If you need to run Cisco HDLC, the Junos OS automatically configures an ISO family MTU of 4469 in the router. This is due to an extra byte of padding used by Cisco.
For more information about physical interface encapsulation, see Configuring Interface Encapsulation on Physical Interfaces.
Example: Configuring the Encapsulation on a Physical SONET/SDH Interface
Configure PPP encapsulation on a SONET/SDH interface. The second two family statements allow IS-IS and MPLS to run on the interface.
Configuring the Encapsulation on a Logical SONET/SDH Interface
Generally, you configure an interface’s encapsulation at the [edit interfaces interface-name] hierarchy level. However, for Frame Relay encapsulation, you can also configure the encapsulation type that is used inside the Frame Relay packet itself. To do this, include the encapsulation statement, specifying the frame-relay-ccc frame-relay-tcc, frame-relay-ether-type, or frame-relay-ether-type-tcc option:
You can include this statement at the following hierarchy levels:
- [edit interfaces interface-name unit logical-unit-number]
- [edit logical-systems logical-system-name interfaces interface-name unit logical-unit-number]
The ATM encapsulations are defined in RFC 2684, Multiprotocol Encapsulation over ATM Adaptation Layer 5.
With the atm-nlpid, atm-cisco-nlpid, and atm-vc-mux encapsulations, you can configure the inet family only. With the circuit cross-connect (CCC) encapsulations, you cannot configure a family on the logical interface. A logical interface cannot have frame-relay-ccc encapsulation unless the physical device also has frame-relay-ccc encapsulation. A logical interface cannot have frame-relay-tcc encapsulation unless the physical device also has frame-relay-tcc encapsulation. In addition, you must assign this logical interface a DLCI from 512 through 1022. This numbering restriction does not apply to IQ and IQE interfaces. You must configure the logical interface as point-to-point.
For more information about logical interface encapsulation, see Configuring Interface Encapsulation on Logical Interfaces.

