COMMON CHANNEL SIGNALLING SYSTEM #7

Presented By Alka Gupta

Introduction to Signaling System

In a Telecommunication network, two major functions are performed a) Transmission : A way by which the information is transported in cost efficient way from Source to Destination Point over a physical line. b) Switching: A process by which an inlet has to be through-connected to a correct outlet.

Type of signaling systems: a) UNI Signaling System. b) NNI Signaling System.

a) UNI Signaling System: The most common form of UNI Signaling is ISDN-Signaling or D-Channel Signaling.

b) NNI Signaling System: The most common form of NNI Signaling is : Channel Associated Signaling System Common Channel Signaling System No. 7 (CCS#7) or Signaling System Number 7 (SS7)

Benefits of SS7 over conventional Signaling Systems

SS7 is Out of band signaling .

High transmission speed.

Rapid call set up. High cost effectiveness. Possibility of automatic monitoring and network control. Reliable transmission of information.

Signaling Network Components

Signaling Point (SP): All nodes in CCS#7 network are called Signaling Point .Two kinds of SP;

a) Signaling End Point (SEP): It is a local node in a telecommunication network to which subscriber lines are attached. b) Signaling Transfer Point (STP): The STP switches the messages as received from various SEPs through the network to their appropriate destination.

Schematic of a typical SS7 Network

Obviously, a message will always be transmitted from one signaling point to another. this gives rise to the terms a) Originating Signaling Point (OPC): A signaling point from where the message is generated. b) Destination Signaling Point (DPC): A signaling point to which a message is destined. Each Signaling point is identified as Point Code. PC is unique for SP inside ( National and International ) CCS#7 network.

Signaling Links, Signaling Link sets, Signaling Route and Route sets

What are Signaling Relations ?

Any two Signaling points, for which the possibility of compatible communication exists are said to have a Signaling Relations.

Signaling Modes: Associated Mode and Quasi-Associated Mode

Since the Associated mode of signaling would require direct links between all SPs, so a mesh network is required to be there, which is not a cost-effective solution since signaling network carries very small network traffic. Thus normally CCS7 networks deploy an STP, in which there will be a star topology leading to a cost effective solution and also offers guaranteed message delivery.

Architecture of CCS#7 Network

The fundamental principle of CCS#7 is the divisions of functions into a common ;
Message Transfer Part (MTP) User part ( UP )

MTP (Message Transfer Part)

The main function of this layer is to server as transport system which provides reliable transfer of the signaling messages between the signaling points. MTP layer is divided into three sub layers as described below: a) MTP-L1: Physical and electrical layer functions in order to transport bits from OPC to DPC. E.g: E1,T1 etc. b) MTP-L2: Error free transmission of messages over the signaling link. Error detection and Correction for transfer of messages with proper sequence. c) MTP-L3: Signaling Message Handling Function ( SMH) Signaling Network Management Function ( SNM)

User Parts ( UP )
ISUP (ISDN User Part) TUP ( Telephone User Part ) DUP (Data User Part ) B-ISUP ( Broadband - ISDN User Part )

Comparison of CCS#7 and OSI Model

MTP-L2
Provides reliable transfer of the signal units between two directly connected SPs. Ensures the error free transportation, and thus it performs error detection Provides flow control mechanism to avoid the overflow of messages between a pair of SPs. MTP-L2 Provides following features:a) Signal Unit Delimitation: Flag Insertion +Bit Stuffing b) Error Detection: 16 Bit Checksum which provides error detection method. c) Error Correction: It provides the Error Correction by means of following two mechanisms. i) Basic Error Correction method. ii) Preventive Cyclic Retransmission Method. d) Signaling Link Error Monitoring: i).Signaling Unit Error Rate Monitor( SUERM) and ii). Alignment Error Rate Monitor (AERM) f) Flow Control: It provides the functions where congested receiving end notifies the remote transmitting end by a appropriate signal unit and also withholds all the acknowledgements of all incoming signal units.

Types of Signal Units

A Signal Unit is nothing but like a packet which is carried over the signaling link and is of three types: Signal Units : Signaling messages transferred over the signaling link in variable length Signal Units =Signaling information+Control information for proper operation of signaling link a) MSU (Message Signal Unit): These Signal units carries the information sent from a certain User part on one SP to another User Part on another SP. b) LSSU (Link Status Signal Units): These SUs are sent between two SPs in order to indicate the status of signaling link over which it is sent. Thus in case of congestion, a busy status will Be sent over these LSSUs. c) FISU (Fill-In Signal Unit): Signaling Links will continuously sent Signal Units between the two SPs even when there is no payload to be delivered and the network is idle. These empty Signal units are called FISUs. They dont contain any information and are sent in order to monitor the integrity of the signaling links, otherwise a signaling link could degrade in absence of signaling traffic and this would be only notice at a transmission, which would fail.

Types of Signal Units Message Format

MTP-L3
MTP-L3 takes care of following functions: a) Signaling Message Handling Functions: The purpose of these functions is to ensure that the messages originated by a particular User Part at an Signaling Point should be delivered to same User part at the destination signaling point. This delivery may made directly or via an STP. It includes three sub functions : Message Discrimination Message Distribution Message Routing

b) Signaling Network Management Functions: The purpose of these functions is to provide reconfiguration of the signaling network in case of failures. In order to do this, these functions provide capability to bypass the fault links or Signaling points. Further, it can also activate and align signaling links.

MTP-L3 ..Contd
a). The Message Handling function uses the following parameters ; Service Information Octet (SIO) : which is the part of MSU: Routing Label: It is of 4 octets in SIF, which consist of OPC, DPC and SLS

b) . Signaling Network Management Functions: Basically 3 sub -functions Traffic Management Function Link Management Function Route Management Function

Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP)

It was decided to increase the functionality of transport system i.e. MTP, by including a new layer called SCCP (Signaling Connection Control Part).

SCCP General Message Layout

Services Provided by SCCP protocol:

Connectionless services, (CL-services)
Connection-oriented services, (CO-services) SCCP management procedures SCCP Enhancements: a) flexible routing scheme. b) Connection Oriented Protocol. c) GTT (Global Title Translation).

SCCP Protocol Classes

SCCP Functional Structure

Parameters of Some SCCP Messages

SCCP MESSAGE STRUCTURE

Routing of Some SCCP Messages Global Title (GT) Signaling Point Code (SPC) SCCP Subsystem Number (SSN)

Address Elements
Address indicators Global Title (GT) Signaling Point Code (SPC) SCCP Subsystem Number (SSN)

Signaling Point Code: not used for routing of SCCP messages Global Title : A directory number and the information on how to interpret a number . Translation Type (TT) Numbering Plan (NP) Encoding Scheme (ES) Nature of Address (NA) Address Information (AI) SCCP Subsystem No: The SSN field is used to distribute terminating messages.
E.g : SSN=0 SSN=6 SSN=7 not used HLR VLR

Routing Principles
SSN only GT only SSN + GT

Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP)Contd

Global Title Translation International network, , since point code are private within one network. To solve this, SCCP performs Global Title Translation (GTT) function.

GTT is done in two steps : GT series analysis. GT routing case analysis.

ISDN User Part (ISUP)

Provides the services required by the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

ISUP MESSAGE LAYOUT( FORMAT)

ISUP Message Types

Call Setup Messages Call Release Message Suspend & Resume Message Continuity Message Confusion Message Facility Message

Access Related Message

ISUP Call Model

Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP)

Support of real-time sensitive information transfer in a distributed environment

Functional Overview of TCAP

Structure OF TC
TC is structured in two sub-layers: The component sub-layer The transaction sub-layer

TCAP Message Flow

Query Please

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