QUICK LINX WIRELESS

Signaling System 7
(SS7)


BY
M Furqan
[email protected]
What is SS7?
SS7, signaling system number 7, was originally designed
to support the PSTN (public switched telephone network)
in:

Call setup,
Call management, and
Call release

between telephone offices and CPE (customer premises
equipment) to simply transport voice traffic.
What is SS7?
But now it has been further developed to transport not
only voice but also data/video traffic.


In the original SS7, the in-band signaling mechanism
was used.


It means that the signaling information and the user data
(e.g. voice) are carried on the same channel.

What is SS7?
Nowadays, many new applications of SS7 have
emerged, such as SS7 intelligent network.

Because these applications require a high quality
transfer of the signaling information, the signaling in SS7
has changed to the out-of-band signaling.

In the out-of-band signaling, the signaling information is
carried in a separate and dedicated physical channel,
and the user data is carried in other channels, as shown
in Figures 1 & 2.
What is SS7?
Figure 1: Out-of-band Signaling
What is SS7?
Figure 1.2: In-band Signaling
What is SS7?
As shown in Figure 3, the SS7 protocol stack consists of
many different layers.

In the following, each of the layers that are involved are
discussed in this lecture.

What is SS7?
Figure 3: SS7 Protocol Layers
MTP1
The MTP1 (message transfer part level 1) is the physical
layer.

It provides a transport for an individual signaling data
link.

It defines the physical, electrical, and functional
characteristics of a signaling data link and the means to
access it.

In a digital environment, 56 or 64 kbps digital paths are
used for the signaling data link.
MTP2
The MTP2 (message transfer part level 2) is the data link
layer.


It provides the functions and procedures to transfer
signaling messages over an individual signaling data
link.


It is primarily responsible for error free transmission of
data for some basic communication functions.
MTP2
Once information enters the network, it must be
transferred in the proper sequence and without error
between network nodes over each segment of the
transmission path.

MTP3

The MTP3 (message transfer part level 3) is the network
layer.

It provides functions and procedures that are common to
(but independent from) the operation of individual
signaling links.

It provides services that transmit the data through the
network from originator to its final destination.

MTP3
The message routing is implemented at this layer
through the routing labels maintained in MTP3 signal
units and at a specific signaling point.

The OPC (origination point code) or DPC (destination
point code) in a routing label consists of three bytes
which are used to identify the node on network.

The SLS (signaling link selector) in a routing label is
used to balance the traffic load among signaling links.
MTP3
MTP3 also provides the means to establish, maintain,
and terminate connections between systems.

For example, in case of signaling link failure detection
and link recovery.

SCCP

On the top of MTP3 is the SCCP (signaling connection
control part), which is a combination of parts of the
network layer and parts of the transport layer.


It relies on the MTP level 1, 2, 3 to provide additional
functions for both connectionless and connection-
oriented network services to transfer circuit-related and
non-circuit-related signaling information between
switches .

SCCP

When coupled with the MTP layers, SCCP provides
specialized routing and management and control
functions for the transfer of higher level messages
between the MTP layers and the SCCP users.


For example, TCAP (Transaction Capabilities Application
Part).
SCCP
There are four classes of service in SCCP, two for
connectionless services and the other two for
connection-oriented services:

basic connectionless class (class 0)

sequenced connectionless class (class 1)

basic connection-oriented class (class 2)

flow control connection-oriented class (class 3)


SS7 Network
Figure 4 shows a typical topology of an SS7 network,
where the major physical components include:

SSP (service switching point),

STP (signaling transfer point),

SCP (service control point) and

SL (signaling link).

SS7 Network
Figure 4: SS7 Network Topology
SSP
SSP is the local exchange to the subscriber and the
interface to the telephone network.

The SS7 signaling information is produced at the
sending SSP and is handled at the receiving SSP.

It converts voice signaling into the SS7 signal units, and
vice versa.

It also supports database access queries, such as for
800 service.

STP
STP is the network node.

It works like a router to perform the routing of
messages to other signaling points.

It is usually paired to provide redundancy for a
reliable message transfer.

It is adjunct to a voice switch, and might stand
alone as a separate machine.
SCP

SCP works as the interface with the databases, which
contain the information of the subscribers, such as 800
service, calling cards, fraud data, etc.



When receiving a request, it is triggered to handle the
database queries, and returns a response with the
results of the queries to the originating SSP.
Signaling Links(SL)

SL is the link interconnecting the signaling points of SS7
network.

A SL is made up of digital transmission channels.

In each channel, the standard bit rate on a bearer
service is 56 or 64 kbps.

But these channels may be multiplexed into a
transmission rate of 1.544, 2.048, or 8.448 Mbps.

Signaling Links(SL)

All the links between two signaling points (e.g. SSP,
STP, SCP) compose a link set.


The network traffic between two signaling points are
evenly distributed to reach a load sharing within a link
set.


These different link sets can provide the redundancy to
ensure the high reliability of message transfer.
Signaling Links(SL)
There are six types of SL:

A, B, C,D,E, F links which are shown in Figure 4.

D link which is not shown in Figure 4.

What are D links..Check it at home?

Signaling Links(SL)
Figure 4: SS7 Network Topology
What is TCAP?

The TCAP is transaction capabilities application part.


It provides application level functions for special SS7
services.


Service information exchanged between the SSP and
the network database would typically be defined within
the TCAP.
What is TCAP?
The TCAP protocol layer resides between the
application layer (e.g. a 800 service), and the SCCP
layer.

An ASE (application service element) at a SSP
represents an application uses the TCAP to initiate a
transaction by sending a query message to a remote
SCP.

While an ASE at the SCP uses the TCAP to end the
transaction by returning a TCAP response message to
the originating SSP.
What is TCAP?

The TCAP are supported by SCCP.

TCAP messages are encapsulated into the SCCP
header part.

As shown in Figure 5 , the TCAP layer is composed of
two sublayers:

Transaction sublayer, and

Component sublayer.
What is TCAP?
Figure 1.5: TCAP Layer Structure
What is TCAP?
A TCAP message is composed of a:

transaction portion and a

component portion

The transaction portion contains the Package Type
Identifier.

There are seven package types.
What is TCAP?
Unidirectional: transfers components in one direction
only (no reply expected).


Query with Permission: initiates a TCAP transaction
(e.g. a 800 call service). The destination node may end
the transaction.


Query without Permission: initiates a TCAP
transaction. The destination node may not end the
transaction.
What is TCAP?
Response: ends the TCAP transaction. A response to
query with permission may contain the information
requested.

Conversation with Permission: continues a TCAP
transaction. The destination node may end the
transaction.

Conversation without Permission: continues a TCAP
transaction. The destination node may nor end the
transaction.
What is TCAP?
Abort: terminates a transaction due to an abnormal
situation.

The transaction portion also contains the Originating
Transaction ID and Responding Transaction ID.

These fields which can associate the TCAP transaction
with a specific application at the origination and
destination signaling points respectively.

What is TCAP?
The component portion contains six kinds of components:

Invoke (Last): invokes an operation. The component is the
last component in the query.

Invoke (Not Last): similar to the Invoke (Last) component
except that the component is followed by one or more
components.

Return Result (Last): returns the result of an invoked
operation. The component is the last component in the
response.
What is TCAP?
Return Result (Not Last): similar to the Return Result
(Last) component except that the component is followed
by one or more components.

Return Error: reports the unsuccessful completion of an
invoked operation.

Reject: indicates that an incorrect package type or
component was received.
Assignment
Q # 01: Give a comparison of SS7 & TCP/IP/ATM? (25
marks)

Q # 02: How interworking is achieved between SS7 &
TCP/IP/ATM networks? (50 marks)

Note:
Last submission date: 16-04-2007(Next Monday)
Late submissions shall be marked ZERO
A VIVA,QUIZ or a PRESENTATION may be expected
after the submissionso prepare your on
assignment!!!
References & Recommended Reading
ANSI T1.1 11-1992, Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) Message
Transfer Pan (MTP), 1992.

ANSI T1.1 12-1992, Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) Signaling
Connection Control Part (SCCP), 1992.

ANSIT1.1 14-1992, Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) Transaction
Capabilities Application Part (TCAP), 1992.

Black, U. ISDN & SS7. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1997.

Tanenbaum, Andrew S. Computer Networks, 3rd Ed. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 1996.
Must read the read ones at home for an assignment or quiz.