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Contents
Contents
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Module objectives.................................................................................
2
2.1
2.2
2.2.1
2.2.2
Introduction...........................................................................................
Standard messages................................................................................
Implementation and evolution.................................................................
Drawbacks of the CAS system................................................................
Common Channel Signalling (CCS)........................................................
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
5
5.1
5.2
5.3
Review questions................................................................................
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Module objectives
After completing this module, the student will be able to:
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Introduction
Signalling in telecommunication networks has come a long way since the early
days when a lady operator used to sit at the central exchange.
Telecommunication networks were relatively simple and the general procedure
of setting up a call would go something like this:
You would pick up the handset of your telephone, electrical current would
flow to the exchange and a light would start blinking accompanied by a sound.
This would let the lady know that you are requiring service. She would plug in
one connector to your terminal and the other to her headphone and inquire
about whom you wanted to talk to. After listening to your answer, she would try
to connect you to the person you wanted to talk with.
Then she would pull out the connector from your terminal and connect it to
your intended party. He would then hear his phone ringing. After he answers,
the lady will connect you to him. While you are talking, she will supervise the
call, and once the conversation is over (which will be indicated by another
light), she will pull out the plugs. That would be a typical scenario at a
telephone exchange during the first half of this century.
%#!&?:^*
(%&#/=
Figure 1.
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Standard messages
Soon after the invention of telephony, lady operators were replaced by
mechanical exchanges. And nowadays, so-called digital exchanges are in use.
The following simplified example demonstrates the basic steps of a call set-up:
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1.
Subscriber A wants to make a phone call. He lifts the receiver. An electromagnetical signal is sent to exchange 1, to which the wireline phone is
connected. The electro-magnetical signal indicates to exchange 1, that the
subscriber requires a service.
2.
The exchange generates a dial tone, with which it indicates its availability
to subscriber A.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
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13.
14.
15.
subscriber A /
telephone A
exchange 1
subscriber B /
Telephone B
exchange 2
1. service request
2. dial tone
3. provide telephone number
4. number analysis &
resource reservation
5. address information
6. number analysis &
resource reservation
7. set-up message
8. set-up confirmation
9. ringing
11. address complete
message
12. ringing tone
14. connect message
15. Conversation
Figure 2.
Signalling operations
Telephones and switches are exchanging messages about the ongoing call. For
instance, between exchange 1 and 2, there exist transmission resources. They
exchange messages to inform each other, which of the available transmission
resources to allocate to a specific call. They also have to inform each other
about abnormal endings of calls. If not, one exchange would release the
transmission resources, while the other one is still blocking them. This already
indicates the importance to exchange messages between network elements of a
telecommunication network. These messages are called signalling and control
messages.
A wide range of signalling systems exist. A signalling system represents a
specified set of rules on how network elements have to exchange signalling and
control information. Each signalling system must support messages for
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Call set-up,
Call supervision,
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2.1
2.2
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go along the same path as the speech. It is abbreviated CCS7, CCS#7, SS7 or
simply C7, but they all refer to the same system.
SS7 was developed in the beginning of the 1980s and is a Common Channel
Signalling system (CCS) with a signalling path bandwidth of 64 Kbits/s. The
term Common Channel Signalling indicates, that signalling information and
user data are transmitted via separate resources. Signalling messages are
transmitted via transmission resources, which are used for several hundreds up
to thousand calls. This is possible for three reasons: SS7 is packet orientated,
i.e. signalling messages are sent as packets similar to IP packets in the Internet.
The signalling load is low in comparison to the user data traffic. And there is
mainly need for signalling resources during the call set-up and call termination
phase. To use common resources results in a fairly high resource efficiency of
the signalling resources.
End points of SS7 signalling messages are exchanges, such as the MSC, but
also register elements, such as the HLR. Within SS7, the originator and the
receiver of SS7 signalling messages are called Signalling Points (SP). It
depends on the operator, whether Service Points can directly exchange SS7
messages. Often, the routing of SS7 messages is done via Signalling Transfer
Points (STP). A Signalling Transfer Point receives SS7 messages, analyses the
destination address of the SS7 message, then forwards the message, following
rules set by the operator in the routing tables of the Signalling Transfer Point.
A simple example can be seen in the figure below: There are three exchanges.
Each exchange holds a SS7 Signalling Point. The blue lines represent the
transmission resources, while the green lines represent the independent packet
oriented SS7 network. Exchange 1 can directly sent SS7 messages to exchange
2. If the signalling link between the two exchanges fails, then there is still an
option to route the messages via the Signalling Transfer Point. Exchange 1 has
no direct signalling link to the Signalling Point of exchange 3. In this case, the
signalling messages must be always routed via the Signalling Transfer Point.
SS7
exchange 3
Independent,
packet
oriented
signalling
network
SP
STP
SP
SP
exchange 1
SP
STP
Figure 3.
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exchange 1
Signalling Point
Signalling Transfer Point
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It is modular in design, although the modules are not as clearly defined, as is the
case with the OSI 7-layer model, which it pre-dates. Let us take a closer look at
this system in the following sections.
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Figure 4.
3.1
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(MTP). The entire SS7 is built on the foundation of this MTP, which consists of
three sub layers as shown in the figure below.
Message
Transfer
Part (MTP)
Figure 5.
Layer 3
Layer 2
Layer 1
Physical Connections
The lowest level, MTP layer 1 (physical connections), defines the physical
and electrical characteristics. MTP layer 2 (data link control) helps in error
free transmission of the signalling messages between adjacent elements. MTP
layer 3 (network layer) is responsible for taking the message from any element
in a signalling network to any other element within the same network.
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MSC
SP
PSTN exchange
SP
TUP
TUP
Call Control
messages
NUP
NUP
ISUP
ISUP
Transport of signalling
messages within one network
Layer 2
Layer 1
Data link
control
Physical
connections
Layer 2 Layer 2
Layer 1 Layer 1
Layer 3
Data link
control
Physical
connections
Layer 2
MTP
MTP
Layer 3
Layer 1
STP
Figure 6.
With the introduction of the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), which
has a broader capability than the PSTN, some extra sets of messages were
required. These became known as the ISDN User Part (ISUP). Whether it is
TUP, NUP or ISUP they are all doing the same job in helping to set up a call.
3.3
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Virtual
Connection using
Connection Oriented
SCCP
A
MTP
Signalling
Point
Signalling
Point
Signalling
Point
Figure 7.
MTP
MTP
B
Destination
Signalling
Point
Virtual connections
The solution to these two problems was the creation of another protocol layer
on top of the MTP that was called the Signalling Connection and Control
Part (SCCP). The SCCP takes care of virtual connections and connectionless
signalling. Note that the tasks of TUP and SCCP are different, and thus they are
parallel to each other, but both use the services of the MTP.
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Exchange
SP
Call Control
messages
e.g. ISUP
e.g. ISUP
SCCP
Layer 3
Transport of signalling
messages within one network
Layer 2
Layer 1
Data link
control
Physical
connections
Layer 2 Layer 2
Layer 1 Layer 1
SCCP
Layer 3
Data link
control
Physical
connections
Layer 2
MTP
MTP
Exchange
SP
Layer 1
STP
Figure 8.
As far as the fixed telephone network (the Public Switched Telephone Network,
PSTN) is concerned, this is all there is to SS7 and these protocol layers serve
their purpose very well. At the moment there is no other protocol in SS7 for
PSTN exchanges.
3.4
Summary
The MTP is the message transfer part. It is responsible for transferring
messages from one network element to another within the same network. It
consists of three sublayers.
The TUP is the user part of the messages transferred by the MTP. These
messages deal with setting up, supervising and clearing the call connections. It
has two variations: NUP and ISUP.
The SCCP is the signalling connection and control part. Its main function is to
provide virtual connections and connectionless signalling.
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MSC-BSC signalling
MSC-MS signalling.
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Used to
exchange requests and responses between
BSC and MSC
encapsulate messages to be exchanged
transparently between MS and MSC
BSC
BSSAP
SCCP
Layer 2
Layer 1
BSSAP
SCCP
Layer 3
Layer 2
MTP
MTP
Layer 3
Control
messages
MSC
Layer 1
Figure 9.
4.2
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GMSC
Mobile
Application Part
MAP
TCAP
Transaction Capabilities
Application Part
TCAP
Layer 2
Layer 1
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SCCP
Layer 3
Layer 2
MTP
MTP
Layer 3
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HLR
MAP
SCCP
Figure 10.
Layer 1
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4.4
Summary
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Protocol
Name
Function
MTP
TUP
NUP
ISUP
SCCP
BSSAP
MAP
TCAP
Transaction Capabilities
Application Part
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MAP
BSSAP
TCAP
SCCP
TUP
NUP
ISUP
MTP
Figure 11.
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5.2
5.3
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MSC
MS
BTS
CM
BSC
HLR
CM
MAP
MM
MM
RR
BSSAPP
BSSAP
RR
TCAP
LAPDm
TDMA
FDMA
CM
MM
RR
LAPDm
Figure 12.
Um
RR
BTSM
BTSM
LAPDm
LAPD
LAPD
MTP
Abis
TDMA
FDMA
L1
Connection Management
Mobility Management
Radio Resource Management
Link Protocol
SCCP
SCCP
MTP
L1
BTSM
BSSAP
SCCP
MTP
TUP
NUP
ISUS
external
exchange
Signalling in GSM
Between the BSC and the BTS, a signalling protocol known as LAPD (Link
Access Protocol for the ISDN "D" channel) is used. This is the same protocol
that is used in ISDN networks between the customer and the network. This
protocol is also used the exchange requests and responses between the BSC and
the TRAU.
Between the mobile station and the BTS, the LAPD is used with small
modifications to cope with the characteristics of the radio transmission medium.
This protocol is known as LAPDm where the "m" denotes modified.
The LAP-D message structure is similar to SS7, but it does not support
networking capabilities, therefore, it is used for point-to-point connections.
As can be seen with the figure above, a signalling protocol is required to
negotiate to radio resources to be used for dedicated signalling and user data
transport. The protocol is called Radio Resource (RR) management protocol,
and its messages are exchanged between the MS and the BSC via LAPDm and
LAPD. RR in the above figure indicates, that some radio resource management
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MSC
BSC
HLR
MTP
Transfer of SS7
messages between
different network
elements.
Transfer of SS7
messages between
different network
elements.
TUP/ISUP
Unavailable.
Unavailable.
SCCP
Connectionless signalling
and virtual connections.
Virtual connection
between MSC and MS.
Connectionless
signalling.
BSSAP
Unavailable.
MAP
Unavailable.
TCAP
Unavailable.
A virtual connection uses packet type switching principles and the connection
only exists when packets or messages are being transferred. In the simplest form
of packet switching each packet is regarded as a complete transaction in itself.
This is known as the connectionless mode as there is no sense of a connection
being set up before communication begins, and the network treats each packet
independently. Some applications, however, involve the transfer of a sequence
of packets, for which the connection-oriented approach is more appropriate.
In this case, a virtual connection is established by an initial exchange of "set-up"
packets between the communicating terminals. During the data transfer, each
packet associated with a connection is passed over the same route through the
network.
Key points
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The SS7 used in PSTN networks is not sufficient to fulfil the signalling
requirements of GSM networks, thus new protocols specific to GSM
were developed.
The TUP/ISUP are the user parts of the MTP that handle call control.
The MAP is needed for signalling between MSC-HLR, MSC-VLR, HLRVLR (and MSC-MSC in the case of non-call related signalling).
The Link Access Protocol in D channel (LAP-D) provides a point-topoint signalling capability. It is used between the BTS and BSC, and in a
modified version between the MS and the BTS (LAP-Dm).
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Review questions
In the following questions, please select one alternative that you think is the
best answer for the particular question.
1.
2.
3.
4.
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b.
c.
d.
b.
c.
d.
b.
c.
d.
b.
c.
d.
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5.
6.
7.
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b.
c.
d.
MTP, SCCP.
b.
MTP, ISUP.
c.
MTP, TUP.
d.
Which pair of network elements in the GSM network does not both have
SS7?
a.
MSC, HLR.
b.
BSC, HLR.
c.
MSC, BSC.
d.
BTS, HLR.
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8.
ISUP
BSSAP
TCAP
SCCP
MTP
b.
MAP
BSSAP
SCCP
TCAP
TUP
NUP
ISUP
MTP
c.
MAP
BSSAP
TCAP
SCCP
TUP
NUP
ISUP
MTP
d.
BSSAP
MAP
TCAP
TUP
NUP
ISUP
SCCP
MTP
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