Signaling System 7 (SS7)

Aricent Signaling System 7 (SS7) is an industry-proven protocol stack for building telecom equipment, network components as well as SS7 based applications. The Aricent SS7 stack is the result of our comprehensive domain expertise in the development of communications infrastructure products for clients worldwide.

Aricent’s SS7 stack is ideal for use in narrowband, broadband and next-generation IP networks. By using the Aricent SS7 stack, communication equipment manufacturers can avoid the overhead of protocol stack development, maintenance and support, hence reducing costs and cutting risks.

The SS7 stack has been successfully integrated into a range of products:

• 3G Nodes (UMTS) - RNC, SGSN, HLR
• Voice over Packet - gateways  and softswitches
• Interworking products (e.g. SS7-ISDN interworking)
• SMSC
• Intelligent peripherals, service node, SCP
• Test and measurement tools (protocol testers)
• Monitoring tools
• Wireline trunk switches

The SS7 stack offering includes all standards-based layers, which can be offered as individual layers or as an integrated SS7 stack. The stack can also support hybrid stacks (ANSI TCAP over ITU SCCP/MTP) as well as reverse hybrid stacks (ITU TCAP over ANSI SCCP/MTP). The SS7 stack is also available with value-added features such as high-availability, manageability and performance levels, making it suitable for carrier-grade deployments.

Aricent' s MTP2 has been ported on various cards, chipsets and platforms such as Performance Technologies, Adax, AT&T Spyder T7115A, Motorola 860, 8260, 8266, etc. Aricent also offers customized development for other target cards/chipsets.

Architecture

Aricent’s SS7 stack has built-in hooks for supporting various redundant architectures. In addition to these hooks, Aricent also provides an independent Redundancy Manager that can be used to build fault-tolerant SS7 solutions.

The MTP3, SCCP, TCAP and ISUP layers of the Aricent SS7 stack are also available in a distributed version that can be used for implementing distributed, load-sharing and reliable architectures.

Features

Each layer of the SS7 architecture conforms to the applicable ITU-T, ETSI, ANSI and Bellcore standards:

• Supports various national and international variants
• Supports hybrid and reverse hybrid stack configurations
• Portable across operating systems and hardware platforms
• Extensive support for redundancy, debugging, statistics and layer management functionality
• Well-defined and documented interfaces to the stack (APIs)
• The stack has been analyzed by Telcordia (ANSI and GR variants)
• Distributed version available for all SS7 layers
• Supports error and alarm reporting

SS7 stack ports

• Sun-Solaris (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Linux
• VxWorks
• Windows NT
• Ports for other operating systems such as Lynx, Nucleus, etc., or proprietary OSs can also be provided within 3-4 weeks

Narrowband SS7 Standards

• TCAP: ITUT Q.771-Q.774, ETSI ETS 300 134, ETS 300 287, ANSI T1.114, Bellcore GR 246
• SCCP: ITUT Q.711-Q.714, ETSI ETS 300 009, ANSI T1.112, Bellcore GR 246
• ISUP: ITUT Q.761-764, ETSI 300 356-1 to 19, ANSI T1.113, Bellcore GR 246
• MTP3: ITUT Q.704 and Q.707, ETSI 300 008-300 008-1, ANSI T1.111.4, Bellcore GR 246, GR 82
• MTP2: Q.703, ETSI 300 008-300 008-1, ANSI T1.111.3, Bellcore GR 246, GR 82

Broadband SS7 Standards

• B-ISUP: ITUT Q.2761-Q.2764
• MTP-3b: ITUT Q.2210
• SAAL: ITUT Q.2140, Q.2100, 2110, Q.2130

Country variants

• Japanese (JTTC)
• Chinese
• Spanish
• British Telecom
• Austrian (OFEG)
• Russian
• International ISUP
• Indian (All Layers)
• Custom variants can be built within 4-6 weeks.

Stack Interoperability

Aricent SS7 stack provides proven connectivity with all Major OEM switches such as:

• Alcatel S-12
• Ericsson AXE
• Lucent 5ESS
• NEC Sigma
• Nortel DMS 100
• Siemens D900/1800/1900
• Nokia DX 200 i-series
• Italtel Linea

Aricent has been actively involved in field trials and interoperability tests of customer equipment.

Additional Features

To facilitate migrations to next-generation IP networks, Aricent also provides pre-integrated “SS7 over SIGTRAN” solutions including the following configurations:

• SCCP over M3UA/SCTP
• TCAP, SCCP over M3UA/SCTP
• TCAP over SUA/SCTP
• ISUP over M3UA/SCTP
• JAIN APIs for the TCAP layer of the Aricent SS7 Stack are available, enabling application developers to rapidly develop next-generation telecom products and services on the Java platform.
• SS7 and MAP pre-integrated solutions (source and binary) with hardware signaling cards are available for application developers enabling them to deliver high value, differentiated applications to their subscribers quickly, reliably and at significantly reduced costs.

Deliverables

• Source code or binary packages for narrowband, broadband or IP networks
• OS wrappers for the common operating systems
• User manual and porting guide
• API reference manual
• Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement (PICS)
• Warranty and annual support plans
• Training and on-site consultancy
• Turnkey integration and porting services