Signalling Connection Control Part

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SS7 protocol suite
SS7 protocols by OSI layer
INAP, MAP, IS-41...
Application
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Network MTP Level 3 + SCCP
Data link MTP Level 2
Physical MTP Level 1
 v
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 e

Not to be confused with Skinny Call Control Protocol.

The Signalling Connection Control Part (SCCP) is a network layer[1] protocol that provides
extended routing, flow control, segmentation, connection-orientation, and error correction
facilities in Signaling System 7 telecommunications networks. SCCP relies on the services of
MTP for basic routing and error detection.

Contents
 1 Published specification
 2 Routing facilities beyond MTP
 3 Protocol classes
o 3.1 Class 0: Basic connectionless
o 3.2 Class 1: Sequenced connectionless
o 3.3 Class 2: Basic connection-oriented
o 3.4 Class 3: Flow control connection oriented
 4 Transport over IP Networks
 5 References
 6 External links

Published specification
The base SCCP specification is defined by the ITU-T, in recommendations Q.711 to Q.714, with
additional information to implementors provided by Q.715 and Q.716.[2] There are, however,
regional variations defined by local standards bodies. In the United States, ANSI publishes its
modifications to Q.713 as ANSI T1.112. The TTC publishes as JT-Q.711 to JT-Q.714, and
Europe ETSI publishes ETSI EN 300-009-1: both of which document their modifications to the
ITU-T specifications.

Routing facilities beyond MTP

Although MTP provides routing capabilities based upon the Point Code, SCCP allows routing
using a Point Code and Subsystem number or a Global Title.

A Point Code is used to address a particular node on the network, whereas a Subsystem number
addresses a specific application available on that node. SCCP employs a process called Global
Title Translation to determine Point Codes from Global Titles so as to instruct MTP on where to
route messages.

SCCP messages contain parameters which describe the type of addressing used, and how the
message should be routed:

 Address Indicator
o Routing indicator
 Route on Global Title
 Route on Point Code/Subsystem Number
o Global title indicator
 No Global Title
 Global Title includes Translation Type (TT), Numbering Plan Indicator
(NPI) and Type of Number (TON)
 Global Title includes Translation Type only
o Subsystem indicator
 Subsystem Number present
 Subsystem Number not present
o Point Code indicator
 Point Code present
 Point Code not present
 Global Title
o Address Indicator Coding
o Address Indicator coded as national (the Address Indicator is treated as
international if not specified)

Protocol classes
SCCP provides 4 classes of protocol to its applications:

 Class 0: Basic connectionless.

 Class 1: Sequenced connectionless.
 Class 2: Basic connection-oriented.
 Class 3: Flow control connection oriented.
The connectionless protocol classes provide the capabilities needed to transfer one Network
Service Data Unit (NSDU) in the "data" field of an XUDT, LUDT or UDT message. When one
connectionless message is not sufficient to convey the user data contained in one NSDU, a
segmenting/reassembly function for protocol classes 0 and 1 is provided. In this case, the SCCP
at the originating node or in a relay node provides segmentation of the information into multiple
segments prior to transfer in the "data" field of XUDT (or as a network option LUDT) messages.
At the destination node, the NSDU is reassembled.

The connection-oriented protocol classes (protocol classes 2 and 3) provide the means to set up
signalling connections in order to exchange a number of related NSDUs. The connection-
oriented protocol classes also provide a segmenting and reassembling capability. If an NSDU is
longer than 255 octets, it is split into multiple segments at the originating node, prior to transfer
in the "data" field of DT messages. Each segment is less than or equal to 255 octets. At the
destination node, the NSDU is reassembled.[3]

Class 0: Basic connectionless

The SCCP Class 0 protocol class is the most basic of the SCCP protocol classes. Network
Service Data Units passed by higher layers to the SCCP in the originating node are delivered by
the SCCP to higher layers in the destination node. They are transferred independently of each
other. Therefore, they may be delivered to the SCCP user out-of-sequence. Thus, this protocol
class corresponds to a pure connectionless network service. As a connectionless protocol, no
network connection is established between the sender and the receiver.

Class 1: Sequenced connectionless

SCCP Class 1 builds on the capabilities of Class 0, with the addition of a sequence control
parameter in the NSDU which allows the SCCP User to instruct the SCCP that a given stream of
messages should be delivered in sequence. Therefore, Protocol Class 1 corresponds to an
enhanced connectionless protocol with assurances of in-sequence delivery.

Class 2: Basic connection-oriented

SCCP Class 2 provides the facilities of Class 1, but also allows for an entity to establish a two-
way dialog with another entity using SCCP.

Class 3: Flow control connection oriented

Class 3 service builds upon Class 2, but also allows for expedited (urgent) messages to be sent
and received, and for errors in sequencing (segment re-assembly) to be detected and for SCCP to
restart a connection should this occur.

Transport over IP Networks

In the SIGTRAN suite of protocols, there are two primary methods of transporting SCCP
applications across Internet Protocol networks: SCCP can be transported indirectly using the
MTP level 3 User Adaptation protocol (M3UA), a protocol which provides support for users of
MTP-3—including SCCP. Alternatively, SCCP applications can operate directly over the SCCP
User Adaptation protocol (SUA) which is a form of modified SCCP designed specifically for use
in IP networking.

ITU-T also provides for the transport of SCCP users over Internet Protocol using the Generic
Signalling Transport service specified in Q.2150.0, the signalling transport converter for SCTP
specified in Q.2150.3 and a specialized Transport-Independent Signalling Connection Control
Part (TI-SCCP) specified in T-REC-Q.2220. TI-SCCP can also be used with the Generic
Signalling Transport adapted for MTP3 and MTP3b as described in Q.2150.1, or adapted for
SSCOP or SSCOPMCE as described in Q.2150.2.

Global title modification

In global title translation, it is quite normal that at some point the global title will have to be
changed. This happens, for example, as GSM mobility management messages enter and leave
networks in America. In America, typically most routing of mobility management messages for
all mobile networks is done using the E.212 (IMSI) number. In international networks, E.214 is
always used.

At the boundary incoming toward America (this can mean the Signaling Transfer Point at the
edge of the American operator's network), numbers routed from European networks are
converted from E.214 numbers into E.212 numbers. In the outgoing direction, from America
toward the rest of the world, are converted from E.212 numbers into E.214 numbers.

Global title routing in mobile networks

See also: Mobile Application Part

In mobile networks, there are database queries such as "how can I tell if this subscriber is really
who he says he is" (MAP_Send_Authentication_Info) which have to be routed back to the
database which holds the subscriber's information (the HLR, or in this case, the AUC).

Unfortunately, at the time the subscriber first arrives, we don't know which HLR is the
subscriber's HLR. For this reason, the queries have to be routed on the subscriber's identity
(IMSI) is used to generate the called party address in the message. How this is done depends
whether we are in world area 1 (North America) or somewhere else.

There are three types of GT in use in mobile networks known as E.164 (MSISDN), E.212(IMSI)
and E.214(MGT):[3]
 E.164(MSISDN) = CC+NDC+SN - ( Country Code+National Destination
Code+Subscriber Number) e.g. 91-98-71405178
 E.212(IMSI) = MCC+MNC+MSIN - (Mobile Country Code+Mobile Network
Code+Mobile Subscription Identification Number) e.g. 404-68-6600620186 (MTNL
delhi) -
 E.214(MGT) = combination of E.212 and E.164(CC+NDC+MSIN) (Exact combination
is defined in the operators IR21 document)