SS7 Protocol Suite: Service Switching Points Signal Transfer Points Service Control Points

SS7 separates signaling from voice circuits and uses a network of nodes including SSPs, STPs, and SCPs connected by various link types to provide call setup and control functions. In Europe, links are directly connected between switches using F-links, while in North America links are indirectly connected via intervening STPs. Higher capacity SS7 links called HSLs utilize entire T1 or E1 transmission facilities for signaling message transport.

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SS7 Protocol Suite: Service Switching Points Signal Transfer Points Service Control Points

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Shivam Singhal

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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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SS7 separates signaling from the voice circuits.

An SS7 network must be made up of SS7-

capable equipment from end to end in order to provide its full functionality. The network can be
made up of several link types (A, B, C, D, E, and F) and three signaling nodes – Service
Switching Points (SSPs), Signal Transfer Points (STPs), and Service Control Points (SCPs).
Each node is identified on the network by a number, a signaling point code. Extended services
are provided by a database interface at the SCP level using the SS7 network.[citation needed]

The links between nodes are full-duplex 56, 64, 1,536, or 1,984 kbit/s graded communications
channels. In Europe they are usually one (64 kbit/s) or all (1,984 kbit/s) timeslots (DS0s) within
an E1 facility; in North America one (56 or 64 kbit/s) or all (1,536 kbit/s) timeslots (DS0As or
DS0s) within a T1 facility. One or more signaling links can be connected to the same two
endpoints that together form a signaling link set. Signaling links are added to link sets to increase
the signaling capacity of the link set.[citation needed]

In Europe, SS7 links normally are directly connected between switching exchanges using F-
links. This direct connection is called associated signaling. In North America, SS7 links are
normally indirectly connected between switching exchanges using an intervening network of
STPs. This indirect connection is called quasi-associated signaling, which reduces the number of
SS7 links necessary to interconnect all switching exchanges and SCPs in an SS7 signaling
network.[9]

SS7 links at higher signaling capacity (1.536 and 1.984 Mbit/s, simply referred to as the 1.5
Mbit/s and 2.0 Mbit/s rates) are called high speed links (HSL) in contrast to the low speed (56
and 64 kbit/s) links. High speed links are specified in ITU-T Recommendation Q.703 for the 1.5
Mbit/s and 2.0 Mbit/s rates, and ANSI Standard T1.111.3 for the 1.536 Mbit/s rate.[10] There are
differences between the specifications for the 1.5 Mbit/s rate. High speed links utilize the entire
bandwidth of a T1 (1.536 Mbit/s) or E1 (1.984 Mbit/s) transmission facility for the transport of
SS7 signaling messages.[10]

SIGTRAN provides signaling using SCTP associations over the Internet Protocol.[4]:456 The
protocols for SIGTRAN are M2PA, M2UA, M3UA and SUA.[11]