Signaling System 7

(SS7)
Muhammad Ali Raza Anjum
 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 submission…so 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…….