TN_SP011_E1_1

SigTran Protocol

ZTE University
CN Team
Course Objectives

Principal Concept of Sigtran

Transport Layer Protocol

Signal Adaptation Protocol

 Principal Concept of Sigtran

Definition

 SIGTRAN （ Signaling Transport ）： SIGTRAN is used to t

ransfer SS7 signaling in IP network. The standard primitiv
e interface supported by the SIGTRAN does not require a
ny modification to the application part of the SS7. It transf
ers SS7 signaling over standard IP transport protocol and
adds functions to meet the transport requirements of the
SS7 signaling.
 Principal Concept of Sigtran

SIGTRAN Protocol Structure

TCAP

Application
Q931/QSIG MTP3 TUP ISUP SCCP TCAP

IUA M2UA/M2PA M3UA

Adaptation
SUA

Transport
SCTP

IP IP layer
Course Objectives

Principal Concept of Sigtran

Transport Layer Protocol

Signal Adaptation Protocol

 Transport Layer Protocol

SCTP Protocol

 The Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is

designed to transfer SCN narrowband signaling
messages over the IP network. Actually the SCTP is a
connection-oriented protocol, but the concept of the
SCTP association is broader than that of the TCP
connection.
 SCTP is a reliable datagram transfer protocol based on
an unreliable transfer protocol such as UDP.
 Transport Layer Protocol

SCTP Terminology

 Host: it is a physical entity, e.g. one computer configured

with one or more IP addresses.
 SCTP End Point: it is a logical entity, e.g. datagram
sender and receiver. Each end point is just identified by
IP address and port number, similar to TCP.
 SCTP Association: it is a logical association or channel
established between two SCTP End Points. C/S mode is
adopted.
 Stream: there’re multiple streams per SCTP association.
It’s a single-way logical channel from one End Point to
another one in one SCTP association.
 Transport Layer Protocol

SCTP Terminology

 TSN & SSN

 Transmission Sequence Number (TSN) : A 32-bit
sequence number used internally by SCTP. One TSN is
attached to each chunk containing user data to permit the
receiving SCTP endpoint to acknowledge its receipt and
detect duplicate deliveries.
 Stream Sequence Number (SSN): A 16-bit sequence
number used internally by SCTP to assure sequenced
delivery of the user messages within a given stream.
One stream sequence number is attached to each user
message.
Transport Layer Protocol

SCTP Layer model

 Transport Layer Protocol

SCTP Features

 Features of SCTP:
 Message-oriented

 Supporting sequenced or unsequenced transfer of user data

gram within the stream;

 Establishing multiple streams within an association, and the

transfer of the data between the streams is independent;

 Supporting multi-homing at either or both ends of the associ

ation to improve the reliability of the association;

 Using COOKIE authentication to ensure the security of the a

ssociation setup;
 Real-time path fault test function.
 Transport Layer Protocol

SCTP and TCP Comparision

 Similarities between SCTP and TCP:

 Startup: to establish an association between two nodes, both

protocols will exchange a series of messages.

 Reliability and Ordering: both SCTP and TCP implement mec

hanisms to endure the successful delivery of user datagrams.

 Congestion Control: this is a critical element in any transport

protocol. It regulates the flow of data entering the network, lim

iting it to accommodate for occurrences of congestion.
 Closing Down: both protocols have two different close proced

ures, a graceful close and an abortive one.

 Transport Layer Protocol

SCTP and TCP Comparision

 Deference between SCTP and TCP:

 There are two key differences between TCP and SCTP:

 Multihoming: an essential property of SCTP is its support of

multi-homed nodes, i.e. nodes which can be reached under

several IP addresses.
 Multistreaming: is an effective way to limit Head-of-Line Bloc

king.
 Transport Layer Protocol

SCTP and TCP Comparision

 TCP is byte oriented, but SCTP is based on message.

 In contrast to the three-way handshake that occurs in TCP,

SCTP uses a four-way handshake to initiate an association.

 A cookie mechanism is employed during the SCTP

initialization to provide protection against security attacks..

Course Objectives

Principal Concept of Sigtran

Transport Layer Protocol

Signal Adaptation Protocol

 Signal Adaptation Protocol

Adaptation Protocols

 According to the different upper users, different

adaptation protocols are adopted.
 M3UA

 M2UA

 M2PA

 SUA

 IUA
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

Adaptation Layer-M3UA

 M3UA (MTP3-User Adaptation Layer) protocol conducts c

onversion between SPCs and IP addresses. It is used for
the SS7 signaling transfer between the Softswitch and the
SG. It supports transferring the MTP3 user messages ove
r the IP network, including ISUP, TUP, and SCCP messa
ges.
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

M3UA Terminology Introduction

 AS (Application Server): AS is a logical concept and

relevant to a physical equipment.
 ASP (Application Server Process): ASP is a progress
instance. The AS contains a set of one or more unique
ASPs, of which one or more is normally actively
processing traffic.
 In our system, we can have more than 1 ASP to server an
AS.
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

M3UA Terminology Introduction

 Signaling Gateway(SG): located at the edge of the SS7 n

etwork to an IP-resident Media Gateway Controller (MGC)
and vice versa. Transfers all the MTP3 user part (ISUP, S
CCP, and TUP) messages received from MTP3 (via IWF)
to the ASs, consisting of redundant or load-sharing ASPs.
 Signaling Gateway Process(SGP): it is one of the process
instances in SG, its working mode is active/standby or loa
d-sharing.
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

M3UA Terminology Introduction

Host 3
Host 1

Host 4
Host 2

SCTP Association
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

M3UA Terminology Introduction

 IP Server Process (IPSP): it is the process instance based

on IP application. Essentially, IPSP is the same as ASP
but SCTP just uses the end-to-end service not SG.
Signal Adaptation Protocol

Structure of M3UA
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

M3UA occurred in SG

SP SG ASP

ISUP NIF ISUP

MTP3 MTP3 M3UA M3UA

MTP2 MTP2 SCTP SCTP

SS7 IP
L1 L1 IP IP
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

M3UA occurred in IPSP

IPSP IPSP

ISUP ISUP
M3UA M3UA

SCTP SCTP
IP
IP IP
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

Adaptation Layer-M2UA

 M2UA: The MTP2 user adaptation layer (M2UA)

terminates the MTP2 at the edge SG of the packet-based
network, and transparently transfers MTP2 user
messages (MTP3 messages) to the MTP3 in the packet-
based network.
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

M2UA in SG

SP SG ASP

MTP3 (NIF) MTP3

M2UA M2UA
MTP2 MTP2
SCTP SCTP
SS7 IP
L1 L1 IP IP
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

Adaptation Layer-M2PA

 M2PA ： M2PA is used to support the operations between

the peer layers of the MTP3 in the IP network, support the
boundary interface between the MTP2 and MTP3, suppor
t the message transfer through the SCTP association, imp
lement the MTP2 link function, and report the change to t
he management status.
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

M2PA in SG

SP SG ASP

MTP3 MTP3 MTP3

M2PA M2PA
MTP2 MTP2
SCTP SCTP
SS7 IP
L1 L1 IP IP
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

M2PA in IPSP

IPSP IPSP

MTP3 MTP3
M2PA M2PA
SCTP SCTP
IP
IP IP
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

M2UA and M2PA Comparision

 Similarities ：

 Both transport MTP3 data messages;

 Both present an MTP2 upper interface to MTP3.

 Difference ：

 M2PA processes MTP3-to-MTP2 primitives, but M2UA just transp

orts MTP3-to-MTP2 primitives ;
 Using M2PA, SG is an SS7 node with a point code; Using M2UA,
SG is not an SS7 node and has no SPC;
 SG adopting M2PA can have upper SS7 layers, e.g., SCCP; but S
G does not have upper SS7 layers because it has no MTP3.
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

Adaptation Layer-SUA

 SUA: The SUA defines how to transfer SCCP user messa

ges between two SPs through IP. It can be used by the S
G for the interworking between the SS7 and IP; it can also
be used for the interworking between two IPSPs in the IP
network.
 Signal Adaptation Protocol

SUA in SG

SP SG ASP

TCAP NIF TCAP

SCCP SCCP SUA SUA
MTP3 MTP3
MTP2 MTP2 SCTP SCTP
SS7 IP
L1 L1 IP IP