Introduction to Signalling System No.

7 Transport over IP
Table of Contents
Topic Page

GENERAL...............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 2 COMMUNICATION SCENARIOS....................................................................................2

PROTOCOL STACKS........................................................................................ 4
SCTP........................................................................................................................5 M3UA........................................................................................................................6

FAULT RESILIENCE.......................................................................................... 8
HARDWARE FAULT RESILIENCE..............................................................................

FAULT RESILIENT LAN TOPOLOGY.......................................................................... 8 END-TO-END FAULT RESILIENCE CONTROLLED BY SCTP...................................... 9 END-TO-END FAULT RESILIENCE CONTROLLED BY M3UA......................................... 10 END-TO-END FAULT RESILIENCE BY NODE REDUNDANCY....................................... 11 IP ROUTING........................................................................................................................ 12

GENERAL
The aim of this document is to serve as a guide on how signaling over IP is achieved, covering both IP-SEP (IP Signaling End Point) and SGW (Signaling Gateway).

INTRODUCTION
Since there is a need for transport of signaling protocols over IP, the IETF has defined a framework architecture that provides a solution. This framework defines a common signaling transport protocol and an adaptation layer. SIGTRAN is a set of protocols defined to transport SS7 messages (ISUP, SCCP) over IP networks. SIGTRAN allows IP networks to inter-work with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and vice versa. The SCTP is defined as the common signaling transport protocol. M3UA is an MTP3-user adaptation layer, suitable for supporting the transfer of messages of any protocol layer identified as an MTP3 user part (in SS7 terms).
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COMMUNICATION SCENARIOS
An IP-SEP interworks with a SEP (Signaling End point) via one or several SGWs, as described in the Figure 1. In this case, each SEP, regardless its domain, can access the other by means of SPCs (Signaling Point Code)

Figure 1: Communication between IP-SEP and SEP via SGW

In the case of SCCP based signaling traffic, an IP-SEP can communicate with a SEP via an SRF (SCCP Relay Function) node, as displayed in the Figure 2. Then each SEP, regardless its domain, can access the other by means of SCCP global titles, provided by the global title translation and routing on global titles in the SRF.

Figure 1.2: SCCP traffic from an IP-SEP to a SEP via an SRF

Addressing by SPCs is useful when the nodes in both domains belong to the same administrative domain, for example when they belong to the same operator, while global title addressing is appropriate when the networks belong to different administrative domains, so the topology and addressing schemes within one network is hidden to the other network.

PROTOCOL STACKS

Figure 3 shows the protocol stacks implemented into an SGW

Figure : SGW !rotoco" #tac$

The figure above shows the signaling protocol stack for the three supported transport technologies: MTP3b over SAAL for ATM transport MTP stack for TDM transport M3UA/SCTP stack for IP transport The SIGTRAN protocol stack consists of 3 components: A standard IP layer A common signaling transport protocol, Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP): SCTP provides connection oriented reliable transfer of user messages between peer SCTP users (Adaptation layer protocols). Note: The SCTP layer replaces a normal TCP/UDP layer. An Adaptation layer: Protocols defined for this layer are M2PA, M2UA, M3UA, and SUA The Nodal Inter-working Function (NIF) (not defined by the standards) allows messages to be routed to a local SCCP based service, such as Global Title Translation, or to an IPSP based on the Routing Key.

SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol)

By RFC 2960 SCTP is designed to transport SS7 signaling messages over IP networks. It operates directly on top of IP at the same level as TCP. SCTP's basic service is connection oriented reliable transfer of messages between peer defined SCTP users. SCTP offers the following services (not exhaustive) that may be used by SIGTRAN:
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 Multi-homing: is the ability of an association (that is, a connection) to support multiple IP addresses or interfaces at a given end point. Muti-streaming: Allows for multiple virtual connections on the same physical line. Each user application might be assigned its own stream (virtual connection). Association start-up and takedown: An association is initiated by a request from the SCTP user. SCTP provides for graceful close (i.e., shutdown) of an active association on request from the SCTP user. SCTP also allows ungraceful close (i.e., abort). Sequenced delivery User data fragmentation Chunk bundling Packet validation

SCTP MESSAGE FORMAT The protocol data units (PDU) of SCTP are called SCTP packets. If SCTP runs over IP, an SCTP packet forms the payload of an IP packet. An SCTP packet is composed of a common header and chunks. See Figure 4. (So far there are 13 chunk types defined for standard use.)

Figure 4. SCTP Protocol Data Unit SCTP PROCEDURES Normal Association Establishment The initialisation process consists of the following steps: An endpoint A first sends an INIT chunk to another endpoint B.
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B shall respond immediately with an INIT ACK chunk. Upon reception of the INIT ACK from B, A shall stop the T1-init timer and leave COOKIE-WAIT state. Upon reception of the COOKIE ECHO chunk, Endpoint B will reply with a COOKIE ACK chunk after moving to the ESTABLISHED state. Upon reception of the COOKIE ACK, endpoint A will move from the COOKIEECHOED state to the ESTABLISHED state, see Figure 5 below

Figure

Normal Association Establishment

Association Termination, Data Transfer, Selective Acknowledgment

M3UA (MTP 3 User Adaptation Layer)

Defined by RFC 4666, M3UA supports the transport of any SS7 MTP3-User signaling (for example, ISUP and SCCP messages) to an IP Signaling Point (IPSP) using the services of SCTP. M3UA is IP aware in that it translates the contents of the incoming SS7 MSU using a Routing Key (a glorified routing table) to map to the relevant IP address. M3UA provides functionality similar to MTP3 but routing is IP aware through the use of the Routing Key. The SS7 SGW in the M3UA scenario functions as an STP (Signaling Transfer Point) and can
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provide SCCP based services which could include Global Title Translation which may cause redirection to either the SS7 or IP network. MTP3 and M3UA both provide routing capabilities. MTP3 routes from point code to point code. M3UA maps and routes point codes to IP addresses and vice versa using a Routing Key.

USE OF M3UA STACK When IP transport is used in the signaling network, the SEP network element is usually in the IP network. The SEP network element acts as an AS and is then connected to the TDM network via a Signaling Gateway that is a network element working in both network types. The AS can be a server or a database, but also any other network element, where signaling is transported via the IP network.

Figure 6 Use of M3UA stack

Signaling messages from the PSTN are addressed to the server network element. A signaling route goes via the signaling gateway, where a protocol change from SS7 to SIGTRAN is done. Signaling messages from the server are destined to the SCCP in the PSTN network element. A signaling route goes via the signaling gateway, where a protocol change from SIGTRAN to SS7 is done. There may exist STP points in the SS7 path between the SGW and the destination PSTN network element.

FAULT RESILIENCE
All nodes participating in an SS7oIP network are attached via interfaces to a LAN. All nodes attached to the same LAN will communicate directly to each other via the LAN infrastructure. The IP routers attached to the LAN will facilitate the communication to nodes belonging to another LAN. The interfaces are defined as IP ports. An IP port either can work in stand-alone mode or can belong to an IP port pair.

Hardware Fault Resilience

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A stand-alone port does not have protection against HW failures. Redundancy mechanisms have to be deployed on higher layers such as M3UA so that multiple boards are controlled by these higher layer mechanisms. A redundant network interface pair consists of interfaces with distinct roles. One interface is designated as the primary interface and the other as the secondary interface. The secondary interface acts as a standby for the primary interface if the primary interface fails. The secondary interface may or may not be used for traffic while the primary interface is properly working, depending on how packets are routed because of the network conditions. Under normal conditions, the active IP port serves all the SCTP End points that are created from the IP addresses belonging to the two ports of the interface pair. IP and SCTP layers reside on one of the two boards belonging to the pair. This offers redundancy as the first board is actively processing the duties of the IP and SCTP layers whereas the second board will act as a stand-by. If a hardware failure occurs on the board that hosts the IP and SCTP layers, the second board works as backup. Existing associations go down, the SCTP End point(s) migrates to the stand-by board and the associations are reestablished. When the former active board is back in service, the end point is not restored back in order to avoid traffic disturbances. The recovered board takes the role of the stand-by unit and it will back-up the board now acting as the primary unit. The IP addresses are assigned to the respective Ethernet interfaces in the same way as before the failure incident. If a hardware failure occurs on the board that does not hosts the IP and SCTP layers, the interface and the associated IP address are no longer available. The SCTP traffic is still dealt with via the interface on the other board.

Fault Resilient LAN Topology

For the sake of fault resilience, it is advisable that each IP host in a node utilizes two physical interfaces. Multi-homing refers to the fact that an IP host utilizes several IP addresses. Each IP address used for signaling traffic is assigned to a dedicated physical interface. Figure 4 below shows some SIGTRAN network nodes, each node acting as one IP host.

Figure 7 Fault resilient LAN topology

Each host is multi-homed and owns two physical interfaces. Each interface is connected dedicated L2 Ethernet switch that provides LAN connectivity to the other hosts and the routers on the network. The L2 switches are duplicated for the sake of fault resilience. The link between the L2 switches is crucial as it connects the two identical halves of the network topology. The link ensures that all interfaces are connected via the LAN devices. The IP routers are duplicated as well. Each router is connected to one of the L2 switches. Furthermore, the link between the routers allows for forwarding traffic via the other IP router when the link to the IP backbone or to the L2 switch fails. This topology is robust against single point of failures of any equipment in the LAN, i.e. failure of a host interface, L2 switch or router. It is even resilient against certain multiple failures, e.g. when two interfaces, one in each of the two communicating hosts, fail at the same time.

End to end Fault Resilience !ontrolled "y #!TP

The primary mechanism used for end-to-end fault resilience is the multi-homing feature of the transport protocol SCTP. With SCTP in place, each peer-to-peer communication is achieved via a dedicated connection between these peers. The connection is called SCTP association. The multi-homing feature of SCTP allows for assigning two IP addresses to the SCTP end point that is attached to the user protocol on top of SCTP. One remote address is considered as the primary address, the other as the secondary address. SCTP monitors the availability of the IP paths spanning between the local and the remote IP addresses and selects a secondary path when the primary path becomes unavailable. Figure 5. shows the multi-homed SCTP association

Figure 8 End-to-end fault resilience controlled by SCTP

End to end Fault Resilience !ontrolled "y M3UA

In this case, M3UA should utilize two SCTP single-homed end points at each of the affected peer nodes. The end points should be associated with a dedicated board so that they use a dedicated SCTP layer instance, IP layer instance and Ethernet interface. A dedicated SCTP association will be established between two peer SCTP end points. By configuring the M3UA signaling routes accordingly, M3UA provides fail-over mechanism between SCTP associations based on selecting alternative routes for a particular point code destination. This approach should be complemented by the fault resilience mechanisms described for the LAN environment. Furthermore, the subnetting should be applied in the same way as for the case when SCTP multi-homing is applied, i.e. the IP hosts see one subnet, but two subnets are advertised to the IP backbone. Figure 6. shows the SCTP associations spanning between the M3UA instances and the flow of packets belonging to theses associations through the network under normal conditions.

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Figure 9 End-to-end fault resilience controlled by M3UA

Fault Resilience "y Node Redundancy

Nodes may be duplicated for achieving fault resilience. This is especially true when a node acts as an intermediate node, i.e. it forwards traffic. An example of such a node is a SGW, residing at the edge of the SS7oIP network as shown in Figure 7. below.

Figure 10 Node redundancy for SGWs controlled by M3UA

$P Routing
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The following example shall illustrate the concept for the subnetting applied to the hosts and the IP routers in a LAN. It shows a single host out of many connected to the LAN infrastructure.

Figure 11 Example network configuration

The default IP routers (a.k.a. default IP gateways) for the IP hosts should be configured in such a way that one interface of an IP host prefers using one IP router, whereas the other IP router gets less preference. For the other interface, the opposite preferences apply. This allows controlling the path for traffic outbound to the LAN by selecting the interface. For the inbound packet routing, the ingress to the LAN, i.e. the IP packet traversing the particular IP router, should be controlled by IP subnetting. It is important that all interfaces of the IP hosts belong to the same IP subnet. This ensures that traffic between two hosts connected to the LAN will only utilize the LAN infrastructure, but will not involve the routers. Clever subnetting will increase the chance that an IP host is reachable via different path through the network. For achieving this principle of independent paths, it is advisable to assign the IP routers to two different subnets. The reason is that traffic inbound to a LAN may still be attracted by a failed router despite the presence of a standby router if both routers belong to the same subnet.

The following data is applied for that example configuration:

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