TCAP Application

SP-3590-520
Signaling Protocols
 SP-3590-520
(to be published as TIA/EIA-41-520-E)

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WIRELESS RADIOTELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERSYSTEM OPERATIONS:
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TCAP APPLICATION
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7 CONTENTS
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LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... ii
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LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................ iii
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13 1 APPLICATION SERVICES .............................................................................1
14 1.1 APPLICATION SERVICES ARCHITECTURE ...............................................1
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1.2 APPLICATION LAYER STRUCTURE ............................................................2
17 1.3 TCAP FORMATS AND PROCEDURES ..........................................................2
18 1.3.1 Transaction Portion ................................................................................2
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1.3.2 Component Portion ................................................................................3
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1.3.2.1 TCAP INVOKE Component.....................................................4
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1.3.2.2 TCAP RETURN RESULT Component....................................5
23 1.3.2.3 TCAP RETURN ERROR Component......................................6
24 1.3.3 TCAP REJECT Component ....................................................................10
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520-i
SP-3590-520
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LIST OF FIGURES 1
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Figure 1 Application Services Architecture...............................................................................1 4

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Figure 2 TIA/EIA-41 Application Layer Structure.....................................................................2 6
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520-ii
 SP-3590-520
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LIST OF TABLES
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4 Table 1 Structure of TCAP Package with INVOKE Component..............................................4
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Table 2 Structure of TCAP Package with RETURN RESULT Component .............................5
7 Table 3 Structure of TCAP Package with RETURN ERROR Component...............................6
8 Table 4 RETURN ERROR Parameters .....................................................................................6
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Table 5 Error Codes ...................................................................................................................9
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Table 6 Structure of TCAP Package with REJECT Component.............................................10
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520-iii
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 SP-3590-520
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1 APPLICATION SERVICES
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4 This section includes:
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6 • A review of the Application Services architecture.
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8 • A description of the Application Layer structure.
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• The requirements on ANSI Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP) formats
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and procedures which apply to this Standard.
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• The formats and encoding of the signaling information comprising the TIA/EIA-41
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Mobile Application Part (MAP), both the operations and parameters.
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17 1.1 APPLICATION SERVICES ARCHITECTURE
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19 The Application Services architecture introduced in Section 4 is reproduced in the following
20 figure.
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Application Layer
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Mobile Application Part
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(MAP)
27 Transaction Capabilities
28 Application Part (TCAP)
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30 APPLICATION
31 SERVICES
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Presentation Layer ANSI
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Transaction
34 Capabilities
35 Session Layer
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38 Transport Layer
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Figure 1 Application Services Architecture
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42 Application Services are comprised of the ANSI Transaction Capabilities (TC) specified in
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ANSI T1.114, along with the TIA/EIA-41 Mobile Application Part (MAP).
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45 The TC Transport, Session, and Presentation layers are null layers in this Standard, just as they
46 are described in ANSI T1.114. They are included here for completeness; future revisions of this
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Standard may make use of them. SP-3590
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49 The Application Layer contains the working part of the TIA/EIA-41 Application Services. It is
50 described in the remainder of this Section.
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520-1 1 APPLICATION SERVICES

SP-3590-520
(to be published as TIA/EIA-41-520-E)

1.2 APPLICATION LAYER STRUCTURE 1

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The following figure illustrates the TIA/EIA-41 Application Layer Structure.
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Mobile Application Part 6

(MAP) 7
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ANSI TCAP
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Application 14
Component Layer 15
sub-layer 16
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Transaction 21
sub-layer 22
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to and from 27
underlying layers 28
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Figure 2 TIA/EIA-41 Application Layer Structure
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As illustrated, the Mobile Application Part (MAP) defined in this Standard is supported by the 31

ANSI Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP). TCAP, in turn, is structured in two 32

sub-layers: 33
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• the component sub-layer, which deals with individual actions or data, called 35

components. 36
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• the transaction sub-layer, which deals with the exchange of messages containing 38

components between two MAP entities. 39

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1.3 TCAP FORMATS AND PROCEDURES 42

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1.3.1 Transaction Portion 44

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This Standard employs the TCAP package formats and procedures defined in ANSI T1.114 with
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the following exceptions and limitations: 48
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• Special procedures for “Handover,” defined in the ANSI TCAP standard, are not
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supported.
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1 APPLICATION SERVICES 520-2

 SP-3590-520
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1.3.2 Component Portion
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This Standard employs the TCAP component formats and procedures defined in ANSI T1.114
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with the following exceptions and limitations:
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• Special procedures for “Handover,” defined in the ANSI TCAP standard, are not
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supported.
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9 • The Operation Code Identifier is coded as Private TCAP.
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11 • The Operation Code is partitioned into an Operation Family followed by a Specifier
12 associated with each Operation Family member. For TIA/EIA-41 the Operation Family
13 is coded as decimal 9. Bit H of the Operation Family is always coded as 0.
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15 • A TCAP INVOKE component shall contain a Component ID Length greater than zero.
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17 • A TCAP RETURN RESULT component shall only be transmitted in response to an
18 INVOKE Component.
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20 • A TCAP RETURN ERROR component shall only be sent in response to an INVOKE
21 component, not a RETURN RESULT component.
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• If a problem is detected by TCAP (i.e., the received message does not conform to ANSI
24 T1.114.3), a TCAP REJECT component with one of the following Problem Specifiers
shall be sent:
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- All families, General, Transaction Portion: All specifiers.
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- INVOKE: Unrecognized Correlation ID.
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- RETURN RESULT: Unrecognized Correlation ID, Unexpected Return Result.
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32 - RETURN ERROR: Unrecognized Correlation ID, Unexpected Return Error.
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34 • If a problem is detected by TIA/EIA-41 MAP (i.e., the received message does not
35 conform to TIA/EIA-41), a TCAP REJECT component with one of the following
36 TCAP Problem Specifiers shall be sent:
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38 - INVOKE: Duplicate Invoke ID, Unrecognized Operation Code or Incorrect
39 Parameter.
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41 - RETURN RESULT: Incorrect Parameter.
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- RETURN ERROR: Incorrect Parameter, Unrecognized Error, Unexpected Error.
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• If an error is detected by an TIA/EIA-41 MAP user except SMSDeliveryBackward,
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SMSDeliveryForward, and SMSDeliveryPointToPoint, a TCAP RETURN ERROR
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component shall be sent. For SMSDeliveryBackward, SMSDeliveryForward, and SP-3590
48 SMSDeliveryPointToPoint, a TCAP RETURN RESULT with an SMS_CauseCode
49 parameter shall be sent.
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520-3 1 APPLICATION SERVICES

SP-3590-520
(to be published as TIA/EIA-41-520-E)

The following sections summarize the formats of the ANSI TCAP components employed in this 1
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Standard.
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1.3.2.1 TCAP INVOKE Component 4

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The structure of an ANSI TCAP package containing an INVOKE component is shown in the 6

following table. 7
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Table 1 Structure of TCAP Package with INVOKE Component 9
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Package Type Identifier
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Total TCAP Message Length 12
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Transaction ID Identifier
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Transaction ID Length 15
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Transaction IDs 17

Component Sequence Identifier 18

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Component Sequence Length 20

Component Type Identifier 21

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Component Length 23
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Component ID Identifier

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Component ID Length 26
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Component IDs
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Operation Code Identifier 29
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Operation Code Length
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Operation Code 32
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Parameter Set Identifier 34

Parameter Set Length 35

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Parameter Set 37
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1.3.2.1.1 INVOKE Response Philosophy 39

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1. If a functional entity receives an INVOKE with an incorrect TCAP message (e.g., ill- 41

formatted), it shall respond with a REJECT to report this error. 42

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2. If a functional entity receives an INVOKE and is unable to initiate or complete the 44
operation, it shall respond with a RETURN ERROR. 45
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3. If a functional entity receives an INVOKE and is able to complete the operation, it
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shall respond with a RETURN RESULT to report the completion of the operation,
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except for the messages HandoffMeasurementRequest and MobileOnChannel.
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1 APPLICATION SERVICES 520-4

 SP-3590-520
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1 1.3.2.2 TCAP RETURN RESULT Component

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3 The structure of a TCAP package containing a RETURN RESULT component is shown in the
4 following table.
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Table 2 Structure of TCAP Package with RETURN RESULT Component
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Package Type Identifier
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11 Total TCAP Message Length
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Transaction ID Identifier
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14 Transaction ID Length
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Transaction IDs
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17 Component Sequence Identifier
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Component Sequence Length
20 Component Type Identifier
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Component Length
23 Component ID Identifier
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Component ID Length
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Component IDs
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28 Parameter Set Identifier
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Parameter Set Length
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31 Parameter Set
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520-5 1 APPLICATION SERVICES

SP-3590-520
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1.3.2.3 TCAP RETURN ERROR Component 1

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The structure of a TCAP package containing a RETURN ERROR component is shown in the 3

following table. 4
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Table 3 Structure of TCAP Package with RETURN ERROR Component 6
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Package Type Identifier
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Total TCAP Message Length 9
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Transaction ID Identifier 11

Transaction ID Length 12
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Transaction IDs 14

Component Sequence Identifier 15

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Component Sequence Length 17
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Component Type Identifier
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Component Length 20
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Component ID Identifier
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Component ID Length 23
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Component IDs

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Error Code Identifier 26
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Error Code Length 28

Error Code 29
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Parameter Set Identifier 31

Parameter Set Length 32

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Parameter Set 34
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The Parameter Set is encoded as follows:
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Table 4 RETURN ERROR Parameters 39
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RETURN ERROR Parameters 41
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Field Value Type Reference Notes
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Identifier Set [NATIONAL 18] M 2 44
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Length variable octets M 1 46
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Contents 48
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FaultyParameter O 3.122 50
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Notes: 53
a. Include if the error involved a specific parameter. 54
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1 APPLICATION SERVICES 520-6

 SP-3590-520
(to be published as TIA/EIA-41-520-E)

1 1.3.2.3.1 Error Definitions

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3 The detailed handling of operation errors is specified in the operations procedures.
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5 The following definitions for errors are not exhaustive, but are included so that different
6 manufacturers and users have a common understanding of the mapping between a reported error
7 and the occurrence which generates it. The detection of the errors is not mandatory however, if
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an error is detected for one of the examples given, then the indicated error code should be used.
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Implementations should not give cause for these reasons to be generated. For
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SMSDeliveryBackward, SMSDeliveryForward, and SMSDeliveryPointToPoint, detected
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errors should be mapped into the SMS_CauseCode parameter returned in the RETURN
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RESULT.
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UnrecognizedMIN
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a. Supplied MIN is not currently served by the VLR.
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18 b. Supplied MIN is not currently served by the HLR.
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20 c. Supplied MIN is not currently served by the Serving MSC.
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22 d. Supplied MIN does not currently have an active call on an originating MSC.
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UnrecognizedESN
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a. Supplied ESN does not match HLRs stored value for subscribers ESN.
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27 b. Supplied ESN does not match VLRs stored value for subscribers ESN.
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29 c. Supplied ESN is negative listed.
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31 MSIDMIN/HLRMismatch
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a. Supplied MSID MIN is not resident on the HLR.
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OperationSequenceProblem
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a. Unexpected INVOKE in response to an INVOKE.
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38 b. Operation is not allowed in the current state.
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40 ResourceShortage
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42 a. Functional entity congestion.
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b. Application (or function) congestion.
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c. Network congestion.
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47 d. No transaction IDs available. SP-3590
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49 e. Internal processing resource shortage (memory, I/O, disk, processor, etc.)
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51 f. No TLDNs available.
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OperationNotSupported
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a. Operation is not supported on the addressed functional entity.
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520-7 1 APPLICATION SERVICES

SP-3590-520
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TrunkUnavailable 1
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a. Specific requested trunk is not available. 3
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b. No trunks are available, but are required to perform the operation. 5
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ParameterError 7
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Parameter errors and parameter encoding errors (see 6.5.2). Parameter errors include exactly
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one FaultyParameter parameter in the parameter set. 10
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UnrecognizedParameterValue
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UnrecognizedParameterValue is a parameter value which is encoded properly (see 6.5.2), but 13

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its value is not recognized. UnrecognizedParameterValue errors should include exactly one
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FaultyParameter parameter in the parameter set.
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SystemFailure 17
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a. System component failure. 19
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b. Network component failure. 21
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c. Chained operation failure. 23
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d. Required subsystem failure.

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FeatureInactive
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a. Cannot reroute call because indicated feature is inactive. 28

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MissingParameter 30
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a. Expected optional parameter is missing. 32
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b. All profile parameters are expected, but some are missing. 34
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c. All qualification parameters are expected, but some are missing.
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d. MissingParameter errors should include exactly one FaultyParameter parameter in the 37

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parameter set.
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Note that this Error Code; is not used to indicate a missing mandatory parameter; a REJECT 40

message component with a Problem Specifier of Incorrect Parameter; is used in this case. 41
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UnrecognizedIMSI/TMSI 44
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a. Supplied IMSI is not currently served by the VLR. 46
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b. Supplied IMSI is not currently served by the HLR.
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c. Supplied IMSI is not currently served by the Serving MSC. 49

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d. Supplied IMSI does not currently have an active call on an originating MSC. 51
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e. Supplied TMSI is not currently served by the Old Serving VLR. TMSI_ZONE may be 53
matched, but TMSI_CODE is not matched. 54
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f. Supplied TMSI is not currently served by the Serving VLR. TMSI_ZONE may be 56
matched, but TMSI_CODE is not matched. 57
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1 APPLICATION SERVICES 520-8

 SP-3590-520
(to be published as TIA/EIA-41-520-E)

1 TMSI/VLRMismatch
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3 a. Supplied TMSI is not resident on the Old Serving VLR.
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5 b. Supplied TMSI is not resident on the Serving VLR.
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For TIA/EIA-41 the Error Code Identifier is coded as Private TCAP. Error Codes are coded as
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Table 5 Error Codes
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11 Error Code
Error Code Name
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UnrecognizedMIN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
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15 UnrecognizedESN 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
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17 MSIDMIN/HLRMismatch 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
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OperationSequenceProblem 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
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20 ResourceShortage 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
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OperationNotSupported 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
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TrunkUnavailable 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
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ParameterError
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SystemFailure 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
28 UnrecognizedParameterValue 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
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30 FeatureInactive 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
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MissingParameter 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
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33 UnrecognizedIMSI/TMSI 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
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35 TMSI/VLRMismatch 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0
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Other Error Codes are Reserved Reserved (note a)
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38 TrunkStatus 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
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Reserved for Protocol Extension through
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(note b) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
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Notes:
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47 b. Error codes 224 to 255 (decimal) shall be reserved for protocol extension. If unknown, SP-3590
48 treat the same as value 133 (decimal), Resource Shortage.
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520-9 1 APPLICATION SERVICES

SP-3590-520
(to be published as TIA/EIA-41-520-E)

1.3.3 TCAP REJECT Component 1

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The structure of a TCAP package containing a REJECT component is shown in the following
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table.
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Table 6 Structure of TCAP Package with REJECT Component 6

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Package Type Identifier 8
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Total TCAP Message Length
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Transaction ID Identifier 11
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Transaction ID Length
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Transaction IDs 14
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Component Sequence Identifier
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Component Sequence Length 17
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Component Type Identifier 19

Component Length 20
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Component ID Identifier 22

Component ID Length 23
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Component IDs

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Problem Code Identifier
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Problem Code Length 28
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Problem Code
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Parameter Set Identifier 31
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Parameter Set Length
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Parameter Set 34
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A TCAP REJECT message with a TCAP Problem Code containing a Problem Specifier with 37
one of the following values may include one occurrence of a FaultyParameter parameter 38
identifying the parameter in error: 39
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a. INVOKE Incorrect Parameter. 41
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b. RETURN RESULT Incorrect Parameter.
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c. RETURN ERROR Incorrect Parameter. 44

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When a functional entity receives a message with protocol errors, it shall return with a REJECT 46

message. 47
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When a functional entity receives a REJECT message it should: 49
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a. Stop timer for current task. 51
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b. Exit the current task. 53
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c. Begin recovery procedures according to the functional entitys internal algorithm.
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d. If it needs to respond to another functional entity due to an undergoing transaction, it 56

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should send a RETURN ERROR message indicating System Failure.
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1 APPLICATION SERVICES 520-10