SIGTRAN

Revision as of 09:00, 7 January 2010

SIGTRAN essentially refers to the ability to provide SS7 and ISDN signaling over an IP network.

SIGTRAN is the name given to an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) working group that produced specifications for a family of protocols that provide reliable datagram service and user layer adaptations for SS7 and ISDN communications protocols. SIGTRAN is logically an extension of the SS7 protocol family. It supports the same application and call management paradigms as SS7 but uses an IP transport called Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) as its underlying transport vehicle. Indeed, the most significant protocol defined by the SIGTRAN group was SCTP, which is used to carry PSTN signaling over IP.

TelcoBridges and SIGTRAN

TelcoBridges is currently working on an implementation of SIGTRAN for its entire product line. As of September 2009, it is expected that SIGTRAN will be available in Toolpack for Q4 2009.

TelcoBridges' SIGTRAN implementation is expected to provide support for SCTP, M2UA, M2PA, and M3UA. (IUA and SUA support are not currently planned as part of the initial SIGTRAN release.)

The following additional details of our TelcoBridges' SIGTRAN support are subject to change as the product is still under development:

• M2PA with 64 links
• M2UA in SG and ASP mode
• M3UA in SG, ASP and IPSP mode
• M3UA with load distribution features similar to the MTP3 stack
• There will probably be a number of peer server limitations for M3UA

SIGTRAN licensing will be available using a "per destination" model.

Related actions

Refer to the appropriate release of Toolpack:

• Toolpack v2.4: SIGTRAN Application Scenarios

References

• Wikipedia article
• Introduction to SIGTRAN, by Jim Darroch
• SIGTRAN white paper, from the International Engineering Consortium