Ulticom's Signalware software provides signaling solutions to accelerate development
and deployment of network elements that enable switching services. Signalware SS7,
Signalware SIP, and Signalware SIGTRAN offer an unparalleled combination of scalability,
global interoperability, fault resilience, and standards-based Application Programming
Interfaces (APIs) on open computing platforms. Signalware can be used for the development
of softswitches, Service Control Points (SCPs), Intelligent Peripherals (IPs), Application
Servers (ASs), and other network elements in the wireline switching network, as
well as for Service GPRS Support Nodes (SGSNs), Gateway GPRS Support Nodes (GGSNs),
and Packet Data Service Nodes (PDSNs) in the wireless network.
The Evolution of Switching Networks
Switching is a series of functions that establish and control paths between multiple
network points to transmit content. The Public Switching Telephone Network's (PSTN's)
main focus has been to deliver voice calls using circuit-switching technology across
digital switches with inter-machine trunks between them, carrying digitized voice
using Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) channels. PSTN switching services include
Basic Call Routing, CLASS services (such as Caller ID, Call Forwarding, Call Waiting),
ISDN, Centrex, Number Portability, and many others. Capabilities of the PSTN have
proliferated with the adoption of SS7 signaling in the 1980s and the Intelligent
Network (IN) architecture evolving around it.
In time, network operators will gradually augment or replace their switched-circuit
networks with an IP-based infrastructure that leverages general purpose computing
platforms, standards-based open interfaces, and signaling protocols, such as Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP) and Signaling Transport (SIGTRAN). The migration from
circuit to packet-based networks, relative to the network signaling required for
switching, opens the door to new possibilities for equipment providers and service
providers.
Bridging legacy SS7 networks and NexGen IP-based networks is a key requirement.
Signaling Gateways (SGs) will serve as the mediation point between networks, as
well as enable multiple solutions in these networks. These solutions include a signaling
gateway as a link replacement in the core (or at the edge) of the network, a border
gateway that hosts specific applications, or as an SS7 TCAP to SIP Gateway (SPIRITS).
This evolution will be based on open protocols and APIs. Protocols under development
in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) of the SIGTRAN working group, such
as SCTP, SUA, M3UA, M2PA, M2UA, and SIP, will play an important role.
