Traffic routing and link dimensioning in the common channel signaling networks

Abstract

Signaling can be defined as the exchange of information specifically concerned with the establishment and control of connections, and with network management, in a telecommunications network. It constitutes the command/control infrastructure of the modern telecommunications networks. The Common Channel Signaling (CCS) network not only forms the foundation for control and management in the modern telecommunications environments but also provides database transaction processing capability for special services such as the 800 Service and Alternate Billing Service (ABS). The CCS network is the backbone for providing the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) signaling, the Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) services, and the Personal Communications Service (PCS). It is therefore critical to provide adequate switching and transmission (link) capacities so that performance of CCS networks can be ensured. This paper describes a flexible link set dimensioning algorithm for supporting CCS network and traffic engineering. We first show that increasing a link set by one or more links may not always increase the link set capacity accordingly because of the current routing procedure defined in the Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) protocol. We then demonstrate a theorem that enables us to construct the number of all possible meaningful links in a CCS link set. Based on the theorem, an efficient and flexible procedure for implementing the link dimensioning algorithm in software is devised to support the mechanization of the CCS network planning traffic engineering functions. Finally, we show an approach to improve the CCS link utilization efficiency and its sufficient and necessary conditions.