Network Working Group
Request for Comments: 3094
Category: Informational
D. Sprague
R. Benedyk
D. Brendes
J. Keller
Tekelec
April 2001
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Tekelec's Transport Adapter Layer Interface

Status of this Memo

This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

Copyright © The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved.

IESG Note:

Readers should note that this memo presents a vendor's alternative to standards track technology being developed by the IETF SIGTRAN Working Group. The technology presented in this memo has not been reviewed by the IETF for its technical soundness or completeness. Potential users of this type of technology are urged to examine the SIGTRAN work before deciding to use the technology described here.

Abstract

This document proposes the interfaces of a Signaling Gateway, which provides interworking between the Switched Circuit Network (SCN) and an IP network. Since the Gateway is the central point of signaling information, not only does it provide transportation of signaling from one network to another, but it can also provide additional functions such as protocol translation, security screening, routing information, and seamless access to Intelligent Network (IN) services on both networks.

The Transport Adapter Layer Interface (TALI) is the proposed interface, which provides TCAP (Transaction Capability Application Part), ISUP (ISDN User Part), and MTP (Mail Transport Protocol) messaging over TCP/IP. In addition, TALI provides SCCP (Signalling Connection Control Part) Management (SCMG), MTP Primitives, dynamic registration of circuits, and routing of call control messages based on circuit location.


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Table of Contents

   1. Introduction                                                    4
   2. Overview of the TALI Protocol                                   6
   2.1 Traditional PSTN SS7 Networks                                  6
   2.2 Converged SS7 Networks                                         8
   2.3 TALI Protocol Stack Overview                                  10
   2.3.1 An Alternate TALI Protocol Stack using the SAAL Layer       13
   2.3.2 An Alternate TALI Protocol Stack using SCTP                 15
   2.4 Inputs to the TALI Version 1.0 State Machine                  15
   3. TALI Version 1.0                                               17
   3.1 Overview of the TALI Message Structure                        17
   3.1.1 Types of TALI Fields                                        19
   3.2 Detailed TALI Message Structure                               20
   3.2.1 TALI Peer to Peer Messages                                  20
   3.2.1.1 Test Message (test)                                       20
   3.2.1.2 Allow Message (allo)                                      21
   3.2.1.3 Prohibit Message (proh)                                   21
   3.2.1.4 Prohibit Acknowledgement Message (proa)                   21
   3.2.1.5 Monitor Message (moni)                                    22
   3.2.1.6 Monitor Acknowledge Message (mona)                        22
   3.2.2 Service Messages                                            23
   3.2.2.1 SCCP Service Message (sccp)                               23
   3.2.2.1.1 SCCP Encapsulation using TALI                           25
   3.2.2.2 ISUP Service Message (isot)                               27
   3.2.2.2.1 ISUP Encapsulation using TALI                           27
   3.2.2.3 MTP3 Service Message (mtp3)                               28
   3.2.2.3.1 MTP3 Encapsulation using TALI                           29
   3.2.2.4 SAAL Service Message (saal)                               30
   3.2.2.4.1 MTP3 and SAAL Peer to Peer Encapsulation using TALI     31
   3.3 TALI Timers                                                   34
   3.3.1 T1 Timer                                                    34
   3.3.2 T2 Timer                                                    34
   3.3.3 T3 Timer                                                    34
   3.3.4 T4 Timer                                                    34
   3.3.5 Recommended Defaults and Ranges for the TALI Timers         35
   3.4 TALI User Events                                              35
   3.4.1 Management Open Socket Event                                35
   3.4.2 Management Close Socket Event                               36
   3.4.3 Management Allow Traffic Event                              36
   3.4.4 Management Prohibit Traffic Event                           36
   3.5 Other Implementation Dependent TALI Events                    37
   3.6 TALI States                                                   37
   3.7 TALI Version 1.0 State Machine                                38
   3.7.1 State Machine Concepts                                      38
   3.7.1.1 General Protocol Rules                                    38
   3.7.1.2 Graceful Shutdown of a Socket                             39
   3.7.1.3 TALI Protocol Violations                                  39


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   3.7.2 The State Machine                                           40
   3.8 TALI 1.0 Implementation Notes                                 42
   3.8.1 Failure on a TCP/IP Socket                                  42
   3.8.2 Congestion on a TCP/IP Socket                               43
   3.9 TALI 1.0 Limitations                                          43
   4. TALI Version 2.0                                               43
   4.1 Overview of TALI Version 2.0 Features                         45
   4.2 TALI Version Identification                                   47
   4.3 Backwards Compatibility                                       50
   4.3.1 Generating Protocol Violations based on Received Messages   53
   4.4 Overview of the TALI Message Structure                        55
   4.4.1 Types of TALI Fields                                        55
   4.5 Detailed TALI Message Structures for New 2.0 Opcodes          58
   4.5.1 Management Message (mgmt)                                   60
   4.5.1.1 Routing Key Registration Primitive (rkrp)                 61
   4.5.1.1.1 RKRP Data Structures                                    65
   4.5.1.1.1.1 Common Fields in all RKRP Messages                    65
   4.5.1.1.1.2 CIC Based Routing Key Operations                      67
   4.5.1.1.1.3 SCCP Routing Key Operations                           71
   4.5.1.1.1.4 DPC-SI, DPC and SI based Routing Key Operations       74
   4.5.1.1.1.5 Default Routing Key Operations                        76
   4.5.1.1.1.6 Support for Multiple RKRP Registration Operations     78
   4.5.1.1.1.6.1 Multiple Registrations Support                      78
   4.5.1.1.1.6.2 Multiple RKRP Operations in a Single Message        80
   4.5.1.2 MTP3 Primitive (mtpp)                                     82
   4.5.1.3 Socket Option Registration Primitive (sorp)               87
   4.5.2 Extended Service Message (xsrv)                             91
   4.5.3 Special Message (spcl)                                      92
   4.5.3.1 Special Messages Not Supported (smns)                     93
   4.5.3.2 Query Message (qury)                                      93
   4.5.3.3 Reply Message (rply)                                      94
   4.5.3.4 Unsolicited Information Message (USIM)                    95
   4.6 TALI Timers                                                   95
   4.7 TALI User Events                                              95
   4.8 TALI States                                                   96
   4.9 TALI Version 2.0 State Machine                                96
   4.9.1 State Machine Concepts                                      96
   4.9.1.1 General Protocol Rules                                    96
   4.9.1.2 Graceful Shutdown of a Socket                             97
   4.9.1.3 TALI Protocol Violations                                  97
   4.9.2 The State Machine                                           97
   4.10 TALI 2.0 Specification Limitations                          101
   5. Success/Failure Codes                                         101
   6. Security Considerations                                       102
   7. References                                                    102
   8. Acknowledgments                                               103
   9. Authors' Addresses                                            104
   10. Full Copyright Statement                                     105


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1 Introduction

This document is organized into the following 6 sections:

   -  Introduction to the document
   -  Overview of the TALI Protocol
   -  TALI Version 1.0
   -  TALI Version 2.0
   -  Success/Failure Codes
   -  Security Considerations

The following terms are used throughout this document.

Circuit Identification Code (CIC):
A field identifying the circuit being setup or released. Depending on SI and MSU Type, this field can be 12, 14 or 32 bits.

Changeover/Changeback (co/cb):
SS7 MTP3 procedure related to link failure and re-establishment.

Far End (FE):
The remote endpoint of a socket connection.

Far End Allowed (FEA):
The FE is ready to use the socket for service PDUs.

Far End Prohibited (FEP):
The FE is not ready to use the socket for service PDUs.

Intelligent Network (IN):
A network that allows functionality to be distributed flexibly at a variety of nodes on and off the network and allows the architecture to be modified to control the services.

Management ATM Adaptation Layer (MAAL):
This layer is a component of SAAL. This layer maps requests and indications between the System Management for the SG and the other SAAL layers. MAAL includes interfaces to/from SSCOP, SSCF, and system management. More information can be found in T1.652.

Media Gateway (MG):
A MG terminates SCN media streams, packetizes the media data, if it is not already packetized, and delivers packetized traffic to the packet network. It performs these functions in reverse order for media streams flowing from the packet network to the SCN.


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Media Gateway Controller (MGC):
An MGC handles the registration and management of resources at the MG. The MGC may have the ability to authorize resource usage based on local policy. For signaling transport purposes, the MGC serves as a possible termination and origination point for SCN application protocols, such as SS7 ISDN User Part and Q.931/DSS1.

MTP3 Framing (MTP3F):
TALI does not require full MTP3 procedures support but rather uses the MTP3 framing structure (ie: SIO, Routing Label, etc)

Near End (NE):
The local endpoint of a socket connection.

Near End Allowed (NEA):
The NE is ready to use the socket for service PDUs.

Near End Prohibited (NEP):
The NE is not ready to use the socket for service PDUs.

Q.BICC ISUP:
An ISUP+ variant that uses 32 bit CIC codes instead of 14/12 bit CIC codes. ISUP+, or Q.BICC ISUP, is based on the Q.765.BICC specification currently being developed in ITU Study Group 11.

Signaling ATM Adaptation Layer (SAAL):
This layer is the equivalent of MTP-2 for ATM High Speed Links carrying SS7 Traffic as described in GR-2878-CORE [8]. SAAL includes SSCF, SSCOP and MAAL.

Signaling Gateway (SG):
An SG is a signaling agent that receives/sends SCN native signaling at the edge of the IP network. The SG function may relay, translate or terminate SS7 signaling in an SS7-Internet Gateway. The SG function may also be co-resident with the MGC/MG functions to process SCN signaling associated with line or trunk terminations controlled by the MG (e.g., signaling backhaul).

Service Specific Coordination Function (SSCF):
This layer is a component of SAAL. This layer maps the services provided by the lower layers of the SAAL to the needs of a specific higher layer user. In the case of the STP, the higher layer user is the MTP-3 protocol, and the SSCF required is that as defined by T1.645: SSCF for Support of Signaling at the Network Node Interface (SSCF at the NNI). More information can be found in T1.645. SSCF provides the interface between SSCOP and MTP3 and includes the following functions:


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   -  Local Retrieve of messages to support link changeover procedures
   -  Flow control with four levels of congestion

Switched Circuit Network (SCN):
The term SCN is used to refer to a network that carries traffic within channelized bearers of pre-defined sizes. Examples include Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTNs) and Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs). Examples of signaling protocols used in SCN include Q.931, SS7 MTP Level 3 and SS7 Application/User parts.

Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP):
This layer is a component of SAAL. This layer provides reliable point to point data transfer with sequence integrity and error recovery by selective retransmission. Protocol layer interfaces are described in T1.637. Aspects of the protocol include flow control, connection control, error reporting to layer management, connection maintenance in the prolonged absence of data transfer, local data retrieval by the user of the SSCOP, error detection of protocol control information and status reporting. SSCOP provides the link layer functions that are:

   -  In-Sequence Delivery
   -  Flow Control
   -  Error Detection/Correction
   -  Keep Alive
   -  Local Data Retrieval
   -  Connection Control
   -  Protocol Error Detection and Recovery

Signaling Transfer Point (STP):
Packet switches that provide CCS message routing and transport. They are stored programmed switches that use information contained in the message in conjunction with information stored in memory to route the message to the appropriate destination signaling point.

2 Overview of the TALI Protocol

2.1 Traditional PSTN SS7 Networks

The traditional PSTN SS7 network consists of 3 types of devices connected via dedicated SS7 signaling links.

The 3 primary device types for PSTN networks are:


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There are 3 primary types of dedicated SS7 signaling links:

Figure 1 provides an overview of the traditional PSTN network. In this network, any of the links can be implemented via either 56 Kbps, DS1, or E1 links.


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^

                                / \
                               /SCP\
                              /-----\
                                /  \
                               /    \
                              /      \
                             /        \
               /---\      +---+    +---+      /---\
              | SSP |-----|STP|----|STP|-----| SSP |
               \---/  \  /+-+-+\  /+-+-+ \  / \---/
                       \/   |   \/   |    \/
                       /\   |   /\   |    /\
               /---\  /  \+-+-+/  \+-+-+ /  \ /---\
              | SSP |/----|STP|----|STP|/----| SSP |
               \---/      +---+    +---+      \---/
                           \           /
                            \         /
                             \       /
                              \  ^  /
                               \/ \/
                               /SCP\
                              /-----\

Figure 1: The Traditional PSTN Network

2.2 Converged SS7 Networks

In the converged SS7 network, SS7 devices will reside on both the traditional PSTN network (with dedicated 56 Kbps and DS1 links) and on the IP network (with Ethernet links based on IP protocol). The services of SSPs, STPs, and SCPs can be provided by new types of devices that reside on IP networks. The IP network is not intended to completely replace the PSTN, rather devices on the 2 types of networks must be able to communicate with one another and convert from 1 lower layer protocol to the other.

Signaling Gateways are new devices that may also function as an STP in the converged network. SGs provide interfaces to:

SGs also continue to perform STP functions such as SS7 network management and some database services (such as GTT and LNP).


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New devices on the IP network include:

Figure 2 provides an overview of the converged SS7 network.

                         -----              +----+
                /\      /     \-------------| SG |
               /  \----|  SCN  |     +----+ +----+
              /SCP \    \     /------| SG |  |
              ------     -----       +----+  |
                         |   |           |   |
                         |   |           |   |
                         |   |           -----
                         |   |          /     \      /\
                         |   |         |  IP   |----/  \
                         |  /---\       \     /    /SCP \
                         | | SSP |       -----     ------
                         |  \---/         /   \
                         |     |         /     \
                       /---\   |        /       \
                      | SSP |  |     +---+    +---+
                       \---/ +----+  |MGC|    |MGC|
                         |   | MG |  +---+    +---+
                         |   +----+\    \     /
                         |          \    \   /
                         |           \   -----
                         |            \ /     \
                       +----+          |  IP   |
                       | MG |-----------\     /
                       +----+            -----

Figure 2: The Converged SS7 Network

In theory, the TALI protocol can be used between 2 nodes to carry SS7 traffic across TCP/IP. Some of the areas that TALI could be used include:


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   -  For SG to SG communication across IP
   -  For SG to MGC communication across IP
   -  For SG to IP based SCP communication across IP
   -  For communication between multiple IP based SCPs
   -  For communication between multiple MGCs
   -  For communication between MGCs and MGs
   -  For other IP devices such as DNS, Policy Servers, etc.

In reality, the communication between MGCs, or between MGC and MG is probably better suited to using other protocols. With respect to the Signaling Gateway implementation, the TALI protocol is used to carry SS7 traffic:

   -  For SG to SG communication
   -  For SG to MGC communication
   -  For SG to IP based SCP communication

2.3 TALI Protocol Stack Overview

The Transport Adapter Layer Interface is the proposed interface that provides SCCP, ISUP, and MTP messaging encapsulation within a TCP/IP packet between two switching elements. In addition, TALI provides SCCP Management (SCMG), MTP Primitives, dynamic registration of circuits, and routing of call control messages based on circuit location.

The major purpose of the TALI protocol is to provide a bridge between the SS7 Signaling Network and applications that reside within an IP network. Figure 3 provides a simple illustration that highlights the protocol stacks used for transport of SS7 MSUs on both the SS7 side and the IP side of the SG.


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                 SS7 traffic       SS7 traffic
              via 56Kbps links     via TALI
       +-----------+        +----+          +--------+
       |Traditional|        | SG |          |   IP   |
       |SS7 Devices|<------>|    |<-------->| Devices|
       +-----------+        +----+          +--------+

          SS7                          SS7, TALI, TCP/IP
          protocol stack               protocol stack
        +---------------+              +---------------+
        |SS7 application|              |SS7 application|
        |layer          |              |layer          |
        +-------+-------+              +-------+-------+
        | TCAP  | ISUP  |              | TCAP  | ISUP  |
        +-------+       |              +-------+       |
        | SCCP  |       |              | SCCP  |       |
        +-------+-------+              +-------+-------+
        |    MTP3       |              |    MTP3       |
        +---------------+              +---------------+
        |    MTP2       |              |    TALI       |
        +---------------+              +---------------+
        |    MTP1       |              |    TCP        |
        |   (& phy.     |              +---------------+
        |    layer)     |              |    IP         |
        +---------------+              +---------------+
                                       |    MAC        |
                                       |   (& phy.     |
                                       |    layer)     |
                                       +---------------+

Figure 3: TALI Protocol to carry SS7 over TCP/IP

From Figure 3, several observations can be made:


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Some of the facts concerning the TALI protocol which are important to understanding how TALI works that are not evident from Figure 3 include the following:

      * Allows the user to control the graceful shutdown of each socket


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2.3.1 An Alternate TALI Protocol Stack using the SAAL Layer

This section presents a different, slightly more complex, TALI protocol stack that can be used in place of the protocol stack in the previous section.

Figure 3 in the previous section provided a simple illustration that highlighted the basic TALI protocol stack that can be used to transport SS7 MSUs between 56 Kbps links on the SS7 side of an SG and the IP devices.

Figure 4 below illustrates an alternate TALI protocol stack that includes the SAAL layer as part of the data transferred across the TCP/IP connection.


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                    SS7 traffic       SS7 traffic
                    via DS1 links     via TALI
          +-----------+        +----+          +--------+
          |Traditional|        | SG |          |   IP   |
          |SS7 Devices|<------>|    |<-------->| Devices|
          +-----------+        +----+          +--------+

             SS7 DS1                   SS7, TALI, TCP/IP
             protocol stack            protocol stack
           +-----------------+        +-----------------+
           | SS7 application |        | SS7 application |
           | layer           |        | layer           |
           +--------+--------+        +--------+--------+
           |  TCAP  | ISUP   |        |  TCAP  | ISUP   |
           +--------+        |        +--------+        |
           |  SCCP  |        |        |  SCCP  |        |
           +--------+--------+        +--------+--------+
           |      MTP3       |        |      MTP3       |
           +-----------------+        +-----------------+
           |    SAAL         |        |     SAAL        |
           |(SSCF,MAAL,SSCOP)|        |(SSCF,MAAL,SSCOP)|
           +-----------------+        +-----------------+
           |     AAL5        |        |     TALI        |
           +-----------------+        +-----------------+
           |     ATM         |        |     TCP         |
           |    (& phy.      |        +-----------------+
           |     layer)      |        |     IP          |
           +-----------------+        +-----------------+
                                      |     MAC         |
                                      |    (& phy.      |
                                      |     layer)      |
                                      +-----------------+

Figure 4: An Alternate TALI Protocol Stack with SAAL

The following bullets provide a discussion regarding the differences between these 2 protocol stacks, the reasons for having 2 protocol stacks, and the advantages of each:


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across the TCP/IP connection. The TALI protocol stack without SAAL still guarantees correct sequencing of SS7 data (this sequencing is provided by sequence numbers in the TCP layer), however that protocol stack can not support SS7 changeover and changeback procedures.

2.3.2 An Alternate TALI Protocol Stack using SCTP

The TALI protocol is dependent on a reliable transport layer below it. At the initial design of TALI, TCP was the only reliable, proven transport layer. Simple Control Transport Protocol (SCTP) is currently being designed as a transport later specifically for signalling. Once SCTP is a proven and accepted transport protocol, SCTP can then be used in place of TCP as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

2.4 Inputs to the TALI Version 1.0 State Machine

Figure 5 illustrates the inputs that affect the TALI State Machine. Inputs to the state machine include:


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      * Timer events.


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      +====+                                   +============+
      |    |    +---------+ +-------------+    |            |
      |User|    | Service | | Mgmt. Open  |    | MANAGEMENT |
      |Part|<-->| Message | | Mgmt. Close |<-->|            |
      |    |    |         | | Mgmt. Proh. |    |            |
      |    |    +---------+ | Mgmt. Allow |    +============+
      +====+          ^     +-------------+
                      |            ^
                      |            |
                      v            v
      +========================================================+
      |                 TALI State Machine                     |
      +========================================================+
            ^               ^                 ^             ^
            |               |                 |             |
            |               |                 |             |
            v               |                 |             |
       +---------+  +-----------------+ +-----------+ +------------+
       | Received|  | Connection est. | | Protocol  | | T1 Expired |
       | 'test'  |  | Connection lost | | Violation | | T2 Expired |
       | 'allo'  |  |                 | |           | | T3 Expired |
       | 'proh'  |  +-----------------+ +-----------+ | T4 Expired |
       | 'proa'  |          ^                 ^       +------------+
       | 'moni'  |          |                 |              ^
       | 'mona'  |          |                 |              |
       |    or   |          |                 |              |
       | Service |          |                 |              |
       | Message |    +========================================+
       +---------+    |         IMPLEMENTATION                 |
            ^         |           DEPENDENT                    |
            |         +========================================+
            |
            v
        +============+
        |    PEER    |
        |            |
        +============+

Figure 5: Overview of Inputs to the TALI 1.0 State Machine


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3 TALI Version 1.0

This chapter provides the states, messages, message exchange rules and state machine that must be implemented to provide a TALI version 1.0 protocol layer.

3.1 Overview of the TALI Message Structure

Table 2 provides a summary of the messages and message structure used in TALI version 1.0.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | OCTET | DESCRIPTION              | SIZE     | VALUE  |    TYPE   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3  | SYNC                     | 4 Octets |        | 4 byte    |
   |       |                          |          |        | ASCII     |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |       |   TALI                   |          | 'TALI' |           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7  | OPCODE                   | 4 Octets |        | 4 byte    |
   |       |                          |          |        | ASCII     |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |       |   Test Service           |          | 'test' |           |
   |       |   Allow Service          |          | 'allo' |           |
   |       |   Prohibit Service       |          | 'proh' |           |
   |       |   Prohibit Service Ack   |          | 'proa' |           |
   |       |   Monitor Socket         |          | 'moni' |           |
   |       |   Monitor Socket Ack     |          | 'mona' |           |
   |       |   SCCP Service           |          | 'sccp' |           |
   |       |   ISUP Service over TALI |          | 'isot' |           |
   |       |   MTP3 Service over TALI |          | 'mtp3' |           |
   |       |   Service over SAAL      |          | 'saal' |           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9  | LENGTH                   | 2 Octets |        | integer   |
   |       |   (least significant     |          |        |           |
   |       |    byte first) non-0     |          |        |           |
   |       |    if Service or         |          |        |           |
   |       |    Socket monitor message|          |        |           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..X | DATA PAYLOAD             | variable |        | variable  |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 2: Message Structure for TALI 1.0

Table 3 indicates the valid values of the LENGTH field for each version 1.0 opcode. The LENGTH field is always an indication of the

   # of bytes contained in the DATA PAYLOAD portion of a general TALI
   message.


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   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | OPCODE | VALID LENGTH VALUES | COMMENTS                          |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | test   | 0 bytes             |                                   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | allo   | 0 bytes             |                                   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | proh   | 0 bytes             |                                   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | proa   | 0 bytes             |                                   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | moni   | 0-200 bytes         | A maximum length is provided so   |
   |        |                     | that the maximum ethernet frame   |
   |        |                     | size is not exceeded.             |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | mona   | 0-200 bytes         | Mona reply length and content must|
   |        |                     | match the original moni (with the |
   |        |                     | exception of the opcode)          |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | sccp   | 12-265 bytes        | These are the valid sizes for the |
   |        |                     | SCCP-ONLY portions of SCCP UDT    |
   |        |                     | MSUs                              |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | isot   | 8-273 bytes         | The length is the number of octets|
   |        |                     | in the MTP3 and higher layer(s) of|
   |        |                     | the SS7 MSU.  This length includes|
   |        |                     | the SIO byte, the MTP3 routing    |
   |        |                     | label, the CIC code, and the      |
   |        |                     | ISUP Message Type field, and any  |
   |        |                     | other bytes that may exist as part|
   |        |                     | of the SIF (Service Information   |
   |        |                     | Field)                            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | mtp3   | 5-280 bytes         | The length is the number of octets|
   |        |                     | in the MTP3 and higher layer(s) of|
   |        |                     | the SS7 MSU.  This length includes|
   |        |                     | the SIO byte and the MTP3 routing |
   |        |                     | labeld, and any other bytes that  |
   |        |                     | may exist as part of the SIF      |
   |        |                     | (Service Information Field)       |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | saal   | 11-280 bytes        | The length is the number of octets|
   |        |                     | in the MTP3 and higher layer(s) of|
   |        |                     | the SS7 MSU.  This length includes|
   |        |                     | the SIO byte and all bytes in the |
   |        |                     | SIF (Service Information Field)   |
   |        |                     | field.  The MTP3 routing label is |
   |        |                     | part of the SIF field.  Seven (7) |


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   |        |                     | octets of SSCOP trailer is added  |
   |        |                     | to the message.  The SSCOP trailer|
   |        |                     | bytes are also included in the    |
   |        |                     | length.                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 3: Valid Length Fields for Each Opcode in TALI 1.0

3.1.1 Types of TALI Fields

Several field types are used in the general TALI message structure.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Field Type | Implementation Notes for that Type                   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |4 byte     | * 4 byte ASCII text strings are used to define the   |
   |ASCII text |   sync code and the opcode of the basic TALI message.|
   |           | * These fields are case sensitive, the coding for    |
   |           |   each sync and opcode literal needs to match the    |
   |           |   case specified in Table 2.                         |
   |           | * The standard ASCII conversion table is used to     |
   |           |   transform each character into a byte.              |
   |           | * The order of the ASCII characters is important.    |
   |           |   The first character in the string must be the      |
   |           |   first character transmitted across the wire.       |
   |           | * For example, if the string being encoded is 'abCD',|
   |           |   the order of the bytes as they are transferred     |
   |           |   over the wire must be:                             |
   |           |     1st byte: 0x61 ('a')  3rd byte: 0x43 ('C')       |
   |           |     2nd byte: 0x62 ('b')  4th byte: 0x44 ('D')       |
   |           | * The software for each implementation should be     |
   |           |   written in a manner that accounts for the required |
   |           |   byte order of transmission (ie: the Big Endian/    |
   |           |   Little Endian characteristics of the processor     |
   |           |   need to be dealt with in the software.             |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Integer    | * A 1, 2 or 4 byte field to be treated as an integer |
   |           |   value.  Integer fields should be transmitted Least |
   |           |   Significant Byte first across the wire.            |
   |           | * The software for each implementation should be     |
   |           |   written in a manner that accounts for the required |
   |           |   byte order of transmission (ie: the Big Endian/    |
   |           |   Little Endian characteristics of the processor     |
   |           |   need to be dealt with in the software.             |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Variable   | * The definition of the message structure for this   |
   |           |   field is governed by other specifications.         |
   |           | * For example, when transferring MTP3 service data   |


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   |           |   via a 'mtp3' opcode, the DATA PAYLOAD begins with  |
   |           |   the SIO byte of the MTP3 routing label.  The       |
   |           |   structure for the entire DATA PAYLOAD is governed  |
   |           |   by the MTP3 message structure defined in [1].      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |X byte     | * ASCII text fields of sizes other than 4 bytes      |
   |ASCII text |   should be supported according to the same rules    |
   |           |   presented for the 4 byte ASCII text fields.  For   |
   |           |   instance, an 8 byte string such as 'ab01cd23' could|
   |           |   be used, where the 'a' would be the first byte of  |
   |           |   the field transmitted out the wire.                |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 4: Implementation Notes for each Type of TALI field

3.2 Detailed TALI Message Structure

3.2.1 TALI Peer to Peer Messages

The following subsections provide more information regarding the TALI Peer to Peer messages that are implemented in version 1.0. The TALI peer to peer messages originate at the TALI layer of 1 end of the socket connection (the near end) and are terminated at the TALI layer of the far end of the connection.

3.2.1.1 Test Message (test)

The 'test' message is used by a TALI implementation to query the remote end of the TALI connection with respect to the willingness of the remote end to carry SS7 service data. This message asks the other end: are you ready to carry service data? This message is sent periodically by each TALI implementation based on a T1 timer interval. Upon receiving 'test', a TALI implementation must reply with either 'proh' or 'allo' to indicate the nodes willingness to carry SS7 service data over that TALI connection.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'test'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length = 0                                |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+


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3.2.1.2 Allow Message (allo)

The 'allo' message is sent in reply to a 'test' query, or in response to some internal implementation event, to indicate that a TALI implementation IS willing to carry SS7 service data over the TALI session. This message informs the far end that SS7 traffic can be transmitted on the socket. 'allo' is one of the 2 possible replies to a 'test' message. Before SS7 traffic can be carried over a socket, both ends of the connection need to send 'allo' messages.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'allo'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length = 0                                |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

3.2.1.3 Prohibit Message (proh)

The 'proh' message is sent in reply to a 'test' query, or in response to some internal implementation event, to indicate that a TALI implementation is NOT willing to carry SS7 service data over the TALI session. This message informs the far end that SS7 traffic can not be transmitted on the socket. 'proh' is one of the 2 possible replies to a 'test' message. As long as 1 end of the connection remains in the 'prohibited' state, SS7 traffic can not be carried over the socket.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'proh'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length = 0                                |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

3.2.1.4 Prohibit Acknowledgement Message (proa)

The 'proa' message is sent by a TALI implementation each time a 'proh' is received from the far end. This message is sent to indicate to the far end that his 'prohibit' message was received correctly and will be acted on accordingly.


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   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'proa'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length = 0                                |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

3.2.1.5 Monitor Message (moni)

The 'moni' message provides a generic ECHO capability that can be used by each TALI implementation as that implementation sees fit. A TALI version 1.0 implementation does not have to originate a 'moni' message to be compliant with the 1.0 specification. The primary intent of this message is to provide a way for the TALI layer to test the round-trip message transfer time on a socket. A 'mona' message must be sent in reply to each received 'moni' message. The DATA portion of a 'moni' message is vendor implementation dependent. The DATA portion of each 'mona' reply must exactly match the DATA portion of the 'moni' that is replied to. Regardless of whether an implementation chooses to send 'moni' or not, 'mona' must be sent in response to each 'moni' in order to remain compliant with the TALI protocol.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'moni'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..X  | DATA PAYLOAD| Vendor Dependent                          |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

3.2.1.6 Monitor Acknowledge Message (mona)

As mentioned above, the 'mona' must be sent in reply to each received 'moni'. The contents of the 'mona' DATA area must match the DATA area of the received 'moni' message.


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   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'mona'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..X  | DATA PAYLOAD| Vendor Dependent                          |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

3.2.2 Service Messages

The following subsections provide more information regarding the TALI Service messages that are implemented in version 1.0. TALI Service messages are used to carry SS7 MSUs across the IP network. The information in this section includes details with respect to how to encapsulate SS7 MSUs into TCP/IP frames using each of the TALI service opcodes. The TALI service messages originate at the layer above TALI, are transported across the IP network via a TALI service message, and are delivered to the layer above TALI at the far end of the TALI connection.

3.2.2.1 SCCP Service Message (sccp)

The 'sccp' opcode is used to deliver SS7 MSUs with a Service Indicator of 3 (SCCP) over a TALI connection. This opcode is only used on TALI protocol stacks that are implemented without SAAL. The MTP3 layer of the SS7 MSU is NOT part of the data transferred across TCP/IP for this opcode; the data portion of the TALI 'sccp' message begins with the first byte of the SCCP data area in the SS7 MSU (after the MTP3 routing label). The first byte in the SCCP data area is an SCCP message type field.

Several restrictions on the SCCP messages that this TALI opcode can carry exist. These restrictions are as follows:


Page 25

NOTE 1: SCCP Subsystem Management for the IP based SCP's is supported via this 'sccp' opcode. SS7 SCCP Management messages are controlled by an SCMG SS7 process. SCMG sends the management messages via SCCP UNITDATA (UDT) messages. Therefore, the SCMG messages can be sent across the TALI connection.

NOTE 2: 'sccp' TALI messages will not include the MTP3 header and therefore will not retain the original DPC/OPC of the SS7 MSU. Each TALI implementation needs to consider if/how to provide this DPC/OPC information in the SCCP portion of the message. For example the DPC can be replicated to the point code in the SCCP Called Party Address area and the OPC can be replicated to the point code in the SCCP Calling Party Address area.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'sccp'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..X  | SCCP Data   | SCCP data starting at the first byte after|
   |        |             | the Layer 3 Routing Label (data does not  |
   |        |             | include the SIO or Routing Label)         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+


Page 26

3.2.2.1.1 SCCP Encapsulation using TALI

When an SCCP MSU arrives at an SG from a 56 Kbps or DS1 link and is routed within the SG for transmission to an IP device, the SG performs the following processing on the SS7 MSU:

   * The LENGTH is set to the number of octets in the SERVICE field

Once the fully formed 'sccp' TALI packet is created, it is handed to the TCP socket layer and transmitted. The transmission process will add TCP, IP and MAC header information.

Since the routing information from MTP Layer 3 is placed in the SCCP part of the outgoing message, no routing information needs to be saved by the SG.


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SS7 MSU

           |          Layer 3          |     Layer 2      |
           |                           |                  |
      +----+---+-----+-----+-------+---+--+---+---+---+---+----+
      |Flag|FCS|TCAP |SCCP |Routing|SIO|LI|FIB|FSN|BIB|BSN|Flag|
      |    |   |Layer|Layer| Label |   |  |   |   |   |   |    |
      +----+---+-----+-----+-------+---+--+---+---+---+---+----+
               |           |
               |           |
               |           |
        TALI   +-----------+---+------+----+
        Packet |  Service  |LEN|Opcode|SYNC|
               +-----------+---+------+----+
               |                           |
               |                           |
               |                           |
               +---------------------------+------+------+------+
        IP     | TALI Packet               |TCP   | IP   | MAC  |
        Packet |                           |Header|Header|Header|
               +---------------------------+------+------+------+

Figure 6: Encapsulation of SCCP MSUs using the TALI 'sccp' opcode

When an 'sccp' TALI packet is received on by an SG from an IP device, the SG performs the following processing on the 'sccp' packet:

Once the 'sccp' packet is transformed back into a normal SS7 MSU, the MSU is routed within the SG according to the normal SS7 routing procedures.


Page 28

3.2.2.2 ISUP Service Message (isot)

The 'isot' opcode is used to deliver SS7 MSUs with a Service Indicator of 5 (ISUP) over a TALI connection. This opcode is only used on TALI protocol stacks that are implemented without SAAL. The MTP3 layer of the SS7 MSU IS part of the data transferred across TCP/IP for this opcode; the data portion of the TALI 'isot' message begins with the SIO byte of the MTP3 header in the SS7 MSU.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'isot'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..X  | ISUP Data   | Raw ISUP data starting at the Layer 3 SIO |
   |        |             | field.                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

3.2.2.2.1 ISUP Encapsulation using TALI

When an ISUP MSU arrives at an SG from a 56 Kbps or DS1 link and is routed within the SG to a IP device, the SG performs the following processing on the SS7 MSU:

Once the fully formed 'isot' TALI packet is created, it is handed to the TCP socket layer and transmitted. The transmission process will add TCP, IP and MAC header information.

Since the routing information is placed in the TALI Packet, no routing information needs to be saved by the SG.


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SS7 MSU

           |          Layer 3            |     Layer 2      |
           |                             |                  |
      +----+---+----+----+---+-------+---+--+---+---+---+---+----+
      |Flag|FCS|ISUP|Msg.|CIC|Routing|SIO|LI|FIB|FSN|BIB|BSN|Flag|
      |    |   |Part|Type|   |Label  |   |  |   |   |   |   |    |
      +----+---+----+----+---+-------+---+--+---+---+---+---+----+
               |                         /
               |                        /
               |                       |
        TALI   +-----------------------+---+------+----+
        Packet |  Service              |LEN|Opcode|SYNC|
               +-----------------------+---+------+----+
               |                                       /
               |                              ---------
               |                             /
               +----------------------------+------+------+------+
        IP     | TALI Packet                |TCP   | IP   | MAC  |
        Packet |                            |Header|Header|Header|
               +----------------------------+------+------+------+

Figure 7: Encapsulation of ISUP MSUs using the TALI 'isot' opcode

When an 'isot' TALI packet is received on an SG from an IP device, the SG performs the following processing on the 'isot' packet:

Once the 'isot' packet is transformed back into a normal SS7 MSU, the MSU is routed within the SG according to the normal SS7 routing procedures.

3.2.2.3 MTP3 Service Message (mtp3)

The 'mtp3' opcode is used to deliver SS7 MSUs with a Service Indicator of 0-2, 4, 6-15 (non-SCCP, non-ISUP) over a TALI connection. This opcode is only used on TALI protocol stacks that are implemented without SAAL. The MTP3 layer of the SS7 MSU IS part of the data transferred across TCP/IP for this opcode; the data portion of the TALI 'mtp3' message begins with the SIO byte of the MTP3 header in the SS7 MSU.


Page 30

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'mtp3'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..X  | Layer 3 MSU | Raw MSU data starting at the Layer 3 SIO  |
   |        | Data        | field.                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

3.2.2.3.1 MTP3 Encapsulation using TALI

When an SS7 MSU with SI=0-2,4,6-15 arrives at an SG from a 56 Kbps or DS1 link and is routed within the SG to an IP device, the SG performs the following processing on the SS7 MSU:

Once the fully formed 'mtp3' TALI packet is created, it is handed to the TCP socket layer and transmitted. The transmission process will add TCP, IP and MAC header information.


Page 31

SS7 MSU

           |      Layer 3              |     Layer 2      |
           |                           |                  |
      +----+---+-----------+-------+---+--+---+---+---+---+----+
      |Flag|FCS|Other Layer|Routing|SIO|LI|FIB|FSN|BIB|BSN|Flag|
      |    |   |3 Data     |Label  |   |  |   |   |   |   |    |
      +----+---+-----------+-------+---+--+---+---+---+---+----+
               |                       /
               |                 ------
               |                /
        TALI   +----------------+---+------+----+
        Packet |  Service       |LEN|Opcode|SYNC|
               +----------------+---+------+----+
               |                                /
               |                              --
               |                             /
               +----------------------------+------+------+------+
        IP     | TALI Packet                |TCP   | IP   | MAC  |
        Packet |                            |Header|Header|Header|
               +----------------------------+------+------+------+

      Figure 8: Encapsulation of SS7 MSUs with SI!=3,5,13 using 'mtp3'

When an 'mtp3' TALI packet is received by an SG from an IP device, the SG performs the following processing on the 'mtp3' packet:

Once the 'mtp3' packet is transformed back into a normal SS7 MSU, the MSU is routed within the SG according to the normal SS7 routing procedures.

3.2.2.4 SAAL Service Message (saal)

The 'saal' opcode is used to deliver SS7 MSUs with any Service Indicator over a TALI connection. This opcode is only used on TALI protocol stacks that are implemented with SAAL. The 'saal' opcode is also used to transmit SAAL peer to peer packets (SSCF peer to peer packets and SSCOP peer to peer packets other than SS7 service data) over a TALI connection.


Page 32

When used to transfer SS7 MSUs, the MTP3 layer of the SS7 MSU IS part of the data transferred across TCP/IP for this opcode; the data portion of the TALI 'saal' message begins with the SIO byte of the MTP3 header in the SS7 MSU and ends with the last byte of the SSCOP trailer.

When used to transfer SSCF/SSCOP peer to peer messages the data portion of the TALI 'saal' message includes the entire SSCOP PDU.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'saal'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..X  | Layer 3     | Raw MSU data starting at the Layer 3 SIO  |
   |        | Data        | field.                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | (X+1)  | SSCOP       | Zero (0) to three (3) octets of padding   |
   |  ..Y   | Trailer     | plus 4 octets for the trailer data.  The  |
   |        |             | total length of the Layer 3 Data and the  |
   |        |             | SSCOP trailer must be a multiple of 4.    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

or

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'saal'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..X  | SAAL Peer   | Raw SSCF/SSCOP peer to peer packets are   |
   |        | to Peer     | also transferred over the TALI connection |
   |        | message     | using this 'saal' opcode.                 |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

3.2.2.4.1 MTP3 and SAAL Peer to Peer Encapsulation using TALI

When an SS7 MSU (with any SI) arrives at an SG from a 56 Kbps or DS1 link and is routed within the SG for transmission to an IP device, the SG performs the following processing on the SS7 MSU:


Page 33

Once the fully formed 'saal' TALI packet is created, it is handed to the TCP socket layer and transmitted. The transmission process will add TCP, IP and MAC header information.

Since the routing information is placed in the TALI Packet, no routing information needs to be saved by the SG.


Page 34

SS7 MSU

           |          Layer 3          |     Layer 2      |
           |                           |                  |
      +----+---+-----------+-------+---+--+---+---+---+---+----+
      |Flag|FCS|Other Layer|Routing|SIO|LI|FIB|FSN|BIB|BSN|Flag|
      |    |   |3 Data     |Label  |   |  |   |   |   |   |    |
      +----+---+-----------+-------+---+--+---+---+---+---+----+
               |                       |
               |                       |
               |                       |
       +-------+-----------------------+
       |SSCOP  |  Service              |
       |Trailer|                       |
       +-------+-----------------------+
       |                               |
       +-------+-----------------------+---+------+----+
       |Service with SSCOP Trailer     |LEN|Opcode|SYNC|
       +-------+-----------------------+---+------+----+
       |                                               /
       |                              -----------------
       |                             /
       +----------------------------+------+------+------+
       | TALI Packet                |TCP   | IP   | MAC  |
       |                            |Header|Header|Header|
       +----------------------------+------+------+------+

Figure 9: Encapsulation of SAAL PDUs using the TALI 'saal' opcode

When an 'saal' TALI packet is received at the SG from an IP device, the SG performs the following processing on the 'saal' packet:

Once the 'saal' packet is transformed back into a normal DS1 SSCOP PDU, the SSCOP PDU is passed to the SAAL layer for receive processing. If the SSCOP PDU is a peer to peer pdu, it is processed completely in the appropriate SAAL layer. If the SSCOP PDU is an SS7 MSU, the MSU is transformed back to a normal SS7 MSU and is routed within the SG according to the normal SS7 routing procedures.


Page 35

3.3 TALI Timers

Version 1.0 of the TALI specification defined 4 TALI timers that are used as part of the TALI state machine. These timers are generically named 'T1' through 'T4'. Brief descriptions of each timer are provided in the following subsections. Timer expiration events for each of the T1-T4 timers appear as inputs to the TALI state machine. For exact processing of each timer (when to start/stop, how to process timer expirations), refer to the TALI state machine.

Both ends of the TALI connection have there own T1-T4 timers. The T1-T4 timer values can be set on each end of the connection independent of the settings on the far end. For each timer, a default value and range is recommended in the following sections.

3.3.1 T1 Timer

The T1 timer represents the time interval between the origination of a 'test' message at each TALI implementation. Each time T1 expires, the TALI implementation should send a 'test'.

3.3.2 T2 Timer

The T2 timer represents the amount of time that the Peer has to return an 'allo' or a 'proh' in response to a 'test'. If the far end fails to reply with 'allo' or 'proh' before T2 expires, the sender of the 'test' treats the T2 expiration as a protocol violation. Note that T2 must be < T1 in order for these timers to work as designed.

3.3.3 T3 Timer

The T3 timer controls how long the near end should continue to process Service Data that is received from the far end after a Management Prohibit Traffic Event has occurred (at the near end). This timer is used when a transition from NEA-FEA (both ends allowed to send service data) to NEP-FEA (only far end willing to send service data) occurs. On that transition, it is reasonable to expect that the far end needs some amount of time to adjust its TALI state machine and divert service data traffic away from this socket. The T3 timer controls the amount of time the far end has to divert traffic.

3.3.4 T4 Timer

The T4 timer represents the time interval between the origination of a 'moni' message at each TALI implementation. Each time T4 expires, the TALI implementation should send a 'moni'.


Page 36

3.3.5 Recommended Defaults and Ranges for the TALI Timers

The following table provides the recommended default and configurable range for each TALI timer.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Name|  Min  |  Max  |Default| Description                         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | T1 | 100ms | 60sec | 4 sec | Send test PDU timer                 |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | T2 | 100ms | 60sec | 3 sec | Response timer for an allo or proh  |
   |    |       |       |       | response to test message.           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | T3 | 100ms | 60sec | 5 sec | Timer controls how long to process  |
   |    |       |       |       | rcvd serv data after an NE          |
   |    |       |       |       | transition from NEA to NEP.  System |
   |    |       |       |       | is waiting for a proa response to   |
   |    |       |       |       | the first proh send when NE         |
   |    |       |       |       | transitions from NEA to NEP.        |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | T4 | 100ms | 60sec |10 sec | Send moni PDU timer                 |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 5: Timers

NOTE: The value of T1 must be at least one (1) millisecond greater than T2. This is to prevent the system from a lockup in the T1 expired condition. If T1 is equal or less than T2, it will expire and restart T2 and not enforce responses to the test message.

Enforcement of minimum and maximum timer values is implementation dependent.

3.4 TALI User Events

Each TALI implementation must provide several user event controls over the behavior of the TALI state machine for each TALI connection. The user interface to provide these capabilities is implementation specific.

3.4.1 Management Open Socket Event

The 'mgmt open socket' event, together with the 'mgmt close socket' event, allows the user to control when each defined TALI connection will form a TCP socket connection. When 'open socket' for a particular TALI connection occurs, the TALI connection should begin trying to form a TCP socket connection to the peer.


Page 37

The steps that are taken to connect are dependent on the
client/server role of that end of the TALI connection. The exact steps to perform these tasks are implementation dependent and may differ based on the TCP stack being used.

In general, TALI clients form socket connections by using the BSD sockets calls:

Socket()
Bind()
Connect()

In general, TALI servers form socket connections by using the BSD sockets calls:

Socket()
Bind()
Listen()
Accept()

3.4.2 Management Close Socket Event

The 'mgmt close socket' event can be issued by the user when it is desired that the TCP socket for a TALI socket, be closed immediately, or discontinue its attempts to connect to the peer. After acting on 'close socket', the TALI connection will not be established until 'mgmt open socket' is issued.

3.4.3 Management Allow Traffic Event

The 'mgmt allow traffic' event, together with the 'mgmt prohibit traffic' event, allows the user to control when each defined TALI connection will be willing to carry SS7 service data over that particular TALI connection. When 'mgmt allow traffic' is issued, the TALI implementation becomes willing to carry service data. The TALI state for the near end should transition to NEA (near end allowed) if the connection is already established.

3.4.4 Management Prohibit Traffic Event

The 'mgmt prohibit traffic' event is the opposite of 'allow traffic'. When 'mgmt prohibit traffic' is issued, the TALI implementation becomes un-willing to carry SS7 service data over that particular TALI connection. The TALI state for the near end should transition to NEP (near end prohibited) if the connection is already established.


Page 38

3.5 Other Implementation Dependent TALI Events

In addition to timers, each TALI implementation needs to be able to detect, and react accordingly, for the following events:

3.6 TALI States

The TALI version 1.0 specification is based on a state machine that considers 6 TALI states. Each end of the TALI connection maintains its own TALI state.


Page 39

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Name       | Description                                         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | OOS        | The TALI connection is out of service.  This usually|
   |            | corresponds to a user event to 'close' the socket,  |
   |            | or a user event to 'deactivate the SS7 link'.       |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Connecting | The TALI layer is attempting to establish a TCP     |
   |            | socket connection to the peer.  Servers are         |
   |            | 'accepting', clients are 'connecting'.              |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | NEP-FEP    | The TCP socket connection is established.  Neither  |
   |            | side of the connection is ready to use the socket   |
   |            | for service PDUs.                                   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | NEP-FEA    | The TCP socket connection is established.  The NE is|
   |            | not ready to use the socket for service PDUs.  The  |
   |            | FE is ready to use the socket for service PDUs.     |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | NEA-FEP    | The TCP socket connection is established.  The NE is|
   |            | ready to use the socket for service PDUs.  The FE is|
   |            | not ready to use the socket for service PDUs.       |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | NEA-FEA    | The TCP socket connection is established.  Both     |
   |            | sides are ready to use the socket for service PDUs. |
   |            | This is the only state where normal bi-directional  |
   |            | SS7 data transfer occurs.                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 6: TALI States

3.7 TALI Version 1.0 State Machine

This section provides the state machine that must be followed by each TALI implementation in order to be compliant with this specification.

3.7.1 State Machine Concepts

Before presenting the actual state machine, several concepts are discussed.

3.7.1.1 General Protocol Rules

1 Neither side can send service data unless both sides are allowed.

2 Each side initializes to the prohibited state for both near end
and far end.


Page 40

3 State changes between the NEx-FEx states are signaled with either
an 'allo' or 'proh'.

4 Each side can poll the far end's state with a 'test'. Upon
sending 'test', T1 and T2 should always be restarted.

5 Each side polls the far end with a 'test' every T1 expiration.

6 The reply to a 'test' is based on the state of the near end only.

7 The reply to a 'test' is either 'allo' or 'proh'.

8 A far end signals the last service PDU has been transmitted with
either a 'proh' or a 'proa'.

9 Upon receiving a 'proh', the receiver must always reply with
'proa'.

10 The NE cannot gracefully close a socket unless a 'proh' is sent
and 'proa' is received.

11 On the transition from NEA to NEP, after sending a 'proh', the
near end must continue to process received service data until a 'proa' is received or until a T3 timer expires.

3.7.1.2 Graceful Shutdown of a Socket

The state table treats a management request to close the socket as a 'hard' shutdown. That is, it will close the socket immediately regardless of the current state. Therefore, the correct steps to ensure a graceful shutdown of a socket (from the NEA_FEP or NEA_FEA states) is:

1 Management issues a Management Prohibit Traffic Event on the
socket.

2 Management will wait for T3 to expire.

3 Management can then issue a Close Socket Event on the socket.

3.7.1.3 TALI Protocol Violations

Each TALI implementation must detect when violations of the TALI protocol have occurred and react accordingly. Protocol violations include:


Page 41

In the state machine that follows, State/Event combinations that should be treated as protocol violations are indicated via a 'PV' in the state/event cell. All of the 'PV' events are then processed as per the 'Protocol Violation' row in the table.

3.7.2 The State Machine

Internal Data required for State Machine:

boolean sock_allowed. This flag indicates whether the NE is allowed to carry Service Messages.

Initial Conditions:

   sock_allowed = FALSE
   state = OOS
   no timers running

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |   State| OOS  |Connecting| NEP-FEP | NEP-FEA | NEA-FEP | NEA-FEA |
   |Event   |      |          |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |T1 Exp. |      |          |Send test|Send test|Send test|Send test|
   |        |      |          |Start T1 |Start T1 |Start T1 |Start T1 |
   |        |      |          |Start T2 |Start T2 |Start T2 |Start T2 |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |T2 Exp. |      |          |   PV    |   PV    |   PV    |   PV    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |T3 Exp. |      |          |   PV    |   PV    |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |T4 Exp. |      |          |Send moni|Send moni|Send moni|Send moni|
   |        |      |          |Start T4 |Start T4 |Start T4 |Start T4 |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv test|      |          |Send proh|Send proh|Send allo|Send allo|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv allo|      |          | Stop T2 | Stop T2 | Stop T2 | Stop T2 |
   |        |      |          | NEP-FEA |         | NEA-FEA |         |


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   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv proh|      |          | Stop T2 | Stop T2 | Stop T2 | Stop T2 |
   |        |      |          |Send proa|Send proa|Send proa|Flush or |
   |        |      |          |         | NEP-FEP |         | reroute |
   |        |      |          |         |         |         |Send proa|
   |        |      |          |         |         |         | NEA-FEP |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv proa|      |          | Stop T3 | Stop T3 |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv moni|      |          |Convert  |Convert  |Convert  |Convert  |
   |        |      |          | to mona | to mona | to mona | to mona |
   |        |      |          |Send mona|Send mona|Send mona|Send mona|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv mona|      |          |Implemen-|Implemen-|Implemen-|Implemen-|
   |        |      |          |tation   |tation   |tation   |tation   |
   |        |      |          |dependent|dependent|dependent|dependent|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv     |      |          |   PV    |If T3 run|   PV    |Process  |
   | Service|      |          |         | Process |         |         |
   |        |      |          |         |Else PV  |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Connect.|      | Start T1 |         |         |         |         |
   |Estab.  |      | Start T2 |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | Start T4 |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      |(if non-0)|         |         |         |         |
   |        |      |if sock_  |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      |  allowed |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      |  = TRUE  |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | send allo|         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | send test|         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | NEA-FEP  |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      |else      |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | send proh|         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | send test|         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | NEP-FEP  |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Connect.|      |          |   PV    |   PV    |   PV    |   PV    |
   |Lost    |      |          |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Protocol|      |          |Stop all |Stop all |Stop all |Stop all |
   |Violat. |      |          | timers  | timers  | timers  | timers  |
   |        |      |          |Close the|Close the|Close the|Close the|
   |        |      |          | socket  | socket  | socket  | socket  |
   |        |      |          |Connect- |Connect- |Connect- |Connect- |
   |        |      |          |  ing    |  ing    |  ing    |  ing    |


Page 43

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Mgmt.   |Open  |          |         |         |         |         |
   |Open    |socket|          |         |         |         |         |
   |Socket  |Conne-|          |         |         |         |         |
   |        | cting|          |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Mgmt.   |      |Close the |Stop all |Stop all |Stop all |Stop all |
   |Close   |      | socket   | timers  | timers  | timers  | timers  |
   |Socket  |      |OOS       |Close the|Close the|Close the|Close the|
   |        |      |          | socket  | socket  | socket  | socket  |
   |        |      |          |OOS      |OOS      |OOS      |OOS      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Mgmt.   |sock_ |sock_allo-|sock_all-|sock_all-|sock_all-|sock_all-|
   |Prohibit|allow-| wed=FALSE| owed=   | owed=   | owed=   | owed=   |
   |Socket  |ed =  |          | FALSE   | FALSE   | FALSE   | FALSE   |
   |        |FALSE |          |         |         |send proh|send proh|
   |        |      |          |         |         |start t3 |start t3 |
   |        |      |          |         |         | NEP-FEP | NEP-FEA |
   |        |      |          |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Mgmt.   |sock_ |sock_allo-|sock_all-|sock_all-|sock_all-|sock_all-|
   |Allow   |allow-| wed=TRUE | owed=   | owed=   | owed=   | owed=   |
   |Traffic |ed =  |          | TRUE    | FALSE   | TRUE    | TRUE    |
   |        |TRUE  |          |send allo|send allo|         |         |
   |        |      |          | NEA-FEP | NEA-FEA |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |User    |reject| reject   | reject  | reject  | reject  | send    |
   |Part    |data  | data     | data    | data    | data    | data    |
   |Msgs.   |      |          |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 7: TALI 1.0 State Machine

3.8 TALI 1.0 Implementation Notes

Several aspects of the expected TALI 1.0 implementation have not been specifically addressed in the state machine or previous text (or else they were presented but will be reiterated here). These
implementation notes in some cases have to do with the expected behavior of the software layer above the TALI layer.

3.8.1 Failure on a TCP/IP Socket


Page 44

3.8.2 Congestion on a TCP/IP Socket

3.9 TALI 1.0 Limitations

Several limitations with the TALI 1.0 specification and
implementation are identified:

4 TALI Version 2.0

Version 2.0 of the TALI specification provides several additions to the Version 1.0 specification. The 2.0 additions are provided by introducing three new TALI opcodes. The basic functionality and most of the details of the TALI 1.0 implementation are NOT changed by the 2.0 additions.


Page 45

The table below provides a summary of the messages and message structure used in TALI version 2.0.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | OCTET | DESCRIPTION           | SIZE     | VALUE  |    TYPE      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3  | SYNC                  | 4 Octets |        | 4 byte ASCII |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |       |   TALI                |          | 'TALI' |              |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7  | OPCODE                | 4 Octets |        | 4 byte ASCII |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |       |   Test Service        |          | 'test' |              |
   |       |   Allow Service       |          | 'allo' |              |
   |       |   Prohibit Service    |          | 'proh' |              |
   |       |   Prohibit Service Ack|          | 'proa' |              |
   |       |   Monitor Socket      |          | 'moni' |              |
   |       |   Monitor Socket Ack  |          | 'mona' |              |
   |       |   SCCP Service        |          | 'sccp' |              |
   |       |   ISUP Service o/TALI |          | 'isot' |              |
   |       |   MTP3 Service o/TALI |          | 'mtp3' |              |
   |       |   Service o/SAAL      |          | 'saal' |              |
   |       |   Management Message  |          | 'mgmt' |              |
   |       |   Extended Service Msg|          | 'xsrv' |              |
   |       |   Special Message     |          | 'spcl' |              |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9  | LENGTH                | 2 Octets |        | integer      |
   |       |   (least significant  |          |        |              |
   |       |    byte first) non-0  |          |        |              |
   |       |    if Service or      |          |        |              |
   |       |    Socket monitor msg |          |        |              |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..X | DATA PAYLOAD          | variable |        | variable     |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Due to the minimal amount of change from 1.0, this chapter will only provide:


Page 46

Therefore, readers of this chapter should read this from the point of view of modifying an existing TALI 1.0 implementation to support the new 2.0 features.

4.1 Overview of TALI Version 2.0 Features

A small number of changes to a 1.0 TALI implementation are required to support 2.0. Figure 10 illustrates the inputs that affect the 2.0 TALI State Machine. The reader may notice that the only differences from the inputs for 1.0 are as follows:

Three new TALI opcodes can be sent/received between a TALI node and its peer. The new opcodes are:

Three new User Part capabilities need to be supported by the layer of code above the TALI layer in each implementation. The user part needs to provide support for 'mgmt', 'xsrv', and 'spcl' data.

More information about the 3 new opcodes is provided in individual sections in this chapter. However, a brief description of the purpose of each of these opcodes is as follows:


Page 47


Page 48

   +====+    +---------+                    +============+
   |    |    | Service | +-------------+    |            |
   |User|    | Message,| | Mgmt. Open  |    | MANAGEMENT |
   |Part|<-->| MGMT,   | | Mgmt. Close |<-->|            |
   |    |    | XSRV,   | | Mgmt. Proh. |    |            |
   |    |    | SPCL    | | Mgmt. Allow |    +============+
   +====+    +---------+ +-------------+
                   ^            ^
                   |            |
                   v            v
   +========================================================+
   |                 TALI State Machine                     |
   +========================================================+
         ^               ^                 ^             ^
         |               |                 |             |
         v               |                 |             |
    +---------+          |                 |             |
    | Received|   +-----------------+ +-----------+ +------------+
    | 'test', |   | Connection est. | | Protocol  | | T1 Expired |
    | 'allo', |   | Connection lost | | Violation | | T2 Expired |
    | 'proh', |   |                 | |           | | T3 Expired |
    | 'proa', |   +-----------------+ +-----------+ | T4 Expired |
    | 'moni', |          ^                  ^       +------------+
    | 'mona', |          |                  |             ^
    | 'mgmt', |          |                  |             |
    | 'xsrv', |          |                  |             |
    | 'spcl', |          |                  |             |
    |   or    |    +========================================+
    | Service |    |         IMPLEMENTATION                 |
    | Message |    |           DEPENDENT                    |
    +---------+    +========================================+
         ^
         |
         v
     +============+
     |    PEER    |
     |            |
     +============+

Figure 10: Overview of Inputs to the TALI 2.0 State Machine

4.2 TALI Version Identification

The TALI 1.0 specification did not provide a simple means to perform TALI version identification. However, the general purpose 'moni' message from 1.0 can be used to solve this problem in 2.0.


Page 49

Recall from 1.0 that the 'moni' message was very loosely defined in the 1.0 spec:

TALI 2.0 implementations should use the 'moni' message to provide version identification as per the following bullets:


Page 50


Page 51

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                  | Field Type |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                       |4 byte ASCII|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'moni'                       |4 byte ASCII|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length (includes the version | Integer    |
   |        |             | label and data fields)       |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..21 | Ver. Label  | 'vers xxx.yyy'               | 12 byte    |
   |        | See note    |                              | ASCII      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 22..X  | DATA        | Vendor Dependent             | Variable   |
   |        |             | Maximum length of this       |            |
   |        |             | message (as coded in octets 8|            |
   |        |             | -9, and stored in bytes 10-X)|            |
   |        |             | should not exceed 200 bytes. |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 8: Version Control 'moni' Message

   NOTE: xxx.yyy = provides the Major and Minor release number of the
                   TALI specification being implemented.
         001.000 = Tali version 1.0
         002.000 = Tali version 2.0     // this specification.
         002.001 = Tali version 2.1     // a minor change to 2.0
         003.000 = Tali version 3.0
         and so on.

The 'vers 002.000' field is an 12 byte field of field type 'ascii text'. As such, 'v' should be the first byte of the field that is transmitted out the wire.

4.3 Backwards Compatibility

As part of adding new functionality to the TALI specification, backwards compatibility from TALI version 2.0 to version 1.0 is required. Backwards compatibility is important since TALI 2.0 nodes may be connected to far ends that only support version 1.0; it is important that these 2 implementations continue to inter-operate, and that the 2.0 node falls back to supporting only 1.0 opcodes in this situation.

The previous section described how a TALI 2.0 implementation can use the 'moni' it sends to identify itself as a 2.0 node and how it can use the 'moni' it receives to determine if the far end is also a 2.0


Page 52

node. In addition to the discussion in the previous section, the following bullets provide details regarding how backwards compatibility must be achieved:


Page 53


Page 54

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                  | Field Type |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                       |4 byte ASCII|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'mgmt', 'xsrv' or 'spcl'     |4 byte ASCII|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length (length of the rest   | Integer    |
   |        |             | of this packet)              |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..13 | Primitive   | 'wxyz', or a 4 byte text     |  4 byte    |
   |        | See note    | that is appropriate for the  |  ASCII     |
   |        |             | given opcode                 |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 14..X  | DATA        | The content of the data area | Variable   |
   |        |             | is dependent on the opcode/  |            |
   |        |             | primitive combination        |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 9: Basic Message Structure for New 2.0 TALI Opcodes

NOTE: The Primitive field acts as a modifier for each opcode. Within an opcode, different operations or groups of operations can be defined and supported. The Primitive identifies each different operation or set of operations.

4.3.1 Generating Protocol Violations based on Received Messages

As implied by some of the bullets before Table 9, it is a goal of the 2.0 TALI specification to relax some of the error checking associated with the processing of received TALI messages.

Version 1.0 of this specification was very strict in detailing the fields that were checked for each received message. As each received message was processed, the SYNC code, opcode and length field of the message was checked; if any of these fields were invalid an internal protocol violation was generated. The processing of the protocol violation caused the socket to go down. In addition to the 3 specific checks (sync, opcode, length), the overall philosophy of version 1.0 was to treat any received data that the receiver did not understand, or which the receiver deemed to contain incorrectly coded fields as protocol violations.

Version 2.0 introduces the possibility of partial support for opcodes, partial support for primitives, and partial support for various fields (such as support for ANSI Pt Codes, but not ITU Pt Codes). Thus, the overall philosophy of how to treat received data that the receiver does not support needs to be relaxed from the


Page 55

strict treatment in version 1.0. Version 2.0 implementations should be more tolerant when they receive messages they do not support (or which they believe contain incorrectly coded fields). This tolerance should include NOT treating these receives as protocol violations.

Version 2.0 implementations should perform the following level of strict/loose checks on the received messages:

The goals behind introducing this gentler treatment of errors in received data are as follows:


Page 56

4.4 Overview of the TALI Message Structure

The basic message structure for all TALI messages is unchanged with the addition of new 2.0 opcodes. The base TALI header still consists of SYNC + OPCODE + LENGTH, as described in Table 2.

The message structure for the new 2.0 opcodes was shown in Table 9. These messages define an extra required field, PRIMITIVE, that follows the LENGTH field of Table 2.

4.4.1 Types of TALI Fields

Table 4 in the version 1.0 specification provided implementation notes for all the 'types of fields' found in the 1.0 specification. Version 2.0 of TALI continues to use all of the types provided in Table 4, and also defines some new fields that are used in TALI messages that use the new 2.0 opcodes. The following table introduces the new field types that are introduced with version 2.0. The types in Table 10 are used in addition to the types in Table 4 to implement the 2.0 TALI protocol.


Page 57

   +-----------+------------------------------------------------------+
   |Field Type | Implementation Notes for that Type                   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |SS7 Point  | Used to transmit point code information for ANSI or  |
   |Code       | ITU variants of point codes across the TALI interface|
   |           | * The point code structure is 4 bytes. Byte 3 is used|
   |           |   to identify the TYPE of point code. The actual     |
   |           |   point code is then encoded in bytes 0-2 (w/byte 0  |
   |           |   being the least significant byte and the first byte|
   |           |   transmitted across the wire)                       |
   |           | * Byte 3: encoding of the type of point code (PC)    |
   |           |   0 = an ANSI Full PC                                |
   |           |   1 = an ITU International Full PC w/ a 3/8/3 coding |
   |           |       scheme for zone/area/identifier                |
   |           |   2 = an ITU National Full PC w/ a raw 14 bit PC     |
   |           |   3 = unused                                         |
   |           |   4 = an ANSI Cluster PC                             |
   |           | * For ANSI Full PC w/byte 3=0.  These point codes are|
   |           |   24 bit point codes as follows:                     |
   |           |   Byte 2 = Network                                   |
   |           |   Byte 1 = Cluster                                   |
   |           |   Byte 0 = Member                                    |
   |           | * For ITU International Full PC (3/8/3) w/byte 3=1.  |
   |           |   These point codes use 14 bits (stored in the 14    |
   |           |   least significant bits in bytes 0&1).  Byte 2 is   |
   |           |   unused.  The 14 bits should be interpreted as 3    |
   |           |   bits of zone, 8 bits of area and 3 bits of         |
   |           |   signaling point identifier.  The 3 bits of         |
   |           |   signaling point identifier are the 3 least         |
   |           |   significant bits.                                  |
   |           | * For ITU National Full PC w/byte 3=2. These point   |
   |           |   codes use 14 bits (stored in the 14 least          |
   |           |   significant bits in bytes 0&1).  Byte 2 is unused. |
   |           |   The 14 bits represent a single 14-bit quantity that|
   |           |   constitutes the point code.                        |
   |           | * For unused w/byte 3=3.  Bytes 0 through 2 are      |
   |           |   undefined.                                         |
   |           | * For ANSI Cluster PC, w/byte 3=4.  These point codes|
   |           |   are 24 bit point codes as follows:                 |
   |           |   Byte 2 = Network                                   |
   |           |   Byte 1 = Cluster                                   |
   |           |   Byte 0 = 0. This field is ignored and should be    |
   |           |   coded as 0...all members of the cluster are implied|
   |           | * Byte 0 is the first byte that is transmitted across|
   |           |   the wire, followed by byte 1, byte 2, then byte 3. |


Page 58

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Bit-Field  | * Field containing an array of N bits, where N is a  |
   |           |   multiple of 8.  Bit-Field types should be          |
   |           |   transmitted such that the byte containing bits 0   |
   |           |   through 7 is transmitted across the wire first,    |
   |           |   followed by the byte containing bits 8 through 15, |
   |           |   etc.                                               |
   |           | * The software for each implementation should be     |
   |           |   written in a manner that accounts for the required |
   |           |   byte order of transmission (ie: the Big Endian/    |
   |           |   Little Endian characteristics of the processor need|
   |           |   to be dealt with in the software).                 |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Version    |A TALI version label is a 12 byte ASCII text field.   |
   |Label      |The label is of a format 'vers xxx.yyy', where xxx.yyy|
   |           |are used to identify the version such as 002.000.  As |
   |           |with other ASCII text fields, the first byte of the   |
   |           |text field (the 'v') should be the first byte         |
   |           |transmitted out the wire.                             |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Primitive  |Messages that use the new TALI 2.0 opcodes all have a |
   |           |4 byte text ASCII field referred to as a Primitive.   |
   |           |The Primitive acts as a modifier for the opcode. This |
   |           |allows a single opcode to be used to perform multiple |
   |           |actions.                                              |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Primitive  |A Primitive can be used to specify either a specific  |
   |Operation  |action or a set of actions.  When the Primitive field |
   |           |is used to specify a set of actions, an operation     |
   |           |field is used to pick a specific operation within that|
   |           |group of actions. Operation fields are 4 byte integers|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Private    |Various RFC documents have detailed a set of assigned |
   |Enterprise |numbers (RFC 1700, Assigned Numbers) and defined data |
   |Code       |structures (RFC 1155, Structure and Identification of |
   |(PEC)      |Management Information for IP-based Internets)        |
   |           |that are used on IP networks to provide network       |
   |           |management information.                               |
   |           |Network Management Object Identifiers (OID) are used  |
   |           |to recognize specific organizations, companies,       |
   |           |protocols, and so on, in a manner that all vendors can|
   |           |agree on.                                             |
   |           |An Object Identifier exists which uniquely describes  |
   |           |each company that does business in the data/telecomm  |
   |           |industry.  That OID is referred to as an 'SMI Network |
   |           |Management Private Enterprise Code', which we are     |
   |           |shortening to Private Enterprise Code of PEC in this  |
   |           |document for simplicity.  Each PEC is assumed to have |


Page 59

   |           |a defined prefix of                                   |
   |           |'iso.org.dod.internet.private.enterprise' or          |
   |           |(1.3.6.1.4.1).                                        |
   |           |                                                      |
   |           |The PEC for each company can be found via a file at:  |
   |           |ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/          |
   |           | enterprise-numbers                                   |
   |           |                                                      |
   |           |To encode the PEC for a vendor in each implementation |
   |           |of TALI, a 2 byte integer field is used.  The contents|
   |           |of the integer field should match the PEC code for    |
   |           |that company in the file mentioned above.             |
   |           |                                                      |
   |           |For example, Tekelec, which has a PEC of 323, will    |
   |           |code this 2 byte field as '0x0143'.                   |
   |           |                                                      |
   |           |Like other integer fields, the PEC value is           |
   |           |transmitted Least Significant Byte first across the   |
   |           |ethernet wire.                                        |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 10: Implementation for new field types introduced in TALI 2.0

4.5 Detailed TALI Message Structures for New 2.0 Opcodes

The message structures for opcodes defined in version 1.0 of TALI are unchanged from the information presented earlier, with the exception of the 'moni' message. The 2.0 format for the 'moni' message was described earlier.

Detailed message structures, and discussion of the capabilities, for each of the new 2.0 opcodes is provided in the following sections. Before discussing each opcode individually, Table 11 provides the minimum and maximum value of the LENGTH field that should be supported for each new opcode (as well as 'moni/mona'). Table 11 additionally shows the impact of ITU support that was added in 2.0. The routing label for ITU point codes only uses 4 octets instead of 7 octets as ANSI requires.


Page 60

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Opcode | Valid Length | Comments                                 |
   |        | Field Values |                                          |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | moni   | 0-200 bytes  | The overall length of the data portion   |
   |        |              | for 'moni' on TALI 2.0 implementations   |
   |        |              | is unchanged from version 1.0 of the     |
   |        |              | specification and remains at 200 bytes   |
   |        |              | to provide backwards compatibility.      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | mona   | 0-200 bytes  | The overall length of the data portion   |
   |        |              | for 'mona' on TALI 2.0 implementations   |
   |        |              | is unchanged from version 1.0 of the     |
   |        |              | specification and remains at 200 bytes   |
   |        |              | to provide backwards compatibility.      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | mgmt   | 4-4096 bytes | The minimum length of 4 bytes is required|
   |        |              | to provide space for the Primitive field.|
   |        |              | The maximum length allows large TCP      |
   |        |              | packets to be supported if desired.      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | xsrv   | 4-4096 bytes | The minimum length of 4 bytes is required|
   |        |              | to provide space for the Primitive field.|
   |        |              | The maximum length allows large TCP      |
   |        |              | packets to be supported if desired.      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | spcl   | 4-4096 bytes | The minimum length of 4 bytes is required|
   |        |              | to provide space for the Primitive field.|
   |        |              | The maximum length allows large TCP      |
   |        |              | packets to be supported if desired.      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | sccp   | 9-265 bytes  | These are the valid sizes for the        |
   |        |              | SCCP-ONLY portions of SCCP UDT MSUs.     |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | isot   | 8-273 bytes  | The length is the number of octets that  |
   |        |              | in the MTP3 and higher layer(s) of the   |
   |        |              | SS7 MSU.  This length includes the SIO   |
   |        |              | byte and all bytes in the SIF (Service   |
   |        |              | Information Field) field.  The MTP3      |
   |        |              | routing label is part of the SIF field.  |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | mtp3   | 8-280 bytes  | The length is the number of octets that  |
   |        |              | in the MTP3 and higher layer(s) of the   |
   |        |              | SS7 MSU.  This length includes the SIO   |
   |        |              | byte and all bytes in the SIF (Service   |
   |        |              | Information Field) field.  The MTP3      |
   |        |              | routing label is part of the SIF field.  |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+


Page 61

   | saal   | 8-280 bytes  | The length is the number of octets that  |
   |        |              | in the MTP3 and higher layer(s) of the   |
   |        |              | SS7 MSU.  This length includes the SIO   |
   |        |              | byte and all bytes in the SIF (Service   |
   |        |              | Information Field) field.  The MTP3      |
   |        |              | routing label is part of the SIF field.  |
   |        |              | Seven (7) octets of SSCOP trailer is     |
   |        |              | added to the message.  The SSCOP trailer |
   |        |              | bytes are also included in the length.   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 11: Valid Length Fields for Opcodes Affected by TALI 2.0

4.5.1 Management Message (mgmt)

The 'mgmt' opcode is intended to allow Management data, or data that will manage the operation of the device, to pass between the TALI endpoints over the socket connection. 'mgmt' messages can be received and processed in any of the TALI NEx-FEx states. Three PRIMITIVES are defined for use with this opcode:

As of version 2.0, the only defined primitives for the 'mgmt' opcode are 'rkrp', 'mtpp', and 'sorp'. In the future, more primitives can be added to this opcode to extend the Management capabilities of the SG or IP devices. The basic message structure for the 2.0 'mgmt' messages for all 3 of these primitives is as follows:


Page 62

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'mgmt'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..13 | Primitive   | 'rkrp', 'mtpp' or 'sorp'  Each of these   |
   |        |             | primitives specify a group of applicable  |
   |        |             | management operations.                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 14..17 | Primitive   | The operation field specifies the one     |
   |        | Operation   | operation within the group of operations  |
   |        |             | identified by the primitive.              |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 18..   | Message     | The content of the message data area is   |
   |        | Data        | dependent on the combination of opcode/   |
   |        |             | primitive/operation fields.  Each of those|
   |        |             | combinations could use a different message|
   |        |             | data structure.                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 12: Message Structure for 'mgmt' opcode

4.5.1.1 Routing Key Registration Primitive (rkrp)

The 'rkrp' primitive allows IP nodes to modify the application routing key table in the SG by sending TALI messages to configure the SS7 traffic streams that they wish to receive over each socket. This 'routing key registration' is performed in-band, via TALI messages, as an alternative to using the SG user interface to configure the routing keys.

Recall from earlier discussion in this document that the
specification supports five (5) types of fully specified routing keys:

   *  A key for SCCP traffic, where key = DPC-SI-SSN, where SI=3.

   *  A key for ISUP traffic, where key = DPC-SI-OPC-CIC Range, where
      SI=5.  The CIC values for traditional ISUP are 14 bit quantities
      in ANSI networks and 12 bit quantities in ITU networks.

   *  A key for TUP traffic, where key = DPC-SI-OPC-CIC Range, where
      SI=4.  This key is only supported for ITU networks.  The CIC
      values for TUP keys are 12 bit quantities in ITU networks.


Page 63

Each of these keys is fully specified key where the exact content of the MSU to be routed must match the data in the routing key.

Extensions to the routing keys have been added that will support 'partial match' or 'default' routing keys. The purpose of these extensions is to improve the handling of MSU traffic when no fully specified routing key exists that matches the MSU. Partial match and default routing keys are used when the SG can not find a fully specified routing key that can be used to route an MSU. Partial match keys can be used to provide closest-match routing such as 'ignore the CIC' for ISUP/QBICC/TUP traffic, or 'ignore the SSN' for SCCP traffic. Default keys are used when no full or partial routing key has been found as a last resort destination to route the MSU to.

The types of partial and default keys defined by the protocol are discussed in the following table. The 4th column in the table indicates the data structure that is used in the TALI rkrp message to perform operations on each partial/default key type. Note: The order of the keys in the table (from top to bottom) matches the hierarchical search order that an SG will use to attempt to find a routing key to use for an MSU. The partial and default keys are only used after attempting to find a fully specified key that matches the MSU.


Page 64

   +--------+------------+--------------------------------+-----------+
   |Key     | Key        | Comments                       | Cross     |
   |Type    | Attributes |                                | Reference |
   +--------+------------+--------------------------------+-----------+
   |Partial | DPC-SI-OPC |Used as backup routes for CIC   | 4.5.1.1.2 |
   |        |            |based traffic (but ignoring the |           |
   |        |            |CIC field).                     |           |
   +--------+------------+--------------------------------+-----------+
   |Partial | DPC-SI     |Used as backup routes for CIC   | 4.5.1.1.4 |
   |        |            |based or SCCP traffic (but      |           |
   |        |            |ignoring the OPC-CIC or SSN).   |           |
   |        |            |Routes traffic based solely on  |           |
   |        |            |DPC and SI of the MSU.          |           |
   +--------+------------+--------------------------------+-----------+
   |Partial | DPC        |Used as a backup route for any  | 4.5.1.1.4 |
   |        |            |MSU type.  Routes traffic based |           |
   |        |            |solely on the DPC field.        |           |
   +--------+------------+--------------------------------+-----------+
   |Partial | SI         |Used as a backup route for any  | 4.5.1.1.4 |
   |        |            |MSU type.  Routes traffic based |           |
   |        |            |solely on the SI field.         |           |
   +--------+------------+--------------------------------+-----------+
   |Default | -          |If no other type of routing key | 4.5.1.1.5 |
   |        |            |for an MSU can be found, use    |           |
   |        |            |this one.                       |           |
   +--------+------------+--------------------------------+-----------+

Table 13: Partial and Default Routing Keys (in hierarchical order)

The specific capability requested in each 'rkrp' message is indicated via an 'RKRP Operation' field. These capabilities include:


Page 65

received on. Other socket associations for the same application routing key are NOT affected by the deletion. When the last socket association for a routing key is deleted, the entire routing key entry is removed from the database. The DELETE operation operation is applicable for fully specified SCCP keys, CIC based keys (ISUP, Q.BICC, and TUP), OTHER-MTP3-SI keys, and all types of partial keys and to the default routing key.

The list of RKRP Operations (and their encodings) that are supported for TALI version 2.0 is as follows:

0x0001 - ENTER ISUP KEY
0x0002 - DELETE ISUP KEY
0x0003 - SPLIT ISUP KEY
0x0004 - RESIZE ISUP KEY
0x0005 - ENTER Q.BICC ISUP KEY
0x0006 - DELETE Q.BICC ISUP KEY
0x0007 - SPLIT Q.BICC ISUP KEY
0x0008 - RESIZE Q.BICC ISUP KEY
0x0009 - ENTER SCCP KEY
0x000A - DELETE SCCP KEY


Page 66

0x000B - ENTER OTHER-MTP3-SI KEY
0x000C - DELETE OTHER-MTP3-SI KEY
0x000D - ENTER TUP KEY (ITU only)
0x000E - DELETE TUP KEY (ITU only)
0x000F - SPLIT TUP KEY (ITU only)
0x0010 - RESIZE TUP KEY (ITU only)
0x0011 - ENTER DPC-SI-OPC PARTIAL KEY
0x0012 - DELETE DPC-SI-OPC PARTIAL KEY
0x0013 - ENTER DPC-SI PARTIAL KEY
0x0014 - DELETE DPC-SI PARTIAL KEY
0x0015 - ENTER DPC PARTIAL KEY
0x0016 - DELETE DPC PARTIAL KEY
0x0017 - ENTER SI PARTIAL KEY
0x0018 - DELETE SI PARTIAL KEY
0x0019 - ENTER DEFAULT
0x001A - DELETE DEFAULT KEY
0x001B - MULTIPLE REGISTRATION SUPPORT

The message data area of the 'rkrp' messages will differ based on which RKRP Operation is specified. Several different structures are used, the correct structure can be identified by the RKRP Operation field.

In order to simplify the implementation, each of these structures will define a structure that will support all of the operations required for the key type. This means that based on the rkrp operation, some of the fields will be required, and some of the fields will not be applicable for each RKRP message. Unused fields should be initialized to 0 by the sender and ignored by the receiver.

4.5.1.1.1 RKRP Data Structures

4.5.1.1.1.1 Common Fields in all RKRP Messages

In the following subsections several different data structures to be used for various RKRP operations are presented. It should be noted that each of these data structures has the following fields in common. The data structure below should begin at byte 14 of the TALI message as shown in Table 12.


Page 67

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                  | Field Type |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | RKRP        | Identifies which 'rkrp'      | Integer    |
   |        | Operation   | operation is desired.        |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Request/    | Identifies whether the 'rkrp'| Integer    |
   |        | Reply       | message is a request (from an|            |
   |        |             | IP node to SG) for some type |            |
   |        |             | of 'rkrp' action, or a reply |            |
   |        |             | to a previous request (from  |            |
   |        |             | the SG back to the IP node). |            |
   |        |             | This integer field uses the  |            |
   |        |             | following encodings:         |            |
   |        |             | 0x0000=Request               |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001=Reply.  See Success/  |            |
   |        |             | Failure code for more info.  |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Success/    | Provides a success/failure   | Integer    |
   |        | Failure     | indication as part of the    |            |
   |        | Code        | reply back to the IP node    |            |
   |        |             | for each processed request.  |            |
   |        |             | This field is only used when |            |
   |        |             | the Request/Reply field is   |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001.  This field uses the |            |
   |        |             | encodings from in section 5. |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 14: Common Fields in ALL 'rkrp' Data Structures

The primary purpose of requiring the data structures for all RKRP operations to begin with these same fields, is to provide a means for a receiver to reply to unknown RKRP messages in a consistent manner. When an implementation receives an RKRP request message it does not understand, it should turn the request into a reply and use the success/failure code to indicate that the operation is not supported (with an RKRP Reply Code of Unsupported rkrp Operation).

It is a requirement that these common fields continue to be used as new RKRP operations are added to this specification. This will ensure that the capability described in the previous paragraph will always exist.


Page 68

4.5.1.1.1.2 CIC Based Routing Key Operations

The data structure used for 'rkrp' messages related to MSUs which are CIC based (ISUP, Q.BICC ISUP, and TUP (ITU only)) is as presented in the next table. The data structure below should begin at byte 14 of the TALI message as shown in Table 12.

Note 1: The number of bits used in each CIC field will vary based on the SI and network type.

Note 2: This same structure should be used to specify the partial key

   = DPC-SI-OPC(ignoreCIC).  When specifying a DPC-SI-OPC partial key,
   the CIC fields in this structure should be set to 0 by the sender.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                  | Field Type |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | RKRP        | Identifies which 'rkrp'      | Integer    |
   |        | Operation   | operation is desired.        |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Request/    | Identifies whether the 'rkrp'| Integer    |
   |        | Reply       | message is a request (from an|            |
   |        |             | IP node to SG) for some type |            |
   |        |             | of 'rkrp' action, or a reply |            |
   |        |             | to a previous request (from  |            |
   |        |             | the SG back to the IP node). |            |
   |        |             | This integer field uses the  |            |
   |        |             | following encodings:         |            |
   |        |             | 0x0000=Request               |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001=Reply.  See Success/  |            |
   |        |             | Failure code for more info.  |            |


Page 69

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Success/    | Provides a success/failure   | Integer    |
   |        | Failure     | indication as part of the    |            |
   |        | Code        | reply back to the IP node    |            |
   |        |             | for each processed request.  |            |
   |        |             | This field is only used when |            |
   |        |             | the Request/Reply field is   |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001.  This field uses the |            |
   |        |             | encodings listed in section  |            |
   |        |             | 5.                           |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | RKRP flags  | This is a 2 byte bit-field   | Bit-field  |
   |        |             | that provides 16 possible    |            |
   |        |             | flags that can control       |            |
   |        |             | various aspects of the       |            |
   |        |             | operation.                   |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0 - An Override bit is   |            |
   |        |             | used on the ENTER operation  |            |
   |        |             | to control how the socket    |            |
   |        |             | associations for a routing   |            |
   |        |             | key should be manipulated.   |            |
   |        |             | This flag determines if the  |            |
   |        |             | ENTER is to add the given    |            |
   |        |             | socket association in a      |            |
   |        |             | 'load-sharing' mode or if    |            |
   |        |             | the new association should   |            |
   |        |             | replace (Override) all       |            |
   |        |             | existing associations.  This |            |
   |        |             | flag is only examined on     |            |
   |        |             | ENTER operations.            |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0=0, Load Sharing Mode   |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0=1, Override Mode       |            |
   |        |             | Bits 1-15, currently         |            |
   |        |             | undefined                    |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 1      | SI          | Service Indicator.  The SI   | Integer    |
   |        |             | field in an SS7 MSU          |            |
   |        |             | identifies the type of       |            |
   |        |             | traffic being carried by the |            |
   |        |             | MSU (0=SNM, 3=SCCP, 5=ISUP,  |            |
   |        |             | etc).  Each application      |            |
   |        |             | routing key must specify a   |            |
   |        |             | specific SI value that it    |            |
   |        |             | relates to.                  |            |
   |        |             | SI should be 5 for ISUP keys.|            |
   |        |             | SI should be 13 for Q.BICC   |            |
   |        |             | ISUP keys.                   |            |
   |        |             | SI should be 4 for TUP keys. |            |


Page 70

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | DPC         | Destination Point Code.  Each| SS7 Point  |
   |        |             | SS7 MSU contains a DPC that  | Code       |
   |        |             | identifies the destination   |            |
   |        |             | for the MSU.  Each           |            |
   |        |             | application routing key must |            |
   |        |             | specify a specific DPC value |            |
   |        |             | that it relates to.          |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | OPC         | Origination Point Code.  Each| SS7 Point  |
   |        |             | SS7 MSU contains a OPC that  | Code       |
   |        |             | identifies the source of the |            |
   |        |             | MSU.  ISUP routing keys must |            |
   |        |             | each specify a single OPC    |            |
   |        |             | that the application routing |            |
   |        |             | key relates to.              |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | CICS        | Circuit Identification Code  | Integer    |
   |        |             | Start.  Each SS7 ISUP MSU    |            |
   |        |             | contains a CIC code.  Each   |            |
   |        |             | ISUP/QBICC/TUP routing key   |            |
   |        |             | identifies a range of CIC    |            |
   |        |             | values that are applicable   |            |
   |        |             | for the routing key.  The    |            |
   |        |             | CICS value is the low end of |            |
   |        |             | the CIC range.               |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | CICE        | Circuit Identification Code  | Integer    |
   |        |             | End.  Each SS7 ISUP MSU      |            |
   |        |             | contains a CIC code.  Each   |            |
   |        |             | ISUP/QBICC/TUP routing key   |            |
   |        |             | identifies a range of CIC    |            |
   |        |             | values that are applicable   |            |
   |        |             | for the routing key.  The    |            |
   |        |             | CICE value is the high end   |            |
   |        |             | of the CIC range.            |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | SPLIT CIC   | The SPLIT field is used on   | Integer    |
   |        |             | the SPLIT operation to       |            |
   |        |             | specify where in the existing|            |
   |        |             | CIC range (given by CICS/    |            |
   |        |             | CICE) an existing routing key|            |
   |        |             | should be split into 2       |            |
   |        |             | routing keys.  To be valid,  |            |
   |        |             | the following relationship   |            |
   |        |             | must be true before the SPLIT|            |
   |        |             | is performed:                |            |
   |        |             |    CICS < SPLIT <= CICE.     |            |


Page 71

   |        |             | After the SPLIT is performed,|            |
   |        |             | the 2 routing keys are as    |            |
   |        |             | follows:                     |            |
   |        |             |    CICS to SPLIT-1           |            |
   |        |             |    SPLIT to CICE             |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | NCICS       | The NCICS and NCICE fields   | Integer    |
   |        |             | are used on the RESIZE       |            |
   |        |             | operation to specify how the |            |
   |        |             | CIC range for existing       |            |
   |        |             | routing key should be        |            |
   |        |             | modified.  NCICS specifies   |            |
   |        |             | the new value that should    |            |
   |        |             | replace the existing CICS    |            |
   |        |             | value in the routing key.    |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | NCICE       | The NCICS and NCICE fields   | Integer    |
   |        |             | are used on the RESIZE       |            |
   |        |             | operation to specify how the |            |
   |        |             | CIC range for existing       |            |
   |        |             | routing key should be        |            |
   |        |             | modified.  NCICE specifies   |            |
   |        |             | the new value that should    |            |
   |        |             | replace the existing CICE    |            |
   |        |             | value in the routing key.    |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 15: Message Data Structure CIC based Routing Key Operations

The following table indicates the Required (R), or Not Applicable (NA) status for each field of the message data structure in Table 15 based on the RKRP Operation field. As mentioned previously, unused fields (those marked NA) should be initialized to 0 by the sender and ignored by the receiver.


Page 72

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |      Operation  | ENTER | DELETE | SPLIT | RESIZE | ENTER/DELETE |
   |                 | (ISUP,| (ISUP, | (ISUP,| (ISUP, | PARTIAL DPC  |
   |                 | QBICC,| QBICC, | QBICC,| QBICC, | SI OPC KEY   |
   | Field           | TUP)  | TUP)   | TUP)  | TUP)   |              |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Request/Reply   | R     | R      | R     | R      | R            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Success/Failure | R     | R      | R     | R      | R            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | RKRP Flags      | R     | R      | R     | R      | R            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | SI              | R     | R      | R     | R      | R            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | DPC             | R     | R      | R     | R      | R            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | OPC             | R     | R      | R     | R      | R            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | CICS            | R     | R      | R     | R      | NA           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | CICE            | R     | R      | R     | R      | NA           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | SPLIT CIC       | NA    | NA     | R     | NA     | NA           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | NCICS           | NA    | NA     | NA    | R      | NA           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | NCICE           | NA    | NA     | NA    | R      | NA           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 16: Required/Not Applicable Fields for CIC based Routing Keys

4.5.1.1.1.3 SCCP Routing Key Operations

The data structure used for 'rkrp' messages related to SCCP routing keys is presented in the next table. The data structure below should begin at byte 14 of the TALI message as shown in Table 12.


Page 73

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                  | Field Type |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | RKRP        | Identifies which 'rkrp'      | Integer    |
   |        | Operation   | operation is desired.        |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Request/    | Identifies whether the 'rkrp'| Integer    |
   |        | Reply       | message is a request (from an|            |
   |        |             | IP node to SG) for some type |            |
   |        |             | of 'rkrp' action, or a reply |            |
   |        |             | to a previous request (from  |            |
   |        |             | the SG back to the IP node). |            |
   |        |             | This integer field uses the  |            |
   |        |             | following encodings:         |            |
   |        |             | 0x0000=Request               |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001=Reply.  See Success/  |            |
   |        |             | Failure code for more info.  |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Success/    | Provides a success/failure   | Integer    |
   |        | Failure     | indication as part of the    |            |
   |        | Code        | reply back to the IP node    |            |
   |        |             | for each processed request.  |            |
   |        |             | This field is only used when |            |
   |        |             | the Request/Reply field is   |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001.  This field uses the |            |
   |        |             | encodings listed in section  |            |
   |        |             | 5.                           |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | RKRP flags  | This is a 2 byte bit-field   | Bit-field  |
   |        |             | that provides 16 possible    |            |
   |        |             | flags that can control       |            |
   |        |             | various aspects of the       |            |
   |        |             | operation.                   |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0 - An Override bit is   |            |
   |        |             | used on the ENTER operation  |            |
   |        |             | to control how the socket    |            |
   |        |             | associations for a routing   |            |
   |        |             | key should be manipulated.   |            |
   |        |             | This flag determines if the  |            |
   |        |             | ENTER is to add the given    |            |
   |        |             | socket association in a      |            |
   |        |             | 'load-sharing' mode or if    |            |
   |        |             | the new association should   |            |
   |        |             | replace (Override) all       |            |
   |        |             | existing associations.  This |            |
   |        |             | flag is only examined on     |            |
   |        |             | ENTER operations.            |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0=0, Load Sharing Mode   |            |


Page 74

   |        |             | Bit 0=1, Override Mode       |            |
   |        |             | Bits 1-15, currently         |            |
   |        |             | undefined                    |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 1      | SI          | Service Indicator.  The SI   | Integer    |
   |        |             | field in an SS7 MSU          |            |
   |        |             | identifies the type of       |            |
   |        |             | traffic being carried by the |            |
   |        |             | MSU (0=SNM, 3=SCCP, 5=ISUP,  |            |
   |        |             | etc).  Each application      |            |
   |        |             | routing key must specify a   |            |
   |        |             | specific SI value that it    |            |
   |        |             | relates to.                  |            |
   |        |             | SI should be 3 for SCCP keys.|            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | DPC         | Destination Point Code.  Each| SS7 Point  |
   |        |             | SS7 MSU contains a DPC that  | Code       |
   |        |             | identifies the destination   |            |
   |        |             | for the MSU.  Each           |            |
   |        |             | application routing key must |            |
   |        |             | specify a specific DPC value |            |
   |        |             | that it relates to.          |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 1      | SSN         | SubSystem Number.  Each SCCP | Integer    |
   |        |             | MSU contains a subsystem     |            |
   |        |             | number that identifies the   |            |
   |        |             | SCCP subsystem that should   |            |
   |        |             | process the MSU.  SCCP       |            |
   |        |             | routing keys must each       |            |
   |        |             | specify a single SSN that    |            |
   |        |             | the application routing key  |            |
   |        |             | relates to.                  |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 17: Message Data Structure SCCP Routing Key Operations

The following table indicates the Required (R), or Not Applicable (NA) status for each field of the message data structure in Table 17 based on the RKRP Operation field. As mentioned previously, unused fields (those marked NA) should be initialized to 0 by the sender and ignored by the receiver.


Page 75

              +--------------------------------------------+
              |      Operation  | ENTER SCCP | DELETE SCCP |
              | Field           |            |             |
              +--------------------------------------------+
              | Request/Reply   | R          | R           |
              +--------------------------------------------+
              | Success/Failure | R          | R           |
              +--------------------------------------------+
              | RKRP Flags      | R          | R           |
              +--------------------------------------------+
              | SI              | R          | R           |
              +--------------------------------------------+
              | DPC             | R          | R           |
              +--------------------------------------------+
              | SSN             | R          | R           |
              +--------------------------------------------+

Table 18: Required/Not Applicable Fields for SCCP Routing Keys

4.5.1.1.1.4 DPC-SI, DPC and SI based Routing Key Operations

The data structure used for 'rkrp' messages related to DPC-SI based (either full keys for non-sccp, non-cic based traffic, or partial keys for CIC based or SCCP), DPC based (partial key), and SI based (partial key) operations is as presented in the next table. The data structure below should begin at byte 14 of the TALI message as shown in Table 12.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                  | Field Type |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | RKRP        | Identifies which 'rkrp'      | Integer    |
   |        | Operation   | operation is desired.        |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Request/    | Identifies whether the 'rkrp'| Integer    |
   |        | Reply       | message is a request (from an|            |
   |        |             | IP node to SG) for some type |            |
   |        |             | of 'rkrp' action, or a reply |            |
   |        |             | to a previous request (from  |            |
   |        |             | the SG back to the IP node). |            |
   |        |             | This integer field uses the  |            |
   |        |             | following encodings:         |            |
   |        |             | 0x0000=Request               |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001=Reply.  See Success/  |            |
   |        |             | Failure code for more info.  |            |


Page 76

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Success/    | Provides a success/failure   | Integer    |
   |        | Failure     | indication as part of the    |            |
   |        | Code        | reply back to the IP node    |            |
   |        |             | for each processed request.  |            |
   |        |             | This field is only used when |            |
   |        |             | the Request/Reply field is   |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001.  This field uses the |            |
   |        |             | encodings from section 5.    |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | RKRP flags  | This is a 2 byte bit-field   | Bit-field  |
   |        |             | that provides 16 possible    |            |
   |        |             | flags that can control       |            |
   |        |             | various aspects of the       |            |
   |        |             | operation.                   |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0 - An Override bit is   |            |
   |        |             | used on the ENTER operation  |            |
   |        |             | to control how the socket    |            |
   |        |             | associations for a routing   |            |
   |        |             | key should be manipulated.   |            |
   |        |             | This flag determines if the  |            |
   |        |             | ENTER is to add the given    |            |
   |        |             | socket association in a      |            |
   |        |             | 'load-sharing' mode or if    |            |
   |        |             | the new association should   |            |
   |        |             | replace (Override) all       |            |
   |        |             | existing associations.  This |            |
   |        |             | flag is only examined on     |            |
   |        |             | ENTER operations.            |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0=0, Load Sharing Mode   |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0=1, Override Mode       |            |
   |        |             | Bits 1-15, currently         |            |
   |        |             | undefined                    |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 1      | SI          | Service Indicator.  The SI   | Integer    |
   |        |             | field in an SS7 MSU          |            |
   |        |             | identifies the type of       |            |
   |        |             | traffic being carried by the |            |
   |        |             | MSU (0=SNM, 3=SCCP, 5=ISUP,  |            |
   |        |             | etc).  Each application      |            |
   |        |             | routing key must specify a   |            |
   |        |             | specific SI value that it    |            |
   |        |             | relates to.                  |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+


Page 77

   | 4      | DPC         | Destination Point Code.  Each| SS7 Point  |
   |        |             | SS7 MSU contains a DPC that  | Code       |
   |        |             | identifies the destination   |            |
   |        |             | for the MSU.  Each           |            |
   |        |             | application routing key must |            |
   |        |             | specify a specific DPC value |            |
   |        |             | that it relates to.          |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   Table 19: Message Data Structure DPC/SI, DPC and SI based Routing
             Key Operations

The following table indicates the Required (R), or Not Applicable (NA) status for each field of the message data structure in Table 19 based on the RKRP Operation field. As mentioned previously, unused fields (those marked NA) should be initialized to 0 by the sender and ignored by the receiver.

         +-------------------------------------------------------+
         |      Operation  | ENTER/  | ENTER/  | ENTER/ | ENTER/ |
         |                 | DELETE  | DELETE  | DELETE | DELETE |
         |                 | OTHER   | DPC-SI  | DPC    | SI     |
         | Field           | MTP3 SI | PARTIAL | ONLY   | ONLY   |
         +-------------------------------------------------------+
         | Request/Reply   | R       | R       | R      | R      |
         +-------------------------------------------------------+
         | Success/Failure | R       | R       | R      | R      |
         +-------------------------------------------------------+
         | RKRP Flags      | R       | R       | R      | R      |
         +-------------------------------------------------------+
         | SI              | R       | R       | NA     | R      |
         +-------------------------------------------------------+
         | DPC             | R       | R       | R      | NA     |
         +-------------------------------------------------------+

Table 20: Required/Not Applicable Fields for DPC/SI, DPC and SI based Routing Keys

4.5.1.1.1.5 Default Routing Key Operations

The data structure used for 'rkrp' messages related to entering and deleting a default routing key is as presented in the next table. The data structure below should begin at byte 14 of the TALI message as shown in Table 12.


Page 78

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                  | Field Type |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | RKRP        | Identifies which 'rkrp'      | Integer    |
   |        | Operation   | operation is desired.        |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Request/    | Identifies whether the 'rkrp'| Integer    |
   |        | Reply       | message is a request (from an|            |
   |        |             | IP node to SG) for some type |            |
   |        |             | of 'rkrp' action, or a reply |            |
   |        |             | to a previous request (from  |            |
   |        |             | the SG back to the IP node). |            |
   |        |             | This integer field uses the  |            |
   |        |             | following encodings:         |            |
   |        |             | 0x0000=Request               |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001=Reply.  See Success/  |            |
   |        |             | Failure code for more info.  |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Success/    | Provides a success/failure   | Integer    |
   |        | Failure     | indication as part of the    |            |
   |        | Code        | reply back to the IP node    |            |
   |        |             | for each processed request.  |            |
   |        |             | This field is only used when |            |
   |        |             | the Request/Reply field is   |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001.  This field uses the |            |
   |        |             | encodings listed in section  |            |
   |        |             | 5.                           |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | RKRP flags  | This is a 2 byte bit-field   | Bit-field  |
   |        |             | that provides 16 possible    |            |
   |        |             | flags that can control       |            |
   |        |             | various aspects of the       |            |
   |        |             | operation.                   |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0 - An Override bit is   |            |
   |        |             | used on the ENTER operation  |            |
   |        |             | to control how the socket    |            |
   |        |             | associations for a routing   |            |
   |        |             | key should be manipulated.   |            |
   |        |             | This flag determines if the  |            |
   |        |             | ENTER is to add the given    |            |
   |        |             | socket association in a      |            |
   |        |             | 'load-sharing' mode or if    |            |
   |        |             | the new association should   |            |
   |        |             | replace (Override) all       |            |
   |        |             | existing associations.  This |            |
   |        |             | flag is only examined on     |            |
   |        |             | ENTER operations.            |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0=0, Load Sharing Mode   |            |


Page 79

   |        |             | Bit 0=1, Override Mode       |            |
   |        |             | Bits 1-15, currently         |            |
   |        |             | undefined                    |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 21: Message Data Structure for Default Routing Keys

The following table indicates the Required (R), or Not Applicable (NA) status for each field of the message data structure in Table 21 based on the RKRP Operation field. As mentioned previously, unused fields (those marked NA) should be initialized to 0 by the sender and ignored by the receiver.

              +-------------------------------------+
              |      Operation  | ENTER   | DELETE  |
              | Field           | DEFAULT | DEFAULT |
              +-------------------------------------+
              | Request/Reply   | R       | R       |
              +-------------------------------------+
              | Success/Failure | R       | R       |
              +-------------------------------------+
              | RKRP Flags      | R       | R       |
              +-------------------------------------+

Table 22: Required/Not Applicable Fields for Default Routing Keys

4.5.1.1.1.6 Support for Multiple RKRP Registration Operations

The intent of support for multiple RKRP operations within a single

   TALI message (opcode = 'mgmt', primitive = 'rkrp') is to decrease the
   message count and byte overhead on network transmission when
   performing massive registration sequences.

This functionality is added by 2 mechanisms:

4.5.1.1.1.6.1 Multiple Registrations Support

A new RKRP operation and accompanying data structure are defined to determine if a far end device supports multiple RKRP registration operations per TALI message.


Page 80

The data structure used for the 'multiple registrations support' operation is as presented in the next table. The data structure below should begin at byte 14 of the TALI message as shown in Table 12.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                  | Field Type |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | RKRP        | Identifies which 'rkrp'      | Integer    |
   |        | Operation   | operation is desired.        |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Request/    | Identifies whether the 'rkrp'| Integer    |
   |        | Reply       | message is a request (from an|            |
   |        |             | IP node to SG) for some type |            |
   |        |             | of 'rkrp' action, or a reply |            |
   |        |             | to a previous request (from  |            |
   |        |             | the SG back to the IP node). |            |
   |        |             | This integer field uses the  |            |
   |        |             | following encodings:         |            |
   |        |             | 0x0000=Request               |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001=Reply.  See Success/  |            |
   |        |             | Failure code for more info.  |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Success/    | Provides a success/failure   | Integer    |
   |        | Failure     | indication as part of the    |            |
   |        | Code        | reply back to the IP node    |            |
   |        |             | for each processed request.  |            |
   |        |             | This field is only used when |            |
   |        |             | the Request/Reply field is   |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001.  This field uses the |            |
   |        |             | encodings listed in section  |            |
   |        |             | 5.                           |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | Operations  | This field is used by the    | Integer    |
   |        | Per Message | reply to tell the requester  |            |
   |        |             | the maximum # of RKRP        |            |
   |        |             | registration operations per  |            |
   |        |             | TALI message that are        |            |
   |        |             | supported by the             |            |
   |        |             | implementation.              |            |
   |        |             | * This field should be set   |            |
   |        |             |   to 0 when the request/     |            |
   |        |             |   reply field is set to      |            |
   |        |             |   Request.                   |            |
   |        |             | * This field should be set to|            |
   |        |             |   the Maximum # of operations|            |
   |        |             |   per TALI message that a    |            |
   |        |             |   TALI implementation is     |            |


Page 81

   |        |             |   willing to support when the|            |
   |        |             |   request/reply field is set |            |
   |        |             |   to Reply.                  |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
    Table 23: Message Data Structure for Multiple Registrations Support
              Operation

The following table indicates the Required (R), or Not Applicable (NA) status for each field of the message data structure above. As mentioned previously, unused fields (those marked NA) should be initialized to 0 by the sender and ignored by the receiver.

           +-------------------------------------------------+
           |      Operation  | MULTIPLE      | MULTIPLE      |
           |                 | REGISTRATIONS | REGISTRATIONS |
           |                 | SUPPORT       | SUPPORT       |
           | Field           | REQUEST       | REPLY         |
           +-------------------------------------------------+
           | Request/Reply   | R             | R             |
           +-------------------------------------------------+
           | Success/Failure | R             | R             |
           +-------------------------------------------------+
           | Operations Per  | R             | R             |
           | Message         |               |               |
           +-------------------------------------------------+

Table 24: Required/Not Applicable Fields for Multiple Registrations Support Operation

4.5.1.1.1.6.2 Multiple RKRP Operations in a Single Message

After using the MULTIPLE REGISTRATIONS SUPPORT operation to determine that the far end supports multiple RKRP operations per TALI message, a device wishing to use this functionality can begin sending more than 1 registration request/reply per message. To do so, the basic message structure for an 'mgmt' opcode (presented in Table 12) can be extended so that each operation directly follows the previous operation in the TALI message. An example showing a TALI message with 3 RKRP operations in it would look as follows:


Page 82

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'mgmt'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length. The length should be set such that|
   |        |             | all (3 in this example) operations are    |
   |        |             | accounted for.                            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..13 | Primitive   | 'rkrp'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 14..17 | Primitive   | The fisrt operation field identifies a    |
   |        | Operation   | specific rkrp operation to be performed.  |
   |        | #1          |                                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 18..x  | Message     | The length of the message data (and the   |
   |        | Data for    | interpretation of those bytes) for        |
   |        | Operation   | operation #1 depends on the message data  |
   |        | #1          | required for rkrp operation #1            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | x+1..  | Primitive   | The fisrt operation field identifies a    |
   |   x+4  | Operation   | specific rkrp operation to be performed.  |
   |        | #2          |                                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | x+5..y | Message     | The length of the message data (and the   |
   |        | Data for    | interpretation of those bytes) for        |
   |        | Operation   | operation #2 depends on the message data  |
   |        | #2          | required for rkrp operation #2            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | y+1..  | Primitive   | The fisrt operation field identifies a    |
   |   y+4  | Operation   | specific rkrp operation to be performed.  |
   |        | #3          |                                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | y+5..z | Message     | The length of the message data (and the   |
   |        | Data for    | interpretation of those bytes) for        |
   |        | Operation   | operation #3 depends on the message data  |
   |        | #3          | required for rkrp operation #3            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 25: Message Structure for 'mgmt' opcode with multiple 'rkrp' operations in 1 TALI Message


Page 83

It should be reiterated that in order to avoid unpredictable behavior, a node using the 'multiple registrations per TALI msg' capability must be sure the far end device supports the capability. The only way to be sure of this is to successfully send a MULTIPLE REGISTRATION SUPPORT request and receive a MULTIPLE REGISTRATION SUPPORT reply.

4.5.1.2 MTP3 Primitive (mtpp)

The 'mtpp' primitive allows IP nodes to receive status regarding point code (un)availability and congestion levels. These messages provide information similar to the TFP/TFA (TransFer Prohibited and TransFer Allowed), TFC (TransFer Congested) and RCT (Route Congestion Test) messages that are encoded as SS7 SNM (Signaling Network Management) MSUs in traditional SS7 networks. The 'mtp3 primitives' allow this status information to be transferred in-band, via TALI messages, to the IP nodes.

The specific information provided in each 'mtpp' message is indicated via an 'MTPP Operation' field. These capabilities provided by the various MTPP Operation fields include:


Page 84

has SOME route available to send traffic for at least 1 of the destinations in that cluster). The PT CODE field indicates which SS7 Cluster Pt Code this operation is concerned with.

In order to simplify the implementation, a single data structure is defined to be used for all of the 'mtpp' operations. Depending on the 'mtpp operation', some of the fields will be required, and some of the fields will not be applicable for each MTPP message. Unused fields should be initialized to 0 by the sender and ignored by the receiver. The data structure used for 'mtpp' messages is as presented in the next table. The data structure below should begin at byte 14 of the TALI message as shown in Table 12.


Page 85

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                  | Field Type |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | MTPP        | Identifies which 'mtpp'      | Integer    |
   |        | Operation   | operation/capability is      |            |
   |        |             | provided in this message.    |            |
   |        |             | This integer field uses the  |            |
   |        |             | following encodings:         |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001 = PC Unavailable      |            |
   |        |             | 0x0002 = PC Available        |            |
   |        |             | 0x0003 = Request for PC      |            |
   |        |             |          Status              |            |
   |        |             | 0x0004 = Cluster Unavailable |            |
   |        |             | 0x0005 = Cluster Available   |            |
   |        |             | 0x0006 = Request for Cluster |            |
   |        |             |          Status              |            |
   |        |             | 0x0007 = Congested           |            |
   |        |             |          Destination, w/Cong |            |
   |        |             |          Level               |            |
   |        |             | 0x0008 = Request for         |            |
   |        |             |          Congestion Status   |            |
   |        |             | 0x0009 = User Part           |            |
   |        |             |          Unavailable         |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | Concerned   | Identifies the SS7 Point Code| SS7 Point  |
   |        | Point       | that is relevant to the mtpp | Code       |
   |        | Code        | operation.  The mtpp         |            |
   |        |             | operation is concerning this |            |
   |        |             | point code (or cluster).     |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4      | Source      | This field is only used on   | SS7 Point  |
   |        | Point       | the 'Congested Destination'  | Code       |
   |        | Code        | and 'Request for Congestion  |            |
   |        |             | Status' operations.          |            |
   |        |             | * When used in an 'Congestion|            |
   |        |             |   Destination' operation,    |            |
   |        |             |   this field contains the Pt |            |
   |        |             |   Code of the Source of the  |            |
   |        |             |   traffic that was           |            |
   |        |             |   experiencing congestion as |            |
   |        |             |   it made its way to the     |            |
   |        |             |   Concerned Pt Code.  In     |            |
   |        |             |   terms of the original SS7  |            |
   |        |             |   MSUs (the TransFer         |            |
   |        |             |   Controlled MSU) that       |            |
   |        |             |   provided congestion        |            |
   |        |             |   information, the CPC of the|            |
   |        |             |   TFC is the 'Concerned Point|            |


Page 86

   |        |             |   Code' of the resulting MTPP|            |
   |        |             |   primitive and the DPC of   |            |
   |        |             |   the TFC is the 'Source     |            |
   |        |             |   Point Code' of the         |            |
   |        |             |   resulting MTPP primitive.  |            |
   |        |             | * When used in an 'Request   |            |
   |        |             |   for Congestion Status'     |            |
   |        |             |   operation, this field      |            |
   |        |             |   indicates which Source Pt  |            |
   |        |             |   Code is trying to abate the|            |
   |        |             |   congestion of the concerned|            |
   |        |             |   Pt Code.  In terms of the  |            |
   |        |             |   original SS7 MSUs (the     |            |
   |        |             |   Route Congestion Test MSU) |            |
   |        |             |   that is used to poll for   |            |
   |        |             |   congestion, the DPC of the |            |
   |        |             |   RCT is the 'Concerned Point|            |
   |        |             |   Code' of the MTPP primitive|            |
   |        |             |   and the OPC of the RCT is  |            |
   |        |             |   the 'Source Point Code' of |            |
   |        |             |   the MTPP primitive.        |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Congestion  | This field is used on the    | Integer    |
   |        | Level       | 'Congested Destination' and  |            |
   |        |             | 'Request for Congestion      |            |
   |        |             | Status' operations to        |            |
   |        |             | indicate the congestion level|            |
   |        |             | of the destination.  This    |            |
   |        |             | integer field uses the       |            |
   |        |             | following encodings:         |            |
   |        |             | 0x0000 = Congestion Level 0  |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001 = Congestion Level 1  |            |
   |        |             | 0x0002 = Congestion Level 2  |            |
   |        |             | 0x0003 = Congestion Level 3  |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | Cause Code  | This field is used on the    | Integer    |
   |        |             | 'User Part Unavailable'      |            |
   |        |             | operation to indicate the    |            |
   |        |             | Cause Code for why the UPU is|            |
   |        |             | being sent.  This integer    |            |
   |        |             | field uses the following     |            |
   |        |             | encodings:                   |            |
   |        |             | 0x0000 = Cause Unknown       |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001 = User Part Unequipped|            |
   |        |             | 0x0002 = User Part           |            |
   |        |             |          Inaccessible        |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+


Page 87

   | 2      | User ID     | This field is used on the    | Integer    |
   |        |             | 'User Part Unavailable'      |            |
   |        |             | operation to indicate which  |            |
   |        |             | user part is unavailable. The|            |
   |        |             | User ID field identifies the |            |
   |        |             | type of traffic that was     |            |
   |        |             | unavailable (0=SNM, 3=SCCP,  |            |
   |        |             | 5=ISUP, etc).                |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 26: Message Data Structure for use with the 'mtpp' Primitive

The following table indicates the Required (R), or Not Applicable (NA) status for each field of the message data structure in Table 26 based on the MTPP Operation field. As mentioned previously, unused fields (those marked NA) should be initialized to 0 by the sender and ignored by the receiver.


Page 88

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |          Field  | Concerned | Source | Congestion | Cause | User |
   |                 | Point     | Point  |  Level     | Code  | ID   |
   | Operation       | Code      | Code   |            |       |      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | PC Unavailable  | R         | NA     | NA         | NA    | NA   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | PC Available    | R         | NA     | NA         | NA    | NA   |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Request for PC  | R         | NA     | NA         | NA    | NA   |
   | Status          |           |        |            |       |      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Cluster         | R         | NA     | NA         | NA    | NA   |
   | Unavailable     |           |        |            |       |      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Cluster         | R         | NA     | NA         | NA    | NA   |
   | Available       |           |        |            |       |      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Request for     | R         | NA     | NA         | NA    | NA   |
   | Cluster Status  |           |        |            |       |      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Congested       |           |        |            |       |      |
   | Destination w/  | R         | R      | R          | NA    | NA   |
   | Cong. Level     |           |        |            |       |      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Request for     |           |        |            |       |      |
   | Congestion      | R         | R      | R          | NA    | NA   |
   | Status          |           |        |            |       |      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | User Part       | R         | NA     | NA         | R     | R    |
   | Unavailable     |           |        |            |       |      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 27: Required/Not Applicable Fields for MTPP Operations

4.5.1.3 Socket Option Registration Primitive (sorp)

The 'sorp' primitive allows IP nodes to set various options on a socket by socket basis. This allows the IP node some control over the communication that will occur across the TALI connection. The 'sorp' primitives allows this socket option control to be transferred in-band, via TALI messages, to the IP nodes.

The SORP primitives capabilities that are available to the IP device in SG are as follows:


Page 89

As of TALI 2.0, each socket option is stored as a bit in a 32 bit bit-field. Each bit in the field indicates the setting for 1 option. A bit field with a 0 value indicates the option is DISABLED. A bit field with a 1 value indicates the option is ENABLED. The following options are currently supported:


Page 90

receive the mtpp primitives that result from SS7 response method messages. In addition to response method TFPs, 2 other SS7 Network Management messages, namely TFCs (transfer controlled) and UPUs (user part unavailable), fall into this RESPONSE METHOD grouping. TFCs and UPUs are similar to response method TFPs due to the fact that a previous action by the IP Node (sending traffic toward some destination) has caused a response method event back to the IP Node. The primary difference between response method TFPs versus response method TFCs/UPUs is that the response method TFP is converted to an MTPP primitive and sent back to only the original socket, while response method TFCs/UPUs may need to be replicated to multiple sockets (after being converted to mtpp primitives) since there is no way to tell which socket caused the response method event.


Page 91

The data structure used for 'sorp' messages is as presented in the next table. The data structure below should begin at byte 14 of the TALI message as shown in Table 12.


Page 92

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                  | Field Type |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | SORP        | Identifies which 'sorp'      | Integer    |
   |        | Operation   | operation/capability is      |            |
   |        |             | provided in this message.    |            |
   |        |             | This integer field uses the  |            |
   |        |             | following encodings:         |            |
   |        |             | 0x0001 = Set SORP Flags      |            |
   |        |             | 0x0002 = Request Current     |            |
   |        |             |          SORP Flags Settings |            |
   |        |             | 0x0003 = Reply w/ Current    |            |
   |        |             |          SORP Flag Settings  |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 2      | SORP Flags  | A 4 byte bit-field that uses | Bit-Field  |
   |        |             | each bit as an enabled/      |            |
   |        |             | disabled flag for a          |            |
   |        |             | particular socket option.    |            |
   |        |             | Bit x = 0 indicates the      |            |
   |        |             |         option is DISABLED.  |            |
   |        |             | Bit x = 1 indicates the      |            |
   |        |             |         option is ENABLED.   |            |
   |        |             | The assignments for each BIT |            |
   |        |             | are as follows:              |            |
   |        |             | Bit 0 = Broadcast Phase MTPP |            |
   |        |             |         Primitives           |            |
   |        |             | Bit 1 = Response Method MTPP |            |
   |        |             |         Primitives           |            |
   |        |             | Bit 2 = Normalized SCCP      |            |
   |        |             | Bit 3 = Normalized ISUP      |            |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 28: Message Data Structure to be used for 'sorp' Primitive

4.5.2 Extended Service Message (xsrv)

The Extended Service, 'xsrv', opcode is added to the TALI 2.0 protocol to lay the groundwork for providing a means to transport other types of service traffic (beyond 'sccp', 'isot', 'mtp3', and 'saal') in future revisions of this protocol without having to define a new opcode as each new service type is identified and added. The PRIMITIVE field will uniquely identify each new service type as they are added. It is envisioned that some 'xsrv' messages can be received and processed in any of the TALI NEx-FEx state, while some other 'xsrv' messages can only be received and processed in the NEA- FEA state (such as Service data in version 1.0 of TALI).


Page 93

There are no specific PRIMITIVES defined for this opcode in this release. It is expected that some new service messages will be added in the future. This opcode provides for grouping of the new service data types.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'xsrv'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..13 | Primitive   | To be determined                          |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 14..   | Message     | To be determined                          |
   |   2000 | Data        |                                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

4.5.3 Special Message (spcl)

The Special Message, 'spcl', opcode is added to the TALI 2.0 protocol to provide a way for vendors to build special services into their TALI implementations that are only activated when the implementation is connected to other equipment implementing the same special services. 'spcl' messages can be received and processed in any of the TALI NEx-FEx states. This opcode is intended to provide a general means to discover more information regarding who the TALI session is connected to, and to provide means to enable special features based on the vendor/implementation on the far end.

As part of the 2.0 specification, 4 primitives are initially defined for this opcode:

Additional primitives can be added in future versions of the TALI protocol.


Page 94

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'spcl'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..13 | Primitive   | 'smns' - special messages not supported   |
   |        |             | 'qury' - query                            |
   |        |             | 'rply' - reply                            |
   |        |             | 'usim' - UIM (unsolicited information msg)|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 14..X  | Data        | Vendor dependent                          |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

4.5.3.1 Special Messages Not Supported (smns)

This message is sent as a response to a 'spcl' message with a 'qury' PRIMITIVE. A node may send out this message when it wants the Far End to know that it does not support 'spcl' messages and wishes not to receive them in the future.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'spcl'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..13 | Primitive   | 'smns'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

4.5.3.2 Query Message (qury)

This message can be sent to Query the far end of the connection (ie: try to find out more information about the VENDOR, TALI version, or other features). It is expected that each 2.0 implementation would respond to a 'qury' with a 'rply'.


Page 95

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'spcl'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..13 | Primitive   | 'qury'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

4.5.3.3 Reply Message (rply)

The 'rply' message provides a way for a TALI 2.0 implementation to identify itself in more detail. The information included in the reply includes:

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'spcl'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..13 | Primitive   | 'rply'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 14..15 | PEC         | Private Enterprise Code *                 |
   |        |             | (Vendor ID Number, Integer Field)         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 16..27 | Version     | 'vers xxx.yyy'                            |
   |        | Label       |                                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 28..?  | Other Vendor| Free Format data area, specific to each   |
   |        | Specific    | vendor                                    |
   |        | Data        |                                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+


Page 96

   *See Table 4 for details on the PEC field.

4.5.3.4 Unsolicited Information Message (USIM)

A 'usim' provides the same information as the 'rply' primitive. The 'usim' can be sent at any time by a 2.0 implementation (whereas the 'rply' should only be sent in reply to a 'qury').

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Octets | Field Name  | Description                               |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 0..3   | SYNC        | 'TALI'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 4..7   | OPCODE      | 'spcl'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 8..9   | LENGTH      | Length                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 10..13 | Primitive   | 'usim'                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 14..15 | PEC         | Private Enterprise Code *                 |
   |        |             | (Vendor ID Number, Integer Field)         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 16..27 | Version     | 'vers xxx.yyy'                            |
   |        | Label       |                                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | 28..?  | Other Vendor| Free Format data area, specific to each   |
   |        | Specific    | vendor                                    |
   |        | Data        |                                           |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

4.6 TALI Timers

Version 2.0 of the TALI specification does not introduce any new timers. The T1-T4 timers defined previously remain in effect.

While, it is expected that most implementations wishing to identify themselves as 2.0 (or later) would use a non-zero value for T4 - this is a not a hard requirement. The only requirement for identifying yourself as 2.0 is to send at least 1 'moni' as per the 2.0 format upon connection establishment.

4.7 TALI User Events

Version 2.0 of the TALI specification does not introduce any new user events. The user events defined in Section 3.4 (mgmt open, mgmt close, mgmt allow, mgmt proh, connection established, connection lost) remain in effect.


Page 97

4.8 TALI States

Version 2.0 of the TALI specification does not introduce any new TALI states. The TALI states defined in Section 3.6 remain in effect.

4.9 TALI Version 2.0 State Machine

This section provides the state machine that must be followed by each TALI 2.0 implementation in order to be compliant with this specification. As mentioned throughout this document, a 2.0 implementation is based on several small additions to a 1.0 implementation and each 2.0 implementation must be willing to inter- operate in a backwards compatible mode (a 2.0 implementation connected to a 1.0 implementation must fall back to 1.0 features only).

4.9.1 State Machine Concepts

Before presenting the actual state machine, several concepts are discussed.

4.9.1.1 General Protocol Rules

A set of general protocol rules was presented in the 1.0
specification, in section 3.7.1.1; those rules are still applicable to 2.0 implementations. In addition to those earlier rules, the following rules are also applicable to 2.0 nodes:


Page 98

4.9.1.2 Graceful Shutdown of a Socket

The steps to perform a graceful shutdown of each socket were presented in the 1.0 specification, in section 3.7.1.2. Those steps are not changed for 2.0 implementations.

4.9.1.3 TALI Protocol Violations

Each TALI implementation must detect when violations of the TALI protocol have occurred and react accordingly. Protocol violations include:

In the state machine that follows, State/Event combinations that should be treated as protocol violations are indicated via a 'PV' in the state/event cell. All of the 'PV' events are then processed as per the 'Protocol Violation' row in the table.

4.9.2 The State Machine

Internal Data required for State Machine:


Page 99

Initial Conditions:

   sock_allowed = FALSE
   far_end_version = 1.0
   state = OOS
   no timers running

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |   State| OOS  |Connecting| NEP-FEP | NEP-FEA | NEA-FEP | NEA-FEA |
   |Event   |      |          |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |T1 Exp. |      |          |Send test|Send test|Send test|Send test|
   |        |      |          |Start T1 |Start T1 |Start T1 |Start T1 |
   |        |      |          |Start T2 |Start T2 |Start T2 |Start T2 |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |T2 Exp. |      |          |   PV    |   PV    |   PV    |   PV    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |T3 Exp. |      |          |   PV    |   PV    |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |T4 Exp. |      |          |Send moni|Send moni|Send moni|Send moni|
   |        |      |          |Start T4 |Start T4 |Start T4 |Start T4 |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv test|      |          |Send proh|Send proh|Send allo|Send allo|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv allo|      |          | Stop T2 | Stop T2 | Stop T2 | Stop T2 |
   |        |      |          | NEP-FEA |         | NEA-FEA |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv proh|      |          | Stop T2 | Stop T2 | Stop T2 | Stop T2 |
   |        |      |          |Send proa|Send proa|Send proa|Flush or |
   |        |      |          |         | NEP-FEP |         | reroute |
   |        |      |          |         |         |         |Send proa|
   |        |      |          |         |         |         | NEA-FEP |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv proa|      |          | Stop T3 | Stop T3 |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv moni|      |          |Update   |Update   |Update   |Update   |
   |        |      |          |'far end |'far end |'far end |'far end |
   |        |      |          |version' |version' |version' |version' |
   |        |      |          |based on |based on |based on |based on |
   |        |      |          |moni     |moni     |moni     |moni     |
   |        |      |          |Convert  |Convert  |Convert  |Convert  |
   |        |      |          | to mona | to mona | to mona | to mona |
   |        |      |          |Send mona|Send mona|Send mona|Send mona|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+


Page 100

   |Rcv mona|      |          |Implemen-|Implemen-|Implemen-|Implemen-|
   |        |      |          |tation   |tation   |tation   |tation   |
   |        |      |          |dependent|dependent|dependent|dependent|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv     |      |          |   PV    |If T3 run|   PV    |Process  |
   | Service|      |          |         | Process |         |         |
   |        |      |          |         |Else PV  |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv mgmt|      |          |If FE<   |If FE<   |If FE<   |If FE<   |
   |        |      |          | 2.0 PV  | 2.0 PV  | 2.0 PV  | 2.0 PV  |
   |        |      |          |Else     |Else     |Else     |Else     |
   |        |      |          | Process | Process | Process | Process |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv xsrv|      |          |If FE<   |If FE<   |If FE<   |If FE<   |
   |        |      |          | 2.0 PV  | 2.0 PV  | 2.0 PV  | 2.0 PV  |
   |        |      |          |Else     |Else     |Else     |Else     |
   |        |      |          | Process | Process | Process | Process |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Rcv spcl|      |          |If FE<   |If FE<   |If FE<   |If FE<   |
   |        |      |          | 2.0 PV  | 2.0 PV  | 2.0 PV  | 2.0 PV  |
   |        |      |          |Else     |Else     |Else     |Else     |
   |        |      |          | Process | Process | Process | Process |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Connect.|      | Start T1 |         |         |         |         |
   |Estab.  |      | Start T2 |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | Start T4 |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      |(if non-0)|         |         |         |         |
   |        |      |if sock_  |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      |  allowed |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      |  = TRUE  |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | send allo|         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | send test|         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | NEA-FEP  |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      |else      |         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | send proh|         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | send test|         |         |         |         |
   |        |      | NEP-FEP  |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Connect.|      |          |   PV    |   PV    |   PV    |   PV    |
   |Lost    |      |          |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Protocol|      |          |Stop all |Stop all |Stop all |Stop all |
   |Violat. |      |          | timers  | timers  | timers  | timers  |
   |        |      |          |Close the|Close the|Close the|Close the|
   |        |      |          | socket  | socket  | socket  | socket  |
   |        |      |          |Connect- |Connect- |Connect- |Connect- |
   |        |      |          |  ing    |  ing    |  ing    |  ing    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+


Page 101

   |Mgmt.   |Open  |          |         |         |         |         |
   |Open    |socket|          |         |         |         |         |
   |Socket  |Conne-|          |         |         |         |         |
   |        | cting|          |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Mgmt.   |      |Close the |Stop all |Stop all |Stop all |Stop all |
   |Close   |      | socket   | timers  | timers  | timers  | timers  |
   |Socket  |      |OOS       |Close the|Close the|Close the|Close the|
   |        |      |          | socket  | socket  | socket  | socket  |
   |        |      |          |OOS      |OOS      |OOS      |OOS      |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Mgmt.   |sock_ |sock_allo-|sock_all-|sock_all-|sock_all-|sock_all-|
   |Prohibit|allow-| wed=FALSE| owed=   | owed=   | owed=   | owed=   |
   |Socket  |ed =  |          | FALSE   | FALSE   | FALSE   | FALSE   |
   |        |FALSE |          |         |         |send proh|send proh|
   |        |      |          |         |         |start t3 |start t3 |
   |        |      |          |         |         | NEP-FEP | NEP-FEA |
   |        |      |          |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Mgmt.   |sock_ |sock_allo-|sock_all-|sock_all-|sock_all-|sock_all-|
   |Allow   |allow-| wed=TRUE | owed=   | owed=   | owed=   | owed=   |
   |Traffic |ed =  |          | TRUE    | FALSE   | TRUE    | TRUE    |
   |        |TRUE  |          |send allo|send allo|         |         |
   |        |      |          | NEA-FEP | NEA-FEA |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |User    |reject| reject   | reject  | reject  | reject  | send    |
   |Part    |data  | data     | data    | data    | data    | data    |
   |Msgs.   |      |          |         |         |         |         |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Request |      |          |If FE<2.0|If FE<2.0|If FE<2.0|If FE<2.0|
   |to Tx   |      |          | Ignore  | Ignore  | Ignore  | Ignore  |
   |mgmt    |      |          |Else     |Else     |Else     |Else     |
   |        |      |          | Process | Process | Process | Process |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Request |      |          |If FE<2.0|If FE<2.0|If FE<2.0|If FE<2.0|
   |to Tx   |      |          | Ignore  | Ignore  | Ignore  | Ignore  |
   |xsrv    |      |          |Else     |Else     |Else     |Else     |
   |        |      |          | Process | Process | Process | Process |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Request |      |          |If FE<2.0|If FE<2.0|If FE<2.0|If FE<2.0|
   |to Tx   |      |          | Ignore  | Ignore  | Ignore  | Ignore  |
   |spcl    |      |          |Else     |Else     |Else     |Else     |
   |        |      |          | Process | Process | Process | Process |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table 29: TALI 2.0 State Machine


Page 102

4.10 TALI 2.0 Specification Limitations

Several limitations with the TALI 2.0 specification are identified. These are considered possible areas for expansion of the protocol in the future:

5 Success/Failure Codes

The following list provides all the known success/failure codes that are being used for the rkrp feature. New defines will be added to the end of the list as they are identified.

   Error #    Meaning
   1          Transaction successfully completed.
   2          Length of TALI msg is insufficient to contain all
              required information for rkrp operation
   3          Unsupported 'rkrp' operation
   4          Invalid SI.  SI must be in range 0..15
   5          Invalid SI/operation combination.  Split and resize only
              supported for SI=4,5,13.  Enter, delete and override
              supported for all SI.
   6          Invalid DPC.  Point code cannot be zero, and must be full
              point code.
   7          Invalid SSN.  SSN must be in range 0..255.
   8          Invalid OPC.  Point code cannot be zero, and must be full
              point code.
   9          Invalid CICS.  Must be in range appropriate for SI and PC
              type.
   10         Invalid CICE.  Must be in range appropriate for SI and PC
              type.
   11         Invalid CIC range.  CICS must be less than or equal to
              CICE.  On a split operation, CICS must be strictly less
              than than CICE (cannot split an range with only one
              entry).
   12         Invalid NCICS.  Must be in range appropriate for SI and
              PC type.


Page 103

   13         Invalid NCICE.  Must be in range appropriate for SI and
              PC type.
   14         Invalid new CIC range.  NCICS must be less than or equal
              to NCICE.
   15         Invalid SPLIT value.   Must be in range appropriate for
              SI and PC type.  Must be greater than CICS and less than
              or equal to CICE.
   16         No free entries in table.
   17         CIC range overlaps but does not match existing entry.
   18         Entry already has 16 associations.
   19         Entry to be changed not found in table.
   20         New entry would overlap another entry (allowed to overlap
              the entry being changed, but no others).
   21         Entry to be deleted not found in table.
   22         TUP routing keys are not supported for ANSI networks

6 Security Considerations

TALI is an interface for the transport of SS7 traffic and management messages across an IP network. As with traditional PSTN networks, the IP networks using TALI are expected to well engineered systems. The use of virtual private networks and firewalls is to be expected. In addition, the use of IPSEC will bring added security benefit to the network.

7 References

[1] Bell Communications Research, Specification of Signaling System Number 7, GT-246-CORE, Bellcore, Issue 1, December 1994.

[2] Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5, RFC 791, September 1981.

[3] Postel, J., "Internet Control Message Protocol", STD 5, RFC 792, September 1981.

[4] Postel, J., "Transmission Control Protocol", STD 7, RFC 793, September 1981.

[5] Logical Link Control, IEEE 802.2 and ISO 8802.2

[6] Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (Ethernet), IEEE 802.3 and ISO 8802-3 CSMA/CD.

[7] Virtual LAN, IEEE 802.1 Q and ISO 8802-1Q CSMA/CD.

[8] Bell Communications Research, Generic Requirements for CCS Nodes Supporting ATM High-Speed Signaling Links (HSLs), GR-2878-CORE, Issue 1, Bellcore, November 1995.


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[9] Bell Communications Research, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) Protocols, GR-1113-CORE, Bellcore.

[10] American National Standards Institute, B-ISDN Signaling ATM Adaptation Layer - Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP), T1.637.

[11] American National Standards Institute, B-ISDN Signaling ATM Adaptation Layer - Service Specific Coordination Function for Support of Signaling at the Network Node Interface (SSCF at the NNI), T1.645.

[12] American National Standards Institute, B-ISDN Signaling ATM Adaptation Layer - Layer Management for the SAAL at the NNI, T1.652.

8 Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ken Morneault for his comments and contributions to the document.


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9 Authors' Addresses

David Sprague
Tekelec
5200 Paramount Pkwy.
Morrisville, NC 27560
Phone: +1 919-460-5563
EMail: david.sprague@tekelec.com

Dan Brendes
Tekelec
5200 Paramount Pkwy.
Morrisville, NC 27560
Phone: +1 919-460-2162
EMail: dan.brendes@tekelec.com

Robby Benedyk
Tekelec
5200 Paramount Pkwy.
Morrisville, NC 27560
Phone: +1 919-460-5533
EMail: robby.benedyk@tekelec.com

Joe Keller
Tekelec
5200 Paramount Pkwy.
Morrisville, NC 27560
Phone: +1 919-460-5549
EMail: joe.keller@tekelec.com


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