Physical Connections

The SS7 Server is connected to the Networks STP via E1 or T1 connections. These connections (known as Links) are made to the SS7 adapter in the SS7 Server and a similar port on the STP.

  1. Decide how many connections are required; for example in Figure 1, for a single connection between one SS7 Server and the network, there would be one connection. However in a configuration with full redundancy, as in Figure 4, four connections are required.
  2. Decide how many Links (time slots) are required in each connection. Typically, for a balanced system the same number of time slots would be used in each physical connection. The number of timeslots required is governed by the expected maximum call capacity. This is described in Call capacity.
  3. Now complete the "Signaling Links" table in Sample forms for recording information. At this stage only complete the following columns:
    Machine name
    The primary host name of the SS7 Server to which the connection will be made.
    SS7 adapter
    The adapter type installed in the Machine.
    Instance
    The Instance number is required if there is more than one of the same type of adapter in the same machine. The first adapter is known as instance zero.
    Port
    The port index for which the connection will be made to on the given adapter. The first port is known as port 1 and is the lowest connection seen when the adapter is in the vertical direction. If the adapter shows labelling as Port A, read that as Port 1 and Port B as Port 2.
    Timeslot
    The reference within the connection indicating which timeslot will be carrying the SS7 signaling. These values are 0-23 for T1 and 1-31 for E1. Note that if more than one timeslot is to be used, complete a row entry in the table for each timeslot.
    Link Name
    An optional field to assist in describing the connection.
    Link Set/DPC & SLCâ„¢
    This is explained in the next section.