Dialogic DSI SS7MD manual Host Processes and Utilities, Process or Purpose Utility

Dialogic® DSI SS7MD Programmer’s Manual Issue 3

4.2System Structure

The Dialogic® DSI Protocol Stack software running on the board communicates with the higher level protocols running on the main CPU of the host computer. The user’s application may also be running on the host computer. See Section 4.3, “Running Host Binaries With Dialogic® DSI SS7MD Board” on page 28 for more information. The physical interface to the board uses the PCI Express bus. All communication with the board is handled by a device driver and all messages passing to and from the board are managed by the board management and interface process (ssdm, sometimes generically referred to as ssd) that runs on the host computer.

The board management and interface process (ssdm) is required to run on the host machine. The ssdm process handles message transfer between the host and the board using the device driver.

The selection of which protocol modules to run on the host is made by editing the system.txt configuration file. The user then runs the gctload program that reads the system configuration parameters from the system.txt configuration file and starts the selected processes bringing the system into operation. For further details on the operation of the gctload program, refer to the Software Environment Programmer’s Manual.

Table 5 shows processes and utilities, for use on the host, that are included in the distribution.

Note: s7_mgt, s7_log and s7_play are optional utilities. A user may choose to implement the functionality provided by these utilities in their own applications.

Note: Additional files and directories relating to other products in the range are installed at the same time.

Table 5. Host Processes and Utilities

Process or	Purpose
Utility
gctload	Process to initialize the system environment and start the other related processes running
	on the host, deriving the configuration from a text file (system.txt).
	Process to interface with the device driver for passing messages to and from the board(s)
ssdm	and for downloading software to the board(s).
	NOTE: This process is referred to in a generic manner as 'ssd' although the name of the
	binary for use with DSI SS7MD Boards is in fact 'ssdm'.
tick_lnx	Protocol timer process to send periodic tick notification to the tim_xxx process that in turn
tick_sol	handles protocol timers.
tim_lnx	Process to receive periodic tick notification from tick_xxx and handle protocol timers for all
tim_sol	other processes.
	Process to perform one time protocol configuration for the protocol modules, deriving the
	configuration parameters from a text file (config.txt). This process is optional. As an
s7_mgt	alternative to using it, the user may elect to perform protocol configuration by sending
	messages directly to the other modules in the system. Refer to Appendix A, “Protocol
	Configuration Using Discrete Messages” for more information.
	Utility process to allow messages received from the protocol stack to be logged to a text file.
s7_log	This is useful for diagnostic purposes when getting started. Refer to Section 8.1, “s7_log” on
	page 162 for more information.
	Utility process used to generate messages from a text file and send them into the system.
s7_play	This is useful for diagnostic purposes when getting started. Refer to Section 8.2, “s7_play”
	on page 165 for more information.
	Utility process that runs in isolation from the GCT environment and periodically reads back
	the temperature, as recorded by the on-board temperature sensor, of all SS7MD boards
tempmon	present in the system and logs these together with the date, time, and board serial
	numbers. This permits the user to evaluate the suitability of a host chassis for deployment.
	Refer to Section 8.8, “tempmon” on page 175 for more information.

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