Intel SIU520 SS7 manual Q How can I tell if an SIU fails?, Appendix A Frequently Asked Questions

Application Note Building Fault-tolerant SS7 Systems Using the Intel® NetStructure™ SIU520 SS7 Signaling Gateway

Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How can I tell if an SIU fails?

A:The status of the communication between the host and the SIU is indicated by RSI_MSG_STATUS messages.

Q:Do I need to activate circuit groups on a single SIU configuration?

A: No.

Q:How many links should I configure in the inter-SIU link set?

Q:What happens if an SS7 message for a circuit or transaction is received by an SIU that does not control that circuit or transaction?

A:The message is automatically passed to the partner SIU using the TCP/IP LAN.

Q:If a single SS7 link to the network fails on one of my SIUs, does my application need to take any action?

A:No. If there are other links remaining on that unit, the traffic will changeover to one of these; otherwise, the traffic will be automatically passed to the other unit via the inter-SIU SS7 link set.

Q:If all of the SS7 links to one of the SIUs fails do I need to take any action?

A:No. The SIU will automatically re-route transmit traffic via the inter-SIU SS7 link set.

Q: If an SIU fails do I need to take any action?

A:Yes. For switched-circuit applications, the circuit groups controlled by the failed unit should be activated on the remaining unit. Further information may be found in the Intel NetStructure SIU520 Developer’s Manual.

Q: What happens if an inter-SIU SS7 link fails?

A:The SIU will changeover to use other SS7 links in the inter-SIU link set.

Q:What happens if the Ethernet interfaces fail on an SIU?

A:This will cause failure of all of the connections between the hosts and the SIU. The SIU will react by deactivating all connected SS7 links, preventing any more signaling information from being received from the SS7 network. The host applications will receive an indication indicating failure of the SIU and should transfer any circuit groups controlled by this SIU to the remaining unit, the effective result being as though the complete unit had failed.

A:The inter-SIU link set should have sufficient capacity to enable it to carry the maximum traffic exchanged between a single SIU and the adjacent signaling point. To eliminate single points of failure, more than one link may be configured in the link set, each link connecting to a different signaling card.

Appendix B: For More Information

Intel® NetStructure™ SIU520 Developer’s Manual, Issue 2, available at http://resource.intel.com/telecom/ support/ss7/siu520/u06siu02.pdf

Intel® NetStructure™ SIU520/Intel® NetStructure™ SG430 Hardware User Manual, Issue 3, available at http://resource.intel.com/telecom/support/ss7/CD/ ProductSpecific/SG430/HardwareUserManual/ U05SIU03.pdf

Intel® NetStructure™ SS7 Protocols DTS User Guide, Issue 2, available at http://resource.intel.com/ telecom/support/ss7/cd/GenericInfo/ GeneralDocumentation/U24SSS02-DTS-UG.pdf

Appendix C: Abbreviations

API Application programming interface

CIC Circuit identification code

DPC Destination point code

DTC Distributed transaction client

DTS Distributed transaction server

LAN Local area network

MMI Man machine interface

PCM Pulse code modulation

SIU Signaling interface unit

SS7 Signaling system 7

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