Press Release: GL Announces SIGTRAN Protocol Simulator for ISDN over IP

Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA - September 30, 2011 - GL Communications Inc. announced today the release of its newest product SIGTRAN Protocol Simulator for ISDN over IP - An advanced protocol simulator/tester used for simulating SIGTRAN ISDN. Speaking to media, Mr. Vijay Kulkarni CEO of the company said, "SIGTRAN, shortened form of Signaling Transmission, is the standard for conversion, transport, and encapsulation of SS7 and ISDN over IP. It is one of the most important transition elements in moving from legacy TDM to NGN IP networks."

He added, "ISDN is a very common protocol in the legacy network. The two types are PRI (Primary Rate Interface or 23B +D) for T1 E1 lines and BRI (Basic Rate Interface, or 2B + D) for lower speed digital lines. As PSTN networks migrate to Next Generation Networks (NGNs), a need for conversion and transport of signaling and media (voice) is necessary. NGNs are IP based systems, therefore protocols have been developed to reliably transport/adapt Q.920s (data link layer) and Q.930s (Layer 3 user messages) TDM protocols. This adaptation is performed by two IP based protocols within SIGTRAN, called SCTP and IUA."

Mr.Kulkarni further added, "As shown below, a Signaling Gateway (SG) on the TDM side connects to standard PRI T1 E1 lines (or BRI- not shown) and translates the ISDN messages to SIGTRAN IP format. It supports the same application and call management functions as ISDN but uses two protocol layers on top of Internet Protocol (IP): Stream Control Transport Protocol (SCTP) and ISDN Q.921-User Adaptation Layer (IUA). The SG talks to a Media Gateway Controller (MGC), which in turn performs further routing and signaling decisions within the NGN."

He added, "GL's MAPS™ SIGTRAN is an advanced protocol simulator/tester used for testing SIGTRAN. Both SIGTRAN with SS7 over IP and SIGTRAN with ISDN over IP are supported. The tester can simulate a complete ISDN connection SG to MGC, where ISDN signaling as defined by the ITU-T Q.921 / Q.931 standards. In addition, GL MAPS™ SIGTRAN also supports the following flavors of ISDN: 4ESS, 5ESS, BELL ISDN, DMS100, DMS250, QSIG."

He further added, "MAPS™ SIGTRAN is a powerful tool that can be used to perform detailed testing of ISDN protocol messages over IP, and offers a complete solution for testing, troubleshooting, and maintenance of SIGTRAN devices and networks implementing PRI ISDN."

Some of the Important Features

Simulates ISDN signaling over IP (ISDN-SIGTRAN)
Generates and process all ISDN messages such as Setup, Connect, Release messages, and more
Switch and Subscriber Emulation
User controlled access to optional ISDN parameters such as timers
Provides various release cause codes such as rejected, no user response, user busy, congested, and so on to troubleshoot the problems in ISDN
Impairments can be applied to messages to simulate error conditions
Supports customization of call flows and message templates using Script editor and Message editor
Provides call statistics and associated captured events and error events during call simulation

For comprehensive information on the application, please visit the MAPS™ SIGTRAN ISDN Over IP Protocol Simulator webpage.

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