SIGNALLING

In a telecommunication network, signalling systems are as essential as switching

systems and transmission systems. They must be compatible with the switching systems
as they must be able to transmit all the signals required to operate the switches. They
must also be compatible with the transmission system in order to reach the exchange that
they control. Thus, design of signalling systems is directly influenced by both switching
and transmission requirements.
Exchanges usually send signals over the same circuits in the network as the
connections which they control. This is known as channel associated signaling. In S!,
the need for more signals to be transmitted between exchanges arise. These signals are
transmitted between two processors of two different exchanges over a separate data
channel. This is known as common channel signalling (CCS). Signaling can be classified
as follows"
Inchannel versus common channel signalling:
INCHANNEL COMMON CHANNEL
#.
$.
%.
&.
'.
(.
).
*.
+.
#,.
Trunks are held up during signaling
Signal repertoire is limited
Interference between voice and control signals
may occur
Separate signaling equipment is required for
each trunk and hence is expensive.
Signaling is relatively slow
Speech circuit reliability is assured.
It is difficult to change or add signals.
It is difficult to handle signaling during speech
period.
-eliability of signaling path is not critical.
ossibility of misuse by customers.
Trunks are not required for signalling.
Extensive signalling repertoire is possible
.o interference as the two channels are
physically separated.
/nly one set of signalling equipment is required
for a whole group of trunk circuits, therefore is
inexpensive.
Signalling is significantly fast.
There is no automatic test of the speech circuit.
There is flexibility to change or add signals.
Signals can be handled anytime.
-eliability of signalling path is critical.
!ontrol channel is generally inaccessible to
customers.
Signalling
Inchannel
!ommon channel
0! 1ow frequency 2oice frequency !3
Inband /utband
4ssociated .on5associated
6ig. Signalling techniques
Customer line signalling:
In a local telephone network, loop7disconnect signaling is used for sending
customer8s call and clear signals to the exchange. 0ue to maximum permissible line
resistance 9because of minimum line current:, there is a limit on the maximum length of
the line and area served by the exchange.
;hen dial telephones are used, customers send address information by decadic
pulsing which is received by a relay circuit. <owever push5button telephones use 0T36
revolutioni=ed customer line signaling.
FDM carrier systems:
Outband signalling:
In 6requency 0ivision 3ultiplex 9603: systems, the carriers are placed at intervals
of &k<= and the baseband is from %,,<= to %.&k<=. by using channel filters with a sharp
cut5off, it is possible to insert a narrow5band signalling channel above the speech band
9%.&k<= to &k<=:. This is known as outband signalling .
4 0! signal on the input lead 3 at one terminal causes the signal frequency to be
sent over the transmission channel. This is detected on the other terminal to give a
corresponding 0! signal on the output lead E. If the repeater station containing the 603
channeling equipment is ad>acent to the switching equipment, it is simpler for the latter to
send and receive signals over separate E and 3 wires than to extract them from and re5
insert them into the speech circuit. The E lead always carries signal from the signaling
apparatus to the switching equipment and the 3 lead carries signals from the switching
equipment to the signalling apparatus. To use outband signalling successfully in a
network, all routes must use 603 systems with built5in outband signalling.
Inband (VF) signalling:
Signals that are placed in the outband region need all routes to be equipped with
proper outband signalling 603 systems. This problem is solved if the signals transmitted
are placed in the baseband of 603 systems. This is known as inband signalling and this
will function over any circuit which provides satisfactory speech transmission. 4 voice
frequency signaling system is shown in the figure below.
The line is split when the signal tone is transmitted in order to confine it to the link
concerned. !onsequently, the tone spills over before the receiver has operated but this
spill5over is ignored because its duration is less than the length of the signals used. The
unity gain buffer amplifier at the receiving end prevents transients produced by electro5
mechanical switching equipment from reaching the 26 receiver.
Since the voice frequency signals are used, there occurs a possibility of signal
imitation which is undesirable. The following measures are taken to avoid this"
4 signal frequency is chosen at which the energy in speech is low 9i.e. above
$kh=:.
The durations of signals are made longer than the period for which the speech
frequency is likely to persist in speech.
?se is made of the fact that the signal frequency is unlikely to be produced in
speech without other frequencies also being present.
In order to make use of the last measure, the receiver contains a signal circuit with a
band pass filter to accept the signal frequency and a guard circuit with a band stop filter
to accept all other frequencies and re>ect the signal frequency. The outputs of both circuits
are rectified and compared. If the output from the signal circuit exceeds that from the
guard circuit, the receiver operates and gives an output signal, and vice5versa.
Switching
equipment
Switching
equipment
-eceive
line split
26 receiver
26 receiver
@uffer amplifier
@uffer amplifier
Transmit line
split
6orward
@ackward
/utgoing signal
terminal
Incoming signal
terminal
Transmit line
split -eceive
line split
6our
wire
circuit
fs
A
A
fs
6ig. 2oice frequency926: signalling system
PCM signalling:
In this, the 0! signals associated with the audio frequency baseband circuits in
each direction are sampled and the signal samples are transmitted within the frame of
!3 channels. It is therefore unnecessary to use 26 signalling.
The $3bits system has %$ *bit time slots, but it provides only %, channels. Time
slot , is used for frame alignment and time slot #( is used for signaling, as shown above.
The *bits of channel #( are shared between the %, channels by a process of multi5
framing. #( successive appearances of channel #( form a multi5frame of *bit time slots.
The first contains a multi5frame alignment signal and each of the subsequent #' time slots
contain & bits for each of the two channels. This enables a large number of signals to be
exchanged than is possible with the 0! signaling methods. ;hen !3 signaling is used
for common channel signaling, then multi5framing is not needed.
Inter-register signalling:
6or register5controlled exchanges, a register in the originating exchange receives
address information from the calling customer and sends out routing digits. This goes on
till the terminating exchange is reached. This introduces post5dialing delay which is
minimi=ed using inband multi5frequency signaling systems. This enables an operator to
send address information over a >unction to an automatic exchange more rapidly than by
dialing.
In inter5register signaling systems, the signal initiates a connection to a register. The
register is released after it has set up a connection through its exchange and sent out
routing digits, therefore it cannot receive answer and clear signals. !onsequently line
signaling is required in addition to inter5register signaling.
Either en-bloc or overlap signalling may be used. In en5bloc signaling the complete
address information is transferred from one register to the next as a single string of digits.
Thus no signal is sent until the complete address information has been received. In
overlap signaling, digits are sent out as soon as possible enabling signaling to take place
simultaneously on two links.
4lso link by link or end to end signaling may be employed. In link by link
signaling, information is exchanged only between ad>acent registers in a multi5link
connection. In end to end signaling, the originating register controls the setting up of a
connection until it reaches its final destination.
6ig. 1ink5by5link and End5to5end signalling between registers
Common channel signalling:
In common channel signaling, there is a separate data link between the two
processors in two different exchanges. 4ll signals between these two exchanges are
transmitted via this data link. It gives the following advantages"
Information can be exchanged between the processors much more rapidly than
when channel5associated signaling is used.
4s a result, a much wider repertoire of signals can be used and this enables more
services to be provided to the customers.
Signals can be added or changed by software modification to provide new
services.
There is no longer any need for line signaling equipment on every >unction which
results in a considerable cost saving.
Since there is no line5signalling, the >unctions can be used for calls from @ to 4 in
addition to calls from 4 to @.
Signals relating to a call could be sent while the call is in progress.
Signals between two processors can be exchanged for functions other than call
processing, for example for maintenance or network management purposes.
6or a common channel signal, the reliability needs to be much greater than channel5
associated signalling because failure of data link could prevent any calls to be made
between the two exchanges. !!S does not provide an inherently checking facility.
Therefore a separate means of checking the functioning of speech circuits must be
employed.
In multi5exchange network there will be many !!S links between exchanges and
they form a signalling network. In principle, !!S networks can pass through different
routes from the connections which they control and they can pass through several
intermediate nodes in the signaling network. This is called non-associated signalling.
here the messages must include labels containing their destinations.
Switching
network
Switching
network
rocessor
rocessor
rocessor
rocessor
Switching
network
Switching
network
@ackward
signals
6orward
signals
Exchange 4 Bunction Exchange @
6ig. !hannel associated signalling between central processors
Signalling
link
Exchange 4 Bunction Exchange @
6ig. !ommon channel signalling between central processors
In practice, !!S messages are usually only routed through one intermediate node.
This is known as quasi-associated signalling. The intermediate node is called signal
transfer point (STP). Since !!S signals may be routed via an ST, each message contains
a destination point code and also an originating point code. The transmission bearers used
for a !!S network are channels in the main transmission bearer network.
CCITT signalling system no.7
This was the first !!S system to be standardi=ed internationally. This was used in
analog networks and it used bit rates of $.&kbits7s and &.*kbits7s. it used modems to
transmit over analog telephone channels. It used fixed si=e signal units of $*bits. 4 later
version for use in digital networks added four padding bits to be compatible with *bit
!3 time slots. <owever this has now been replaced by the !!ITT signalling system
no.).
High-level data-link control rotocol !HD"C#:
6lag 4ddress !ontrol Information !heck 6lag
# octet # or $ octets # octet variable $ octets # octet
fig. 6rame structure for high5level data5link control 9<01!: protocol
The level $ protocol used in the !!ITT no.) signalling uses the international
standard known as high level data-link control (H!C). 3essages are sent by packets
contained within frames having the format shown above.
The beginning and end of each <01! message is indicated by a unique
combination of digits9,######,: known as a flag. These sequence of digits can occur in
the message also and must not be interpreted as a flag. This is done by , bit insertion and
deletion which is also called Cstuffing8 and Cun5stuffing8 respectively. ;hen sending digits
of a message between two flags, the sending terminal inserts a , after every sequence of
five consecutive #s. the receiving terminal deletes this ,.
The opening flag is followed by bit fields for address and control information
followed by the data field containing the message information. @etween the data and the
closing fields, there is an error5check field, which enables the receiving system to detect
if the frame is erroneous and request re5transmission.
Signal messages are passed from the central processor of the sending exchange to
the !!S system. This consists of % micro5processor based sub5systems"
#. signalling control subsystem
$. signalling transmission subsystem
%. error control subsystem
The signalling control subsystem structures the messages in the appropriate format
and queues them for transmission. 3essages are then passed to the signalling termination
subsystem, where complete signal units 9S?: are assembled using sequence numbers and
check bits generated by the error control subsystem. 4t the receiving terminal, the reverse
sequence is carried out.
The system can be modeled as a stock of protocols"
#. 1evel #" The physical level
It is the means of sending bit5streams over a physical path. It uses time
slot #( of a $3bit7s !3 system or time slot $& of a #.'3bit7s system.
$. 1evel $" 0ata5link level"
It performs the function of error control, link initiali=ation, error5rate
monitoring, flow control and de5lineation of messages.
%. 1evel %" Signalling network level"
It provides functions required for a signaling network. Each node in the
network has a signal point code which is a #& bit address. Every message contains
the point code of the originating and terminating nodes for that message.
&. 1evel &" ?ser level"
This must be fully compatible with the level % of the model.
$ignal units:
Information that has to be sent in structures into a signal unit 9S?: by the signalling
control unit. The S? is based on the <01! protocol. S?s are of % types"
#: The message signal unit 93S?:" This transfers information supplied by a user
port 9level &: via the signaling network level 9level %:.
$: The link5status signal unit91SS/:" This is used for link initiali=ation and error
control
%: The fill5in signal unit96IS?:" This is sent to maintain alignment when there is no
signal traffic.
The format of 3S? is shown below"
6lag @S. @I@ 6S. 6I@ 1I Spare SI/ SI6 !heck 6lag
* ) # ) ( $ * *n #( *
fig. 3essage signalling unit
6lag @S. @I@ 6S. 6I@ 1I Spare S6 !heck 6lag
* ) # ) # ( $ * or#( #( *
fig. 1ink status signalling unit
6lag @S. @I@ 6S. 6I@ 1I Spare !heck 6lag
* ) # ) # ( $ #( *
fig. 6ill5in unit
S6" status field @I@" backward indicator bit
SI6" signaling information field @S." backward sequence number
SI/" service information octet 6I@" forward indicator bit
1I" length indicator 6S." forward sequence number
6ig. 6ormat of signal units in !!ITT no.) signalling system
3essages are of variable length and are sent in *5bytes as follows"
#: /pening and closing flags are used to delimit signals. They have the code pattern
C,######,8.
$: The forward indicator bit 96I@:, backward indicator bit 9@I@:, forward sequence
number 96S.: and backward sequence number 9@S.: are used for error
correction.
%: The length indicator 91I: gives the length of the S?. 2alue of 1I greater than $
indicates that the S? is a message signal unit.
&: The service information octet 9SI/: indicates the user port appropriate to the
message.
': The signalling information field 9SI6: may consist of upto $)$ octets and contains
the information to be transmitted.
(: The error5check field is immediately before the closing flag. It contains #( bits
generated as a cyclic redundancy check code.
Trafc.
In telecommunication system, trafc is defned as the occupancy
of the server in the network. There are two types of trafc viz. voice
trafc and data trafc. For voice trafc, the calling rate is defned as
the number of calls per trafc path during the busy hour. In a day, the
! minutes interval in which the trafc is highest is called busy hour
"#$%.
Grade of Service.
In telephone feld, the so called busy hour trafc are used for
planning purposes. &nce the statistical properties of the trafc are
known, the ob'ective for the performance of a switching system should
be stated. This is done by specifying a grade of service "(&)%. (&) is a
measure of congestion e*pressed as the probability that a call will be
blocked or delayed. Thus when dealing with (&) in trafc engineering,
the clear understanding of blocking criteria, delay criteria and
congestion are essential.
Blocking criteria.
If the design of a system is based on the fraction of calls blocked
"the blocking probaility%, then the system is said to be engineered on a
blocking basis or call loss basis. #locking can occur if all devices are
occupied when a demand of service is initiated. #locking criteria are
often used for the dimensioning of switching networks and interofce
trunk groups. For a system designed on a loss basis, a suitable (&) is
the percentage of calls which are lost because no e+uipment is
available at the instant of call re+uest.
Delay criteria.
If the design of a system is based on the fraction of calls
delayed longer than a specifed length of time "the delay probability%,
the system is said to be a waiting system or engineered on a delay
basis. ,elay criteria are used in telephone systems for the
dimensioning of registers. In waiting system, a (&) ob'ective could be
either the percentage of calls which are delayed or the percentage
which are delayed more than a certain length of time.
Congestion.
It is the condition in a switching center when a subscriber can not
obtain a connection to the wanted subscriber immediately. In a circuit
switching system, there will be a period of congestion during which no
new calls can be accepted. There are two ways of specifying
congestion.
-. Time congestion.
It is the probability that all servers are busy. It is also called the
probability of
blocking.
.. Call congestion.
It is the proportion of calls arising that do not fnd a free server.
/all congestion is a loss system and also known as the probability of
loss while in a delay system it is referred to as the probability of
waiting. If the number of sources is e+ual to the number of servers, the
time congestion is fnite, but the call congestion is zero. 0hen the
number of sources is large in comparison with servers, the probability
of a new call arising is independent of the number already in progress
and therefore the call congestion is e+ual to the time congestion. In
general, time and call congestions are di1erent but in most practial
cases, the discrepancies are small.
3.Measure of GOS.
(&) is e*pressed as a probability. The (&) of .2 "!.!.% mean
that 342 of the calls will reach a called instrument if it is free.
(enerally, (&) is +uoted as 5.!. or simply 5!. to represent a network
busy probability of !.!.. (&) is applied to a terminal6toterminal
connection. For the system connection many switching centers, the
system is generally broken into following components.
"i% an internal call "calling subscriber to switching ofce%
"ii% an outgoing call to the trunk network "switching ofce to trunk%
"iii% The trunk network "trunk to trunk%
"iv% 7 terminating call "switching ofce to called subscriber%
The (&) of each component is called component (&).
The (&) for internal calls is 8 to 92, for trunk calls -682, for
outgoing calls .2 and for terminating calls .2. The overall (&) of a
system is appro*imately the sum of the component grade of service.
In practice, in order to ensure that the (&) does not deteriorate
disastrously if the actual busy hour trafc e*ceeds the mean, (&) are
specifed -!2 or .!2 more of the mean.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRAFFIC
In case of telecommunication systems, it is required to design the
system in accordance with the number of calls that are in progress at any
point of time and the total number of subscribers that are connected to the
network. Teletraffic engineering involves the design of the number of
switching equipment required and the number of transmission lines required
for carrying telephone calls.
In teletraffic engineering the term trunk is used to describe any entity
that will carry one call. The arrangement of trunks and switches within an
exchange is called it8s trunking.
;e can check the number of calls in progress at different intervals of
time for a whole day and then tabulate the results. If a graph is plotted taking
the number of calls in progress on y5axis and the time of the day on x5axis
the graph would look like this"5
fig #.
The maximum number of calls occurs between *",, and #,",, am for
this particular exchange. This hour which corresponds to the peak traffic of
the exchange is called the busy hour.
The busy hour varies for different exchanges and the teletraffic curve
also varies for different exchanges from what is shown in the fig #.
Exchanges in which offices and business establishments predominate
usually have a busy hour between #,",, and ##",, am. -esidential
exchanges have a busy hour normally between &",, and '",, pm.
The limit of traffic"
The teletraffic intensity or simply the traffic is defined as the average
no. of calls in progress. The unit of traffic is erlang 9named after the 0anish
pioneer in teletraffic 4.D.Erlang:.It is a dimensionless quantity.
/n a group of trunks, the average number of calls in progress
depends on both the no. of calls which arrive and their duration. The
duration of a call is called it8s holding time because it holds the trunk for that
time.
!onsider a holding time T for a group of % trunks"
6ig. $
Example of # erlang of traffic carried on % trunks
6igure $9a: shows # erlang of traffic resulting from one truck being busy for
the holding time T. 6igure $9b: shows # erlang of traffic resulting from two
trunks with each trunk being busy for ',E of the time T. 6igure $9c: shows
# erlang of traffic being carried by three trunks with each of the trunks being
busy for %%.%%E of the time T.
Sometimes the traffic is also expressed in terms of hundreds of call
seconds per hour 9 !!S:.

# erlang F %( !!S
3athematically traffic can be represented by the following equation"
4F!h7T (#:
where A=traffic in erlangs
C=average number of calls
arriving during time T
h=average holding time
6rom eqn #, if TFh, 4F!. Thus traffic in erlangs can be defined as
mean number of calls arriving during a period equal to the mean duration of
the calls 9average holding time:.
#
$
%
#
$
%
#
$
%
a:
G.
.
b:
c:
4 single trunk cannot carry more than one call, therefore 4HF# for a
single trunk. This is called the occupancy of the trunk. The occupancy of the
trunk is also the probability of finding the trunk busy.
!ongestion"
.ormally in a telecommunication system, the installed equipment
will be enough to carry the busy hour traffic and not the entire traffic that
can be generated by the subscribers since the probability of every subscriber
making a call simultaneously is negligible. In such a design a situation might
arise where all the trunks of the system are busy. The system will not be able
to accept any further calls. This state is known as congestion.
There are two things that could happen to a call that encounters
congestion depending upon the design of the exchange"
#: The call will be unsuccessful i.e. lost. Such a system is called a lost call
s"stem.
$: The call will wait in a queue until a trunk frees up. Such calls are
delayed and not lost. Such systems are called dela"ed s"stems or queued
s"stems.
I/S5Irade of Service 9@:"
The proportion of calls lost or delayed due to congestion is a measure
of the service provided.6or a lost call system the grade of service is given
by,

@F number of calls lost F traffic lost
number of calls offered traffic offered

The traffic carried by a lost call system will always be less than the
traffic offered.

Traffic offered = A erlangs
Traffic lost = AB erlangs
Traffic carried = A(1-B) erlangs (2)
Note: 1arger the Irade of service worse is the service given. Ideally @F,.
Traffic measurement"
It is essential to keep a record of the traffic that is offered to a
telephone exchange in order to upgrade the system capacity as and when
required.
Initially the number of calls used to be measured manually. 1ater
automatic traffic recorders were installed in automatic exchanges. In modern
S! systems, a separate sub5program keeps count of the traffic generated.
3athematical model"
4 mathematical model needs to be developed in order to study
telecommunications traffic. Such a model is based on two assumptions"
a: pure chance traffic
b: statistical equilibrium
a: The assumption of pure chance traffic means that call arrivals and call
terminations are independent random events. It also implies that the
number of sources generating calls is very large. Since call arrivals are
independent random events, the occurrence of calls is not affected by
previous calls, therefore traffic is sometimes called memoryless
traffic.
The number of call arrivals in a given time T has a poissonian
distribution given by,
9n: F J
x
7xK.e
5 J
9%:
where x is the number arrivals in time T
is the mean number of call arrivals in time T
i. The intervals L between calls arrivals are intervals between
independent random events and these intervals have a negative
exponential distribution,
9xGFt: F e
5t7 L 9&:
where ! is the mean interval between call arrivals
ii. The call durations, T are intervals between independent random
events 9call termination:. Therefore the call durations also have
a negative exponential distribution.
9TGFt: F e
5t7h
9':
where h is the average holding time

b: Statistical equilibrium means that the generation of traffic is a
stationary random process i.e. the probabilities do not change for the
period being considered. !onsequently the mean number of calls in
progress remains constant.
The state transition diagram is shown for a group of . trunks. The
total number of states that . trunks can have is .M#. The number of calls in
progress varies randomly and lies between , and .. the state transition
diagram shown is called a simple 3arkov chain. The probabilities 9,:,
9#:, N. are called the state probabilities and the
>,k ,

k,i
are called
transition probabilities of the 3arkov chain. In case of statistical equilibrium
these probabilities will have a fixed value and they will not change.
?sing 3arkov chains we can proceed to prove that if call arrivals has a
oissonian distribution, then the calls in progress will also have a oissonian
distribution"