F-Link NSG Deployment

Overview

An F-link NSG deployment refers to the direct connection of the SS7 signalling links between NSG and the SS7 telco.
Example:

Open

In this scenario, there are only two point codes, one assigned to NSG and one assigned to the telco

Below is an example of the above F-Link type diagram with example point codes assigned (in red colour):
 

Open

SS7 Site Survey

Overview

NSG Deployments will typically have a Professional Service Agreement filled out, since most customers purchase a support contract with their NSG Deployments.
Inside the Professional Service Agreement is an SS7 Site Survey, which looks similar to the picture below:

 A detailed explanation of each field is found here: Professional Service Agreement

In Summary:

• The top left portion 
  
  

  • select either ANSI or ITU (SS7 telco must provide customer this information). 

  • SPC=Self Point Code. This value must be provided by SS7 telco. This is the unique address assigned to the NSG Gateway by the telco. This value needs to be in decimal format

  • Eth0 Mac address is only required for NSG Software installations (Appliances do not require this filled in)

• The left portion of the Site Survey describes the physical TDM ports which belong to 1 or more TDM Cards installed in your Server/Appliance:
  
  

  • From left to right

    • Card #: Each row (starting from top down) identifies each port of the card, starting from port 1 and moving down the table. If you only have 1 TDM card in the system, every row should be "1"

    • Port #: each row, starting from top and moving down the table, represents the port on the card. If you have more than one TDM card in the system, this value resents when moving across ports on a different card.

    • Card Model: identifies the model of Sangoma card. 

    • Wanpipe #: This field will indicate identical information as the Port #. Simply Copy and Paste the information listed in Port # to this field. 

    • T1/E1 Cfg: indicate if the port is either T1/E1, Whether its MASTER clocking (indicated as Master) or SLAVE (indicated as Normal) and Framing

    • Ftdm Span #: Optional

    • Signalling:  If this port will have a signalling link indicate SS7.  If this link will be all voice channels, indicate voice.

• The right portion of the Site Survey describes the telco specific details
  
  

  • From left to right

    • Signalling Channel: If ss7 was entered under the Signaling section for this port, you must identify which channel the SS7 signaling link is on 

    • Error Type: This field only applies when the port has an ss7 link assigned to it.  If the port is all voice channels insert n/a in this field.  Telco must indicate if error type is PCR or BASIC. If unknown, its probably BASIC. 

    • LSSU Length: This field only applies when the port has an ss7 link assigned to it.  If the port is all voice channels insert n/a in this field. Values are either 1 or 2.

    • SLC: This field only applies when the port has an ss7 link assigned to it.  If the port is all voice channels insert n/a in this field.  This field identifies the signaling link within a linkset.  Meaning, if there is more than one signaling link on your NSG Gateway that connects to the same next hop node (either a mid-way STP or the telco, where all the point codes are identical), there needs to be a way to differentiate between them. Values start at 0.
      If you only have 1 signaling link in your NSG Gateway, this value is set to 0.
      If you have multiple signaling links on your NSG Gateway and they are all connecting to the same node (where the point codes are the same), the first signaling link will have a value of 0, the next 1, the next 2..etc.  
      If you have multiple signaling links on your NSG Gateway but they are all connecting to different nodes in the network (the point codes are different numbers), they will all have an SLC value of 0.

    • SSF mtp3/isup: This field only applies when the port has an ss7 link assigned to it.  If the port is all voice channels insert n/a in this field. Indicate nat if the link is a national link, or res if reserved for national.

    • APC: This field only applies when the port has an ss7 link assigned to it.  If the port is all voice channels insert n/a in this field.  
      Fill in the point code of the next node in the network (from point of view of the NSG Gateway).  For example, for an F type installation the next node in the network is the telco, so the APC value is the point code of the telco.  If the next node in the network was an STP (only in A-link type setups), the APC would be the value of the STP.

    • DPC: This field only applies when the port has an ss7 link assigned to it.  If the port is all voice channels insert n/a in this field. 
      Fill in the point code of the Telco here.  For an F-link type installation, the APC and DCP point codes are identical for the signaling link.  For A-type installations, the APC and DPC values are always different.

    • CIC Base: Every Channel configured in NSG Gateway has an assigned CIC Channel value assigned.  The telco will assign the starting CIC Channel for each port connected on the NSG Gateway. When connected to one Telco, the CIC Base values start at 1 and increment by 32. (Example: port 1=1, port 2=33, port 3= 65, port 4=97....etc)

    • Audio Channel: specify the audio channels for each port.  Do not include the signaling link, if there is one assigned for that port. For example, if the port has a signaling link assigned to channel 1, the audio channels will be 2-31.

    • clg/cld NADI: specify if the calling/called Nature of Address is national =4 or international =3

Filled Out Site Survey Example

Based on the example network diagram above, find below a filled out Site Survey

Example Network Diagram

Filled out Site Survey for above Example Network Diagram

NSG Configuration

The Below Information will show you how to deploy the NSG Gateway based on the above filled out Site Survey.

• Log into the NSG Gateway WebGUI

• Navigate to Configuration -> Gateway -> TDM
  
  
  

   

• Here you will see all the TDM ports of all the TDM cards that are installed in the appliance (or server if you are installing NSG on your own hardware)
  In the example picture below we are showing a system which has a Sangoma 16 port TDM card, called A116
  
  
  

  • The top row of information (seen in this screenshot as "AFT-A116-SH Board 1 Port 1 Span 1") will change based on the TDM card installed in your system and which port is being configured

    • For example, AFT-A116 will show A108 if you have a Sangoma 8 port card, A104 if you have a Sangoma 4 port card..etc)

    • Board 1 indicates this port belongs to the first TDM Card in the system. For example, if you are configuring a port that belongs to the second TDM card, this will show Board 2

    • Port X represents the port you are currently configuring.

• Start configuring the first port by selecting the Edit button located below Physical Config  as seen in the picture below

• In the screen that appears next, configure the physical layer parameters of the TDM Card.   
  
  

  
  
   

  • Link type: Select either E1 or T1 based on the physical connection. For our example, we will select E1

  • Framing: If you selected E1, Framing is either NCRC4 or CRC4. If you selected T1 Framing is ESF. For our example we will select NCRC4.

  • Clock Source: If this port is connected to the telco, leave this set to Normal (this means slave). For our example we will select Normal.

  • Leave the rest of the items as default 

    • Click the Apply to Port button to move to the next step

• The next step will have you configure the link type, as seen in the screenshot below.
  
  

  • Since port 1 has a signaling link assigned to any of its channels, select ISUP Termination.  (f this port did not have a signaling link assigned to any of its channels, No Signalling Link would be selected).
    (all other items can be ignored)

  • Select the next button when done.
    
    

• Configure the Link details
  
  

  • Configure as follows

    • ISUP Termination: Select YES for the first point since this port does have a signaling link  

    • MTP1 Information: insert the channel number where the signaling link is assigned to.  Typically the signaling link is on channel 1 or 16. For our example we will select 1.

    • MTP2 Information: Select the appropriate Link Type that the telco has indicated for your signaling link. If you don't know what it is, leave the default value of ITU92

    • MTP3 Information: Select the appropriate Switch Type that the telco has indicated for your signaling link.  If you dont know what it is, leave the default value of ITU00.
                                     Select the appropriate Sub-Service Field (SSF) that the telco has indicated for your signaling link.  Typically this value is either National or International or Reserved. 
                                      Note that the SSF is set here and in a future section.  It is important that the SSF is set identical in both areas.  

• Configure the Linkset
  
  

  • The Linkset defines the collection of signaling links grouped together that connect to the same node in the SS7 nework. Even if there is only 1 signaling link, a linkset must be created with the 1 signaling link.

  • In our example the adjacent Point Code should be configured as 6786 since the next node is the telco's point code
    i.e. 
    
    

  • Minimum Active Signalling Links: Insert the number of signaling links that are part of this linkset which connect to the same node in the network.  In our example since we only have 1 signaling link, we insert 1

  • Click Create Profile to move to the next step 

• Configure the Route
  
  

  • Destination Point Code: insert the point code of the next node in the network.  In our example the next node happens to be the same point code as the DPC in the Site Survey, 6786.  Keep in mind that Destination Point Code is not always the DPC as seen in the Site Survey. For A-link type installations the Destination Point code would be the same point code as the APC since the route configuration is only concerned with the Point codes for the route

  • Does this route contain an STP: Toggle this option to NO for F-link installation.  Only use YES when this route goes to an mid-way STP node in the network.

  • Make sure to Bind the linkset to the route by inserting a checkmark in the checkbox under Signalling Gateway Profile.

• Configure the ISUP Interface
  
  

  • If you are using a Sangoma appliance the 'Self Point Code' field will be editable so that you can enter in the point code that the telco has provided for your NSG Gateway.

  • If you are using NSG Gateway Software version on your own hardware the 'Self Point Code' field will already be populated from the license that is installed in the system.

  • Route- select the route that will be pointing to the telco. In our example, there is only one route, called ROUTE1. 

• Configure the SS7 Channel Configuration
  
  

  • ISUP Interface -  Select the ISUP 1.  In general, there will be 1 ISUP configured for every Telco Point Code in the SS7 Network. 

  • Channel Map - The channel that has the signaling link will have an 's' in front of it. In our example since we identified channel 1 with the signaling link, channel 1 is identified with s1.

  • CIC Base- this value will increment automatically as you configure each port. CIC bases usually start with 1 and increment by 32 each one.

• The SS7 channel configuration is the last step in the SS7 configuration. You will be returned to the main TDM section now with a view of your fully configured port.
  
  

Apply Configuration and Start Gateway

Now that all the TDM SS7 configuration is completed, it must be applied to the Gateway.

To apply the configuration navigate to Configuration > Management > Apply

Click on the Generate and Restart Gateway button