Within the Public Switched Telephone Network there are elements assigned separate functions that collectively work together to provide application services. These network elements include Service Switching Points (SSPs), Signaling Transfer Points (STPs), and Service Control Points (SCPs) as shown in Figure 1 network overview.
Figure 1 Network Overview
For the purpose of the Stratus-based Caller Name application and this document, the various components of the SS7 network are defined as follows:
Caller Name Delivery provides telephone company subscribers the name of the calling party on incoming calls. The name is displayed on a Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) supplied by the subscriber as shown in Figure 2 Customer Premise Equipment.
Figure 2 Customer Premise Equipment
The Caller Name Delivery application described herein is designed specifically for U.S. deployment and complies with the Bellcore convention for Caller Name call processing. The application uses SS7 as the transport protocol for communication with network devices. The SSP nodes are compatible with the Bellcore standards for switching platforms. The application-to-application communication uses SCCP and TCAP formats as defined by Bellcore.
The base platform for this application is the Stratus Computer operating under FTX and using SINAP as the interface to the SS7 network. The Caller Name application interfaces with the SINAP subsystem and complies with all the requirements of that subsystem.
The Caller Name application is divided into the following subsystems: