Signalling Specialists to

the Telecoms Industry

Case Studies
 Signalling Specialists to the Telecoms Industry

Algeria

Austria

Case Studies Australia

Bahrain
SIP Trunking, Extending Services, Generating Revenue
and Adding Value to incumbent infrastructures. Discover Bangladesh

how Squire Technologies’ extensive SS7 VoIP experience, Barbados

has enabled companies worldwide to deliver modern

Botswana
innovative solutions.
Brazil

1. Providing SIP Trunks. Bulgaria

With the continued accelerated growth in VoIP technologies
Canada
carriers and ISPs are now actively offering clients SIP Trunks as a
lower cost alternative to traditional PSTN interconnect.
Czech Republic

2. Extending lifecycle of SS7 equipment

Congo
Carriers/ISPs can offer new innovative services on existing
SS7 equipment by providing a bridge to SIP based media and Denmark

application servers. Examine how you can build innovative new

Dominican Republic
services on incumbent SS7 equipment.

Egypt
3. Offering Least Cost Routing
Discover how to deploy Least Cost Routing (LCR) solutions and
France
see how carriers operate Wholesale telephony services and ISPs
can provide value added telephony services to their business Germany

clients.
Greece

4. Low cost entry to SS7 interconnect

Guinea
Reuse Media Gateway equipment you already own or take
advantage of the large second hand market for leading Libya
manufacturers Cisco, AudioCodes and Alcatel–Lucent to deploy a
low cost SS7 interconnect. Lithuania

5. Innovative GSM VoIP interconnect Finland

Here is one example of a GSM/VoIP hybrid network solution.

Hong Kong
With the increasing rollout of WIFI wireless networks it offers
ISPs / operators the opportunity to offer cost saving on VoIP Hungary
calls on SIP enabled GSM Handsets.
India
6. Innovative GSM VoIP interconnect
Looking to provide a GSM service in remote locations with no Iraq

mobile coverage? One solution is to deploy mini base stations

Ireland
hooked up to satellite networks.
Italy
 Signalling Specialists to the Telecoms Industry

PSTN Protocols

SS7

ISUP 1. Providing SIP Trunks

TUP What is a SIP Trunk?

In a traditional PSTN interconnect a “trunk” Unlike a PSTN interconnect a SIP Trunk

NUP
is typically defined as an E1/T1 interconnect can consist of 1 or more SIP channels/
which provides 30/24 channels of voice/ ports – the actual number made available
ITUT data to a client. A SIP Trunk is a collection/ depends on the service offering and the
grouping of VoIP channels/ports made end clients bandwidth requirements. A SIP
ETSI available to a client to interconnect voice/ trunk provides the guaranteed IP bandwidth
data. needed to deliver the number of channels/
ANSI ports offered over the selected VoIP codec.
SIP Trunk benefits :-
In comparison to fixed ISDN line, the main
• Reduced cost
ISDN
driver is a significant reduction of telephony
• Security of service via VPN
costs to the end customer and the ability
• Guaranteed IP Bandwidth
CAS to provide highly managed services such as
• Billing
intelligent call routing, billing and security of
• Intelligent routing
R2 service through a VPN connection.
• DDI or DID (Direct Inward Dialling)
support

SIP Trunk Configuration 1 - PSTN over SS7/ISDN

There are a number of network topologies SVI_MG or by purchasing the fully integrated
VoIP Protocols
that allow carrier/ISPs to offer SIP Trunks. The Wholesale Billing package.
first to consider is deploying a PSTN Media
SIP This configuration also allows carriers/ISPs
Gateway that connects to PSTN over SS7/
to offer a more intelligent value added
ISDN and offers the SIP Trunking directly to
H.323
service by offering Least Cost Routing (LCR)
the end client over a VPN. In order for an
enabling the routing of client calls to the
end client VoIP PBX to communicate to the
most cost effective end carrier. Again this
MGCP PSTN Media Gateway, it needs to ‘register’
service can be offered by integrating the
with the Media Gateway over SIP.
SVI_MG into the clients LCR engine over
Megaco
The SVI_MG provides full support for the RADIUS / SQL or by using the LCR engine
registration process, which once completed offered on the SVI_MG.
H.248
then allows uni-directional calls between the
PSTN and clients VoIP PBX/end point.
Radius
As part of this process the gateway will Carrier
Carrier Carrier
store the relevant DDI/DID (Direct Inward
SIGTRAN
Dialling) against a registered SIP device to
LCR
Least Cost CDRs
allow routing to the client’s VoIP equipment Routing SS7 / ISDN
RADIUS
M3UA Gateway
through the PSTN. Billing SQL
Platform
VPN
M2UA Carriers/ISPs need to provide a billing
SIP Trunk
platform to invoice clients for calls, either
Mitel VPN
integrating the PSTN Media Gateway into Avaya
VoIP
IUA Asterisk
Gateway
their existing billing platform via CDRs, PBX VoIP
RADIUS or SQL interfaces provided on the
SUA
 Carrier Grade Products Worldwide

Japan

Jordan

1. Providing SIP Trunks Kenya

SIP Trunk Configuration 2 - Utilising a Session Board Controller Libya

An alternative configuration is to deploy the Lithuania

Carrier
PSTN Media Gateway in conjunction with Carrier Carrier
a Session Board Controller (SBC) as shown. Luxembourg
This allows carriers/ISPs to utilise incumbent LCR
Least Cost CDRs
SS7 / ISDN
equipment, using the SBC to offer the Routing RADIUS Malawi
SQL Gateway
Billing
VPN connection to the end client with the Platform

SIP Registration process and SIP Signalling SBC Malaysia

SBC Session Board
occurring directly between the SS7 Media Controller
VPN e.g. ACME
Gateway and the Session Board Controller. SIP Trunk
Malta

VPN
As with configuration 1 the carrier/ISP Mitel
Avaya VoIP Mongolia
can also add a Billing Platform and Least Asterisk Gateway
PBX VoIP
Cost Routing (LCR) functionality either by
Nepal
integrating over RADIUS, SQL, CDRs or using
the built in LCR and billing engines on the
Netherlands
SVI_MG.

New Zealand

Nigeria
SIP Trunk Configuration 3 - Pure VoIP Environment

environment. As shown in the network North America

VoIP
PBX Gateway
VoIP diagram the deployment of a Class 4
SME Mexico
Small/Medium
SoftSwitch allows carriers/ISPs to offer SIP
Enterprises
SIP Trunk Trunks. The required SIP signalling is done
via the Class 4 SoftSwitch with the RTP/RTCP Pakistan
CDRs
Class 4 Media transmitted directly between the 2
RADIUS
SoftSwitch Russia
SQL end points.

With the addition of a Least Cost Routing Seychelles

Engine (3rd party or integrated) this allows
Carrier Carrier carriers/ISPs to offer the value added service
Carrier Sudan
of low cost national or international calls.
South Africa
As with configuration 1 and 2 the carrier/
The third configuration to consider is ISP will need to consider whether to use an
Spain
the provision of SIP Trunks in a pure VoIP integrated or 3rd party Billing platform.

Sweden

Switzerland

Togo
Testimonial - SVI_MG SS7 to VoIP Media Gateway
“The SVI_MG_8000 ticked all the boxes in terms of redundancy, scalability, powerful routing Turkey
functionality and coupled with Squire Technologies dedicated installation and support services made
this our gateway of choice.” - Eloquant
UK
 Signalling Specialists to the Telecoms Industry

PSTN Protocols

SS7

ISUP 2. Extending lifecycle of SS7 equipment

TUP SS7 Switch to SIP Media

As shown in the diagram an SS7 Media
NUP
Gateway passes SS7 calls, both signalling
and voice/data (if appropriate) to a SIP
ITUT based media server, allowing carriers/ISPs
to rapidly deploy new services such as IVR,
ETSI
conferencing, speaker identification, DTMF
tone detection.
This allows carriers/ISPs to take full
advantage of the latest industry leading SIP
based services and controlling technologies
i.e. VoiceXML, SOAP, Java/J2EE.
SIP Media Servers/App Servers.
• Asterisk

ANSI • IP Media
Typical incumbent SS7 switches • ProsodyX
• Ericsson AXE10 • SIP SER
ISDN
• Siemens EWSD
• ZTE
CAS
• Nortel DMS

R2
PSTN

SIP Media Server Ericsson AXE10

Application Server SS7 Media Siemens EWSD
Incumbent Nortel DMS
Gateway SS7 Switch ZTE

SS7 ISDN switch

VoIP Protocols
A second configuration to consider is to The SVI-9225 switches any bearer channel
deploy a bridge between the SS7 and ISDN on any E1/T1 to any other bearer channel
SIP
as many equipment manufacturers provide on any other E1/T1 - it does not terminate
their platform solely with an ISDN interface or transcode bearer channels, making this
H.323
i.e. video platforms, IVR, lawful intercept an ideal application to seamlessly pass voice
applications etc. and data from an ISDN network into an SS7
MGCP
network.
As shown the SVI-9225 SS7 - ISDN Protocol
Converter provides a seamless interface Typical incumbent SS7 switches
Megaco
between SS7 and ISDN. The strength of the
• Ericsson AXE10
SVI-9225 as a bridge is that it provides a
H.248 • Siemens EWSD
transparent switch for the bearer channels
• ZTE
carrying voice and data.
Radius • Nortel DMS

SIGTRAN
PSTN

Ericsson AXE10
M3UA Video Gateway
Siemens EWSD
IVR SS7 ISDN
Nortel DMS
Lawful Intercept Protocol ZTE
Applications
Converter
M2UA Incumbent SS7 Switch

IUA
Testimonial - SVI_9225 SS7 ISDN PRI Protocol Converter
“The unit has been successfully deployed in the network and has worked without fault since
SUA deployment.” - Ericsson
 Carrier Grade Products Worldwide

Algeria

Austria

3. Offering Least Cost Routing (LCR) Australia

Bahrain
What is Least Cost Routing (LCR)?

A number of clients have used Squire the carrier offering the lowest cost route to Bangladesh

Technologies’ products to deliver a Least that destination.

Cost Routing (LCR) service. Carriers
worldwide provide A–Z lists of countries they
provide call routing to and the associated
rates for each destination.
A Least Cost Routing (LCR) service allows a
client on a per call basis, to route a call to
Barbados
This service is adopted by carriers who use
it in their primary business model to offer a Botswana
Wholesale LCR, and is also adopted by ISPs
wanting to offer a value added telephony Brazil
service to existing and new clients.
Bulgaria

VoIP Only LCR Deployment 1 Canada

The client’s customers are typically SMEs
connecting to the Class 4 SoftSwitch via
their VoIP PBXs. A customer therefore makes
an outbound call to a specific destination
(e.g. Holland) and the Class 4 SoftSwitch will
The SVI_C4 Class 4 SoftSwitch offers an Czech Republic
integrated LCR Database and Wholesale
Billing Platform but can also be integrated Congo
into clients existing LCR Engine/Billing
Platform over RADIUS/SQL. A typical Denmark

then attempt to match the destination to the deployment will also need to integrate to a
A-Z lists provided by the carriers, selecting national “Charging Database” that contains Dominican Republic

the least cost option. the billing rates for 0800, premium rate
Egypt
numbers etc. This is typically done by either
If a carrier destination is unavailable
using SQL or lookups through an SS7 IN
because the route is congested, temporarily France
(Intelligent Network)
unavailable etc, then the SoftSwitch will
automatically select the next lowest cost Germany
route offered and then route the call
accordingly. Greece

Charging Database Guinea

PBX
VoIP
Carrier 1
SQL/SS7 Libya
IN SIP / H323 VoIP
Customer 1
SIP / H323 Lithuania
VoIP Class 4
Carrier 2 SoftSwitch PBX
SIP / H323
Finland
RADIUS
VoIP
SIP / H323 Customer 2
PSTN
Carrier 3
Hong Kong

Least Cost Billing VoIP

Routing Platform Gateway
Hungary

India

Iraq

Ireland

Italy
 Signalling Specialists to the Telecoms Industry

PSTN Protocols

SS7

ISUP 3. Offering Least Cost Routing (LCR)

TUP PSTN VoIP LCR Deployment 2

In this example the core functionality of the The SVI_MG allows clients to connect to a
NUP
least cost routing is identical to example VoIP network and traditional PSTN network
1, but in this example a Media Gateway is over SS7/ISDN/CAS/R2 – the LCR Engine,
ITUT deployed. Billing and SIP Registration functionality are
fully integrated into the SVI_MG product.
ETSI
Charging Database
PSTN PBX
Carrier 1 SS7
SQL/SS7 SIP / H323 VoIP
ANSI IN Customer 1

ISDN / R2 / CAS
PSTN Media
Carrier 2 Gateway
ISDN
SIP / H323
RADIUS
VoIP
ISDN / SS7 Customer 2
VoIP
CAS Carrier 3
Least Cost Billing VoIP
Routing Platform Gateway

R2

4. Low cost entry to SS7 interconnect

SS7 Interconnect

One of the main drivers for clients to gain
VoIP Protocols
an SS7 interconnect is often the lower call
rates offered by SS7 carriers over other PSTN
SIP
interconnects ( i.e. ISDN).
Squire Technologies provide a software-only
solution that can be deployed in conjunction
with market leading Media Gateways to
offer SS7 interconnect.

H.323
The return-on-investment for clients can Coupled with a flexible payment plan that
be substantial but obviously needs to be allows clients to spread the investment over
offset by the investment in specialised SS7 6 or 12 months the SVI_MGC SS7 Media
MGCP
equipment. Gateway Controller product offers a true
carrier grade solution at affordable prices.
Megaco
Typical SS7 requirement
H.248

A client was operating a VoIP wholesale
Radius business using Cisco 5350s, 5400s to
provide PSTN interconnect over ISDN. The
SIGTRAN client used a 3rd party billing package to
invoice clients and an SNMP tool to provide
The Cisco 5350s and 5400s do not
provide native SS7 support, and the client
wanted the new SS7 solution to seamlessly
integrate into their billing and operational
environment.

M3UA network monitoring.

The client needed a rapid deployment and
Their requirement was to move their PSTN to due to their remote location they were keen
M2UA SS7 to take advantage of the lower call rates to avoid the shipment of goods through
on offer. customs if possible.
IUA

SUA
 Carrier Grade Products Worldwide

Japan

Jordan

4. Low cost entry to SS7 interconnect Kenya

PSTN to SS7 solution Libya

To facilitate a rapid, remote deployment Squire Technologies UK HQ.

the client decided to provide a standard PC
based server recommended by the Squire
installation team and loaded the required
Red Hat Linux OS as per installation manual
supplied by Squire Technologies.
The SVI_MGC (Media Gateway Controller)
software was then loaded remotely from the
Cisco 5400
Lithuania
As shown the Cisco gateways provide
the E1/T1 connections to the physical SS7 Luxembourg
network, and are controlled by the SVI_MGC
Media Gateway Controller over MGCP/ Malawi
SLT. The SVI_MGC’s centralised routing
engine provides seamless interworking and Malaysia
interconnects between SS7, SIP and H.323.
Malta

VoIP SS7 Mongolia

Nepal
Media
Gateway Controller Remote
Install Netherlands
Dell Server

New Zealand
To provide a completely operational solution As their service grew the client decided to
the SVI_MGC was integrated into the clients upgrade this capability by a further 8 E1s. Nigeria

existing billing platform over RADIUS and

direct integration into the client’s network
monitoring and statistics was achieved over
SNMP.
The client initially required the SVI_MGC
Media Gateway Controller to run 16 E1s of
traffic (480 simultaneous calls).
To do this they simply acquired an additional
North America
8 E1 capacity Media Gateway (Cisco,
AudioCodes, or Alcatel-Lucent compliant
Mexico
gateway) and then purchased an additional
8E1 (240 simultaneous calls) call license
Pakistan
from Squire Technologies, which was simply
upgraded through the issue of a software Russia
license key.

Seychelles

Sudan

Network Media 3rd Party Billing

Monitoring Tool Gateway Controller Application South Africa

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Togo

Testimonial - SVI_MGC SS7 Media Gateway Controller Turkey

“Once we realised this software only alternative, making the decision was easy. Squires then
demonstrated how quickly and simply we could be making calls” - Sky C&C, Mongolia UK
 Signalling Specialists to the Telecoms Industry

PSTN Protocols

SS7

ISUP 5. Innovative GSM VoIP Hybrid Network

TUP GSM VoIP Hybrid Network

As a mobile user moves from different
NUP
locations and comes into contact with
accessible wireless networks (i.e. in the
ITUT office, at home) a GSM handset can
automatically register over the Wi-Fi network
ETSI with a VoIP carrier allowing calls to be made
and received over VoIP.
ANSI
Once a mobile user moves out of range of
the Wi-Fi network any calls are automatically
ISDN
switched back over the GSM network.
As can be seen from the network
deployment diagram, when the GSM
handset moves into the range of an
accessible Wi-Fi network it automatically
attempts to register the handset with a
SoftSwitch in the VoIP network over SIP.
On successful registration the SoftSwitch
also updates the GSM networks HLR (Home
Location Register) to indicate it is “roaming”
on an alternative network.

CAS
SS7 over E1 SoftSwitch
SIP

PSTN VoIP
R2 SIP
SS7

GSM GSM call VoIP call over

SIP

GSM HLR
Home Location Register

VoIP Protocols Inbound and outbound calls can then be Conversely calls made to the handset from
made to and from the GSM handset, over the PSTN are routed to the SVI_MG over SS7
SIP the VoIP network using SIP. Outbound calls and onwards to the handset over SIP. The
that are destined for the PSTN network SVI_MG (SS7 Media Gateway) provides full

H.323
are routed from the SoftSwitch over SIP to interworking between SS7 and SIP and the
the SVI_MG (SS7 Media Gateway), which transcoding of voice data from TDM G711 to
provides the inter-op to the PSTN over an VoIP codecs G711, G729, G723 etc.
MGCP
SS7 interconnect.

Megaco

H.248

Radius

SIGTRAN

M3UA

M2UA

IUA
Testimonial - SVI_MG SS7 to VoIP Media Gateway
Squire Technologies’ team helped us to work with Cable & Wireless staff moving the MGW through
SUA the detailed lab testing and network acceptance testing in record time.” CEO Stour Marine UK
 Carrier Grade Products Worldwide

Algeria

Austria

6. Private GSM Network Deployment Australia

Bahrain
GSM in non-traditional locations

In remote locations with no mobile GSM On making a call, the call is made to the Bangladesh

coverage i.e. boats and oil rigs, one way
to offer an on-board mobile service is to
deploy a mini GSM base station. These mini
base stations mimic the behaviour of base
stations in larger land based mobile operator
networks.
For example, when an oil rig worker switches
on his/her mobile phone it registers with the
mini base station over GSM as it would on
mini base station, which then converts the
Barbados
GSM call signalling to VoIP SIP signalling
and transparently passes the voice/data over
Botswana
standard GSM encoded codecs AMR, EFR etc
to a satellite.
Brazil
The satellite transmission is directed to a
land based VoIP Media Gateway, which then Bulgaria
converts the SIP to ISDN or SS7 signalling
and the GSM encoded voice/data to the Canada

dry land. standard PSTN G711 codec.

Czech Republic

Congo

SIP
AMR / EFR Denmark

Media
Base Gateway IP Dominican Republic
Station
ISDN / SS7 G711
SIP
AMR / EFR
Egypt
GSM PSTN
France
GSM call from non Land based
traditional location network location
Germany

Greece

Guinea

Libya

Lithuania

Finland

Hong Kong

Hungary

India

Iraq

Testimonial - SVI_MG SS7 to VoIP Media Gateway

“The SVI_MG_8000 ticked all the boxes in terms of redundancy, scalability, powerful routing Ireland
functionality and coupled with Squire Technologies dedicated installation and support services made
this our gateway of choice.” - Eloquant Italy
 Signalling Specialists to the Telecoms Industry

PSTN Protocols

SS7

ISUP
Product Range
TUP
The SVI_MGC SS7 Media Gateway Controller enables SS7 on
leading VoIP Media Gateways using industry based standards -
NUP
MGCP, MEGACO H.248, SIGTRAN, SIP, SIP-I, SIP-T and H.323.
ITUT

ETSI The SVI_MG SS7 VoIP Media Gateway enables cost effective,
scalable SS7 and PSTN network breakout to VoIP networks,
ANSI allowing carriers to realise the cost and performance benefits of
integrating into an SS7 network.
ISDN

The SVI_C4 Class 4 Softswitch provides to both carrier and

CAS enterprise markets a high performance, scalable Class 4
SoftSwitch enabling the delivery of secure, reliable VoIP traffic
R2
and services over multiple IP networks.

The SVI_9225 SS7 to ISDN PRI Protocol Converter product

provides cost-effective, scalable SS7 to ISDN PRI conversion with
optional R2/CAS signalling support, allowing carriers to benefit

VoIP Protocols integrating into an SS7 network.

SIP The SVI_9220 SS7 to SS7 Signalling Only Converter provides,

at its core, a powerful, scalable SS7 to SS7 Signalling engine
H.323 delivering high performance SS7 Signalling only conversion with
support for up to 128 SS7 Signalling links, dual redundancy and
MGCP fully featured OA&M.

Megaco With low cost, reliable, high bandwidth IP networks available

for distribution of signalling equipment, the SS7 Signalling
H.248
Gateway provides the means to bridge the SS7 network from the
traditional PSTN and Mobile TDM interconnects to IP.
Radius

SIGTRAN
All purchased products are supplied with 6 months support free of charge,

M3UA
giving email and web access to the support team.

M2UA

IUA
Testimonial - SVI_9220 SS7 to SS7 Signalling Only Converter
“It was a pleasure working with Squire and we are hoping to have more business in the near
SUA future,” - Alcatel Lucent
 Product Range
SS7 Media Gateway Controller - SVI_MGC

SS7 to VoIP Media Gateway - SVI_MG

Class 4 Softswitch - SVI_C4

SS7 ISDN PRI Protocol Converter - SVI_9225

SS7 to SS7 Signalling Only Converter - SVI_9220

SS7 Signalling Gateway - SVI_SG

Squire Technologies T. +44 1305 757314

64 High West Street F. +44 1305 757309
Dorchester E. enquiries@squire-technologies.co.uk
Dorset DT1 1XA
United Kingdom © 2009 Squire Technologies.
All rights reserved.