Using the Simulated TCAP Stack

This document explains how to use the OpenCloud ITU TCAP Simulator, which lets you test the unified CGIN resource adaptor without a full TCAP stack environment.

Topics

This document includes the following topics:

About the ITU TCAP Simulator describes the Simulator and how it works to simulate an ITU TCAP stack.
Configuring the Simulator gives parameters for configuring Simulator-specific resource adaptor entities.
Running the Simulator explains how to use the simulated ITU TCP stack.

About the ITU TCAP Simulator

The unified CGIN resource adaptor includes a simulated International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP) stack that can be used for testing without the need for a full TCAP stack environment.

It’s a simulator …

The simulator includes most of the behaviour of a real SS7 network, but it is not necessarily identical. For example, it may only communicate with other instances of the simulated ITU TCAP stack.
Testing with the simulated stack is not a substitute for testing on a real network.

How does it work?

Each ITU TCAP simulator instance (resource adaptor entity or Scenario Simulator) connects to other ITU TCAP simulator instances using a subset of SUA over a proprietory TCP-based protocol.

The simulator is configured with one or more TCP/IP network addresses to connect to, plus an address to listen on. PC/SSN routing is configured automatically using standard SUA dynamic routing configuration.

A single pointcode/subsystem number pair may be routed to more than one simulator instance, allowing for operation within a Rhino cluster. The following diagram shows a simple 2-node Rhino cluster loaded with an ITU TCAP simulator resource adaptor entity connecting to the Scenario Simulator.

Figure 1. Simulator resource adaptor entity connected to Scenario Simulator

Configuring the Simulator

You configure the CGIN RA frontend for the Simulated ITU TCAP stack by managing resource adaptor entity properties.

You can manage the CGIN RA configuration the same as you would any other resource adaptor entity configuration — for example, using rhino-console’s createraentity command.

The Simulated TCAP Stack is included with the CGIN Connectivity Pack. When you unpack the CGIN Connectivity archive, the Simulated TCAP stack will be in the cgin-unified-ra deployable unit, in the du directory.

Below are details of the following parameters you can set, and an example.

Properties for configuring the Simulator

Click for details of the following parameters.

Parameter Description Format Requirements/Options

Parameter	Description	Format	Requirements/Options
`stack=tcapsim`			mandatory
`tcapsim.listen-addresses`	addresses to listen on	comma-separated list, in format `<host>:<port>[:<nodeID>]`	mandatory may be empty
`tcapsim.remote-addresses`	remote addresses to connect to	comma-separated list, in format `<host>:<port>[:<nodeID>]`	mandatory may be empty
`tcapsim.sctp-stack`	SCTP implementation to use	`= tcp`	1 option: `tcp`
`tcapsim.gt-table`	global title translation table	`= /path/to/gt/table.txt`	mandatory may be an empty file
`tcapsim.max-dialogs`	maximum simultaneously active dialogs	`= integer`	optional
`local-sccp-address`	local SCCP address	`= formattedSccpAddress`	mandatory
`default-activity-timeout`	default activity timeout	`= timeout in ms`
`tcap-fibers.max-pool-size`	maximum number of worker threads	`= integer`	optional must be >= 1 takes effect on RA activation only

stack=tcapsim

mandatory

tcapsim.listen-addresses

addresses to listen on

comma-separated list, in format <host>:<port>[:<nodeID>]

mandatory
may be empty

tcapsim.remote-addresses

remote addresses to connect to

comma-separated list, in format <host>:<port>[:<nodeID>]

mandatory
may be empty

tcapsim.sctp-stack

SCTP implementation to use

= tcp

1 option: tcp

tcapsim.gt-table

global title translation table

= /path/to/gt/table.txt

mandatory
may be an empty file

tcapsim.max-dialogs

maximum simultaneously active dialogs

= integer

optional

local-sccp-address

local SCCP address

= formattedSccpAddress

mandatory

default-activity-timeout

default activity timeout

= timeout in ms

tcap-fibers.max-pool-size

maximum number of worker threads

= integer

optional
must be >= 1
takes effect on RA activation only

tcapsim.listen-addresses

This property is a comma-separated list of <host>:<port> values.

Optionally, a host:port value may be prefixed by <nodeID>,<nodeID>,… to have that address be applied on the given nodes only.

For example, the value:

{101}host1:1234,{102}host1:1235

causes node 101 to listen on host1:1234, and node 102 to listen on host1:1235.

To listen on all available network interfaces, use a <host> of 0.0.0.0

The <nodeID> parameter is only required if multiple Rhino nodes are running on a single host. When this parameter is specified, an RA entity will only create a listening socket on the specified host and port if the node that the entity is running on is equal to <nodeID>.

tcapsim.remote-addresses

This property is a comma-separated list of <host>:<port> values.

Optionally, a host:port value may be prefixed by <nodeID>,<nodeID>,… to have that address be applied on the given nodes only.

For example, the value:

{101}host1:1234,{102}host1:1235

causes node 101 to connect to host1:1234, and node 102 to connect to host1:1235.

It is unlikely that the <nodeID> parameter will be required as generally every node in a cluster should make connections to the same remote endpoints.

tcapsim.sctp-stack

This property controls the SCTP implementation used by the SUA stack. Currently the only option is tcp.

tcp is a proprietary SCTP-ish protocol running over TCP. This is used as Java 1.6 and earlier do not support the use of native SCTP.

tcapsim.gt-table

This parameter is the full path to the file containing the global title translation table.

The ITU TCAP Simulator includes basic Global Title Translation support. Global titles can be mapped to a PC/SSN for routing according to the routing table. The format of the global title translation table is as follows:

# For all address types the first column contains the GlobalTitleIndicator.
#
# Then, for C7 (ITU-T), the format is:
#   1 C7 AddressDigits PC SSN NatureOfAddress
#   2 C7 AddressDigits PC SSN TranslationType
#   3 C7 AddressDigits PC SSN TranslationType NumberingPlan
#   4 C7 AddressDigits PC SSN TranslationType NumberingPlan NatureOfAddress
#
# And, for A7 (ANSI), the format is:
#   1 A7 AddressDigits PC SSN TranslationType NumberingPlan
#   2 A7 AddressDigits PC SSN TranslationType
#
# The J7 (Japanese) format is the same as for C7 (ITU-T), excepting that 'C7' is
# replaced with 'J7'.
#
# A match will only be returned if the GTI-specific parameters match and the
# leading digits of the address match the rule.  In the case of multiple
# matching rules the most specific address match will be returned.

#
# ITU-T Examples
#

# ITU-T SCCP address, gti=1, digits=123456*, na=1, pc=2, ssn=221
# 1 C7 123456 2 221 1

# ITU-T SCCP address, gti=1, digits=1234*, na=1, pc=2, ssn=221
# 1 C7 1234   2 211 1

# ITU-T SCCP address, gti=2, digits=98131*, tt=122, pc=1, ssn=232
# 2 C7 98131  1 232 122

# ITU-T SCCP address, gti=3, digits=78341*, pc=7183, ssn=6, tt=1, np=4
# 3 C7 78341  7183 6 1 4

# ITU-T SCCP address, gti=4, digits=81931239, pc=4, ssn=200, tt=89, np=1, na=1
# 4 C7 81931239 4 200 89 1 1

#
# ANSI Examples
#

# ANSI SCCP address, gti=1, digits=73737*, tt=10, np=4, pc=2-123-42, ssn=6
# 1 A7 73737 2-123-42 6 10 4

# ANSI SCCP address, gti=2, digits=12345*, tt=42, pc=1-1-1, ssn=221
# 2 A7 12345 1-1-1 221 42

#
# J7 Examples
#

# Japanese SCCP address, gti=1, digits=123456*, na=1, pc=2, ssn=221
# 1 J7 123456 2 221 1

# Japanese SCCP address, gti=1, digits=1234*, na=1, pc=2, ssn=221
# 1 J7 1234   2 211 1

# Japanese SCCP address, gti=2, digits=98131*, tt=122, pc=1, ssn=232
# 2 J7 98131  1 232 122

# Japanese SCCP address, gti=3, digits=78341*, pc=7183, ssn=6, tt=1, np=4
# 3 J7 78341  7183 6 1 4

# Japanese SCCP address, gti=4, digits=81931239, pc=4, ssn=200, tt=89, np=1, na=1
# 4 J7 81931239 4 200 89 1 1

tcapsim.max-dialogs

The maximum number of dialogs that may be active simultaneously. This may be any positive 32-bit integer value. The default is 10000.

local-sccp-address

Provides a local calling party SCCP address to use for outgoing TC-BEGIN messages, if not explicitly provided by the SBB. The address should be formatted in the format that com.opencloud.slee.resources.cgin.SccpAddressParser expects. This parameter is mandatory.

This address is also the address used in dynamic routing configuration; it is the address this node advertises to another node when connecting to it.

See SCCP Address Format in the CGIN Installation and Administration Guide.

default-activity-timeout

Configures the default timeout, in milliseconds, for tcapsim dialog activities. Each dialog has an activity timer associated with it. If no activity is seen on the dialog before the timer expires the dialog will be aborted and the associated SLEE activity ended. Sending or receiving messages on the dialog will reset this timer.

This is not to be confused with invoke timeouts, which apply to individual operations sent on a dialog.

tcap-fibers.max-pool-size

Configures the upper limit on tcapsim worker threads. This setting must be greater than or equal to 1, and changes to it will only take effect next time the RA is activated.

Sample configuration

For example, the diagram in About the ITU TCAP Simulator shows a configuration with the following properties:

Node 101 and Node 102:

stack=tcapsim
local-sccp-address="type=c7,ri=pcssn,pc=1,ssn=221"
tcapsim.gt-table=/home/user/rhino/rhino/cgin/gtt.txt
tcapsim.listen-addresses="{101}0.0.0.0:10221,{102}0.0.0.0:10231"
tcapsim.remote-addresses="127.0.0.1:10222"
tcapsim.max-dialogs=60000
default-activity-timeout=300

Scenario Simulator:

stack=tcapsim
local-sccp-address="type=c7,ri=pcssn,pc=2,ssn=222"
tcapsim.gt-table=/home/user/rhino/rhino/cgin/gtt.txt
tcapsim.listen-addresses="127.0.0.1:10222"
tcapsim.remote-addresses="127.0.0.1:10221,127.0.0.1:10231"

Running the Simulator

Create and start resource adaptor entities

To run the ITU TCAP simulator:

Create and start all resource adaptor entities required to create the mesh.

Ensure that all simulators have completely created their connections before trying to use them.

Otherwise, exceptions may be thrown by simulators that haven’t yet been able to complete all of their connections.

Use the simulated ITU TCAP stack just as you would normally use the CGIN unified resource adaptor.

No modifications to services are necessary.

Starting the simulated ITU TCAP stack with other tools

To start the simulated ITU TCAP stack, the ITU TCAP simulator just needs the ITU TCAP simulator resource adaptor entity parameters. You can use any tools that work to:

1	Create a properties file with the required simulated ITU TCAP properties.
2	Pass this file to the `create-local-endpoint` command in the Scenario Simulator.

Create a properties file with the required simulated ITU TCAP properties.

Pass this file to the create-local-endpoint command in the Scenario Simulator.

For more information, see the Scenario Simulator User Guide.

For example Appendix A. Full Command Listing documents the following command:

"create-local-endpoint": Creates (or re-creates) a local endpoint using the
        address of the given endpoint
    Usage: create-local-endpoint <endpoint-name> <protocol-adaptor-type>
        [-propsfile properties-file]
         -propsfile - Configuration properties for the endpoint
    Example: create-local-endpoint theSwitch cgin -propsfile
        config/cgin.properties