TABLE OF CONTENTS The Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP) is much like X.25 in the services it provides. The only significant feature added by SCCP is global title translation. Many applications within the Signaling System 7 (SS7) network rely on this routing feature. We will discuss global title translation in full detail a little later.
SCCP is a protocol used for accessing databases within the network. As part of level 4, SCCP relies on the services of the Message Transfer Part (MTP) in networks based on Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) or the MTP3 User Adaptation Layer (M3UA), MTP2 User Adaptation Layer (M2UA), Simple Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), or Transport Adaptation Layer Interface (TALI) in Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The primary difference between MTP and SCCP is in the addressing scheme and routing. SCCP also provides connection-oriented and connectionless services, whereas the MTP is strictly datagram.
The connectionless services provided by the SCCP are currently supported in American National Standards Institute (ANSI) networks. However, if one examines the procedures closely, the protocol uses a number of procedures and parameters to emulate connection-oriented services. In fact, SCCP has the capability to maintain a dialog with another network entity, just as if a virtual connection existed between the two resources. SCCP does not, however, establish a connection before beginning the dialog hence the reason it is considered connectionless. Still, the service it delivers is very much like connection-oriented service, which is why I classify it as a...
