CS-IC Elements

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The CS-IC is a multi-tiered, highly scalable, distributed software system that executes on commercial SUN servers, interconnected over an underlying IP data network. A service provider can elect to start with a small system and grow it to a very large one, spanning multiple geographic centers, by adding components as the traffic and end-user volume increase. At a high level the CS-IC can be described as a distributed, IP-network-based system providing traditional switch functions of call control, call routing, signaling gateway, and media device control in addition to backoffice functions in support of provisioning, billing, and network operations. The CS-IC building blocks or elements are depicted in the graphic.

Element Management System (EMS): The EMS provisions all CS-IC components and enables the modular and distributed network solution to be easily managed from a single switch. It proactively monitors the status of the system’s elements. It provides call tracing, diagnostics, performance statistics, traffic reports and browsing of call detail records stored in the CDR manager.

CDR Element (CDRE): The CDRE is responsible for the CS-IC billing and data analysis functions. It centralizes the billing data formatting and transport functions. CDRE is responsible for generating one single billing record for one call.

Events Collector (EC): The EC collects and stores billing and call-related events from the various CS-IC elements for subsequent processing of reports and CDRs.

Event Relay Server (ERS): The ERS enables CS-IC to integrate with the third-party operational support systems (OSS) such as event monitoring applications and fraud management systems in a deployed ControlSwitch network. It relays events in realtime to the clients in an open and standard XML format for ease of integration with the customized event processing and monitoring applications.

Policy Element (PE): The PE delivers unmatched flexibility with policies combining approximately a hundred and sixty parameters. It responds to service policy queries with treatments based on a database of provisioned policies. It supports a growing variety of service policies including routing, screening, announcement, IN service triggers, QoS, registration, and authentication. Its customized policy creation and provisioning is GUI-based, and a realtime in-memory hierarchical database enables an extremely high throughput.

Quality of Service Server (QoS): The QoS Server provides a mechanism for feedback-based reporting and routing to assure service and guarantee SLAs. It monitors pre-established concurrent calls and imposes limitations based on Trunk Groups, Prefixes, CIC and TNS. In addition it provides ASR/ACD-based routing and reporting.

Directory Service Engine (DSE): Veraz DSE provides support for directory lookups and number translations natively via an optimized large directory query solution. For large directory applications such as LNP or carrier ENUM, the DSE can scale up to four hundred million entries.

Legal Intercept Data Access Point (LIDAP): The LIDAP performs legal interception provisioning functionality. It communicates with a mediation device for the assignment of target information into a database and replies to queries from SEE to determine whether the call shall be tagged for interception or not.

Service Execution Element (SEE): The SEE allows for the rapid delivery of enhanced user services. By operating as a protocol-agnostic engine, services can be created regardless of the underlying framework. SEE executes the service logic within the CS-IC and can serve as a service broker when coordination is required across multiple external application platforms. Flexible adapters enable SEE services to combine resources residing in CS-IC elements as well as external application systems such as IN systems and SIP-based application servers. Rapid services creation, deployment, and activation are enabled via XML scripting. SEE is based on the Services Logic Execution Environment (SLEE) and is developed in C++. Some of the services provided are announcements, post-paid, account codes, toll free, collect call, IVR services and IN services.

Application Server (AS): Value-added services can be implemented easily and quickly via third-party application servers or natively via the CS-IC SEE. Value-added services such as calling cards (prepaid/postpaid/travel), conferencing, call center, messaging, VoIP VPN, account codes, premium number with IVR, call block, and collect call, have already been deployed by Veraz customers.

Call Control Element (CCE): The CCE supports protocol-specific call control and protocol mediation between PSTN facing (SS7/C7, ISDN-PRI, CAS) and generic call processing protocols and resource management (TGs, channels, GWs) using MGCP/H.248.

Veraz Interconnect Border Control Function (IBCF): The IBCF enables global carrier IP peering, protects the carrier network against malicious attacks, and provides key security features including topology hiding, access control lists for “denial of service” attack prevention, and far-end and near-end NAT traversal to avoid NAT/Firewall complications.

IP Call Element (ICE): The ICE supports: SIP and H.323 protocol-specific processing; protocol mediation between VoIP protocols (SIP and H.323); CS-IC generic call processing protocols; resource management (IP Trunk Groups, IP Gateways, Gatekeepers) and SIP-I and SIP-T protocols.

Signaling Gateway (SG): The SG allows the CS-IC system to connect to the SSP, STP and SCP resources of the SS7/C7 network for PSTN call signaling and for intelligent networking services.

SIGTRAN Signaling Element (SSE): The SSE supports MTP level 3 User Adaptation (M3UA) that is defined within the SIGTRAN protocol suite. It uses Stream Control Transport Protocol (SCTP) and Internet Protocol (IP) as its underlying transport, enables service providers to take advantage of the IP transport network, and offers additional features.