Signalling protocol for broadband ISDN

The authors focus on a signaling protocol for the long-term broadband ISDN (B-ISDN), for which work is being done by CCITT SGs XVIII and XI. A brief description of services handling which must be performed by a broadband network is given. The advantages of the call control and bearer control functional separation, needed to support the complex services offered by a broadband network, are discussed. Since the current ISDN Signaling System No.7 is not able to satisfy the signaling requirements of a broadband network, a new protocol is needed and new concepts have to be introduced. Consequently, the main principles of the open systems interconnection (OSI) application layer structure (ALS) are presented. A protocol based on these concepts is the ISCP. It is the best candidate for the target B-ISDN signaling protocol. A number of identifiers are analyzed, whose function is to correlate call control entities with bearer control entities in an ISCP environment.<>