The N-Squared Simple Number Services product is a flexible multi-protocol solution for number treatment services which do not require complex voice interaction.

The product can perform number-handling services for requests received in CAMEL/INAP, SIP, MAP, ENUM/DNS, Diameter, REST, or other HTTP/TCP/UDP/SCTP protocol queries.

The service implementation can be defined as one or more treatments based on single or mixed-protocol features including database lookup, parameter evaluation, or back-end query in CAMEL/INAP, SIP, MAP (including redirection/handover), ENUM/DNS, Diameter, REST, or other HTTP/TCP/UDP/SCTP protocol queries.

N2SNS is appropriate for non-interactive, non-charged services, such as:

• Number Portability (Lookup & Response)
• Number Portability (Message Forwarding)
• Number Location (Location-Based Services, GMLC)
• Number Screening (e.g. Black-List, SPAM, Spoofing checks)
• Number Translation

All services are defined using a free-form Lua-scripting framework. This facilitates the simple definition of powerful, highly-customized services that tailored to the exact network integration and functional requirements of the site-specific deployment.

Out-of-the-box service scripts are provided with typical default behavior for those standard services listed above. Scripts

Supported protocols include:

• CAMEL/INAP InitialDP
• SIP INVITE
• MAP ATI/SRI/SRI-SM (Lookup/Response)
• MAP ATI/SRI/SRI-SM (Transfer/Redirect)
• ENUM
• Diameter

When processing calls in CAMEL or SIP, then N2SNS may be used to perform announcement interaction, with due consideration for platform sizing and licensing parameters.

For services which require rich-feature voice interaction, the appropriate product is N-Squared Automated Call Distribution (N2ACD) with its built-in call flow graphical service designer, or the N-Squared Interactive Voice Response (N2IVR) product which provides a comprehensive set of scriptable audio interaction features including announcements, menus, VXML support, and support for site-customized extended service features such as call-queuing and callback.

For the processing of voice calls requiring pre-paid charging control, or requiring other protocol conversion or control for ongoing voice calls or data sessions, then the relevant solution is the N-Squared Inter-Working Function (N2IWF) product.

Documentation

User & Technical Guide

• N2SNS Technical Guide (HTML Online) [Run-Time Deployment]
• N2SVCD Technical Guide (HTML Online) [Run-Time Framework]
• N2SIP Technical Guide (HTML Online) [Run-Time SIP Features]
• All-Product Alarm Guide (HTML Online) [Alarms & Statistics]

Protocol Conformance Statements

• N2SCP CAMEL/INAP Conformance (PDF Download)
• N2SIP SIP-SDP-RTP Conformance (PDF Download)
• N2SVCD SIGTRAN-TCAP Conformance (PDF Download)

Message Flows

INAP Porting

SIP Porting

ENUM Porting (In)

GMLC 3G/4G

MAP ATI (In)

MAP SRI-SM (In)

MAP SRI-SM (Xfr)

Image Gallery

Service Design

The number processing services executing within N2SNS can be customized for each site using free-form logic, written in the popular Lua Scripting Language - a lightweight, high-level, multi-paradigm programming language designed specifically for embedded use in applications such as this one.

The Lua language is a full-featured language including string manipulation, mathematics, control statements, lists, tables, exception handling, etc.

Depending on the service and the deployment details, the service script may perform a lookup of subscriber information from the N2SNS subscriber information database instance. This instance is typically installed as a co-located database copy for maximum availability and minimum response time.

The database provides table structure for common subscriber information, such as:

• Subscriber number-porting information
• Subscriber screening flags
• Subscriber network-migration flags (e.g. 3G/4G/5G, or MVNO ownership)

Within the service logic, the service implementation script may use the N2SNS service feature libraries to pull information from other upstream platforms, such as:

• Diameter requests to other network nodes (e.g. HSS, PCRF)
• MAP requests to other network nodes (e.g. HLR)
• ENUM/DNS requests to other network nodes
• REST/SOAP requests to other BSS platforms
• Third-party Database Lookup requests

Publicly available third-party Lua libraries can also be installed, in addition to the ability to create custom, site-specific library functions.

Deployment Notes

Platform Sizing

The N-Squared Simple Number Services platform is suitable for operators requiring number porting, number screening, GMLC location services, or other simple number processing for a single protocol or mixed-protocol environment, using any combination of CAMEL/INAP, SIP, MAP ATI, MAP SRI, MAP SRI-SM, ENUM Lookup, and/or Diameter. Multiple protocol combinations may be co-located on each node, to reduce deployment footprint.

The solution supports high TPS rates for operators of any size and is laterally scalable with N+1, 2N, or 2(N+1) deployment for High-Availability, Geographic Redundancy, and traffic growth using active/active or active/passive failover.

The solution supports bare metal, VM, or Kubernetes-based containers.

OSS/BSS Features

N2SNS has Administration GUIs for number management and operator configuration. A REST API is provided for automated provisioning from an external master source.

Standard Operational features include Alarms, Statistics, and Event Data Records.

The SNS service generates Event Data Records for the relevant protocol(s) including:

• CAMEL/INAP EDRs describing the lookup interaction.
• SIP EDRs describing the lookup interaction.
• MAP EDRs describing the lookup interaction.
• ENUM EDRs describing the lookup interaction.
• Diameter EDRs describing the lookup interaction.
• Supplementary custom service EDRs describing the service flow.

N2SVCD Components

The N2SNS is built on the N2SVCD framework. The following diagram shows the N2SVCD components which are relevant to a multi-protocol N2SNS deployment: