Minimum-cost dimensioning model for common channel signaling networks under joint performance and reliability constraints

The common channel signaling (CCS) network using the signaling system no.7 protocol is a special-purpose packet switching network transporting various types of network signaling messages between telephone exchanges and/or network databases. Because of the criticality of the information that is being carried, CCS networks should be highly reliable and provide fast response times. They should be dimensioned with sufficient redundancy so that the performance requirements of the networks are satisfied even when a large number of the network components fail. An efficient method is developed to calculate the joint performance and reliability measure, called performability, between an arbitrarily chosen source-destination pair of signaling points in a CCS network. An iterative optimal dimensioning procedure is developed to minimize the total link cost of the network subject to the required end-to-end performability constraints between the signaling points. Using examples, it is shown that the developed dimensioning method overcomes shortcomings of a conventional link-by-link dimensioning method