A system for routing Signaling System 7 (SS7) signaling traffic over an Internet
Protocol (IP) network includes two or more signaling points, each signaling point
capable of sending and receiving SS7 signaling traffic over an SS7 network and
a first Signaling Gateway (SG) adapted for receiving SS7 signaling traffic from
a first signaling point over the SS7 network. The first SG is configured to convert
SS7 signaling traffic into an IP message stream and to route the IP message stream
on the IP network to a second SG. The second SG is configured to receive the IP
message stream via peer-to-peer IP communications over said IP network with said
first SG and to recover the SS7 signaling traffic from the IP message stream. Peer-to-peer
communications between the first and second SG is supported by conversion layers
within the SG, in the form of an SCTP and M3UA protocols that allows peer IP signaling
between the two SGs.
