ON THE EFFICACY OF USING THE TRANSFER-CONTROLLED PROCEDURE DURING PERIODS OF STP PROCESSOR OVERLOAD IN SS7 NETWORKS

In this paper, we examine call completion performance, rather than mes sage throughput, in a Common Channel Signaling network in which the pr ocessing resources, and not transmission resources, of a Signaling Tra nsfer Point (STP) are overloaded. Specifically, we perform a transient analysis, via simulation, of a network consisting of a single Central Processor-based STP connecting many local exchanges. We consider the efficacy of using the Transfer Controlled (TFC) procedure when the net work call attempt rate exceeds the processing capability of the STP (t his is one of the actions suggested in [5]). We find the following: 1) the success of the control depends critically on the rate at which TF C's are sent; 2) use of the TFC procedure in the event of processor ov erload can provide reasonable call completion rates.