Signaling gateway
A signaling gateway is a network component responsible for transferring signaling messages between Common Channel Signaling nodes that communicate using different protocols and transports. Transport conversion is often from SS7 to IP.
A SIGTRAN Signaling Gateway is a network component that performs packet level translation of signaling from common channel signaling to SIGTRAN signaling. The concept of the SIGTRAN signaling gateway was introduced in the IETF document: RFC 2719: Architectural Framework for Signaling Transport.
A signaling gateway can be implemented as an embedded component of some other network element, or can be provided as a stand-alone network element. For example: a signaling gateway is often part of a softswitch in modern VoIP deployments. The signaling gateway function can also be included within the larger operational domain of a Signal Transfer Point.
Protocol conversion gateways can also convert from one network operational paradigm to another – for example, SIP to ISUP for call control, SIP to TCAP for address translation, or SIP to MAP for location or presence.
