The Channel Associated Signaling (CAS) is a method of signalling where each traffic
channel has a dedicated signaling channel.
In other words, the signalling for a particular traffic circuit is permanently associated with
that circuit. Channel-associated call-control is still widely used today, mostly in South
America, Africa, Australia, and in Europe. The Mediatrix unit uses the MFC/R2 CAS protocol. This
is a compelled sequence multi-frequency code signaling. MFC/R2 can be used on international as
well as national connections. In MFC/R2 signaling, the equipment units at the exchanges that send
and receive digits, and the signaling between these units, are usually referred to as register
and interregister signalling. The terms forwards and backwards are heavily used in descriptions
of MFC/R2.
Forwards is the direction from the calling party to the called party.
Backwards is the direction from the called party to the calling party.
The interregister, or interswitch, signals in MFC/R2 signaling (defined in ITU-T Q.441 )
are encoded as the presence of 2, and only 2, out of 6 specific tones, spaced at 120 Hz
intervals.
Two sets of tones are defined:
one for forward signals
one for backward signals
There are 15 combinations of 2 out of 6 tones i.e.:
10 signals for the digits 0 to 9
additional signals available for supervisory purposes
MFC/R2 uses a separate set of frequencies for the forward and backwards directions. The
interregister signals are sent in-band. They may pass transparently through several nodes in
the network between the two terminating switches. The signals are arranged in groups. When a
call begins, the calling end uses group I signals, and the called end uses group A. The called
end may tell the calling end to switch to using group II and group B signals, or to switch
back to group A. In some countries, there are also groups III and C, used for caller number
transfer. Groups III and C do not exist in the ITU specifications. MFC/R2 uses a system called
compelled signaling. To ensure the sending end never sends signals too fast, each signal from
the sending end results in an acknowledgement from the receiving end. The sending end is
instructed signal by signal what it should send next – a dialed digit, a digit of caller ID,
etc.
The MFC/R2 digital line signals (defined in ITU-T Q.421) are the ABCD bits of CAS in
timeslot 16 of an E1.
They represent the states of the line, and are similar to the states of an analog line. In
general, only bits A and B are used. In most systems, bits C and D are set to fixed values and
never change. There are some national variants where bit C or D may be used for metering
pulses.
The R2 Auto-configuration feature allows the detection and the configuration of a
specific or of all R2 interfaces so that the R2 link goes up and becomes usable with a minimal
user interaction.
When launching an auto-configuration process, it stops automatically when all selected
interfaces have been tested. For each interface, the auto-configuration process is considered
successful when the link becomes up or a failure when all combinations have been tried without
having a link up.
During R2 Auto-Configuration, the following parameters are updated:
It is possible to save a set of configurations as presets for future R2
connections.
These preset files are located in the file system's persistent memory. They differ depending on
the Mediatrix unit you are using. Using preset files is especially useful for units that do not
use the default values provided by Media5.
Note: Only script files can be used as R2 Preset configuration.
It is also possible to
export the current R2 configuration in a preset.
Note: User-defined preset files are not kept in
the event of a factory reset.
Installed configuration scripts/images are listed in the DGW
Web interface, under Management/File.
Setting the Mediatrix Unit to Use the R2 Signaling Protocol
Before you begin
R2 signaling protocol can only be used on E1 line type.
Steps
Go to System/Hardware.
In the PRI Cards Configuration table,
from the Signaling
selection list, located on the same line as the port you wish to dedicate to R2
signaling, choose R2.
Note: When changing from R2 to ISDN or ISDN to R2, you must change your routes
accordingly (Call Router/Route Config).
From the Line Type
selection list, make sure E1 is selected.
From the Select Interface selection
list, choose an interface.
Note: The number of available interfaces depends on the Mediatrix unit
model.
In the Country table,
from the Override Default Country Settings selection list, choose Enable.
Click Reset to Default
to update the values with the selected country.
Note: Once the Override Default Country Settings is enabled, the indicated values in the table are not from the specified
country in the Country Selection field.
To get the appropriate values of the selected country, you must reset the
table values first.
When prompted to, restart required services.
In the R2 Signaling Variants,
complete the fields as required.
Click Apply.
Again, when prompted to, restart required services.
Modifying the default values of the Timers Variants should be performed by qualified
technicians unless you are an expert in R2 CAS protocol.
Steps
Go to R2/Timers.
From the Select Interface selection
list, choose an interface.
Note: The number of available interfaces depends on the Mediatrix unit
model.
In the Country table,
from the Override Default Country Settings selection list, choose Enable.
Click Reset to Default
to update the values with the selected country.
Note: Once the Override Default Country Settings is enabled, the indicated values in the table are not from the specified
country in the Country Selection. To get
the appropriate values of the selected country, you must reset the table
values first.
When prompted to, restart required services.
In the R2 Timers Variants, complete the fields as required.
Note: Changing a timeout value could require to adjust other timeout values in
R2 Timers Variants and R2 Digit Timers Variants. Refer to the parameter
description for more details.
Click Apply.
Again, when prompted to, restart required services.
Overriding Country Default R2 Digit Timers Variants
Before you begin
Modifying the default values of the Digit Timers Variants should be performed by
qualified technicians unless you are an expert in R2 CAS protocol.
Steps
Go to R2/Digit Timers.
From the Select Interface selection
list, choose an interface.
Note: The number of available interfaces depends on the Mediatrix unit
model.
In the Country table,
from the Override Default Country Settings selection list, choose Enable.
Click Reset to Default
to update the values with the selected country.
Note: Once the Override Default Country Settings is enabled, the indicated values in the table are not from the specified
country in the Country Selection. To get
the appropriate values of the selected country, you must reset the table
values first.
In the R2 Digit Timers Variants,
complete the fields as required.
Note: Changing a timeout value could require to adjust other timeout values in
R2 Timers Variants and R2 Digit Timers Variants. Refer to the parameter
description for more details.
From the Select Interface selection
list, choose an interface.
Note: The number of available interfaces depends on the Mediatrix unit
model.
In the Country table,
from the Override Default Country Settings selection list, choose Enable.
Click Reset to Default
to update the values with the selected country.
Note: Once the Override Default Country Settings is enabled, the indicated values in the table are not from the specified
country in the Country Selection. To get
the appropriate values of the selected country, you must reset the table
values first.
In the R2 Link Timers Variants,
complete the fields as required.
From the Select Interface selection
list, choose an interface.
Note: The number of available interfaces depends on the Mediatrix unit
model.
In the Country table,
from the Override Default Country Settings selection list, choose Enable.
Click Reset to Default
to update the values with the selected country.
Note: Once the Override Default Country Settings is enabled, the indicated values in the table are not from the specified
country in the Country Selection. To get
the appropriate values of the selected country, you must reset the table
values first.
When prompted to, restart required services.
In the R2 Tones Backward Groups and
R2 Tones Forward Groups, complete the fields as required.
Note: For more details on Forward tones/groups and Backward tones/groups, refer
to the Interregister Signals
section.
Click Apply.
Again, when prompted to, restart required services.
The PRI statistics are available in the Hardware.StatsInfo table. To
reset the statistics, you must set "ResetStats" in the
Hardware.StatsInfo.ResetStats parameter.
If you are not familiar with the meaning of the fields and
buttons, click Show Help, located at the upper right corner of
the Web page. When activated, the fields and buttons that offer online help will
change to green and if you hover over them, the description will bedisplayed.
Several types of documents were created to clearly present the information you are looking for.
Our documentation includes:
Release notes: Generated at each GA release, this document includes the known and
solved issues of the software. It also outlines the changes and the new features the release
includes.
Configuration notes: These documents are created to facilitate the configuration of a
specific use case. They address a configuration aspect we consider that most users will need to
perform. However, in some cases, a configuration note is created after receiving a question
from a customer. They provide standard step-by-step procedures detailing the values of the
parameters to use. They provide a means of validation and present some conceptual information.
The configuration notes are specifically created to guide the user through an aspect of the
configuration.
Technical bulletins: These documents are created to facilitate the configuration of a
specific technical action, such as performing a firmware upgrade.
Hardware installation guide: They provide the detailed procedure on how to safely and
adequately install the unit. It provides information on card installation, cable connections,
and how to access for the first time the Management interface.
User guide: The user guide explains how to customise to your needs the configuration
of the unit. Although this document is task oriented, it provides conceptual information to
help the user understand the purpose and impact of each task. The User Guide will provide
information such as where and how TR-069 can be configured in the Management Interface, how to
set firewalls, or how to use the CLI to configure parameters that are not available in the
Management Interface.
Reference guide: This exhaustive document has been created for advanced users. It
includes a description of all the parameters used by all the services of the Mediatrix units.
You will find, for example, scripts to configure a specific parameter, notification messages
sent by a service, or an action description used to create Rulesets. This document includes
reference information such as a dictionary, and it does not include any step-by-step
procedures.
This document contains information that is proprietary to Media5 Corporation.
Media5 Corporation reserves all rights to this document as well as to the Intellectual Property
of the document and the technology and know-how that it includes and represents.
This publication cannot be reproduced, neither in whole nor in part, in any form whatsoever,
without written prior approval by Media5 Corporation.
Media5 Corporation reserves the right to revise this publication and make changes at any time
and without the obligation to notify any person and/or entity of such revisions and/or
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