Editing Signaling gateway (section)

{{Unreferenced|date=December 2009}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2024}}

A '''signaling gateway''' is a network component responsible for transferring [[Signaling (telecommunications)|signaling]] messages (i.e. information related to call establishment, billing, location, short messages, address conversion, and other services) between [[Common Channel Signaling|Common Channel Signaling (CCS)]] nodes that communicate using different protocols and transports. Transport conversion is often from [[Signaling System 7|SS7]] to [[Internet Protocol|IP]]. 

A [[SIGTRAN]] Signaling Gateway is a network component that performs packet level translation of signaling from common channel signaling (based upon SS7) to SIGTRAN signaling (based upon IP). The concept of the SIGTRAN signaling gateway was introduced in the [[Internet Engineering Task Force|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 [[Voice over Internet Protocol|VoIP]] deployments. The signaling gateway function can also be included within the larger operational domain of a [[Signal Transfer Point|Signal Transfer Point (STP)]].  

Protocol conversion gateways can also convert from one network operational paradigm to another – for example, [[Session Initiation Protocol|SIP]] to [[ISDN User Part|ISUP]] for call control, SIP to [[Transaction Capabilities Application Part|TCAP]] for address translation, or SIP to [[Mobile Application Part|MAP]] for location or presence.