This chapter:
Alliance Generation (AG) ISDN protocol software allows you to write CT Access or AG Access applications that communicate with T1 or E1 trunks to perform voice processing functions and call control using ISDN Common Channel Signaling protocols.
AG ISDN software is designed to use one or more AG Quad, AG Quad Connect, AG Dual, AG-T11 or AG-E1 boards as the physical interface to trunk lines. In addition to trunk interfaces, most of these boards also feature powerful on-board digital signal processing (DSP) resources that can handle much of the call control and voice processing overhead. For more information, see Section 1.4.1 and Section 1.4.2.
The AG ISDN software can be configured to access ISDN services at any of several levels:
This AG ISDN configuration is called the NCC configuration. For more information about this configuration, see your AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual.
This AG ISDN configuration is called the ACU configuration. For more information about this configuration, see your AG ISDN Messaging API Developer's Reference Manual.
This AG ISDN configuration is called the LAPD configuration. For more information about this configuration, see your AG ISDN Messaging API Developer's Reference Manual.
You specify the level to address when initializing the ISDN protocol stack, as described in your AG ISDN Messaging API Developer's Reference Manual and AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual.
ISDN is implemented differently around the world. For this reason, NMS provides several versions of its AG ISDN software for different regions. The package for a region contains the software modules you need to allow an AG board to communicate on a T1 or E1 trunk in one or more countries in that region.
The AG ISDN software package for a given region contains the following:
The sections that follow briefly describe each of these components.
This file contains released information that does not appear in other documentation. The file is named readme.isd. Consult this file to learn where the AG ISDN software components are located.
This component runs on the host computer. It is used by the application program to interact with the ISDN protocol stacks running on the AG board.
The library is supplied as an extension to the ADI library. It is a dynamic-link library (DLL) under OS/2 and Windows NT, and it is a shared object under UNIX. The library has different names for different operating systems:
|
Operating System |
AG Access Lib Name |
CT Access Lib Name |
|
Windows NT, OS/2 |
isdn.lib and isdn.dll |
adiisdn.lib and adiisdn.dll |
|
UNIX |
libisdn.so |
libadiisdn.so |
Standard AG ISDN header files are also supplied. These are required by your applications to communicate with the ISDN protocol stack on the AG board.
The runfile is the basic low-level software which an AG board requires to support ISDN. The runfile is transferred from the host into on-board memory using the agmon utility when the AG board boots.
Several runfiles are supplied in each software package. Use the file specific to the region and board type appropriate for your setup. (See readme.isd for details on the available countries and variations.) Each file is called sysbixx.run, where:
Here are some example file names:
|
Protocol Stack |
Runfile Name (AG-T1/E1) |
Runfile Name (AG Quad) |
|
US |
systius.run |
sysqius.run |
|
Europe |
systieu.run |
sysqieu.run |
|
Asia |
systias.run |
sysqias.run |
This file contains information which agmon reads to determine how to set up the AG board for use. This file also contains country-specific information.
A sample AG configuration file is installed on your system when you install the software package. This file is named agisxx.cfg, where xx indicates the region: us, eu or as. If both an E1-specific and T1-specific file exist for a region, the file name is followed with e1 or t1. Here are some example file names:
|
File Description |
Filename |
|
US |
agisus.cfg |
|
Europe |
agiseu.cfg |
|
Asia, E1 |
agisase1.cfg |
|
Asia, T1 |
agisast1.cfg |
This file must be tailored to describe your hardware and software setup. For details, see Chapter 3.
Several demonstration programs are included in the software package, along with their source code files and makefiles. They are:
|
Demonstration Program Name |
Description |
For more information, see... |
|
inoutadi |
Uses TCPs with AG Access to receive and/or place calls. Demonstrates the operation of various TCPs, including the ISDN TCP, on a live trunk. Provides an example C code implementation of a two-way trunk application using a Natural Call Control API. |
AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual |
|
inoutcta |
Provides exactly the same functionality as inoutadi, except under CT Access. It also demonstrates operation in Non-Exclusive Mode. |
AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual |
|
isdndemo |
Provides an example of a digital trunk application that uses the Messaging API. Shows how to use this API to receive and place calls on an ISDN trunk. |
AG ISDN Messaging API Developer's Reference Manual |
|
isdncta, isdnadi |
Daemon programs (see section 1.3.6). |
AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual |
Included are two daemon programs, isdncta and isdnadi. These programs are useful only if you are configuring the AG ISDN software to access ISDN call control services in NCC configuration (that is, using the standard Natural Call Control API) The daemons start and stop the ISDN protocol stack. For more information about the daemons, see your AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual.
One trunk control program (TCP) is included, named isd0.tcp. This TCP is useful only if you are configuring the AG ISDN software to access ISDN call control services in NCC configuration.
The TCP is transferred to on-board memory by agmon. An instance of the TCP is associated with each CTA context. A TCP mediates transactions between CT Access/AG Access, DSP resources and the ISDN protocol stack. For more information, see your AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual.
If you install a European or Asian package, country-specific parameter files are installed. Each file contains country-specific values for call progress tones that allow the TCP to adapt to the specific ISDN implementation in a given country.
No parameter files are installed with United States packages, since the software is parameterized for the U.S. by default.
These files are useful only if you are configuring the AG ISDN software to access ISDN call control services in NCC configuration. For more information, see your AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual.
Each file is named isdcty.par, where cty is the three-character country code. For example, the code for Australia is aus, so the file for Australia is isdaus.par.
When you install a European or Asian package, you specify a "default" country. The file for the country you specify is duplicated, and the duplicate is named isd.par. This file is used by the inoutcta and inoutadi demonstration programs (described in your AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual).
|
WARNING: |
Changing the values of most of the parameters in the country-specific .par files may affect the regulatory approvals in the target country, and may cause your setup to malfunction. See your AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual to learn about the parameters that you can safely change. |
In addition to the AG ISDN software, you will need the following components to build an ISDN protocol application:
To perform MVIP switching under AG Access, you will also need NMS switching control software: SwitchPathTM and/or the SW Utility. (This software is not needed with CT Access, since CT Access includes a switching service - see section 1.4.1.)
Boards in the family of AG Quad products have up to four T1 or E1 trunk interfaces, and up to eight on-board DSPs which provide up to 120 ports of call processing and up to 60 ports of programmable voice processing. Each board occupies a PCI slot in the host computer.
AG Quad boards connect to other boards via the H.100 bus. The H.100 bus allows the AG boards to share data, signaling, and switching information with boards on the H.100 bus and the MVIP bus (see section 1.4.2). For example, you can connect two or more AG Quad boards for applications that perform trunk-to-trunk switching. You can add additional DSP resources, analog station interfaces, or loop start line interfaces using other AG boards. You can also use compatible products from other manufacturers with AG Quad boards.
For detailed information on AG Quad boards, see the AG Quad Installation and Developer's Manual.
AG-T1 and AG-E1 boards interface one T1 or E1 trunk with the computer. The AG boards also have eight on-board DSPs. Each board occupies a standard ISA slot in the host computer.
The AG-T1 and AG-E1 can connect to other boards via the MVIP bus. The MVIP bus is an interoperable subset of the H.100 bus.
For detailed information on AG-T1 and AG-E1 boards, see the AG-T1 and AG-E1 Installation and Developer's Manual.
Note: ISDN is only supported on AG-T1 and AG-E1 boards revision D-1 and later. If you are using AG-T1 or AG-E1 boards that were not provided with your AG ISDN package, check the revision number.
|
WARNING: |
Natural MicroSystems obtains board-level approvals certificates for supported countries. Some countries require that you obtain system-level approvals before connecting a system to the public network. To learn what approvals you require, contact the appropriate regulatory authority in the target country. |
CT Access is a complete development environment for telephony applications. It provides a standard set of telephony functions grouped into logical services, each of which has a standard API. CT Access provides functions for telephony-related tasks such as call control, tone and DTMF generation and detection, and voice playing and recording.
CT Access includes a service which controls switching on MVIP-compliant devices. You can use this service to make or break connections, send patterns, sample data, and other functions. This service supports both MVIP-95 and MVIP-90 specifications. Alternatively, you can use the swish standalone utility to control switching interactively or in a batch mode.
For general information about installing and using CT Access, see your CT Access documentation.
AG Access is a development environment for controlling telephony operations on AG boards. AG Access provides functions for call control, tone and DTMF generation and detection, voice playing and recording, and more.
AG Access provides an MVIP enhanced compliant switching driver. To control switching in AG Access applications, you can use the NMS SwitchPath library of switching functions (sold separately), or the SW Utility.
For general information about installing and using AG Access, see the AG Access documentation.
When you set up your system, you specify configuration information for all boards in the system in an AG configuration file. This information includes: whether a board performs MVIP switching, which board is the MVIP clock master, which software modules to transfer to the AG board's memory on startup (including which TCPs to load), and other settings. Chapter 3 describes how to modify your AG configuration file to set up your AG ISDN software.
To initialize your boards based on the information in the AG configuration file, run the agmon utility. agmon transfers to each board all software modules specified in the file, and performs any other configuration activities needed. Leave it running so that it can monitor the AG boards for errors and other events.
Whenever you make a change to your AG configuration file, restart agmon to make your changes effective.
agmon is installed with CT Access and AG Access. For more information, see the AG Access Installation Manual and AG Runtime Configuration and Developer's Manual.
DSP files enable the AG board's on-board digital signal processors to perform certain tasks, such as voice recording or playback. DSP files are transferred from the host into on-board memory when agmon runs.
DSP files have the extension .dsp. Several DSP files are installed with your CT Access or AG Access software. You specify the files to use for your configuration in the AG configuration file. (To learn how, see Chapter 3.)
Refer to the ADI Service Function Reference Manual or AG Access Function Reference Manual for more general information about DSP files.
To create an AG ISDN application, perform the steps described in this table:
|
Step |
Where Step Is Documented |
|
1. Install AG Quad T, AG Quad E, AG Dual T, AG Dual E, AG Quad Connect T, AG Quad Connect E, AG-T1, or AG-E1 boards in a system, and any other boards you will need in your application. |
The installation manuals for your AG boards. |
|
2. Install CT Access or AG Access. |
CT Access Installation Manual, AG Access Installation Manual. |
|
3. Install the AG ISDN software for each country or region that your application will be used in. |
Chapter 2 of this manual. |
|
4. Edit your AG configuration file so it describes all boards in your system. |
Chapter 3 of this manual, the installation manuals for your AG boards, the AG Access Installation Manual, and the AG Runtime Configuration and Developer's Manual. |
|
5. Test your hardware installation. |
The installation manuals for your AG boards. |
|
6. Write your application. |
AG ISDN for Natural Call Control Developer's Manual, AG ISDN Messaging API Developer's Reference Manual, and the CT Access or AG Access documentation set. |
Natural MicroSystems, Inc.
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1 Note that ISDN is only supported on AG-T1 and AG-E1 boards revision D-1 or later. If you are using AG-T1 or AG-E1 boards that were not provided with your AG ISDN package, check the revision number.
