In this section:



IMPORTANT

Ribbon recommends using the Transparency Profile to configure transparency on the SBC Core for new deployments, as well as applying additional transparency configurations to existing deployments. Do not use IP Signaling Profile flags in these scenarios because the flags will be retired in upcoming releases.

Refer to the SBC SIP Transparency Implementation Guide for additional information.

Use the Zone window to create and work with zones. A zone is used to group a set of objects in a particular customer environment. A zone can also be referenced by a SIP or H.323 trunk group.


Note

Trunk group names must be unique across all address contexts, zones, and trunk group types. 

Also, IP peer names must be unique across all address contexts, and zones.

To View the Zone List

On the SBC main screen, navigate to one of the following paths:

  • Configuration > System Provisioning > Category: Base Provisioning > Zone
  • Configuration > System Provisioning > Category: SIP Carrier Peering > Zone
  • All > Address Context > Zone

By default all zones are listed in the Zone window. Select an Address Context to list only the zones in that address context.

To Create a Zone

To create a new zone:

  1. In Address Context, select the address context in which you want to create the zone. The New Zone option becomes available.
  2. Click New Zone



  3. Use the following table to configure the zone and then click Save.

    Zone Parameters:


    Parameter


    Description

    Name

    Specifies the name of the zone. Must be 1 to 23 characters. The name must be unique across all address contexts.

    ID

    specifies a unique numeric ID for this zone. The value ranges from 1 to 4096. The ID must be unique across all address contexts.

    Disable Zone Level Loop Detection
    • If Disabled (default), the Global Loop Detection flag takes precedence.

    • If Enabled, Loop Detection is disabled irrespective of the Global Loop Detection flag.

    DNS Group

    Select the name of the default DNS server group for the zone.

    Remote Device Type

    Select the type of device facing this Zone. The options are:

    • None (default)
    • Access Device
    • App Server
    • Core
    • Nni
    Domain NameSpecifies the name of the fully qualified domain name for this Zone. The name must be 1 to 63 characters.
    SIP Register Relay

    Enable this option flag to relay REGISTER messages using the routes from a PSX. Options are:

    • Disabled (default)
    • Enabled
    Dialog Transparency

    Specifies if dialog transparency is enabled for SIP messages processed in the zone. If enabled, SBC sends "Call-ID", "From" tag, and "To" tag transparently in the outgoing message.

    Note

    The parameter Dialog Transparency must be enabled in both the ingress and egress zones. Otherwise, the sonusSbxDialogTransparencyMisConfiguredNotification alarm is raised on the zone in which the flag is disabled.


    Note

    To enable Dialog Transparency for a zone, first disable all SIP Sig Ports for that zone.

    • Disabled (default): SBC translates the dialog identifiers in the Target-Dialog header received in INVITE and REFER messages and sends the Target-Dialog header with translated dialog identifiers on the other leg.
    • Enabled: Target-Dialog header translation is not performed. However, the header is transparently passed if configured in transparency profile.
    Note

     The following features are not supported on the SBC when Dialog Transparency is enabled:

    • Support of local handling of REFER (REFER relay is supported)
    • Late media support 
    • Dialog Transparency support in REGISTER
    • NICE recording call flows
    • GW-GW support



    For feature functionality and configuration guidance, see Downstream Forking Support and Configuring Downstream Forking with Dialog Transparency.

    Generate Call ID with Dialog Transparency

    Use this option to natively generate the Call ID even when dialog transparency is enabled. The Call ID is generated on the egress side. 

    • Disabled (default)
    • Enabled
    Note

    You must enable 'Dialog Transparency' to use this flag.

    The SBC sends out multiple 18x messages (when using the Dialog Transparency feature) even when the ingress leg does not support 100rel/PRACK. The SBC processes all 18x messages with SDP answers (with different codecs) received at the egress leg, and then sends ingress SDP answers in all of the 18x messages at the ingress leg.

    Additionally, this flag is added at the Zone level for the SBC to natively generate the Call ID on the egress leg when the Dialog Transparency is enabled.

    Note

    To use this feature, you must enable the following flags:

    • Transcode Free Transparency – on both legs
    • Dialog Transparency – on both legs
    • Downstream Forking Support – on the egress leg (The SBC supports up to 10 forked calls)


    Note

    The SBC transparently relays the PEM header to the other leg only when the P Early Media transparency flag is enabled.

    Retarget Support

    Note

    Beginning in release 8.0, Load Balancing Service configuration applies only to media SBC (M-SBC) clusters in distributed SBC SWe deployments. The M-SBC load balancing distributes media requests among nodes. Load balancing of REGISTER or INVITE requests through retargeting is no longer supported and should not be configured.

    Use this option to either disable load balancing or use the system-level load balancing settings for this zone.

    • Disabled – Load balancing is disabled for this zone regardless of the system level settings.
    • Use System Level Configuration (default) – The system-level settings for Invite Retarget Mode and Register Retarget Mode are applied to this zone. Refer to System - Load Balancing Service for system-level settings.
    Advance Peer Control

    Use this option to control whether the Mode, Action and Block Direction configuration is active in IP peers within the zone. Refer to System Provisioning - IP Peer for information on these options. Options are:

    • Disabled (default)
    • Enabled
    Flexible Policy Adapter Profile

    Use this Zone/Trunk Group parameter to associate a SIP Adapter Profile configured for flexible policy (Profile Type=Flexible Policy) with a particular Zone/Trunk Group.

    If a Flexible Policy Adapter Profile is provisioned both at the trunk group and zone levels, the trunk group’s profile takes precedence. If an Input Adapter Profile is configured, it is applied first to manipulate the PDU and then the Flexible Policy Adapter Profile rules are applied on the manipulated PDU.

    NOTE Flexible Policy is not supported on ERE and is intended for use with an external PSX only.


    Register Contact Profile NameSpecifies the name of a Register Contact Profile to assign to a zone. The SBC uses the Contact header elements specified in the profile as additional keys when it creates or retrieves registration control blocks (RCBs) for users registering through this zone.
    SIP Header For Anonymous Call

    Set this parameter to Remote Party ID to allow the SBC to pick the SIP header for calls from surrogate registered endpoints when the username in the From header is received as anonymous.

    • None – The SBC uses default behavior.
    • Remote Party ID – The SBC picks the SIP Header when a username in the FROM header is received as anonymous.
    Crank Back ProfileSelect a crankback profile to apply to the zone. For flexibility, crankback profiles can be assigned at three levels: trunk group, zone, and global. By default, the "default" crankback profile is assigned at the SBC global level, while the trunk group and zone level crankback profile settings are initially empty (" "). Thus in the SBC default configuration, trunk groups and zones inherit the default crankback profile from the global level. However, you have the option to configure a profile at the trunk group or zone level. The user-specified profile assigned at the most specific level takes precedence.

To Edit a Zone

To edit a zone:

  1. Click the radio button adjacent to the zone you want to edit. 
  2. Make the required changes and click Save.

To Delete a Zone

To delete a zone:

  1. Click the radio button adjacent to the zone you want to delete.
  2. Click the delete icon (X) at the end of the row.
  3. Confirm the deletion when prompted. 

Zone Commands

The zone commands are available from both system-level and configure modes. These command allows you to perform system-level commands against a particular zone, such as recovering blacklisted endpoints and resetting statistics counts on all signaling ports.

When a zone is selected from the Zone list window, the  Zone Commands window appears at the bottom of the Zone window.

Select a command from the Commands drop-down list:

The commands are described in the following table:

CommandsDescription
CAC Non Register End Point Remove Entry

Removes any CAC entry for the specified source IP address.

  • Source Ip Address—Specifies the source IP address for the CAC entry to be removed.
SIP ARS Endpoint Recovery All

Recovers all blacklisted endpoints in this zone.

NOTE: This command only applies for peers blacklisted using the ARS mechanism (not via PATHCHECK).

SIP ARS Endpoint Recovery By IP

Recovers a blacklisted endpoints in this zone identified by IP address and port. 

  • IP Address – Endpoint's IP address.
  • Port – Endpoint's port number.

NOTE: This command only applies for peers blacklisted using the ARS mechanism (not via PATHCHECK).

SIP Sig Conn Reset AllResets all the statistics counts to zero on all SIP signaling port connections.
SIP Sig Port Reset AllResets all the statistics counts to zero on all SIP signaling ports.


Note

Sub-system signaling ports (such as SIP signaling ports, relay ports, D-SBC signaling ports, H.323 signaling ports) must use different IP addresses because each IP address adds one system ACL, and IP addresses are not prioritized when measured in the same ACL. This best practice will avoid any IP addressing overlaps and ensure proper policing of packets.