SBC Core Tips

This section describes general tips and other useful information for the SBC Core.

Congratulations on obtaining your SBC Core platform! Below is a summary of the steps to follow to get your SBC functional.

1. Create an IP plan. This plan lays out what the IP addresses the SBC will use for its management ports, media ports and next hop router. The media ports are used for SIP and RTP traffic. Example IP plans:
   
   1. SBC 5000/7000 series: Creating an IP Plan
   2. SBC SWe: Creating an IP Plan for SBC SWe on VMware or KVM Hypervisor).
2. Install the Hardware. See Installing SBC 5000 Series Hardware or Installing SBC 7000 Series Hardware.
3. Configure the Field Service Port and Management Port IP address. The Field Service Port (FSP) is an Ethernet port located on the back of the SBC. This port allows you to access the SBC Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) web page. The BMC allows for system monitoring, power control, and configuring the Management Ports of the SBC. 
4. Install SBC Application software. This is accomplished from the EMA. See Installing SBC 5000 and 7000 Series Software.

You are now ready to configure your SBC platform for processing! See How to Set up a Basic Call Flow.

Background on SIP Trunking and Access

The SBC basically acts as a SIP B2BUA (Back to Back User Agent). An important concept on the SBC is that all signaling and routing is based upon Trunk Groups.

SIP Trunk Groups are a logical connection between the SBC and a far end. A SIP Trunk can be one to one or one to many with the SBC always being a single point. A SIP Trunk for end point (phones) access will be one IP address on the SBC with the far end consisting of many different end points. A SIP Trunk for a carrier or PBX will generally be a one to one connection.

Access configurations involve end points (SIP phones, IADs, Soft Clients, etc.) that Register via the SBC to their feature server (Class 5, PBX, Hosted PBX, etc.). The SBC can cache Registrations in order to reduce the processing time the feature server spends on them. Even in Access configurations, a set of endpoints is represented by a trunk group.

From an SBC viewpoint, all calls (SIP sessions) involve two trunk groups on the SBC. For example, if Party A wished to connect to Party B via the SBC, two trunk groups on the SBC are involved, one to Party A and one to Party B. There are generally two types of point-to-point SIP Trunks: Interconnect between two carriers and Interconnect between a PBX and a carrier. Interconnection between carriers is static and do not require registrations.

In the case of interconnection between a carrier and a PBX, the amount of Registrations that can take place vary.

• In a static trunking environment, no registrations take place. This is similar to two carriers interconnecting.
• PBX can use Group registration for its endpoints.
• When a pilot number is Registered, calls are routed (via the feature server) to that pilot number (which would include the extension in the INVITE) on the PBX.
• Each endpoint can Register

Both SIP Trunking and Access configurations may be implemented on the same SBC server.

Commonly Used Element Names

Below is a list of commonly used element names on the SBC platforms.

To see system name and hostname conventions and restrictions, see System Name and Hostname Naming Conventions page.