SBC Core 08.00.00R000 Release Notes

Table of Contents

About SBC Release Notes

This document describes new features, the latest hardware and software requirements, known limitations and other pertinent release information for the latest release of SBC Core.

Related Documentation

The SBC Core 08.00.xx documentation is located at the following Wiki space: SBC Core Documentation.

Release Notes Use and Distribution

Ribbon Release Notes are protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. This work contains proprietary information of Ribbon Communications, Westford, MA-01886, USA. Use, disclosure, or reproduction in any form is strictly prohibited without prior authorization from Ribbon Communications.

Associated Ribbon Bulletins

The following Ribbon Bulletins are referenced in this release note:

• Warning-18-00028230: Call failure during LSWU when upgrading 5.x release to 6.2.1 or higher (VMWare or KVM) with 10 or more vCPUs configured.
• Warning-17-00022847: The DNS configuration parameters within the address contexts may cause certain configurations to fail during an upgrade
• Warning-17-00022689: Duplicate Trunk Group or Zone names can cause unexpected behavior
• Warning-14-00020748: Verify system and databases are fully in sync prior to Live Software Upgrade (LSWU)

• Bulletin-18-00028529: The System Security Intrusion Detection AIDE Reports False Positive Alarms

Problems or Questions

For problems or questions, contact Ribbon Support through telephone or fax: 

Worldwide Voice: 

USA Toll-free: 

Worldwide Fax: 

About SBC Core

The SBC Core platforms address the next-generation needs of SIP communications by delivering media transcoding, robust security and advanced call routing in a high-performance, 2RU, and 5RU form-factor devices enabling service providers and enterprises to quickly and securely enhance their network by implementing services like SIP trunking, secure Unified Communications and Voice over IP (VoIP).

For more product information, refer to the section About SBC Core in the main documentation space.

Interoperability

The SBC Core software interoperates with the following:

• SIP/H.323 compliant IADs and IP-PBXs
• PSX Policy Server Softswitch via SIP redirects and/or Diameter+ protocol
• SBC 9000 through SIP call signaling and Networks MCS protocol
• NetScore collection, analysis, monitoring, and reporting of selected Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on a near-real time basis
  
  

H.323-SIP and SIP-H323 Calls

When using H.323-SIP and SIP-H.323 call flows, an additional Re-invite/Update may get generated towards the SIP side. To suppress this, enable the IP Signaling Profile (IPSP) flag Minimize Relaying Of Media Changes From Other Call Leg at the SIP side.

• For CLI IPSP flag details, refer to Flags - CLI.
• For EMA IPSP flag details, refer to Common Ip Attributes - Flags.

Compatibility with Ribbon Products

Refer to SBC 5000-7000-SWe Interoperability Matrices for the latest and minimum compatible product versions supporting the 08.00.00R000 release.

Sample Heat Templates Included in This Release

To instantiate the SBC instances, the following templates can be used:

SBC SWe Cloud Requirements for OpenStack

The system hosting the SBC SWe Cloud must meet the below requirements for OpenStack:

The system hosting the SBC SWe must meet the following requirements to achieve the performance targets listed: 

OpenStack Requirements

The SBC SWe supports the following OpenStack environments:

• Newton with RHOSP 10 and RHEL 7.4
• Queens with RHOSP 13 and RHEL 7.5

SBC SWe Requirements for KVM

The following table lists the server hardware requirements.

SBC SWe Requirements for VMWare

The following table lists the server hardware requirements:

Required Software and Firmware Versions

The following SBC 5000 series (51x0/52x0), SBC 5400 and SBC 7000 software and firmware versions are required for this release. For 5xx0 the BIOS can be installed during app install, whereas for 5400 and 7000 the BIOS is included in the firmware package and is installed during the firmware upgrade. 

How to Verify Currently Installed Software/Firmware Versions

Use the EMA to verify the currently installed software and firmware versions.

Log on to the EMA, and from the main screen navigate to Monitoring > Dashboard >  System and Software Info.

Software Bundles

The following software release bundles are available for download from the Customer Portal:

• SBCSWe_8.0
• SBC5x7x_8.0

Download the appropriate software packages for your desired configuration from the Customer Portal (https://ribboncommunications.com/services/ribbon-support-portal-login) to your PC:

SBC 5000 Series (51x0/52x0) Firmware

• firmware-5XX0-V03.19.00-R000.img

• firmware-5XX0-V03.19.00-R000.img.md5

• bmc5X00_v3.19.0-R0.rom.md5sum

• bmc5X00_v3.19.0-R0.rom

SBC 5400 Firmware

• firmware-5400-V03.19.00-R000.img
• firmware-5400-V03.19.00-R000.img.md5

SBC 7000 Series Firmware

• firmware-7X00-V03.19.00-R000.img
• firmware-7X00-V03.19.00-R000.img.md5
  
  

SBC Core Operating System Installation Package

The ConnexIP Operating System installation package for SBC Core:

• sbc-V08.00.00R000-connexip-os_08.00.00-R000_4_amd64.iso
• sbc-V08.00.00R000-connexip-os_08.00.00-R000_4_amd64.iso.md5
  
  

SBC Core Application Package

The SBC Application installation and upgrade package for SBC Core:

• sbc-V08.00.00R000-connexip-os_08.00.00-R000_4_amd64.qcow2
• sbc-V08.00.00R000-connexip-os_08.00.00-R000_4_amd64.qcow2.md5
• sbc-V08.00.00-R000.x86_64.tar.gz
• sbc-V08.00.00-R000.x86_64.md5
• sbc-V08.00.00-R000.x86_64.signature

For detailed information on installation and upgrade procedures, refer to SBC Core Software Installation and Upgrade Guide.

Cloud Service Archive (CSAR) Packages for VNFM Deployment on OpenStack

These files are for SBC SWe deployments in the OpenStack cloud using VNFM.

For VNFM deployment, the VNF Descriptor (VNFD) file is provided in a Cloud Service Archive (CSAR) package for the type of SBC cluster being deploying. VNFs are independent and CSAR definitions are imported into the VNFM via an Onboarding mechanism. The SBC has several different CSAR variants, for different personalities (S-SBC, M-SBC) and interface types (virtio, sriov). The supported CSAR packages for the SBC are:

• ssbc_virtio_8.0.csar
• ssbc_sriov_8.0.csar
• msbc_virtio_8.0.csar
• msbc_sriov_8.0.csar

Files required for CSAR creation: 

• createVnfmCsar.py
• vnfmSol001VnfdTemplate.yaml
• sbc-V08.00.00R000-connexip-os_08.00.00-R000_4_amd64.qcow2

For detailed information on installation and upgrade procedures, refer to SBC Core Software Installation and Upgrade Guide.

Upgrade Notes

08.00.00R000 Upgrade Information

Support of maddr Post-Upgrade

When upgrading SBC Core to release 5.0.0 (and above) from a pre-4.2.4 release, complete the "Action to take" immediately after the upgrade if either condition that follows is applicable:

• If you are using the SBC with a Broadsoft system and the SBC is configured for registration access (where the SBC sits between SIP phones and the Broadworks System). Otherwise no new REGISTER will be processed (phones will lose registration).
• If you are using the SBC with other feature servers that require maddr processing.

Action to take: On the SIP trunk group facing Broadsoft (or other feature server), set the SIP Trunk Group signaling flag, honorMaddrParam, to enabled on the Trunk Group(s) requiring maddr handling. The default is ‘disabled’.

set addressContext <addressContext name> zone <zone name> sipTrunkGroup <TG name> signaling honorMaddrParam <disabled | enabled> 

See the following pages for configuration details:

• SIP Trunk Group - Signaling - CLI
• SIP Trunk Group - Signaling (EMA)

SBC SWe Pre-Upgrade Requirements

VM CPU resource allocation requirements

Starting with 4.2.4R0 release, CPU resource allocation requirements for SBC SWe VM are strictly enforced contrary to previous releases. You must review and verify these VM settings (including co-hosted VMs) against the documented "VM Configuration Recommendations" on the For VMware page in the Hardware and Software Requirements section before upgrading. If you encounter a problem, correct the CPU reservation settings as specified in step 6 of the "Adjust Resource Allocations" procedure on Creating a New SBC SWe VM Instance with VMXNET3. CPU reservation should be set as “number of vCPUs assigned to VM * physical processor CPU frequency". If VM uses the same number of vCPUs as the number of physical processors on the server, this reservation may not be possible. In this case, reduce the number of vCPUs assigned to VM by one and set the CPU reservation to the appropriate value.

When using the show table system serverSoftwareUpgradeStatus command during the upgrade, the Standby server's LSWU status will always display "Upgrading" even though the upgrade may have failed due to host checker validation. To check if host validation failed for the Standby, check for HostCheck Validation Failed message in the upgrade.out log.

Disable Call Trace feature prior to LSWU/upgrade

As a prerequisite for SWe LSWU/upgrade, disable the Call Trace feature prior to performing the LSWU/upgrade and re-enable it once the LSWU/upgrade is completed.

Manually check for Hostcheck Validation Failed message

Perform the following procedure on the Standby to check for the Hostcheck Validation Failed message in the upgrade.out log.

1. Log on to ESXi of the Standby SBC SWe.
   
   
2. Check in/opt/sonus/staging/upgrade.out (this log shows the Hostcheck Validation Failed error).
   
   
3. Power off the VM.
   
   
4. Reduce the number of vCPUs assigned to VM by one and set the CPU reservation to the appropriate value.
   
   
5. Power on the VM. The SBC SWe successfully upgrades to the latest version 6.2.0. 
   
   
6. Run the command show table system serverSoftwareUpgradeStatus to confirm the successful upgrade.
   
   
7. Perform similar procedure for LSWU on Active.

Preparing for Upgrade (All Platforms)

Please read the following information and take necessary actions before starting your upgrade to this release.

Since the release 4.1.4, the cryptographic key pair used to sign and verify the package has been changed to enhance security. When installing/upgrading from all 4.0.x releases, all pre-4.1.4 releases (4.1.3 and earlier), and all pre-4.2.3 releases (4.2.2R00x and earlier), do one of the following, depending upon your upgrade method:

• LSWU through CLI: Skip the integrity check during LSWU by using the CLI command below.
  
  During LSWU, use the integrityCheck skip option when upgrading from CLI:

  > request system serverAdmin <server> startSoftwareUpgrade integrityCheck skip package <package>

  Note

  Integrity check works as expected only when upgrades are started from 4.1.x releases (4.1.4R000 or later) or from 4.2.3R000 or later releases.

• Upgrade through Platform Manager: If upgrading using Platform Manager, simply ignore the "Wrong Signature" warning message and continue the upgrade normally.

Supported Live Software Upgrade (LSWU) Paths

The SBC Core supports Live Software Upgrade from releases listed in the table below:

New Features

New Features in 08.00.00R000 Release

The following features are part of the 08.00.00R000 Release:

SBX-25924 / 32316 / 53181 / 60306 / 69021 / 69022 / 69038  MSRP Enhancements

In addition to supporting RFC 6714 "Connection Establishment for Media Anchoring" (CEMA) handling of Message Session Relay Protocol (MSRP) sessions, the SBC now supports the following:

• Topology hiding or B2BUA support for MSRP sessions
• TCP connection reuse or multiplexing of MSRP sessions over a common TCP connection
• Distributed SBC support for MSRP sessions

For more information, refer to:

• MSRP Support
• Rich Communication Suite Support
• Configuring MSRP Support
• SIP Trunk Group - Media - CLI
• SIP Trunk Group - Media

SBX-39002 - Improve "clearmode" Codec Negotiation

Currently, the SBC supports clearmode data calls using existing IPSP flag clearmodeForDataCalls. If the SBC receives clearmode in the codec list of the request message, the SBC allows only CLEARMODE to be sent in the egress offer. This results in several failed calls with multiple codecs in request including clearmode.

Some installations use SMM to remove clearmode from the codec list and then allow the SBC to process it, and add CLEARMODE in the egress offer using SMM. Therefore, CLEARMODE gets retained in the offer along with other codecs.

This feature overcomes this issue, where the SBC can offer only CLEARMODE in its egress INVITE, and to treat clearmode as any other pass-thru codec.

The SMM workaround is replaced by a native implementation on the SBX.

As part of this feature, CLEARMODE, which is a simple PCM (Pluse Code Modulation), is treated as a CODEC which is configurable in the PSX/ERE. The SBC treats it as any other codec with Intersection (no Augmentation). For bandwidth calculation, it uses the G711 configuration.

The above mentioned new treatment for CLEARMODE is controlled through a NEW IPSP flag to maintain backward compatibility with the existing CLEARMODE flag. 

For more information, refer to:

• Codec Entry - CLI
  
  

SBX-44930 SBC SWe and CE Gateway SignalingSupport (MCS)

Large deployments of GSX/SBC9000 and SBC 5000 series/5400/7000 support MCS gateway signaling and the PSX routing designs, the billing systems, and the back office provisioning systems uses the flat routing model that is possible with MCS gateway signaling.

The SBC SWe and SBC SWe Cloud also support the Multimedia Conferencing System (MCS) gateway signaling between the other SBC products and the GSX/SBC9000 when using an external PSX. The MCS gateway signaling adds value to the SBC SWe in large cloud deployments. Implementing this feature saves effort in re-engineering the PSX database, billing collection systems, and automated routing systems.

In addition to FQDN, MCS signaling on the SBC SWe supports IP address configurations. When the DNS solution is not available, the SBC allows the user to configure static IP addresses in a centralized location such as Master PSX for the MCS signaling endpoints. The IP is used with 1:1 signaling SBC clusters such that, the cluster only has one MCS IP address.

The SBC supports the vast hardware-based GSX/SBC9000 system networks containing auto-scaling architectures using MCS signaling. Because auto-scaling requires the use of DNS resolution, the resolution is made at the PSX, and the IPs returned as part of the Diameter+ response.

 MCS gateway signaling supports the following:

• IP address-based configurations for MCS gateway signaling with proper validation of IP address
• IP address configurations using metavariables for gateway signaling on SBC SWe Cloud with proper validation of IP address
• communication between SBC server and SBC SWe Cloud
• communication between the two SBC SWe Cloud when using the external PSX

SBC uses the MCS gateway signaling for communications between:

• SBC servers and SBC SWe Cloud
• between twoSBC SWe Clouds

For more information, refer to: 

• Configuring MCS Signaling Gateway on I-SBC and D-SBC
• Zone - GW Sig Port - CLI
• Show Table Address Context - Zone
• Signaling Ports - Gw Sig Port
• Billing Introduction
  
  

SBX-51725 / SBX-72926 Active Directory Merge from PSX To ERE / Flexible AD Support for ERE

The SBC Core is enhanced to support Flexible Active Directory functionality for large enterprises with a bigger subscriber base to provide a better call capacity solution.

In Enterprise deployments, ERE is required to retrieve the User information from the Microsoft Active directory database and use it for call routing and policy decisions. This reduces the administrative overhead of provisioning and managing the user information at two places. The ERE will retrieve the Subscriber information by querying the Active Directory database, which includes:

• Subscriber Identity
• Display name
• Home phone number
• Mobile phone number
• Office/Lync phone number

Since LDAP is a known slow response protocol, the SBC fetches the data from the remote server and stores it in the local database instead of querying real time to the remote server. This data is later used during calls to manipulate various call parameters and use them in routing logic.

For more information, refer to:

• Flexible AD Support for ERE
• Call Parameter Filter Profile - CLI
• Call Parameter Filter Group Profile - CLI
• Ad Profile - CLI
• Ad Attribute Map Profile - CLI
• Number Translation Criteria - CLI
• Profiles - Call Parameter Filter Group Profile
• Profiles - Ad Profile
• Profiles - Ad Attribute Map Profile
• Show Status Global
• Show Status System
• Request System - CLI
  
  

SBX-63318 /SBX-53949 SBC Support for Multiple Syslog Server and Secure remote Syslog for TCP

Security analytics is dependent on centralized Syslog aggregation, with the expectation that the Syslog communication is secured. The primary Syslog security threats to address are:

• Masquerade
• Modification
• Disclosure

To eliminate these threats, RFC 5425 defines a TLS Transport Mapping for Syslog. This feature supports the RFC 5425-compliant transport option in addition to the existing UDP, TCP, and RELP Syslog remote protocols.

The SBC is enhanced to:

• broadcast Syslog traffic to multiple Syslog servers
• support three Syslog servers per event log type
• offer support for the Linux logs

The SBC supports the Rsyslog method of sending event messages to the Syslog server with the following capabilities:

• Using Transport Layer Security (TLS) as a secure transport medium supported over TCP. The SBC adds the TLS to the existing event logs and the Linux logs.
• Spooling to reduce message loss: When the connection to the Syslog server is down, the SBC spools the log entries locally to reduce message loss for all log types. The supported protocols include TCP, RELP, and TLS over TCP.
• Broadcasting to the three Syslog servers.
• Sending additional Linux logs to Syslog servers: This allows for the new configuration to configure the specific /var/log/ files to transfer over Syslog. It captures the Linux session console logs and transfers it through the Syslog.
  The new Linux log option sends the Linux session console logs to the user's console real-time to any Syslog server configured. The SBC writes the new console logs real-time to the newly created files in a new directory on the SBC: /var/log/session/session.* files and pushes it to the Syslog Server.

For more information, refer to:

• Secure Remote Syslog for TCP Support
• Rsyslog Profile - CLI
• Security - Rsyslog TLS Profile
• Configuring Rsyslog Profile

SBX-61487 Support Debian 9

The SBC is migrated to the latest supported version of Debian. This is needed to ensure that there is sufficient runway on Debian community upgrades to meet support requirements, especially in the context of security patches.

For more information, refer to:

• SBC Core Software Installation and Upgrade Guide

SBX-62630 tgrp and trunk-context Parameter Taken into Account Together

Trunk Groups are identified by two parameters: tgrp and trunk-context

The trunk-context establishes the scope of the trunk group specified in the tgrp parameter and determines if it is for a single gateway, a set of gateways, or an entire domain managed by the service provider.

The value in the trunk-context identifies a gateway.

When the remote party sends the invite with both tgrp = egress_tg, trunk_context = Egress IP / Egress IP + Port / FQDN, the SBC chooses the egress trunk group based on the tgrp parameter in the Request-URI (R-URI). The SBC uses the trunk-context as destination, if there is no IP Peer or IP Signaling Peer Group is not configured.

 The SBC does not provision the IP peer when the remote IP address is already provisioned in some other system and the user does not want duplicate provisioning, or when the user does not know the remote IP address.

For more information, refer to:

• Routing Mechanisms
• SIP TG - Signaling - Process Trunkgroup Context - CLI
  
  

SBX-64899 and 72002 Support N:1 HA for on S-SBC and T-SBC cluster

The Signaling SBC (S-SBC) and Media SBC (M-SBC) support N:1 Redundancy, where N is based on the HA port capacity, call load and performance requirements. For release 8.0, N=4.

HA bandwidth is upgraded from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps.

For more information, refer to:

• Upgrading SBCs in an N:1 Redundancy Group
• Upgrading SBCs in a 1:1 HA Redundancy Group
  
  

SBX-67068 REG Relay After Multiple Consecutive 503 Responses

The SBC is enhanced to preserve the RCB on receiving error responses (4xx/5xx/6xx, except 401, 407, 408, and 7xx) for the Refresh REGISTER, and relays the same error response locally to the UE. As the RCB state is COMPLETED, the SBC relays subsequent Refresh REGISTER messages towards the Registrar. Also, the SBC deletes the RCB when the last negotiated/active time expires.

A new parameter preserveRcbOnRefreshRegErrResponse is introduced to the signaling registration object, to toggle preservation of the RCB on receiving error response (4xx/5xx/6xx) for Refresh Registration. This parameter helps to retain backward compatibility by controlling the behavior.

For more information, refer to:

• SIP TG - Signaling - Registration - CLI
• Signaling - Registration
• SIP Trunk Group - Signaling - Registration

SBX-67075 Support One Gbps Speed on SBC 5400 Management Port

The SBC 5400 firmware/software is enhanced in this release to add support for 1 Gbps speeds to the management ports (in addition to the existing 100 Mbps support), including the support of half or full duplex with auto-negotiation on all four management ports. Each management port auto-negotiates the speed/mode independently from other management ports.

Additionally, the SBC Core is enhanced to display the negotiated management port speed and current bandwidth for all management ports from the CLI/EMA.

Since this enhancement allows 1 Gbps traffic bandwidth for all management ports, it increases the possibility of a traffic overload condition due to the increased bandwidth of the combined management, media and signaling traffic. To address this, the SBC sets the management traffic as the lowest priority. Thus, the system drops the management packets, as necessary, to avoid impacting media or signaling traffic.

For more information, refer to:

• Show Status System
• Ethernet Port - Mgmt Port Status
• Standard MIBs

SBX-67513 Increase Number of Variables in SMM Profile

The number of variables supported in an SMM Profile is now increased from 30 to 100. (From var1 to var30 to var1 to var100).

For more information, refer to:

• System Provisioning - SIP Adaptor (SMM) Profile
• SIP Adaptor Profile - CLI

SBX-68167 Remove SLS from Code and Documentation

Beginning with release 8.0, the concepts of a site license server (SLS), network license mode, and local license mode are fully obsolete and removed from documentation and user interfaces. This includes EMA and CLI configuration options, alarms, and related statistics. In addition, the term "legacy," in reference to the SBC licensing mode in which a license bundle is associated with a specific hardware serial number or UUID, is replaced with the more descriptive term: "node locked."

For more information, refer to:

• Routing Non-INVITE Messages in Ribbon SIP Core
• Routing Mechanisms

SBX-68171 Process tgrp/trunk-context in R-URI On Light Dip

Prior to SBC 8.0, the SBC supported the tgrp/trunk-context functionality in R-URI for INVITE only. The SBC now supports the tgrp/trunk-context functionality in R-URI for NON-INVITE messages (same as DTG).

The light dip principle instructs the Diameter+ PSX to skip most of the services and return a single route for the specified trunk group. This is useful for networks where an upstream SIP device  (for example, the PSX Proxy which anchors the SIP session) performs crank back / route advance and sends the profile.

For more information, refer to:

• Routing Non-INVITE Messages in Ribbon SIP Core
• Routing Mechanisms

SBX-68182 Send 480 for per-peer policing discards of SUBSCRIBE

The SBC is enhanced to use the configured Internal SIP Cause Map Profile attached to the Trunk Group to send an error response when the SUBSCRIBE rate control is reached based on configured CAC profile on Trunk Group/(static) IpPeer.

The SBC also uses the configured cause string in the Internal SIP Cause Map Profile attached to the Trunk Group to send cause text in the Reason header when rejecting the SUBSCRIBE message due to Ingress endpoint CAC (Trunk Group/IpPeer).

For this feature, a SUBSCRIBE rate control that sends a 480 (temporarily unavailable) response on per-peer policing is added to the SBC.

The SBC uses the existing sipInternalCauseCode profile to send the custom SIP response code, subsEndPointRatePolicing, which is added under the causeMap parameter. An optional custom cause string for this particular use of a 480 response can be sent in the reason header of the SIP error response, by using the sipCauseText configuration. An example of the optional cause string is "subscription rate limiting". sipCauseText is configurable and is highly desirable for troubleshooting. 

This feature is only for out-of-dialog SUBSCRIBE messages, not in-dialog SUBSCRIBE messages. The SBC will reject inbound Subscription requests from a given peer, based on an ingress rate control set on the peer's interface.

For more information, refer to:

• Internal SIP Cause Map Profile - CLI
• Internal SIP Cause Map Profile - Cause Map
• Signaling Profiles - Internal SIP Cause Map Profile - Cause Map

SBX-69356 - Session KeepAlive Retry after Switchover

After the switchover, some calls are dropped due to session refresh. The SBC sends out a session refresh to the old TCP connection in order to keepalive the message for 60 seconds. This keepalive also creates a new TCP connection between the SBC and the EP. If the SBC performs a session refresh before it receives a keepalive message from the EP, the call is dropped due to stack timeout. 

The SBC sends out session refresh randomly after switchover. The minimum value is currently 15 seconds. A new timer, sipSwitchoverKeepAliveDelay, provides the user with an option to have any configurable value in the range provided, ensuring that the SBC does not send out a session refresh before spending the EP's keepalive of 60 seconds.

For more information, refer to:

• SIP Trunk Group - Signaling - Timers

SBX-69377 Support for Additional Media Statistics in SBC CDR - SWE

The SWe and SWe Cloud flavors (I-SBC on OpenStack) of the SBC are enhanced to support additional media statistics in the CDR.

With this enhancement, all the additional media statistics originally introduced in the 7.1 feature “SBX-65788 SBC shall populate additional media stats in CDR - 5K/7K support” are now supported on SWe Cloud (I-SBC on OpenStack).

For more information, refer to:

• CDR Field Descriptions
• CDR Examples
• CAM Changes in This Release

SBX-70370 - Support SIPRec on D-SBC on any platform including VMware, KVM, Openstack or AWS

Session recording is a capability which can be utilized for various purposes: to comply with regulation, to monitor quality of service of representatives, and to store call information for quality analysis. Ribbon I-SBC currently supports recording interfaces like Legacy LI, IMS LI, ComCast LI, and SIPREC which are not being supported on D-SBC. Release 8.0 adds support for SIPREC on D-SBC for passthru calls as in I-SBC. The SDP and metadata sent to the SRS reflect the correct Codec in which the media is sent. In the INVITE towards the SRS server, only m line with audio is supported. D-SBC also supports multiple commands for initiating recording towards different SRS and QUAD siprec as in I-SBC.

SBX-70520 - Report Licensing Mode in Licensing Interval Statistics

In addition to providing the peak number of instances for different types of calls, the global Call Count Current Statistics and Call Count Interval Statistics tables now identify the license mode of the SBC from which the statistics were retrieved. The possible values are Node Locked (nodeLocked) and Domain (domain).  Node Locked refers to the most common form of licensing in which a license is bound to a specific SBC node through its serial number (hardware-based SBC) or its universally unique identifier (VM-based SBC SWe systems). Domain refers to network-wide domain licensing (NWDL) in which a license is associated with a domain. NWDL is supported on some large-scale distributed SBC or cloud-based systems.

For more information, refer to: 

• Show Table Global
• Global - Call Count Current Statistics
• Global - Call Count Interval Statistics

SBX-71264 - SIP Aware Front End Load Balancer

With the wide adoption of cloud and virtualization technologies (NFV), the physical network functions (PNF) become virtual network functions (VNF) running on virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM) (like Openstack), Ribbon has virtualized SBC, PSX and EMS (among other products) that has already been deployed in Tier 1 environments. While NFV adoption will ultimately result in Capex/Opex reduction for operators, this also throws some challenges.

• Seamless Capacity Expansion with no impact on external network topology (i.e. need to reduce the impact of new VNFC creation on the peer(s))
• Need for IP Address Consolidation
• Challenges due to Cloud-native architecture
• Need for Single SIP IP Address Appearance

To address these concerns, a SIP-aware front-end load-balancer (SLB) is available for SBC and PSX. SLB as a front-end means that a single IP address is exposed towards peer operators. SLB in turn distributes the traffic among back-end call-processing VMs. Ultimately, SLB has its own capacity limits and deployments need to make use of DNS, should the traffic requirements demand more than one SLB instance (SLB is in HA mode and hence it is actually more than one HA pair). However, as long as a single SLB (HA pair) addresses the traffic equivalent to a single site traffic (and hence that equivalent number of back-end call-processing VMs), there is no need to return to using DNS for SLB. Instead, if the traffic goes beyond what a SLB can handle, the solution is to create a new SLB with a new IP and expose that to the peer.

SBX-71271 - Cloud Provisioning OAM Model

In prior releases, a designated “Headend” SBC was used to configure SBC SWe clusters. In SBC release 8.0, the OAM node and Direct Single configuration models replace the Headend model.

The OAM node configuration model incorporates a 1:1 HA pair of dedicated Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) nodes to configure and manage SBC nodes in N:1 distributed deployments. The OAM node provides the northbound interface for the VNF, including SSH/CLI, NetConf, and REST interfaces. You use the OAM node interfaces to configure the cluster and it is responsible for disseminating the cluster configuration to the SBC nodes within the cluster. Although the nodes register with the EMS, the SBC nodes within the VNF get their configuration updates only from the OAM node.

The Direct Single configuration model applies to deployments in which there is a single active SBC node, such as standalone or 1:1 HA deployments. For this smaller type of deployment, the SBC node itself provides the northbound interfaces for the VNF while the EMS continues to provide a repository to store the configuration history. In the case of a 1:1 HA deployment, the active node replicates configuration changes to the backup node.

For both models, the EMS continues to provide cluster management including a storage repository for cluster configurations. To enable migration, Insight EMS 12.0 continues to support the Headend configuration model for SBC clusters on prior releases. However, SBC clusters on release 8.0 must use either the OAM node or Direct Single configuration model.

For more information, refer to:

• SBC SWe Configuration Management Using OAM Nodes

• Modifying SBC Cluster Configuration

• Specifying Cluster Configuration Mode Parameters in Heat Deployments

• SBC SWe Configuration Management in Direct Single Mode

SBX-71313 Rules in SMM Profile are 768

The SBC is enhanced to support up to 768 rules in an SMM profile. The rules are applied sequentially to the messages.

For more information, refer to: 

• SIP Adaptor Profile - CLI
• System Provisioning - SIP Adaptor (SMM) Profile
• SMM Rules

SBX-71398 - Overflow Route Configured in the routing label, works only for error codes mapped in Crank Back Profile

Overflow routing (which is last-means) now works for error codes not mapped in the Crankback profile. Previously, when an overflow number was configured, the overflow route worked only for error codes mapped in the Crankback profile. An additional action is available so that the SBC will directly attempt the last route (which would be the overflow route). 

You must configure the routing label so it points to all regular routes + overflow route as "last route" in the routing label.

For more information, refer to:

• Call Routing: System Provisioning - Routing
• Call Routing - Global - CLI
  
  

SBX-71489 Qualify Intel X550 based NIC Cards for SBC SWe

x550 based NIC cards are qualified. They are supported on KVM (SR-IOV) and VMware (SR-IOV and Direct I/O). 

For more information, refer to:

• For KVM Hypervisor
• For VMware
• For OpenStack

SBX-72002 - Support for M+N Signaling and Media SBC VNF Relationship Model

Some deployments use a single S-SBC VNF tied to a single M-SBC VNF. Each VNF contains one Redundancy group. 

The SBC is enhanced to expand the S-SBC redundancy model from 1+1 to N+1. This allows the SBC to:

• Support more than one redundancy group within a VNF, both S-SBC and M-SBC with homogenous configurations (trunks, IP interface, and so on).
• Extend the model to have multiple M/T-SBC VNFs serving one or more S-SBC VNFs.
  
  

SBX-72198 Support Virt-IO with VLAN Tag on S-SBC

The "VLAN-aware" guests capability has been validated on the SBC with the OpenStack Queens release.

 As part of the released software package, Ribbon offers a template file heatRgActiveVlanProviderNetworkNoDhcpTemplate.yaml, which acts as a boilerplate heat template for Virt-IO with OVS and VLAN tags. The enhancement is unavailable for VNFM based deployments.

For more information, refer to:

• Instantiating SBC SWe on OpenStack using VNFM
  
  

SBX-72263 - Estimation Accuracy wrt call-mix and Core Allocation

Currently, estimation is based on call-mix for all profiles. Estimation is enhanced by re-calculating the estimation based on final core partitioning. This applies to all standard and custom profiles. New parameters (Max Passthrough Sessions and Max Crypto Sessions) have been added to the sweCapacityEstimate table.

For more information, refer to:

• System - SWe Capacity Estimate
• SBC SWe Traffic Profiles
  
  

SBX-73382 - QCOW2 Image Replacement Upgrade Support

The SBC SWe is enhanced with a command-line tool kvmInstall.py contained within a tarball kvmInstall-1.0.0.tar.gz, which is available as part of the released software bundle. The tool significantly improves the workflow for the installation and upgrade of SBC SWe on KVM for QCOW2 based deployments, especially when an LSWU is performed.

For more information, refer to:

Installation and Image Replacement Upgrade Procedure

SBX-73494 Address Gaps in GPU Solution

Prior to SBC 8.0 release, for GPU-based solutions, the SBC could not offer more than one transcodable codec in the outgoing offer for following reasons:

• Unlike CPU-based DSP that supports all the codecs, the GPU-based DSP supports specific codecs.
• For GPU, if the configured codecs do not reside on the same DSP process, they cannot be used with a single DSP allocation.
• Unaware of the cluster capabilities, the signaling SBC removes the codecs from the outgoing offer, which cannot be supported by the reserved DSP.

The SBC is enhanced to offer all the configured transcodable codecs that the SBC supports, in the outgoing offer and address the above GPU gaps.

The configured codecs include:

• Codecs configured for transcoding
• Codecs supported by same T-SBC instance that supports codecs received in the offer.

For more information, refer to:

• GPU Transcoding
• Audio Codecs
  
  

SBX-73593 - SILK Codec Transcode Support on SBC SWe

The SBC currently provides pass-through support for the SILK codec in narrowband (NB), mediumband (MB), wideband (WB), and super-wideband (SWB) formats. It will now also support transcoding for the NB and WB SILK codec variants. SILK transcoding support applied to SBC 5110, 5210, 5400 and 7000 platforms, and is now available in SWe.

SBX-73680 Local Survivable Mode for Calls and Registrations

In the event of loss of connection with the Application Server (AS), the SBC switches to Local Survivable Mode and handles the call processing with limited functionality. It provides local registration support and limited local calling capabilities. The feature uses the Address Reachability Service (ARS) functionality to detect and blacklist the AS. The ARS is enhanced to support per request type blacklisting on 503 retry-after response for the following SIP requests:

• INVITE
• REGISTER
• SUBSCRIBE
• NOTIFY
• OPTIONS

For more information, refer to:

• SIP Trunk Group - Services - CLI
• SIP ARS Profile - CLI
• Show Table Profiles - Services - SIP ARS Profile
• Service Profiles - SIP ARS Profile
• Services - SIP ARS Profile
• SIP Signaling Alarms

SBX-76818  - Japan Number Portability Enhancement

The existing control variantType is used, with the value being set to ttc.  

However, the parts of the JJ90.30 specification that ttc actually supports are as follows:

When this control is set to TTC the SBC supports the following interworking mapping:

For SIP to ISUP

• INVITE sip: + 81312345678;npdi;rn=+8134512345@example.ne.jp;user=phone SIP/2.0
• The rn parameter gets mapped to the called party number 
• The R-URI gets mapped to the called directory number
• The SBC generates the redirection counter parameter with the value of 1.

For ISUP to SIP

If the called directory number parameter is present then it gets mapped into the R-URI, and the called party number is mapped into the rn parameter and the npdi parameter is included.

For more information, refer to:

• SIP Trunk Group - Signaling
• SIP TG - Signaling - Variant Type - CLI

Resolved Issues

Resolved Issues in 08.00.00R000 Release 

The following issues are resolved in this release:

Known Issues

Known Issues in 08.00.00R000 Release 

The following issues exist in this release:

Known Limitations

The following limitations exist in this release:

• Due to a known EMA GUI issue, it can take up to 10 minutes to process each SMM rule when provisioning SMM on the SBC using the EMA. This will be fixed in a future release.

• The Access Control List (ACL) is not installed to configure SNMP traps for accepting traffic. A dynamic ACL is added to configure SNMP traps. An ACL must be installed for SNMP traps for accepting traffic.
• The physical NIC connectivity must be in active state at the hypervisor level before starting the SWe instance on the SBC SWe platforms. In case of SWe instance with SR-IOV interfaces, manual restart of the SWe instance is required if physical NIC connectivity goes down while the instance is in progress.

• The HA interface must not be configured with link localaddress or subnet. For example, do not configure it with 169.254.0.0/16 subnet. 

• The Antitrombone feature is not supported on the D-SBC.
• EMS identifies the nodes based on the VNFC-ID. While instantiating SBC/PSX cloud nodes, ensure that you use a unique VNFC-ID only. If you reuse an existing VNFC-ID, EMS treats this as a re-registration request and overwrites the existing data on the cloud node.
• While configuring the SBC SWe Cloud instances, the CLIs commits successfully even if any metaVariable provided is incorrect. The SBC SWe Cloud instance cannot validate the CLIs, as the CDB configuration file is stored in the SBC Configurator and is shared among all the other SBC SWe Cloud instances in the cluster.
• Editing IP Interface is not reflected in the if configuration (ifConfig). This behavior is observed only on the S-SBC when action is set to "dryup" mode on the IP Interface. The IP address changes are not updated in the kernel and will not be displayed when ifconfig linux command is executed. In case of S-SBC, if the ipInterface configuration needs to be modified and if the action is set to "dryup" in ipInterface configuration, it must be set to "force" before disabling the ipInterface and making any changes.
• A LSWU on an SBC 7000 should only be performed when the total number of active calls on the system is below 18,000. If the criteria is not met, a double failure during the upgrade may occur thereby losing all active calls. If such a failure occurs, both active and standby SBC services will go down. Contact Ribbon Support immediately.
  
  

Performing Heat Stack Update when userdata is Updated with SSH Keys

When upgrading SBC SWe cloud instances to release 8.0, you must update your Heat template userdata section to include mandatory SSH key information. An issue in OpenStack requires that you use the stack-update process rather than re-launch after updating the template, which leads to a new UUID for the instance. As a result, you must regenerate and apply new license bundles to the upgraded instances during the upgrade.

Refer to Upgrading SBCs in an N:1 Redundancy Group for the relevant procedure. 

Restricted Functionality with SBC

The following functionalities are not supported with SBC Microservices:

• SRTP
• Far end NAT traversal
• DTMF inter-working
• RTCP termination for pass-through calls
• Direct Media and Antitrombone
  
• NICE, SIP-REC
• Rx, Rf interfaces
• Multimedia - MSRP, BFCP  
• Fax detection
• ICE/STUN
• SIP REFER
• SIP REPLACE

• Two stage calls

• H323 support
• GW signaling support