Using OpenBSC in a real network

The "on-waves/bsc-master" branch is implementing SCCP and the A-interface over IP to hook OpenBSC into a "modern" IP based GSM network. As part of this work a lite version of SCCP, GSM08.08 handling and various bugfixes were contributed to OpenBSC. Future work will create a GSM0808 like API and move the MSC code inside OpenBSC over to use this API.

How to build

In general this guide applies to the on-waves/bsc-master branch. The only difference is that when building OpenBSC one needs to switch to the new branch. This can be done by invoking the below command:

git checkout -b on-waves/bsc-master origin/bsc-master

Running the real bsc

After having build OpenBSC a new executable called bsc_msc_ip is installed. This executable is capable of hooking into a MSC supporting the SCCP over IP encapsulated in the IPA protocol and it is using a configuration based on the one of the osmo-nitb with some additional extensions. The extensions are documented in the VTY documentation of the osmo-nitb. The most important ones are the port and IP of the MSC.

Known work items/Backlog

• Handle GSM08.08 reset coming from the network
• Expire SCCP connections in case of inactivity from the network.
• Send SCCP Protocol Data Error messages to the network
• Implement more of GSM08.08, e.g. a handover