Route And Route Set

A Route is a predetermined path in a signalling network, consisting of succession of different SEPs(Signalling End Point) / STPs for sending a signalling message from a “Originating Point Code (OPC)” to a particular Destination Point Code (DPC). For most of the practical purposes, a route corresponds to a LinkSet available at a particular Signalling Point to reach to a given DPC.

A RouteSet is a group of all possible Routes between two Signalling Points. 

As an example consider following network diagram

 

There are 2 Signalling End Points (SEPs) A and B . And 2 STPs P and Q

As shown in the above figure, for SEP A , STP P as well as  STP Q are the “adjacent Point Codes. The group links L0 to L3 between A & P form a Linkset (LS1). Similarly, the group links L0 to L3 between A & Q form another LinkSet (LS2).

When ‘A’ needs to send a signalling message to ‘B’, the message may traverse any of the following paths: A – P – B, A – P – Q – B and A – Q – B. However, from SEP A’s point of view, there are only two routes to choose from viz. A – P or A – Q.  Similarly from STP P’s point of view, to reach the DPC B, there are only two routes: P – B or P – Q – B. Thus, from SEP A’s point of view the two LinkSets are the two possible Routes to reach the DPC B.