Telecom programming

[a.abdulwahab]

Hello,

I am working at a Telecom operator, and our system is written in C. I
am a computer scientist, and i have a very weak conception about
telecomunication.

I need to know how telecom works from a programmer's point of view. Any
help plz! I am lost about wat is a Ki, HLR, IMSI, COMP128 etc... I need
to make sense of it to understand the code.

I tried the internet but most information about telecom is for telecom
engineers, not programmers. I need to make sense of the data
processing.

Thanks.

 

[Walter Roberson]

I am working at a Telecom operator, and our system is written in C. I
am a computer scientist, and i have a very weak conception about
telecomunication.

telecommunications is just computer science with timers added.

I need to know how telecom works from a programmer's point of view. Any
help plz! I am lost about wat is a Ki, HLR, IMSI, COMP128 etc... I need
to make sense of it to understand the code.

Ki and COMP128 appear to be the "initial key" and an authentication
engine for GSM. HLR would then appear to refer to a Home Location Registry.
IMSI would then be the International Mobile Subscribe Identity.
http://www.pt.com/products/gsmintro.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Subscriber_Identity

I tried the internet but most information about telecom is for telecom
engineers, not programmers. I need to make sense of the data
processing.

Sorry, although your system -happens- to be written in C,
everything you have asked about is outside of the C standard --
they have to do with concepts and processing that could be written
in any sufficiently powerful language. (For example, back when I did
telecomm work, we used a slightly-augmented PASCAL.) This newsgroup
only deals with matters which are specific to standard C --
questions about the C language itself, not about applications
that happen to be programmable in C.


I suggest that you consult with comp.security.misc -- see below
for why.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMSI-catcher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_tapping#Location_data_and_mobile_phones

 

[Nick Keighley]

I am working at a Telecom operator, and our system is written in C. I
am a computer scientist, and i have a very weak conception about
telecomunication.

I need to know how telecom works from a programmer's point of view. Any
help plz! I am lost about wat is a Ki, HLR, IMSI, COMP128 etc... I need
to make sense of it to understand the code.

I tried the internet but most information about telecom is for telecom
engineers, not programmers. I need to make sense of the data
processing.

well in a sense what a software engineer *does* is become a domain
expert
(or at least enough of one to talk to the real thing). I'm not sure
there exists
any such thing as a "programmer's view of telecoms". You could try Wiki
for basic introductions to terms, then hunt for glossaries of terms.
I'm afraid
there's no alternative to reading the specs or other technical
documents.
Doesn't your Telecom operator have any documentation of its systems?

I'd look for a telecoms news group.


--
Nick Keighley

"I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my
telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my
telephone."
- Bjarne Stroustrup

 

[a.abdulwahab]

Thx. I got the documentation of our machines.

well in a sense what a software engineer *does* is become a domain
expert
(or at least enough of one to talk to the real thing). I'm not sure
there exists
any such thing as a "programmer's view of telecoms". You could try Wiki
for basic introductions to terms, then hunt for glossaries of terms.
I'm afraid
there's no alternative to reading the specs or other technical
documents.
Doesn't your Telecom operator have any documentation of its systems?

I'd look for a telecoms news group.


--
Nick Keighley

"I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my
telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my
telephone."
- Bjarne Stroustrup