Jarek Hartman
Tuesday, May 17, 2005

PointCode Converter

Check interactive WWW Point Code Converter

Quick summary

This is a small calculator for converting SS7 point codes between different formats.

More

In my day‑to‑day telecom work I often had to convert SS7 point codes. It isn’t hard, but doing it by hand over and over is annoying. That’s why I wrote a tiny PPC tool that does it instantly.

You can also try the WebPointCodeConverter.

SS7 point code formats

For historical reasons (and “convenience”), point codes are expressed in several formats. The most common ones are Decimal (Dec) and the 7‑7 grouping.

Here’s the idea:

A 14‑bit address (in this example 8010) can be written in binary and split into two 7‑bit groups, which gives 62 and 74, i.e. 62‑74.

The 7‑7 format is just one option. You can also use 8‑6 or even 8‑4‑2. The only rule is that the numbers in the format must sum to 14 (7+7, 8+6, 8+4+2).

Update: During a project in China I learned that point codes are not always 14‑bit. There are 24‑bit point codes as well (SCCPType == 4), typically grouped as 8‑8‑8.

The application

The app converts between any 14‑bit formats (SCCPType == 2). By default it includes Dec, 7‑7, 6‑8, 5‑9, 8‑6, and 9‑5. You can add your own formats by editing formaty.txt.

It requires .NET to run.