Mobile Application Part protocol implementation in OPNET

This paper describes OPNET implementation of the Mobile Application Part (MAP) protocol within the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) model. MAP represents an application layer protocol residing on top of the Signaling System 7 (SS7) protocol stack. In GPRS networks, MAP protocol supports signaling exchanges with Home Location Register (HLR) and Equipment Identity Register (EIR). We begin with a brief introduction to SS7 protocol stack and GPRS architecture. We then describe MAP features related to GPRS and modifications that we implemented in the GPRS OPNET model to provide signaling capabilities for communication between HLR and the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN). We provide implementation details and evaluate the impact of the MAP protocol overhead on network response time.