M2pa vs M3ua

M2PA is a Sigtran layer. In another article, we have discussed the Sigtran with a detailed example of m3ua. In this tutorial, we will discuss another layer M2pa. Along with m2pa, we will also discuss the comparison with M3UA. Before discussing m2pa vs. m3ua, let’s introduce the Sigtran m2pa layer.

What is m2pa?

The full form is the MTP2 peer adaptation layer. This means m2pa provides services to the  MTP3 layer of SS7. But it is a little different from other adaptation layers. It is for peer adaptation, while other Sigtran layers (e.g., m3ua, SUA, etc)  are for user adaptation. What does peer mean? For m2pa, both the peer have the same functionality, While in user adaptation, one peer is an SG. M2pa provides the functionality to the MTP3 layer as MTP2 does. The only difference is that MTP2 uses TDM links while m2pa uses SCTP/IP protocols. Primitives between MTP3 and m2pa are the same as between MTP2 and MTP3.

M2PA vs M3UA :

After having an introduction to M2PA, we will now discuss some differences between m2pa and m3ua.

  1. The user of m2pa is MTP3, while the user of M3UA is SCCP.
  2. M2PA can connect to SGs, but m3ua can not connect to SGs.
  3. In M3ua, the logical entity and AS or application server have point code, while in m2pa, no point code is configured.
  4. M2pA implements the same messages as MTP2, while m3ua has Sigtran messages.
  5. M2PA is a data link layer, while m3ua is an example of a network layer if we see it as per the OSI model.
  6. The M3UA layer may send the message to a remotely located application via SG. At the same time, m2pa sends messages to a directly connected node.

Above test cover details about the m2pa vs. m3ua.