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18INTELLIGENT NETWORKAPPLICATION PART18.1 INTRODUCTIONThe Intelligent Network Application Part (INAP) is the ITU-T standard protocolused for communication between application entities (AEs) in an intelligentnetwork (IN) [1]. INAP is similar to, but more ambitious than, the North AmericanAIN (advanced intelligent network) described in the previous chapter. A regional(European) variation of INAP is specified by ETSI. INAP is a complex subjectso, to put INAP into the proper perspective before delving into the details of the protocol,a brief introduction to the ITU-T architectural model for IN is in order.The ITU-T architectural model for IN, called the IN conceptual model (INCM),describes IN services according to four planes:1. Service plane2. Global functional plane (GFP)3. Distributed functional plane (DFP)4. Physical planeThe four planes represent four different ways of looking at INs and services. Theyare described in descending order of abstraction, with the service plane providing themost abstract view and the physical plane the least abstract view [2].The INCM is based on a conceptual model of IN processes that separates thefunctions that control IN services from the functions that control connections.Service control is the function of the service logic program (SLP), which typicallyruns distributed in IN nodes. Connection control is the function of the basic callprocess (BCP), which typically runs in access nodes (local exchanges). TriggersSignaling in Telecommunication Networks, Second Edition, by John G. van Bosse and Fabrizio U. DevetakCopyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.557