SS7 signalling transport over ATM

A method of and apparatus for transmitting SS7 signals between a single node (such as, for example, Service Control Points (SCPs), Service Switching Points (SSPs) (16A, 16B, 17) and Signalling Transfer Points (STPs) (14)) and a plurality of other nodes is disclosed. The method involves connecting a node to an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network (22) through a High Speed Link (HSL) (24). A virtual channel for each of the other nodes connected to the ATM network is provisioned on the HSL. Each channel is identified by a Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) and Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) pair. SS7 signalling data from the single node will be encapsulated with the VCI+VPI pair in an ATM cell and transmitted on the HSL to the ATM network where the ATM cell is transmitted to another node over a Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) (26a-d) or Switch Virtual Channel (SVC). The other node may also be connected to the ATM network through a similar HSL with multiple virtual channels.