D.3 Association Establishment
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## D.3 Association Establishment

Association establishment is used to negotiate the type of data to be exchanged and how the data will be encoded. DICOM AEs establish Associations by using the ACSE A-ASSOCIATE Service as defined by Part 8 of the DICOM Standard. Three key parameters conveyed in the A-ASSOCIATE Service are the Application Context, Presentation Context, and the User Information Items. The following section discusses these negotiation parameters.

Note: The A-ASSOCIATE Service is performed only once at Association established time. The examples shown in this Section separate the negotiation parameters for clarification purposes only. Readers should remember that only one A-ASSOCIATE request is offered for each Association and it contains all of the negotiation parameters.

### D.3.1 Application Context

An Application Context explicitly defines the set of Application Service Elements, related options and any other information necessary for the inter-working of DICOM AEs on an Association.

The Application Context provides the highest level of negotiation, therefore, a very high level definition. Only one Application Context shall be offered per Association. DICOM specifies a single Application Context Name that defines the DICOM Application Context (applicable for this Standard and potentially later versions).

### Note

For complete specification see Annex A.

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