netcentrex ip multimedia subsystem (ims) a positioning · pdf filenetcentrex ip multimedia...

NetCentrex IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)

A positioning paper

Why deploying IMS with NetCentrex solutions is the right choice for Fixed and Mobile networks

BC IMS-PP020205 IMS Positioning Paper Feb 2nd, 2005

? Copyright NetCentrex 2005

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Table of Contents 1. IMS, A FRAMEWORK FOR CONVERGENCE OF SERVICES AND NETWORKS ...........................3

1.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................3 1.2 IMS: THE ROOTS OF A SPECIFICATION PROJECT ......................................................................................3 1.3 THE RATIONALE FOR IMS IN FIXED AND MOBILE NETWORKS .......................................................................4

2. NETCENTREX AND IMS: A NATURAL EXTENSION OF THE NETCENTREX ARCHITECTURE ...6 2.1 NETWORK DOMAINS AND FUNCTIONAL DESIGNS IN FIXED NETWORKS.........................................................6 2.2 SIP TECHNOLOGY, A LONG-AWAITED MATURITY.......................................................................................6 2.3 NETCENTREX SOLUTION, A TRUE IMS-COMPLIANT SET OF PRODUCTS ........................................................7

3. CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................10



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1. IMS, A FRAMEWORK FOR CONVERGENCE OF SERVICES AND NETWORKS

1.1 INTRODUCTION IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is not yet another technology. IMS is a complete network architecture, a comprehensive framework which has been designed and introduced by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). For several years, Service Providers, Telecommunication Equipment Manufacturers and other vendors have faced the great challenge of networks and services convergence. Beyond the core fixed infrastructure, which has already largely migrated towards IP, the explosion of broadband and simultaneously the launch of 3G mobile networks have accelerated the convergence of both services and networks. All of this leads to an all-IP network, delivering voice, data, content, video communications, video broadcasting, in one word a real multimedia world of services. This represents a huge paradigm shift, probably the biggest change in telecommunications since the introduction of TDM technology in telephone networks. Facing such challenges, the industry tends to launch various initiatives in order to design the reference network architecture that is necessary for delivering the expected services. Legacy standardization bodies drive some of these initiatives, with a particular focus on interoperability issues, others come from Greenfield forums driven by industry leaders and created specially to address specific market or technical specifications (e.g. VMA, the Softswitch Consortium…). But only 3GPP and 3GPP2 have produced a complete specification framework, with a clear roadmap for the next 10 years. Starting from 3GPP Release 99, in use today, to current Releases 5 and 6, which will be introduced in networks in 2007-2008, this specification framework introduces the functional elements, network elements and service platforms, as well as the architecture, which enable real multimedia convergence on an IP –based infrastructure. Furthermore, IMS provides a workable and coherent solution for both fixed and wireless networks, enabling opportunities for further infrastructure capex (Capital Expenditures) and opex (Operational Expenditures) reductions as well as a new generation of fixed-mobile converged services. This latter opportunity is rising fast, and is largely contributing to the wide, although recent, recognition of IMS as the future direction of fixed-mobile convergence.

1.2 IMS: THE ROOTS OF A SPECIFICATION PROJECT 3GPP specifications and, most importantly, IMS, crystallize a long history of specifications coming from traditional TDM and IP Networks. It is a successful approach because it has solid roots diving deep into Intelligent Networks and SS7 technology, the IETF and its various contributions to IP, and VoIP. For example, it is the first telecom specification to recognize that traditional TDM tromboning is no longer required when using VoIP, and this has enormous impact on the architecture, the call flows, and the deployment of application servers.

One of the most interesting aspects of this long specification process is the parallel processes of the fixed and the mobile networks. Most of the 3GPP specification work focuses on wireless networks and the introduction of the so-called 3G wireless networks. This process has been controlled and coordinated, and was essentially a pure specification process because no 3G networks are deployed at that time of specification. Under heavy regulation, mobile networks are closed worlds, controlled by strong licensing schemes and a limited number of players per country sharing radio spectrums. Long-term planning and standardization are the rules of thumb in these networks.

At the same time, fixed networks are wide-open landscapes with a tremendous heterogeneity of players and business models, from ISPs to incumbents, via Carrier’s Carriers, ASPs and other hybrid players, covering



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Internet, voice and traditional telecom services, and now even video communications and IP TV. In the jungle of fixed networks, no global coordination was realistically possible. Instead, the huge competitiveness and pressure created by converging factors such as the 2001-2002 telecom crisis and the recent rise of broadband have mitigated for a pragmatic approach based upon solutions addressing time-to-market constraints rather than a global framework for the next 10 years to come. In other words, fixed networks have evolved through a Darwinian-like process rather than as a result of long-term planning scheme.

The advantage of the Darwinian process is that certain innovative companies have been able to deliver well designed and scalable solutions that are now powering today’s advanced broadband service providers, already delivering what is still only a plan in wireless networks. As its outstanding track record and customer references prove, NetCentrex is clearly one of the best examples in the market place. The architectural choices for the proven solutions (they already support millions of users and triple play services) are often very similar to what IMS is promoting. For example, a VoIP softswitch in a fixed network, such as NetCentrex’ CCS, has long proven the efficiency of decoupling the access and the switching, as well as separating the network domains to specialize and optimize network elements. When introducing this type of decomposed switching architecture back in 2000, NetCentrex demonstrated the carrier-grade capability of VoIP networks based upon softswitches. The 3GPP and IMS specifications promote a similar architecture to the one successfully deployed in fixed networks by NetCentrex.

1.3 THE RATIONALE FOR IMS IN FIXED AND MOBILE NETWORKS A vast world of new services will be made available to a population of users that is more and more technology-friendly: the amount of computers at home continues to grow, game consoles, millions of MP3 players get connected to computers and music stores are migrating to the internet. Televisions go high-definition and are all equipped with a DVI connector for the computers, while DVD players and recorders proliferate. Simultaneously, home wireless expands, WiFi equips residential home gateways, mobile phones and camera phones are Bluetooth-enabled, and they communicate with the computer for synchronized contact directories and exchange of music and pictures. The Digital Home arrives, and it will be connected to broadband networks. IP-video cameras will monitor houses, and for example users will use their 3G mobile phone to monitor their residences.

But this world will only become reality if users can get full and easy control of the technology. All these services will be used only if they really make the user’s lives simpler and faster, and save their time while also providing fun at the same time. Indeed, making life fun and easy will be key. An important part of the answer to the challenge will reside in the ability of device makers to make it really straightforward and easy to install, but most of the “make it easy” value attributes will come from the network. Services in the network, such as self care interfaces and user portals will help the user control the growing amount of devices and services.

There are also key functions that end users cannot control directly themselves, while the networks may have the relevant information and mechanisms to help the end user. In particular, the network will know who is connected, where, and what equipment is also connected. What we call “network ubiquity” is one of the key values that will make life easier for end users. These concepts also apply obviously to people. The network will know who is connected and where, when presence management is implemented. While working on a text document in your office, a right mouse click on a name in the report will tell you whether this person is connected, and the right click will also give you the option to “video-talk to him” if that user has his 3G mobile or video-web cam connected.

Beyond traditional communication services, which are about putting people in contact and maintaining a communication link between them, the network will provide services of a totally different nature. Presence management is one the key features which will enable these next generation services. This feature is similar



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in nature to what a mobile network requires to locate connected mobile phones. Location of moving targets requires a particular type of architecture, and it is therefore obvious that 3GPP and IMS, initially designed for mobile networks, provide a workable solution for location and presence management. This particular design becomes very attractive for fixed networks when those networks start to consider the implementation of such services. Thanks to the internet world, people can connect to fixed networks from various places, one day in a hotel room, the next day in the office, an internet café, the home office… same user, but anywhere, anytime, with any device, on any network, fixed or mobile. IMS defines concrete solutions to that problem, and this is also why IMS is of such interest to fixed networks.

When looking at it from the service provider perspective, it is also obvious that “make it easy” makes sense: they need solutions that are easy to deploy, when the complexity of the target network and services is dramatically increasing compared to a pure voice network. The cost of implementation will depend upon well-designed solutions, with very well defined interfaces for interoperability between network elements of a heterogeneous nature. IMS proposes a good implementation of functional splits, which clearly separates the access, the switching, and the application domains. Another key benefit of IMS that contributes to simplicity is the generalization of USIM cards in the terminals. This dramatically reduces the complexity of service activation, for the end user and the service provider at the same time.

Services providers also expect a workable architecture that enables multiple business models. Some players will be integrated service providers (mobile, fixed, and ISP businesses within the same group), and they will want to leverage a unique service platform to reduce cost and enable real converged services. At the same time, non-integrated service providers will need to behave as virtual service providers for networks they do not operate themselves. For example, fixed service providers without a mobile branch are already looking for MVNO licenses, while pure mobile service providers are entering agreements with ISPs and broadband service providers to enable their service strategy. Fixed-mobile convergence is a massive trend that requires adequate network and service infrastructures.



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2. NETCENTREX AND IMS: A NATURAL EXTENSION OF THE NETCENTREX ARCHITECTURE

2.1 NETWORK DOMAINS AND FUNCTIONAL DESIGNS IN FIXED NETWORKS Starting in 2000, NetCentrex has deployed the largest VoIP networks for business and residential services. Equant and NTT Coms networks are powered by NetCentrex Class IV and Class V solutions enabling them to deliver business services in more than 80 countries. Fastweb is the largest true Triple Play service provider today, and the first example in the world of a complete PSTN local loop replacement. France Telecom has fast-growing VoIP services and is one of the first service providers to deploy IP video-communications to the mass market, aiming at replacing the traditional POTS with an IP-based video camera. In 2004, NetCentrex delivered Class V services to more than 1 million real life subscribers. This track record is based upon solid foundations: the NetCentrex CCS softswitch is a truly scalable and modular carrier-grade system, built with open technologies, i.e. Intel-based computing, Linux OS and clustering techniques. But at the same time, the CCS softswitch was designed with rock-solid core Intelligent Network design, enabling a 3-layer architecture decoupling access from switching, and switching from applications; the same architectural design is used for IMS today. For example, in Equant’s worldwide deployment, Hewlett-Packard’s OpenCall Application platform runs on top of NetCentrex’ CCS softswitch, while Cisco provides the Access Gatekeepers taking care of users’ admission and registration. It is also important to note that NetCentrex has a long track record of Media Service deployments in different types of networks: TDM, IN, and VoIP networks, both Fixed and Mobile. The NetCentrex MCS technology is extremely mature and fits perfectly in applications domains to deliver voice and video services. Hundreds of thousands of MCS ports have been deployed over the past years, and major OEMs such as Hewlett-Packard, Nokia and Ericsson are using NetCentrex technology for such services. Furthermore, the MCS platform provides leading edge technologies for video XML portals and other video communications services. A number of service providers rely on these technologies for their advanced video portals. These are concrete examples of NetCentrex existing ability to deliver advanced converged communications services that have also been defined in IMS.

2.2 SIP TECHNOLOGY, A LONG-AWAITED MATURITY One of the key technologies in IMS is also the SIP protocol. NetCentrex was one of the very first players in the market to develop SIP, with in-house development of its own SIP stack back in 2000. However, NetCentrex has always been more concerned about customer requirements for deployable solutions rather than ideological battles and religious protocol wars. It took a long time for SIP to reach the level of specification and maturity required for telephony services and complex call flows. NetCentrex has considered all market factors and requirements, for example the interconnection of enterprise iPBXs (essentially offering H.323 interfaces), to provide a protocol-agnostic approach that very few other vendors have implemented. NetCentrex’ success is largely due to this pragmatic approach of massive real life deployments, where seamless implementation and interoperability is guaranteed in a completely heterogeneous VoIP landscape. Now, finally, SIP is becoming the mature technology that promises a larger spectrum of IP-based communications, but not forgetting the basic requirements for telephony services…, all this proving to be much more complex than many new players had anticipated. NetCentrex, through the acquisition of MG2, a company which brought with it 15 years experience of voice, telephony and intelligent networks, was well equipped for such challenges. The total technology control provided by several years of protocol stack development, strengthened by real customer deployments, gives NetCentrex a clear competitive advantage to achieve its development of IMS compliant interfaces. Furthermore, NetCentrex is in a unique position to



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enable a smooth transition towards IMS thanks to its support for multiple protocol environments that will co-exist for quite some years to come.

2.3 NETCENTREX SOLUTION, A TRUE IMS-COMPLIANT SET OF PRODUCTS NetCentrex compliance to IMS is not only about re-affirming our commitment to the target IMS architecture: it is also about delivering solutions that are already providing the services with a complete guarantee of investment durability. Many of NetCentrex solutions are IMS-compliant in terms of architecture, by our original design. Our roadmap also commits to implementing the additional IMS interfaces when they are completely defined and stabilized. NetCentrex roadmap for IMS consists in a phased implementation. Phase 1 is an architectural implementation which has already been deployed by NetCentrex: NetCentrex solutions can be used as standalone application servers in today’s 2G and 3G mobile networks. Deployed as an IP-based application backplane, it serves existing fixed endpoints, and mobile users via multimedia gateways connected to mobile network’s MSCs. Phase 2 implements Cx interface to HSS directly at the level of existing NetCentrex SAU (Subscriber Access Unit), which is then considered as an Application Server with an application-specific S-CSCF embedded. Optional third party Interrogating CSCF can interact with this Application Server design.

HSS support through Cx support in SAU modules (application specific S-CSCF module).

HSS

Cx

I-CSCF Optional 3rd Party I-CSCF

AS-SCSCF AS-SCSCF AS-SCSCF



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Phase 3 migrates NetCentrex components into a multi-purpose S-CSCF. This design relies on centralized HSS databases while delivering the full-range of existing NetCentrex services for residential and business markets.

NetCentrex provides a comprehensive set of solutions designed for converged networks and IMS target implementation, covering Voice and Video Telephony Services, Media Services, and Network Inter-working solutions. Voice and Video Telephony Services: Residential and Business services, using SIP to the endpoint, not only inside the core network but also between network elements. All current deployments of NetCentrex are based upon this technology. But the NetCentrex approach integrates the components that are making SIP really deployable in the core network, for example the integration of the Nat Traversal function in the core network. Today’s telephony and video-telephony service deployments are based upon subscriber databases, and the NetCentrex solution relies on LDAP databases for this. When IMS-3GPP Release 5 will start to deploy, sometime in 2006 or 2007, subscriber databases will be massively centralized on the HSS, and the NetCentrex CCS component will naturally query those large scale databases, either instead of, or alongside LDAP. Seamless interfaces towards other application services and servers, such as Presence Servers, are available today. It is also expected that 3G mobile networks will provide native video communications to the users. This revolution, which will make video communications the new legacy way of communicating, has also started in the fixed network, as well as on the public Internet. NetCentrex is significantly involved in these leading edge deployments, with top tier services providers such as France Telecom. The key success factor of this revolution is the seamless inter-operation between fixed and mobile networks to extend the reach of potential users leading to the critical mass of subscribers.

HSS Cx S-CSCF



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Media Services: All communication services will continue to require network media servers, and perhaps more than ever because of the rise of video communications. A richer world of applications, from video mail to personal videoblogs and portals, push-to-see, see-what-I-see etc, users will enjoy a great new experience, which goes far beyond simple messaging. Very few players in the market have the experience or the product maturity of NetCentrex Voice and Video Service Brokers to deliver advanced media services in fixed and mobile networks. Inter-working: The “Holy Grail” for the all-IP converged network is a long march, and it will have to cope with the current heterogeneity of fixed and mobile networks, protocols and technologies that are already deployed. Claiming the era of SIP and IMS does not erase the billions of minutes carried with other protocols at just a snap of the finger, and also because IMS does not cover all the business cases of the fixed networks. Even within the scope of 3GPP deployments, various technologies co-exist, because circuit and packet-based communications co-exist and will continue to co-exist for a long time. For example, most current UMTS deployments are based upon Release 99 specifications, and this implies the use of TDM techniques for video communications, based upon the H.324-M protocol umbrella. Connecting these users to users in the fixed networks that are used over endpoint technologies means inter-operating protocols and services for H.324-M, H.323, SIP, and MGCP. Furthermore, video-communications and other types of video services imply taking into account very different types of endpoint and video capabilities, from the HiFi TV screen with a set-top box, up to a small square of pixels on a 3G mobile phone. Service platforms for converged networks require significant experience of inter-operating and the technologies; and NetCentrex is ideally placed for such needs.



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3. CONCLUSION

Starting with inter-operating solutions and Media Services, NetCentrex can help service providers to deploy converged services, which will be future proof for IMS migration when it comes to deployment. The implementation of various new IMS interfaces forms part of NetCentrex’ 2005 roadmap, and anticipates future deployments of IMS network elements in 2006-2007, such as the centralized HSS Subscriber Databases. At the same time, Service Providers should be aware that IMS is not an answer to all Next Generation Network cases, since IMS does not cover a number of key applications in the fixed networks, for example the interconnection of iPBXs and the PSTN local loop replacement with VoIP residential gateways. As opposed to IMS-only offerings, NetCentrex field proven architecture also addresses key business segments of fixed networks that are not covered by IMS. Fully compliant IMS solutions, with endpoints using USIM cards for VoIP calls, will not be commercially deployed before mid-2007 at best. At that time there will be over 25 million phone lines using VoIP in Europe alone, and also tens of millions of UMTS phones using the previous R99 UMTS standard. With this in mind, it is obvious that one of the main challenges for the introduction of IMS is how to best manage the transition. Ideally, services should be deployed now on existing VoIP and UMTS R99 infrastructures, and then evolve to an IMS architecture without requiring major changes. NetCentrex is very well positioned to address the future architectural evolution required by the convergence of fixed and mobile networks, through a natural and straightforward extension of its current architecture with IMS implementation. NetCentrex is definitely committed to IMS, with the right competences, advanced technologies, and a strong roadmap that perpetuates its market leadership.

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