MULTIMEDIA TELEPHONY FOR IMS

Whichever way you look at IMS, and there are several ways, it is clear that this platform plays a pivotal role in the way that carrier networks transition to IP. One way is to give operators the tools with which to build a converged fixed and mobile VoIP service offering with multimedia support. And that objective is facilitated by an ETSI/3GPP initiative known as the multimedia telephony communication service. Multimedia telephony combines the quality, interoperability, reliability, efficiency, and regulatory and supplementary services of traditional telephony with the rich, flexible media capabilities of Internet community-based services. And because the service is built on IMS, it is access agnostic–that is, it can run over a variety of access networks. This new global service standard for VoIP with multimedia support provides a foundation for products that can offer fixed-mobile convergence of services, networks, and devices. The service combines the quality, interoperability, reliability, efficiency, and renowned supplementary services of traditional telephony with the rich media and dynamics of Internet community-based communication. As such, it can be positioned both as a new service for driving operator revenue and as a replacement for circuit-switched telephony. This is a summary of an article that appeared in the Ericsson Review. It can be downloaded at: www.ericsson.com/ericsson/ corpinfo/publications/review/2007_02/ 02.shtml

reduction claim is similar. However, in this case the architecture allows the multiple TDM point-to-point connections of MSC networks to be replaced with Ethernet interfaces to the IP backbone.

Multicore Chip Technology

Both solutions are good examples of the way that transitioning to IP is enabling the industry to design and implement network makeovers. Multicore technology comes into the picture because these chips have several “cores,” each of which is a processor that can perform an independent task. This allows what used to be a rack of separate products to be replaced by a single blade.

Gateways, for example, have become multifunctional products; e.g., they do protocol conversion (TDM to IP and vice versa) as well as codex translation, and they are employed in peer-to-peer network scenarios that are protected by firewalls and need to accommodate private IP addresses. This development therefore enables a simpler network architecture and in turn allows staffing requirements to be reduced.

Switching in the Southern Hemisphere

New Zealand’s former incumbent is now known as Telecom ( www.telecom.co.nz) and like BT, it was one of the first carriers to realize that operational separation was needed in order to realize the opportunities of NGN. For example, at the end of 2007, Telecom Wholesale announced a joint project with WorldxCommunications ( www.worldxchange.com) to deliver phone and broadband services over fiber direct to consumers in their homes.

As part of Telecom’s commitment to building a next-generation access network, over the next four years about 3,600 new cabinets will be installed across the country, and they will be connected by 2,500 kilometers (over 1,500 miles) of fiber-optic cable. And by the end of 2012, fast broadband will reach every town and city that has more than 500 telephone lines. V

Bob Emmerson, our European Editor, co-authored with Jeff Pulver the book, Run Your Organization in Real Time. He can be reached at bemmerson@vonmag.com.

IPX: A GLOBAL, PRIVATE, IP NETWORK FOR EVERYONE

It’s not an oxymoron. It’s a private IP interconnection solution for carriers and trusted service providers. But we’ll all be using this service-delivery solution in the future–one reason being the availability of high-quality, low-cost roaming.

In a nutshell, IP exchange (IPX) is a private IP interworking network that operators will use to exchange traffic. It won’t be accessible from the Internet, so it should be secure, and quality of service (QoS) will be managed using the DiffServ traffic class methodology.

IPX isn’t rocket science.

Fixed and mobile network operators as well as service providers simply connect to each other via the fat pipes of a “carrier’s carrier” using agreed upon specifications. Large operators may connect directly to each other, but since there are around 740 mobile operators around the world, bilateral deals are clearly impractical. Instead, operators will employ the services of a trusted “broker;” i.e., operators connect to the nearest broker.

Brokers aggregate the traffic, and they connect to other brokers in order to create a global network. Thus, everybody has a virtual connection to everybody else. Brokers also handle the billing. Parties who meet their mutual obligations in the value chain receive a fair commercial return.

Setting up an operation of this size clearly takes time, and it’s a very significant development, but it’s driven by the need to be competitive with those Internet-centric service providers. If they weren’t there, it wouldn’t happen.