 |
As the 3GPP IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) has become one of the hottest topics in today's telecom world, all major network operators, service providers, core network equipment providers, infrastructure suppliers, and application (service) developers are actively involved in IMS and 3G network trials.
While the exact motivation – hence, its focus and coverage – of individual IMS/3G network trials around the world seem to vary, they all rely on the availability of some sort of SIP-based end-user applications. All in all, before IMS can become the architecture of choice for network operators who wish to upgrade their existing cellular and fixed-line networks, they need to be convinced that IMS can deliver on its key promises; that is availability of real-time multimedia applications with an acceptable quality of service. |
|
Telenity, being one of the established players in the Service Delivery Platform (SDP) ecosystem – thanks to its wide range of market-proven Canvas® family of products, its recognition of the importance of open-standards for ease-of-integration with other prominent SDP vendors, and its revenue-driven, cost-effective, end-to-end SDP deployment approach – and a key supplier of next-generation converged services and platforms, it should come as no surprise that 3GSM World Congress 2007 in Barcelona, Spain witnessed a major event by Telenity and its long-term strategic partners BEA Systems and HP.
At 3GSM, Telenity debuted a SIP-enabled and video-enriched version of its Canvas CoolRings™ application not only in its own stand but also in a reserved demo pod in the BEA stand, both running on top of the BEA's open-standards-based WebLogic SIP application server (a.k.a. WLSS). While the basic idea behind the 2 exhibition stands was pretty much the same (i.e., availability and demonstration of next-generation video services for deployment in packet-switched networks), there were subtle differences between what was on display in each stand.
The Canvas CoolRings demo at the BEA stand hosted a single instance of WLSS 3.0 integrated with the IMS networks elements of HP all running within a special-purpose equipment rack put together by BEA, HP, and Intel. Known as the IMS micro edition (IMS-ME) rack, the equipment has been designed to travel on wheels to demonstrate the IMS technology/business benefits to network operators around the world. As can be seen in Figure 1, IMS-ME environment comprises built-in CSCF simulators, an HSS, and an MRF, all supplied by HP and integrated with BEA's WLSS.
Figure 1: IMS-ME Environment
The Canvas CoolRings demo at the Telenity stand, on the other hand, was intended to demonstrate a plain SIP network version of the application. For this reason, no IMS network elements were required in the Telenity stand. As in the other case, a single instance of WLSS 3.0 was used since the primary focus of both demos was on proof-of-concept and not on actual service deployment and concerns related to it.
An obvious difference between the demo configurations in BEA and Telenity stands involved the need for SIP-based special-purpose communication protocols (such as ISC for CSCF/WLSS communication and Diameter for CSCF/HSS communication) in the former case. Note however, in a plain SIP network architecture, use of neither IMS protocol was warranted.
Another notable difference between the demonstrations at the BEA and Telenity stands at 3GSM 2007 was in regard to the IP media servers used. At the BEA stand, the demo was powered by HP OCMP 4.0 (positioned as an MRF in IMS networks) for video playback. At the Telenity stand, the Cantata (a.k.a. SnowShore) IP Multimedia Server was used instead. In the case of HP OCMP, video playback was facilitated by the SIP-based NETANN protocol whereas in the case of Cantata IP Media Server, SIP-based VoiceXML protocol was put in use. The fact that the demos in both stands were driven by the same Canvas CoolRings application attested to the importance of open media server control standards in designing and deploying media-rich applications for next-generation networks. To this end, one of the important announcements made at 3GSM within the leadership of HP and BEA was about JSR 309 – a newly proposed API for protocol agnostic media server control – to which Telenity contributes as a member of the expert group.
Figure 2 shows a high-level system software architecture of the SIP-enabled Canvas CoolRings application debuted at 3GSM 2007. The noteworthy points to make are that the application comprises a number of special-purpose SIP and HTTP servlets, all of which have been designed to execute under standard SIP/HTTP servlet containers. As a direct result of this standards-based approach, Canvas CoolRings application is in a position to run on any J2EE-based SIP application server that houses a standard (JSR 116) SIP servlet container.
Figure 2: System Software Architecture The Canvas CoolRings service is offered to end users on a subscription basis. Once subscribed and provisioned by the operator, subscribers can customize the service related parameters via WEB, WAP, and/or IVR/IVP portal interfaces. In a typical use case, a subscriber selects the video/audio ringback tones that should be provided to callers on the basis of SIP URIs associated with them. Using one of the subscriber portal interfaces listed above, subscribers can purchase new content at any time and specify the video/audio ringback tone to be provided to a particular caller or group of callers. Charging for the Canvas CoolRings service takes place only when new content is purchased. That is because the ringback tone service involves early media playback; thus, no charges are incurred by callers or callees during call setup and ringing.
Figures 3 and 4 are intended to illustrate typical examples of Canvas CoolRings user experience. Screenshots in both figures are taken using the eyeBeam/X-Lite SIP soft phones by CounterPath. Figure 3 depicts a case where the caller has initiated a video call to a subscriber of the Canvas CoolRings service and he gets to watch a mixed recording (video + audio) set forth by the callee while the call is in ringing state. In Figure 4, we see that the early media has been cut off as the call has been established.
Figure 3: Call Ringing Phase
Figure 4: Call Established Phase There is little doubt video will be a key enabler of many next-generation services, both for IMS and 3G networks. The Canvas CoolRings application of Telenity is one such example of the enhanced end-user experience, excitement, and fun the real-time multimedia services for next-generation networks promise.
|
