3Q 2010 • info@IMSForum.org • www.NGNForum.org • www.IMSForum.org

Dear NGN IMS Forum Members and Colleagues,

Apps. play a huge role in network evolution and IP transformation. A new generation of Apps has arrived thanks to the introduction of the iPhone and the increased demand for video applications on mobile networks.

At the CTIA show in March the NGN/IMS Forum™ announced its new Technical Working Group for Applications running on fixed and mobile broadband networks (e.g. 3G/4G/LTE, wireline and cable networks). This Technical Working Group (TWG) will help accelerate the availability of IMS-based applications by providing additional tools and resources to foster the ecosystem of application developers, content creators, network operators, and telecommunications vendors (i.e. network equipment, handset, ICT, and original equipment manufacturers). This working group will play an integral role in our next Plugfest.

Mobile handsets are becoming the platform on which a wide variety of applications can be run. Today’s mobile handsets are not only used for web browsing and email but, increasingly, are becoming sophisticated computing devices that run a wide variety of data applications such as social networking applications, applications to share user-generated content, multi-user games, and music and video streaming. Traditionally, each of these capabilities has been provided by siloed platforms. As mobile networks migrate to 4G/LTE, additional applications will be possible and end users will be looking for a common experience between their fixed and mobile broadband networks.

As carriers deploy IMS networks, applications can be enhanced to create new end user experiences by simultaneously blending voice, data, video and multimedia. This new generation of applications will be able to take advantage of elements of the IMS network, such as QoS and Voice-over LTE (VoLTE), to deliver end-user experiences (e.g. Multi-play: Triple Play, Quadruple Play, M-Play) that are consistent across both fixed and mobile networks.

Because of the explosion of applications, this Working Group and our upcoming Plugfest 9 will concentrate its efforts on application developers to help them better internetwork web 2.0 applications with IMS networks and BSS/OSS systems (including billing, charging and security). These efforts will bring the same level of interoperability enabled by our Plugfests from the realm of protocols, network architectures, hardware and devices to the software and applications space by including Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs) that expose network capabilities such as VoIP, group management, presence and instant messaging.

Our next IMS Plugfest™ and NGN Plugfest™ interoperability test event, which will focus on many of these topics and others, will be held in the fourth quarter of 2010 at the InterOperability Lab (UNH IOL) in Durham, NH. Registration for this Plugfest and Working Group is now open for any service providers, integrators and vendors who would like to participate (www.imsforum.org/Plugfest). For additional information please contact admin@ngnforum.org

Regards,

Michael Khalilian
President
NGN Forum and IMS Forum

Market Research Corner

New Estimate Sees Mobile App Revenue Reaching $11 Billion in 2014

Smartphone users are downloading increasing numbers of apps, and more of the apps they download come at a price. The result is a supercharged mobile app gold rush that's shattering Yankee Group's previous revenue estimates and reaching a whopping $11 billion by 2014.

In their report, "The Mobile App Gold Rush Speeds Up," Yankee Group sees several factors--increased smartphone shipments, more app stores and more expensive apps--combining to nearly double forecasted mobile app revenue, from $537 million to $1.6 billion in 2010 alone.

While most app developers and store owners will garner a share of the riches, users of Apple's iPhone and AT&T's network download the most apps and generate the most revenue. "Apple's innovative one-click technology and AT&T's exclusive deal for the iPhone put them ahead for now," says Carl Howe, director at Yankee Group and author of the report. "But strong results from T-Mobile suggest that Android will be the next breakout smartphone app platform."

Key findings of the report include:

• Paid apps are on the rise. Nearly a third of all apps downloaded today are purchased, compared with just 18 percent a year ago.
• Average price per app is up. The overall average paid app costs $2.85, up from $1.99 a year ago.
• AT&T and iPhone users download the most. Apple iPhone users download 60 apps per year, three times the average, while AT&T users download 27 apps annually, or 42 percent more than average.
• T-Mobile and Android are a close second. T-Mobile, the closest thing to an Android pure play, comes in second for all carriers, with its users downloading more than 18 apps per year on average.
• Verizon has the most paid apps. Two-thirds of apps downloaded by Verizon users are paid, the most of any carrier.

New Announcements in the Marketplace
           
BT offers IP telephony service in U.S.
Network World, 7/6/10
On the same day Verizon announced it was planning to launch a hosted unified communications and collaboration service based on Cisco's solution, BT also announced plans to extend its hosted IP telephony service to business customers in the United States. The BT service, initially launched in the UK in December 2009, also allows businesses to bring converged services to the desktop using BT and Cisco's cloud computing-based technologies.

Cisco to pay up to $112 million in Power-over-Ethernet patent case

Foundry, Extreme, Enterasys, 3Com also settle with patent acquirer in PoE case
By Jim Duffy, Network World
July 19, 2010 03:30 PM ET
Network-1 Security Solutions, an acquirer and licensor of intellectual property, says it has settled its Power-over-Ethernet    patent infringement case against Cisco and five other companies. The litigation was initiated in February 2008 by Network-1 against Cisco and its Linksys division, Foundry Networks (now Brocade), Extreme Networks, Enterasys, 3Com (now HP), Adtran and Netgear. At issue was alleged infringement of Network-1's Remote Power Patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,218,930. Read More.

Mu Studio enables customers to quickly automate testing of any IMS deployment scenario, no matter how complex, even at scale.
Mu Dynamics held a complimentary webinar on July 29th at 10am PDT.

Each IMS deployment scenario is unique; service offerings are highly personalized, the number of protocols involved is huge, with many proprietary extensions, and the number of end user devices continues to expand. As providers aim to deliver value-added applications on their IMS infrastructures such as revenue-critical services (like voice), carriers are faced with a challenging test situation. Today’s test tools tend to be based on specifications, but all the interesting services are highly customized. Test tools based on standards are less relevant over time, and waiting for test equipment vendors to deliver test content means delays in rolling out new services. As a result, testing for interoperability, resilience and scale in an IMS deployment is a labor-intensive, expensive and, above all, time-consuming process – time that carriers and their vendors do not have if they want to compete in today’s fast-paced market.

Mu’s unique approach to testing replicates complete service functionality by accurately emulating new devices and flows based on real network traffic. Mu Studio uses actual service interactions to test IMS services, using its patent-pending Active Service Replication (ASR) technology. It automatically transforms complex multi-host, multi-layer service interactions, taken from live traffic captures, into test scenarios. This approach is ideal for testing complex deployment scenarios such as those within IMS.

Mu Studio has built-in protocol intelligence for key IMS protocols like H.248, HTTP, SIP and Diameter, as well as the ability to model multi-protocol and multi-host scenarios. For the first time, your tests can intelligently interact with applications exactly as an actual system would, providing unprecedented depth and breadth of coverage.

Mu hosted this complimentary webinar on July 29th at 10:00am (PDT). Please listen to this webinar to learn why Mu Studio is the only solution to accurately test your complex services for interoperability, resilience and scalability.

Click here to register to view the recorded version of this webniar: http://www.mudynamics.com/forms/scale-webinar.html

NGN Forum Q & A

Q & A with Suresh Bhandarkar, Tech Mahindra

Please provide us with some background on your company?

Established in 1986, Tech Mahindra is a global solutions provider and systems integration (SI) company focused on servicing the converged communications industry. We leverage our SI thought leadership, global experience, vendor partnerships and repository of industry best practices to accelerate the rollout of NGN applications and M-Play NGN services to enable service providers to quickly benefit from the delivery of quadruple play voice, video, internet and mobile services over broadband via wireless, cable and fixed networks. Our business transformation services covering IT (B/OSS and applications), IT Operations, Networks, Security and BPM help service providers generate growth, enhance operational and cost efficiencies, increase customer retention and improve new service innovation.

What IMS services and products does your company offer?

For product companies, Tech Mahindra develops applications (session control, presence and seamless mobility), SDK/API (OSA/Parlay-X), orchestration logic, IVR, Media Servers, CTI, AAA (RADIUS, DIAMETER), and IMS clients. We also offer services like, interoperability testing and migration from HLR to HSS.

For service providers, we offer services like, E2E interoperability testing, Service Design, IP Network Design, IMS ITT vendor evaluation, NIT model design, NIT for Business VoIP, Design validation, Test specs for inter-CS (SIP/SIP-I), H.248 test specs for CS-MGW / MSAN, Signalling interworking test design, CPE interoperability testing, MVCT, Model build and E2E BB Test execution (NIT).

How can the IMS Forum’s Plugfest benefit Tech Mahindra and your customers?

The primary goal of the Plugfests is to ensure that products are compliant with the standards and can interoperate. These quarterly test events bring together leading IMS vendors from around the globe who exchange ideas to promote the adoption of IMS. Here, competing vendors collaborate to build real, full-featured, IMS networks.

For product vendors, these events save product and service development time through access to multi-vendor interoperability test beds, leading test equipment, IMS cores and applications, and multi-protocol engineering expertise; reduce time-to-market and acceptance testing cycles by pinpointing bugs and conformance issues, and validate services and products in a respected third-party lab.

For systems integrators like us, these events help gain early access to, judge the maturity of, and understand the ease with which products and technologies can be integrated into our customers’ networks.

For our service provider customers, these events provide proof-points about the interoperability among different product vendors. The “IMS Report Card” resulting from these events addresses myths that have held back the widespread adoption of standards-compliant IMS solutions. The Report Card recounts several commonly held myths in the industry and provides proof-points based on the experience of the companies participating in the Plugfests that disprove these myths.

How does a verification and certification process aid the development of IMS interoperability/standards?

Enforcing conformance to standards is a great way to march towards interoperability.  But in reality, standards are not always clear about what they meant to say. It is also necessary to understand the importance of what the standards do not say. Multiple interpretations of standards result in multiple implementations. Even similar interpretations of standards often result in multiple implementations. Verification and certification via Interoperability testing is therefore required to verify both the standard and its implementation.

Plugfest events can be leveraged by the participants to share their views on standards and industry best practices and to identify shortcomings, areas that need clarity, areas that need additional coverage and areas that do not need any coverage.

What has your membership in the IMS Forum accomplished for your company?

Our goal is to provide our customers with solutions by integrating products that are compliant with industry standards. Membership in the IMS Forum has helped us validate that these products are compliant with the standards and that the products from different vendors interoperate at network-level, signalling and control-level, applications-level and B/OSS-level. Participation in regular meetings of the forum has exposed us to multiple players in this space and their views and insights on IMS standards and technologies. This forum has provided us an excellent platform to get industry exposure and it has also provided us an opportunity to demonstrate our solutions and services. This is a great place to learn and share knowledge and best practices.

Who are some of Tech Mahindra customers and what IMS services are they deploying?

Our customers are global service providers (fixed line, wireless and cable operators), telecom equipment vendors and telecom software vendors. Most of our service provider customers are deploying IMS to be able to offer converged IP services, including VoIP, IPTV and FMC. Our cable customers are upgrading their networks using PacketCable2.0/IMS architecture. Some of our wireless customers are deploying IMS in preparation for rolling out LTE networks.

What are some areas of IMS where you have found challenges for operators?

Operator challenges can be classified into 3 categories: Business, Technical and Operational.

On the business front, it’s a challenge to introduce a paradigm shift by way of creating a new architecture that flattens the legacy network architecture and defines a common service control layer across all types of networks, supporting all types of services.

On the technical front, continuously evolving standards, SCP/AS integration issues and security issues remain a concern.

On the operational front, operators are concerned about operations and management related to integration of OSS, BSS and NMS systems with IMS.

Are there any other critical benchmarks that need to take place in this IMS evolution?

Whether deployed for next-generation services, or as a replacement for legacy network technologies, IMS works across network equipment from different vendors and supports a growing number of real-time applications, including VoIP, video, interactive conferencing, and other mission-critical data applications.

All these varied services come with a very high degree of expectation from the user community in terms of user experience and accompanying service-level agreements. To meet these expectations, service providers need end-to-end network performance management and visibility, which helps them to ensure high-quality, reliable services to their customers, independent of the composition of the underlying network infrastructure. In order to do performance management, critical benchmarks are required to be executed to collect measurements such as fail rate, response times or round-trip delays within an IMS network. Additionally, they can be used to identify scalability or usability problems of the IMS network under heavy load conditions. Benchmarks should be defined for both IMS as a whole as well as its various subsystems and should include metrics that are related to interoperability and metrics that are related to end-to-end quality of service. QoS should take into account factors such as multiple services, multiple technologies and real-time admission control.

What are some of the key factors for IMS success in the industry?

IMS holds great promise to be the technology of choice for offering multimedia services over 3G networks. But it is too complex and costly.  Efforts are needed to simplify it and reduce its cost. Costs will go down if there are key drivers that will result in a strong market growth. Move towards convergence between fixed and mobile networks is a big driver for adopting IMS. Another big driver lurking on the horizon is the migration towards LTE as the technology of choice for 4G networks. Voice over LTE networks using IMS will result in greater adoption of IMS. Thus, IMS success is closely associated with the uptake of LTE network deployments worldwide.

To have your company considered for a profile in the Q & A section of this newsletter send an email to pr@ngnforum.org.

NGN Forum IMS Forum Technical Working Groups Update

B/OSS
In addition to founding the new Applications over Broadband Working Group, we have finalized three new Working Group Papers, which are summarized below:

• Interoperability Challenges in Diameter Implementations, and
• IMS AAA Architecture: The Diameter Advantage
• BSS/OSS & Security for Services in NGN/IMS Paradigm Guidelines for Implementation

Interoperability Challenges in Diameter Implementations                
The main purpose of the first white paper is to explain the advantages of this protocol and the reasons why this protocol fits with AAA functionalities. What are the main concepts that are involved by the Diameter protocol? Where is this protocol used inside the IMS architecture? The answer to this latter question will demonstrate the importance of the protocol in next generation communication infrastructures. As Diameter is designed as an improvement of the RADIUS protocol, a lot of advantages of this protocol are based on the design of the protocol itself.

IMS AAA Architecture: The Diameter Advantage
Diameter is an AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) protocol for applications such as network access or IP mobility. It has been embraced by 3GPP and ETSI standard bodies as the foundation for AAA functionalities in the Next Generation Networks based on IP Multimedia Subsystem, thereby designing a multitude of applications and interfaces on it. With the advent of Wimax and LTE Diameter is becoming the obvious choice of the network providers to implement in these architectures.  However, different interpretations and implementations of new standards may lead to incompatibilities between vendors. Also, evolving standards may require altering implementations to keep up with specification changes.
This white paper focuses on the interoperability issues and challenges observed in diameter implementations in NGN networks. It encompasses the various practices and concerns related to diameter usages and interworking such as, cross-release issues, contradictions and ambiguity in the specifications thereby leading to different implementations, inconsistent rules and guidelines for defining new diameter applications, backwards incompatibility, version handling, etc. in the deployment and realization of any diameter based interface/applications in IMS/NGN architecture. It also delves into examples of diameter parameter interpretations and handling in various features and the current and best practices followed for the same.

BSS/OSS & Security for Services in NGN/IMS Paradigm Guidelines for Implementation

BSS/OSS solutions for a next generation landscape must work as one with the network while unifying critical business functions to better manage and effectively monetize NGN services and the next generation subscriber experience.   This will call for solutions that are open and keep the customer experience at heart while adhering to industry standards and providing the much needed flexibility to accommodate new requirements.  The BSS/OSS reality for most operators today is one of multiple, discrete systems that each have their own ways of looking at and managing data requiring both timely and costly integration while hindering marketing agility and the customer experience.  

Innovation in this next generation world will need to be driven not only by network advancements but also via an open and flexible BSS/OSS infrastructure that will allow CSPs to realize operational efficiencies in terms of new service introduction and customer management.  Thus the BSS/OSS strategy will need to be aligned with the network strategy.  This Working Group Paper provides guidelines for implementation of BSS/OSS and Security Services in an NGN IMS Architecture. It also suggests best practices in the following areas:

• Security and Reliability          
• BSS/OSS Unification
• Migration to IP Networks       
• Deploying an IP Multimedia Subsystem network     

• IMS/NGN Rating & Charging Impacts          
• Online vs. Offline Rating/Charging    

           
To receive a copy of these Working Group documents please contact: admin@ngnforum.org.

NGN Forum Calendar of Events

See the NGN/IMS Forum at the following 2010 events:

• September 12-15: COMPTEL, Dallas
• October 4-6: Internet Telephony Conference & Expo, Los Angeles, CA, Board/Working Group Meeting
• October 4-6:    4G Wireless Evolution
• October 6-8: CTIA Wireless Fall, San Francisco
• Oct. 14-15: Fraunhofer FOKUS, Berlin**
• October 19-21: 4G World, Chicago; Board/Working Group Meeting
• October 22, 2010: IIT VoIP Conference, Chicago, speaker
• November 4-5: IIR IMS World Forum, Brussels
• November 9-11: Management Forum Americas, Orlando
• February 14 – 17: Mobile World congress, Barcelona

Payam Maveddat, Vice President - Next Gen Wireless Switching Solutions, Mavenir Systems and Michael Khalilian, Chairman and President, NGN IMS Forum at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2010.

** This year Fraunhofer FOKUS has set up a unique program giving newcomers and experts from all over the world an overview and update on the state of the art and recent developments in the challenging field of converging telecommunications, Internet and entertainment. The theme for the upcoming International FOKUS conference is Business and Technical Challenges of Seamless Service Provision in Converging Next Generation Fixed and Mobile Networks. Please note that the number of seats is limited to 290-300 people in order to preserve the "family atmosphere" that makes this event stand out from others.

Showcase Your Expertise and Leadership: Call for Speakers

The NGN Forum and IMS Forum invite members to join its exclusive Speakers’ Bureau. Member companies have an excellent opportunity to market their companies and senior executives while representing the Forum at future trade shows and conferences. Simply contact us with a copy of the proposed speaker’s bio and indicate any specific NGN and IMS-related speaking topics and expertise. Speaking topic abstracts of one or two paragraphs are especially helpful. Please send to: pr@ngnforum.org

NGN/IMS Forum in the News

The following highlights some recent press coverage of the NGN/IMS Forum:

Recent NGN/IMS Forum Press Releases

Why Join the NGN Forum or IMS Forum?

The NGN/IMS Forum's mission is to accelerate the interoperability of NGN and IMS applications and services, enabling enterprise and residential consumers to quickly benefit from the delivery of quadruple play voice, video, Internet and mobile services over broadband via cable, mobile and fixed networks.

NGN/IMS applications and services comprise residential VoIP, entertainment including IPTV and gaming, IP Centrex / IP PBX and unified communications for business including fixed-mobile converged services, videoconferencing and web-collaboration. NGN and IMS networks include DSL, Cable, GSM, UMTS, Wi-Fi and WiMAX implementations.

The NGN/IMS Forum Plugfests, typically held every 3 to 4 months, bring together dozens of industry-leading NGN and IMS vendors from around the world, all of whom build real, full-featured, NGN and IMS networks during the test event.

If you are interested in joining the NGN/IMS Forum, Plugfests or in participating in any of the working groups or marketing programs, please contact the NGN/IMS Forum.

All are invited to participate in the industry's first open NGN/IMS Community where Forum members, those involved in various NGN and IMS working groups, the IMS Linkedin group, our industry and colleagues around the world can participate in active, mutually beneficial discussions. Take a moment to register now.

Our members are shaping the future of the NGN and IMS. Joining the NGN/IMS Forum enables members to:

• Verify and certify interoperability, reduce costs and accelerate time to market
• Participate in technical working groups focusing on service creation and applications for NGN/IMS architecture, framework and deployment issues
• Gain additional visibility through the NGN/IMS Forum's Speakers Bureau, public relations and marketing programs
• Showcase member companies at major telecom, cable, and wireless events in North America, Asia, and Europe
• Receive current market and technology information through newsletters, reports, white papers and conferences
• Gain access to an informed professional network of industry consultants and accredited experts

Have a request? We welcome your feedback on this newsletter.
Press Contact: pr@ngnforum.org