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NewsGlobe: Currents
Fall VON: IMS Forum kicks testing up a notch
Third 'plugfest' tests security, home subscriber gear
by Jim Barthold
While full IMS interoperability and the nirvana of fixed-mobile
convergence (FMC) are still on the horizon, the IMS forum
continues to move closer to making it all work together. The
organization is using Fall VON in Boston to unveil the results
of its third and most recent “plugfest” which covered multi-
vendor security and inter-working between Home Subscriber
Services (HSS) an a multi-vendor IMS core.
“If you look at the network the way it is today, there is clear
progress in terms of moving the voice functionality to IMS,”
said Manuel Vexler, IMS Forum technical chair. “The next
issue, if you ask me, is solving the issue of IPTV (because)
IPTV has to con on IMS as well.”
IPTV was not a specific element of the testing that saw 16
companies test VoIP, instant messaging and FMC; video and
multimedia; services for businesses and unified
communications; user and application profile handling; and
security, reliability and robustness testing for IMS service. The
Forum has issued an IMS Report Card in which it details the
results.
The key to IMS and the reason for step-by-step IMS testing is
to improve the communications between networks and
devices because “the more you make both the device and the
network more flexible and capable of serving more
applications … the more you’re going to have control over
your subscribers,” said Michael Khalilian, chairman-president
of the IMS Forum.
This runs counter to the thinking of some carriers and service
providers who want to control the network and thus the end
device and end user. Applications that run across multiple
devices, however, and IMS-like interoperable networks are
making that model both obsolete and potentially costly for
those companies that continue to follow it, said Khalilian.
“We are in an era of the applications coming from everybody.
You want that creativeness and the open architecture that the
applications can be developed and come to you and you want
the capability and flexibility both on the network and end
device to carry those applications to the consumers,” he
said. “Your network is going to have to be able to handle it.”
If not, he warned, consumers will move to carriers who give
them the freedom of choice.
“IMS is going to be a solution that is going to integrate it
altogether both on the front office, back office, network
interfaces and applications to be developed by everybody and
sitting on top of each other,” he said.
In the meantime, the IMS Forum will continue to test the next
level of applications and network interoperability.
“We’ve seen the core applications and services in voice
working; we’ve seen FMC working; we’ve seen femtocells
coming back to life; we see protocols being more robust and
better implemented,” said Vexler. “From an IMS viewpoint in
testing we’re very excited that it’s working in the lab. It’s time
for the service providers to think hard how they’re going to
use this new environment.”
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