Telecoms & Internet converged Services & Protocols for
Advanced Network
Activity Report 2006
Chairman: Rainer Muench (Alcatel-Lucent)
Responsible for the standardisation of fixed Next Generation
Networks (NGN) to support multimedia services and interworking with legacy
networks and services
ETSI’s Telecommunication and Internet converged Services and
Protocols for Advanced Networking Technical Committee (TC TISPAN) benefits from
the strong support of operators, vendors, service providers and research and
government representatives, with some 200 delegates regularly attending
meetings. This is recognition of the importance of TISPAN specifications to the
telecommunications community, and their growing impact on industry developments.
TC TISPAN is working closely with the Third Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP™) to define a harmonised core based on the Internet
Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) for both wireless and wireline
networks. This all-IP network has been identified as the technology of choice to
provide a completely new telecommunication business model for both fixed and
mobile network operators. Access-independent IMS will be a key enabler for fixed/mobile
convergence, reducing network installation and maintenance costs, and allowing
new services to be rapidly developed and deployed to satisfy new market demands.
TISPAN_NGN Release 1, published at the end of 2005, provided the
robust and open standards that industry can use as a reliable basis for the
development and implementation of the first generation of NGN systems. Release 1
fulfilled two fundamental market requirements: the support of advanced
multimedia services on the one hand and the smooth convergence of fixed and
mobile networks and services on the other. The provision of enhancements to
Release 1 continued throughout 2006, in particular with the introduction of
further supplementary services for the IMS infrastructure, and TC TISPAN has
dealt with numerous Change Requests – a clear indication that the Release is
being widely implemented.
In 2006 the TC began work on TISPAN_NGN Release 2, which has a
focus on enhanced mobility, new services and content delivery with improved
security and network management. The final content of the Release has now been
defined; it will include an IMS NGN Performance Benchmark standard to improve
the data available for NGN deployment decision-making. A draft of this standard
was made public in October 2006 so that feedback from stakeholders could be
incorporated. Release 2 is expected to be completed by the end of 2007. Close
collaboration with 3GPP continues, with a number of co-located meetings being
arranged, to ensure that a single set of specifications for IMS is created.
Good progress was made in 2006 on fixed-mobile convergence (in
co-operation with the Fixed-Mobile Convergence
Alliance (FMCA)) and initial steps were
taken in defining network support for Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), with
considerable liaison with the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions
(ATIS) and the Telecommunications Standardisation sector of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU-T).
Other major topics within TC TISPAN included additional access
types and interworking with private networks. Progress was boosted with a number
of ETSI Specialist Task Forces (STFs) focusing on the Universal Communications
Identifier (UCI) in NGN, the features and services of global NGN (which provided
particularly helpful input on IPTV solutions) and testing and validation
interworking. New STFs were established during the year to work on Emergency
Call and Location Information and on different aspects of the test validation of
supplementary services. Good progress was made on Electronic Numbering (ENUM)
and the Directory Name Service (DNS), and the STF on security completed its work.
In
addition, new work was started on home devices and home networking. With the
imminent restructuring and merger of ETSI’s Access and Terminals (TC AT) and
Transmission and Multiplexing (TC TM) Technical Committees, work on NGN@Home,
which was previously undertaken in TC AT, was transferred into TC TISPAN. A new
working group has been set up in TC TISPAN which will deal with additional
aspects that include interworking with NGN, specifically the effect on IMS and
the synergies between home devices and networks and enterprise networks. A top
priority for the group will be the definition of standards for the customer
network, concentrating on end device interfaces. TC TISPAN is therefore seeking
to involve manufacturers of consumer electronics to broaden its perspective. To
this end, it is collaborating with relevant fora such as the DSL Forum, the Home
Gateway Initiative and the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA).
External co-operation is
a high priority for TC TISPAN, especially since the Global Standards
Collaboration designated ETSI the primary Standards Development Organisation (SDO)
for NGN, and TC TISPAN provides input to, and considers feedback from, other
groups and SDOs such as the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and the ITU-T. TC
TISPAN’s standards are proving popular well beyond Europe, and in November 2006
the TC took its message to Latin America, holding one of its plenary meetings
and a two-day workshop on NGN, which was attended by over 400 people, in
Brasilia, Brazil.
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