Telecoms & Internet converged Services & Protocols for
Advanced Network
Activity Report 2008
Chairman: Rainer Muench (Alcatel-Lucent)
Responsible for the standardisation of fixed Next Generation Networks (NGNs) 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 120 delegates regularly
attending meetings. TC TISPAN provides
the definition of NGNs principally from a European viewpoint, but 20% of
participants come from outside Europe.
This large and geographically diverse participation is recognition of the
importance of TISPAN specifications to the telecommunications community
globally, and their growing impact on developments in the industry.
The market is looking for
standards-based NGN solutions to avoid bespoke clients, proprietary solutions
and interworking problems and, especially since the Global Standards
Collaboration designated ETSI the primary Standards Development Organisation (SDO)
for NGNs, it looks to ETSI for the answers.
In 2008, TC TISPAN finalised the remaining issues of NGN
Release 2 with specifications for Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), corporate
networks and home networks, and completed the transfer of work on the Common IP
Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) specifications to the Third Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP™).
Release 2 includes specifications for the integration of IPTV services in the
NGN architecture, to answer the needs of network service providers and equipment
vendors. TC TISPAN has produced ETSI Technical Specifications (TSs) which define
two possible solutions.
In the first, a Dedicated IPTV Subsystem focuses on the
integration of existing market solutions in an NGN environment. Network service
providers benefit from the cost advantages of an NGN network without the need
for strong modification of their current IPTV service.
The second solution, IMS-Based IPTV, allows the blending of TV services with
other telecommunication services (such as voice, presence and data services).
Network service providers can thus reap the full benefit of the IMS architecture
while providing key end-user services.
TC TISPAN achieved a major step forward with the completion of
specifications defining the Customer Premises Networks. All key features are now
defined to allow NGN to be deployed into the home in an interoperable manner.
The specifications allow first the connection of the Customer Premises Network
to an NGN and then the enabling of IPTV services in the Customer Premises
Network. The specifications define the service requirements, the architecture
and the protocols for both the gateway and the end-user device.
In 2008 TC TISPAN completed its work on corporate networks
with the publication of three TSs which define the interaction scenarios between
core and enterprise networks and provide detailed specifications for hosted
enterprises and business trunking services. In order to ease the implementation
of business trunking services, TC TISPAN has specified an implementation guide.
The main features to be included in Release 3 are not yet finalised, but are
likely to include consolidation of Voice over IP (VoIP) (including Quality of
Service, security and interworking), evolution of the IPTV Service (blended
services), Ultra Broadband (fixed and wireless) access to the NGN, interconnect
(naming, numbering) of both the IMS and non-IMS, and network harmonisation (to
improve interoperability with other NGNs and other, non-IMS networks). Release 3
may also offer increased network resilience and robustness.
TC TISPAN made good progress on Release 3 in
2008, working on the specifications for new IPTV services, network
interconnection and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) security.
For example, the TC defined the new services’ requirements for IPTV which
include Peer-to-Peer, advertising, IMS enabled IPTV Roaming/Mobility, User
Generated Content (UGC), Personalised Channel (PCh)/User oriented content and
Content Delivery Network (CDN) architecture. In 2009 the Committee will progress
these services by completing the architecture and protocol specifications.
Work started on network interconnection in 2008. Members of
the TC participated in an ETSI workshop on NGN interconnection in June with the
GSM Association (GSMA), 3GPP, the IPI Alliance and the I3 Forum. During this
event it was agreed that ETSI should co-ordinate and supervise standardisation
work related to NGN interconnection. It was further decided that the GSMA IPX
(IP Exchange) model for the inter-operator IP backbone would be taken as a
reference model. 3GPP will define everything related to IMS while TC TISPAN is
responsible for other NGN aspects. TC TISPAN has now embarked on hierarchical
work which will provide an overview and analysis of the topic. The TC will study
the technical requirements for an IPX and for an infrastructure ENUM (E.164
telephone number mapping). Following this first step, further collaboration with
other fora, especially GSMA, is foreseen in order to meet commercial
requirements.
Work has begun on the development of enhanced privacy and the
security of RFID networks and in 2009 the TC may analyse the impact of RFID
solutions on the NGN.
In
addition to defining new services, TC TISPAN is organising an IPTV Plugtests™
event in 2009 to assess the interoperability of Release 2 IMS-based IPTV
equipment.
|