| Creating Flexible Next-generation Networks with SIP Signaling
Next-generation network (NGN) deployments are on the rise. Mobile and fixed line operators are moving to Internet protocol (IP) technology to reduce their transport costs, deliver voice-over-IP (VoIP) services to consumers and enterprise customers, and improve the delivery and management of new multimedia services. As IP and session initiation protocol (SIP)-based services proliferate, so do the requirements placed on the network to support them. Operators are discovering a downside to their softswitch-based NGNs; they lack the scalability and flexibility to support multimedia services, access independence or network growth. The Missing Layer
In the push to get their NGN networks up and running, many providers took a short cut. They deployed their VoIP networks as a loose collection of elements interconnected by direct signaling links. Unlike SS7 and Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS), which are hierarchical networks, there’s no signaling and session layer to handle application-layer tasks. From a signaling perspective, each network element must handle all application-layer related tasks. Every possible route must be defined at each network element, creating a spider web of logically connected SIP nodes. Creating a Session-Control Layer in NGNs
Creating a signaling and session framework in the core NGN network avoids the pitfalls created by point-to-point routing. By deploying a SIP signaling router (SSR) - a SIP proxy with enhanced routing capabilities - operators can centralize layer-5 SIP routing in the core network and relieve endpoints of session-management tasks. The resulting ...
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