FORUM ON NEXT GENERATION STANDARDIZATION
(Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April 2009)
Interconnection and interoperability
aspects of NGN
Marco Carugi
Senior Advisor – Nortel, Carrier Networks
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April 2009
Talks in agenda
“The importance of interoperability” – G.
Koleyni, ITU expert (Independent Telecom
consultant)
“Relevance of interconnection in NGN
environment” – H.C. Soni, Vice President,
ITU-APT Foundation of India
“The need of interoperability within an NGN
– an approach” – R. Dayal, Director, TEC,
Department of Telecommunications, India
“NGN interconnection” - S.K. Gupta, Advisor
(Converged Network), Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April 2009
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Highlights from Presentation 1
“The importance of interoperability”


Implementations based on global standards should
be interoperable (but it may not be true)
When procuring NGN or IPTV devices, care should
be taken to assure interoperability
i.e. products based on an open standard and backed up
by certification

ITU-T targets open and global standards
Increases chance of interoperability
May reduce implementation cost

ITU-T considers support of interoperable devices a
major objective of its activities
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April 2009
3
Highlights from Presentation 2
“Relevance of interconnection in NGN
environment”
Current interconnection approach has numerous issues,
including suboptimal resource usage, complexity, and
CAPEX and OPEX increase
Shared NGN Interconnect Exchanges (ICE), upfront of
some implementation issues, can provide benefits
cost reduction, billing integration, service convergence and
easy service provisioning in multi-operator scenarios,
improved QoS, reduced down time and others
NGN ICE implementation will require some light
redefinition of Regulator and Licenser terms, and
participation of all stakeholders
In the future, we may have
more differentiated roles among the various actors
participating in NGN provisioning and operations
different NGN entities maintained by different specialized
people, conveniently and in the cheapest way
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April 2009
4
Highlights from Presentation 3
“The need of interoper ability within an NGN
– an approach”
Interoperability is needed within NGN
More network modularity and competition, faster and
smooth deployment
Aim to have interoperability as natural
outcome of conformance to standards
Standards need to be categorized e.g. for ‘Protocol’,
‘Network’, ‘Equipment’, ‘Services’
To develop templates & checklists to address interoperability
Need to work out mechanisms for:
Testing of Standards - before final approval
may be those required for interoperability, testing infrastructure
Feedback from developers, implementers, users, testing etc.
Synergy of related activities at ITU & SDOs. e.g. JCA-CIT,
SG-17,SG-11, ITTC, Res. 44
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Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April 2009
Highlights from Presentation 4
“NGN interconnection”
Numerous issues of NGN interconnection, including
Interoperability when multiple protocols
Application-Network open interface
Security and QoS at interconnect and end-to end
Signaling protocols compatibility
Many aspects not addressed in current interconnect offers
Session Border Controllers address various aspects, incl.
Signaling and media path management, scalability, security, regulatory
provisions, SLAs with peers or customers
Some challenging interconnection requirements for NGN
Numbering/addressing, Charging on functional and application basis
Way forward includes

Regional coordination (what left for country specific needs/ future reqts)

Development of local certifying agencies / test labs for interface approval

Mandate use of only approved interfaces in NGN networks

Coordination with vendors to overcome bottleneck and foster competition
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April 2009
6
Conclusions / Recommendations

Open and global standards, and interoperability are
crucial for NGN
Numerous and challenging interconnect issues still
to be worked out
Shared Interconnect Exchanges and Session Border
Controllers address a number of these issues
Way forward at international level - standardisation
To make interoperability as natural outcome of conformance to
standards
To adapt standards documentation, to test standards
Proactive participation in standardisation, incl. from regulators
Way forward at regional level
Coordination (country specific flexibility, involvement of all
actors)
Local certifying agencies and test labs for interface approval
Mandate usage of only approved interfaces
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April 2009
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