Comprehensive analysis of future business trend of Softswitch Technology

As for the current Softswitch technology, the softswitch solution only provides a new access method, indicating that it is not very mature. The Protocol compatibility research is carried out, and the basic Protocol framework of the softswitch architecture is clear. The architecture of SoftSwitch and its open interfaces are obvious advantages, but a large number of device compatibility problems emerge.

The above protocols have not yet been truly compatible, and some standards are still under development. The selection of softswitch technical standards from different manufacturers and the compatibility of the protocols are difficult to achieve. BICC protocol, SIP-I protocol and H.248 protocol are also under development, protocol options need to be further determined by the operator according to business needs. In addition to basic call control protocols such as H.248, MGCP, and SIP, a large number of interfaces and processes have no international specifications.

According to the tests conducted by major carriers in China, some compatibility problems have emerged during the single-domain, dual-domain testing, third-party IAD testing, and multi-domain interoperability testing, the most typical scenario is that different manufacturers cannot complete the T.38 Fax Service.

Unclear business

Although the softswitch system theoretically provides an open network architecture and is conducive to business development and provision, it is difficult to see attractive business prospects in terms of application. Currently, most Softswitch tests provide basic voice services, conference services (including videos), and INTERNET-based voice services. However, in addition to basic voice services, operations to provide services are complicated. However, we must be certain that the commercial use of the application platform will take time to provide services by means of services and application servers. It can be considered that the current local Softswitch provides basically the same service as the PSTN. From this perspective, the current Softswitch solution only provides a new access method. If the service of the softswitch network cannot become one of its biggest advantages, the Softswitch technology is likely to be killed.

There is no good solution to network QoS and network security issues

When using an IP network as the network carrying voice, you can reasonably and effectively allocate network resources to solve QoS and network security problems. Real-time media and data have different network QoS requirements. Real-time media streams focus mainly on latency and jitter, rather than packet loss. Due to various constraints, it is still difficult to achieve the whole network QoS on the IP network. Therefore, this is a long-term problem. However, in the current situation, we can provide DiffServ by classifying layer-2 and layer-3 packets to provide QoS Assurance, alternatively, MPLSVPN can be set up to implement layer-2 Isolation of voice packets.

Support for multimedia services

At present, the softswitch system has implemented a certain number of multimedia services, but the business processes are still developing and immature. The types of multimedia terminals are limited. At present, the vast majority of terminals that support multimedia services are H.323 terminals. The SIP terminal is only in its infancy in supporting multimedia services. SIP has been recognized by the industry as the most promising terminal control protocol to replace H.323. The SIP-based network has also formed a complete architecture, but its construction and development have just begun internationally, in China, it is almost blank and cannot play its due role yet.

IP address problems

Due to the shortage of IP addresses, address planning becomes more difficult. When a large number of terminal devices require fixed IP addresses are deployed, it is sometimes impossible to complete the task. Before a large number of IPv6 deployments, there are two strategies: deploying a dedicated VPN network. However, this method lacks the capability of continuous development and the ability to closely integrate resources and services on the INTERNET, some services cannot even be carried out.

Similar to the existing PC Internet access policy, terminal devices are placed behind the private network consisting of NAT, but TG is still deployed on the public network. using NAT devices for address convergence saves IP addresses, however, this device reduces the pressure on IP addresses and facilitates address planning, and hinders the end-to-end connection of services. You can consider adding some media relay devices, ing between the public network and the private network is completed.

Service quality

Due to access networks and IAD power supply, the service quality of local Softswitch technology cannot be compared with that of PSTN at present. Currently, Softswitch speech cannot completely replace traditional PSTN phones, most of which appear as the second phone and are diverted to the voice business flow of other operators.

Difficult O & M

The softswitch network involves a wide range of protocols and many technologies, and requires a high level of O & M personnel. with the deployment of a large number of intelligent terminals on the user side, the O & M difficulty will gradually increase. This will conflict with the open-source and throttling policies currently implemented by major operators. This requires us to explore a new O & M model.

Business Development

Depending on the access, the activation process of the local Softswitch is very different from that of the PSTN. The activation process includes activation of the system, network, and terminal devices, and the process will be more complex. A local softswitch system may cover the entire local network or even multiple local networks. This function replaces multiple local ports of the PSTN. This makes the billing system of the softswitch network very complicated.

Terminal Management

The number of users of a certain scale of the domestic network can reach 100,000, and the number of terminals will also reach 100,000 orders of magnitude. How to manage a large number of terminals is also a challenge. As the terminals in the softswitch network system do not have the same physical and electrical characteristics as the traditional voice network. Compared with traditional telephone network terminals, IAD or IPphone also has many "smart" Features and has more requirements for their management. This includes implementing automatic business processes after the terminal is powered on, software Upgrade management and configuration management of the terminal. H.248/MGCP does not consider device authentication issues. Generally, it uses IP addresses or domain names as identity recognition, which can easily achieve identity disguise and achieve the purpose of phone theft. In addition to the system identification terminal identity, the terminal also needs to confirm the system identity, otherwise the terminal is also vulnerable to attacks.

Other problems

Mobile support: Softswitch networks have poor support for mobile networks; business model problems: business models of Softswitch technology applications need to be studied. To sum up, whether or not the Softswitch technology can be used as a unified platform for our business requires further research and testing. It is undeniable that the existence of the above problems will not hinder the application of new technologies. On the contrary, the operator will work with equipment vendors to calmly solve these problems and actively conduct tests and continuously improve them.

Conclusion

To sum up, Softswitch is produced by two factors: Technology (the Development of Data Packet Exchange Technology) and economy (the increasingly loose telecommunications market. It is a software-based distributed exchange and control platform. The basic guiding ideology is that the software system is not only independent of the controlled hardware, but also independent from the platform running by itself. It relies on the intercommunication of various protocols for work, by working with SCP to reuse existing services and allow users to program the system to create new services, the third-party independent software vendor (IndependentSoftwareVendor) can truly participate in business development and provision, it effectively promotes the integration and evolution of existing communication networks. Although there are still some problems that need to be solved in the softswitch network, there are reasons to believe that as technology and the market become increasingly mature, the Softswitch technology will surely become one of the core technologies of the Next Generation Network.