Softswitch improves network reliability

The rapid changes in the service provision market have led to dramatic changes in the communication industry. The increasing number of users of digital terminals and the large-scale transformation to digital network technology have filled the user service industry with opportunities. The rapid growth of Internet applications, global non-control, high quality, and high-capacity bandwidth availability provide a core force for new service models.

The emergence of IP-based data networks around the world, as well as the rapid expansion of commercial and domestic Internet users, has witnessed an online revolution. Today, the advancement, connectivity, transmission, and interconnection of flexible data networks and technologies have put forward higher requirements for telecom infrastructure to support integrated voice, data, and multimedia services. The focus of the new business model is to develop network devices in the communications industry to support global IP connectivity.

The software industry has responded to the above complex requirements and launched a software-based exchange, which provides reliability, scalability, and open architecture, this Service supports user-oriented commercial services provided by multiple suppliers and multi-protocol networks. The Softswitch technology classifies the core functions of the previous circuit switching and distributes the functions to the backbone network of the packet network in the form of functional software components. This hierarchical distributed architecture is programmable and open to service providers and third-party feature developers. Because all functions are based on a standard computer platform, scalability and reliability can be easily achieved and can be adjusted according to market requirements.

At present, Softswitch provides the same functions as circuit switching, and can also implement the same functions in the packet network design for interconnection with public switched telephone networks.

At present, the reliability of Softswitch is still theoretical, but they have been applied in the existing network to achieve the transfer to IP. Due to the distributed structure, Softswitch can bypass software and hardware for any type of system faults in a complex system, which is a completely Fault-Tolerant Structure. Their open structures can be changed to support special types of services. Depending on the availability of raw computer power MIPS), the open terminal scalability of softswitch enables them to support hundreds of local users or millions of global users.

Softswitch technical support service providers provide new business models based on software. Because it adopts an open terminal structure, it supports independent protocol and Device Development and has good flexibility, which is conducive to the interface capability of third-party hardware.

Softswitch provides a variety of configurations, providing conditions for rapid development of enhanced services. In addition, Softswitch also provides multi-layer redundancy for software and hardware configurations.

The Softswitch structure of each manufacturer may be different, but their key parts are compatible with most system structures. Taking the call process as an example, it is handled by several ways that support dynamic load balancing. For example, in the Xybridge USS structure, the network uses a structure where the service controller is distributed across multiple physical servers. These functions act as separate logic service controllers that allow call processing to become a load-sharing method. The call administrator can perform operations in the redundant structure. In this redundant structure, a pair of call controllers are non-Physically independent servers, and important information is synchronized in real time. System faults of any active unit will trigger a switch to the standby unit without affecting established calls.

Currently, the main operation and exchange equipment providers all have their own Softswitch products, such as Ericsson, Lucent, Nortel, and Motorola. Some new operation equipment providers also begin to have their own Softswitch products, such as ipVerse, Sonus, Tellabs (Salix Technologies), Unisphere Solutions, and Xybridge.

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