NGN - ushering in a whole new world of convergence

Next Generation Networks is the hub around which an array of powerful, new telecommunication services will evolve with the promise of enabling a high quality end- user experience regardless of underlying communication infrastructure. PALLAB DUTTA delves into the fascinating world of NGN through the 'converged eyes' of industry leaders, practitioners and market makers...

The technology developments in the information, communication and telecommunication sectors over the past few years have been dizzyingly fast-paced and exciting. The emergence of an array of powerful, new communication services is bringing about a paradigm shift in the broad- based ICT industry. The Next Generation Networks ( NGN) is the 'hub' around which these services will revolve. It is in this context that one looks at the 'world' of NGN based on high-speed packet technologies as against legacy circuit-based technologies and the very broad issues related to the future of broadband telecommunication networks.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has defined NGN as packet-based networks that are able to provide services including telecommunication services and able to make use of multiple broadband, Quality of Service (QoS)-enabled transport technologies and in which service-related functions are independent from underlying transport-related technologies. Basically, it encompasses the whole development of new network technologies, new access infrastructures, and new services. NGN should enable provision of a wide range of services including data transmission, voice services, video services and provision of communication services, regardless of place.

Says Navin Mehta, Vice-President, Applications Services Networks, Motorola,"Competitive pressures set off by disruptive and new technologies and the ever-changing expectation set of consumers looking at more enriched interactions is resulting in creation of a
'seamless' telecommunication environment. All the major players, while being aware of the changing operational variables of a converged communications business environment, will look to carve dominant
positions in relevant technologies and services.

Undoubtedly, a number of alliances and partnerships based around technology potential, services and market forces will be in place to ensure availability of ubiquitous services for consumers."

What will be the evolutionary stages of NGN? Will migration challenges slow down the necessary fastpaced adoption? What will the operational and management dynamics engender for players in the ecosystem?
How will wireline networks address the semantics of this emergent environment?

Paul Werp, Mobile Connectivity Solutions Business Director for Texas Instruments' Wireless Terminals Business Unit, opines, "A number of broadband applications and services will drive the demand for Next Generation Networks, connecting customers to a core network based on IP technology. There will be a major overhaul of network architectures and in the ways operators deliver a range of services. These changes, combined with issues of regulation, viable business models and security, demand flexible platforms that enable re-use of existing systems and products in markets around the world."

Joseph Mathew SENIOR DIRECTOR AND HEAD, DANGER ATLANTA ENGINEERING CENTER What impact does NGN have on convergence, complexity and personalization of devices? There is a fair amount of device convergence in the mobile communications area already. It is possible that NGN may further facilitate convergence of devices in some way. For mobile terminals, initially it was just voice, next came data, then multimedia, then mobile TV and so on. Convergence is going to happen as it is the natural progression of technical capabilities in a terminal device. And as a side effect, complexity is also going to increase correspondingly. As for mobile devices, they used to be simple radios capable of making a voice call. Now there are multiple radios, sometimes 4 or 5 or even 6, in a phone and hence the device itself has become much more complex. Personalization is also an important aspect. As the device's functionality increases, the need to personalize the device to each user's taste and style of use is going to be critical. What content delivery challenges will NGN set off and what could be the solutions? Content creation, delivery, interoperability and consistent and reliable user experience are all challenges that exist today and will continue to exist with NGN deployment. The scale of the challenge may be ifferent, but not its nature. NGN will add more complexity to this issue as various different communication infrastructures need to work together seamlessly to ensure a good end-user experience. As the single-product, voice-only world of telecom evolves into a multifaceted services industry, simple connectivity will be increasingly commoditized. In such a scenario how can value be created for the consumer? Basic connectivity and other services may become commoditized, but there is a multitude of other avenues by which value can be created for the consumer. Even today, advanced mobile terminals offer much more than basic connectivity. There is email, instant messaging, internet browsing, multimedia applications, games etc. offered in mobile devices today. Even mobile TV is a reality on some of the terminals available. Does convergence mean that boundaries between devices will fade? Is it that there won't be much difference between a computer and a television, or between a mobile phone and a portable digital music player? It is likely, but I do not believe one device will be completely replaced by another. However, one device will be able to offer some of the functionalities of another device, thereby providing the consumer with an alternative. For example, when Mobile TV becomes more prevalent, a consumer will be able to watch TV on her mobile phone. This is a convenient feature, for example, for someone commuting to home from work on a train to tune in to his or her favorite TV show. But I do not believe the consumer will give up watching TV at home on a wide screen television. In other words, devices will start mimicking one another with varying degrees of success. Ultimately, those devices that offer the best user experience will win. What do you think will the converged terminal devices of the future look like? It is hard to say how they will eventually look like. Today, converged devices combine various applications in one device. They range from Multi-media, Entertainment, Location- Based Services, Wireless LAN to Mobile TV. This is still an evolving area and in the end, the devices that can offer seamless convergence with great end-user experience will determine the shape of the convergence landscape.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Definitions of NGN

A NGN is a packet-based, network -based network able to provide telecommunication services and able to make use of multiple broadband multiple broadband, QoS-enabled enabled transport technologies and in which service-related functions are independent from underlying transport-related technologies.

It enables unfettered access for users to networks and to competing service providers and/or services of their choice.

It supports generalized mobility which will allow consistent and ubiquitous provision of services to users.

Says Dr. G. Venkatesh , Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, Head-Product Division, Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd., "One can broadly look at the communication networks as consisting of the end customer layer, the services layer and the networks layer (access and core). To enable the evolution towards Next Generation Networks, there are lofty demands on how each of the above layers evolve. The
major stakeholders in the value chain would be looking at generating returns on investments. And the necessary trade off between the value of services and investments made in infrastructure will be critical. Of
course, standards bodies will have to define the role of each of these layers in providing adequate quality of service to the end-user, and will have to set up systems to ensure inter-operability issues between different providers of user devices, services and networks."

It is the underlying call control intelligence of NGN that are used to support all types of services over the packet-based transport network. These include basic voice telephony services to data, video, multimedia, advanced broadband, and management applications.

Affirms Joseph Mathew, Senior Director and Head, Danger Atlanta Engineering Center, "From a technology perspective, NGN may be evolutionary. From a user experience perspective, one could say that it has the potential to be revolutionary. The caveat here is that NGN should fulfill the promises upon which the concept is built. The promise of NGN is that they would enable a high quality end-user experience
regardless of underlying communication infrastructure, be it wire-line or wireless, terrestrial or satellite based. Interoperability between these various communication infrastructures would be the main challenge
in fulfilling this promise."

As networks have evolved, device manufacturers have been able to design devices to work extremely well on some access forms. But as newer access forms evolve, and core networks evolve towards an
all-IP scenario, designing and guaranteeing the performances of devices for voice and related applications can become a challenge. However, for all practical purposes, at least insufficient and inconsistent user experiences that used to be characteristic of fragmented network domains will be addressed.

Venkatesh concurs that "even though there is optimism about IP, we should remember that technology challenges persist in creating one packet -based network that can deliver different services." "The problem is that each service demands certain unique transport properties, from the network - for example voice communication does not need bandwidth, but must be delivered with low latency (low delays) and low jitter (adjacent portions of speech data must experience similar delays), while broadcast services need high bandwidth, can have high latency, but must have low jitter. A way around this is to make the network aware of the services it is supporting, so that it can treat each service differently. But, the problem with that is, it violates a central principle around which the
Internet has been built - that of "Net neutrality". This principle says that networks should not be aware of what the data packets contain, and should give equal treatment to all the traffic. Net neutrality has been the foundation for the innovative culture of the Internet, since it has allowed new applications such as Internet Telephony to be developed and delivered without requiring permission from network operators," he
elaborates.

Navin Mehta, Motorola

Mehta of Motorola highlights the freedom provided to users to use different services providers across geographies. "Ultimately, Next Generation Networks will enable multiple services such as video, data and voice to be integrated and carried over the same infrastructures and support seamless mobility. The investments that have to be made at the infrastructure level will be huge. And from the consumer point of view, the evolution will be in the form of services available through the panoply of features and applications on the ubiquitous mobile phones."

As Next Generation Networks evolve, they are changing the entire value web of both what and how services are delivered to end-users. Significant technology advances combined with completely new end-user expectations are contributing to the fast-paced evolution.
The new ecosystem will clearly be shaped by competitive forces, market structures, institutional changes, emergence of a new class of customers, applications and innovations that would be brought to
bear on ubiquitous IP-based networks and regulatory challenges.

PALLAB DUTTA is promoter-founder, New Age Consulting, a Mumbai-based information services and business consulting firm.

Additional research inputs provided by Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd.