 | Issue: | North America II 2014 |
| Article no.: | 1 | |
| Topic: | The Voice of the Network – let the battle commence | |
| Author: | Jiashun (Jason) | |
| Title: | VP, Core network, Nanjing R&D centre | |
| Organisation: | ZTE, USA | |
| PDF size: | 395KB |
About author
Mr. Jiashun (Jason) is a VP of Core network in Nanjing R&D center, ZTE Corporation. He has focused on research and marketing of Telecom Industry from TDM->IP->Cloud for 18+ year and now is the chief architecture designer in charge of CS&IMS solution. As one of the main designer of ZTE 2G/3G/4G and fixed core network, he is pushing the core network evolve to Telco Cloud, which will help to converge the CT and IT industry in the future.
Since 2004, Mr. Jiashun Tu acts as associate rapporteur in ITU-T in Q8/SG13 (2004 study period) and Q14/SG13 (2008 study period).
Article abstract
WebRTC will never compete with VoLTE in the aspect of legacy service inheritance, that is, a legacy CS user will never naturally become a WebRTC user with the CS number and has the ability to hand over to CS smoothly. But since WebRTC has already been an access mode for IMS in VoLTE, VoLTE users can access IMS through both SIP terminals and browsers with WEBRTC. The introduction of WebRTC will enrich VoLTE application scenarios.
Full Article
The Voice of the Network – let the battle commence.
Rebecca Copeland [Editor]
WebRTC is gaining momentum, but its standards are still fragmented, and this provides a breathing space before the big onslaught. Should carriers double in WebRTC as well as VoLTE and help to improve WebRTC standards?
The challenge for WebRTC standards is to design Internet-style VoIP which can inter-connect like carriers’ IMS, to provide network of networks, regardless of the application. Yet Voice is becoming nothing more than an application itself.
Increasing ways of communication have marginalized Voice, but conversational video will become the new Voice. We heard that it is coming for decades – but it is still not there. Will VoLTE make it possible? Internet applications work after a fashion, but they are getting worse, not better. Where is it going?
【Tu Jiashun】As conversational video calls rely on wireless bandwidth，insufficient wireless bandwidth results in poor video quality, and sufficient bandwidth for video in turn keep users satisfied. Facetime is a good example, but it lacks channel negotiations and thus cannot guarantee the QoS of applications. While VoLTE has perfect QoS guarantees, we think it will certainly expand HD voice and video to a new market.
As the target VoLTE solution, IMS enables carriers to fight back against Internet application threat. More important, we are using cloud computing and Internet ALL-IP technologies to reduce costs, and the convergence of existing data pipe to deliver carrier-grade services.
In this way, VoLTE is able to compete with the “best effect” OTT. Of course, the convergence of OTT and data pipe is also a way to improve Qos. And OTT still need to support regulations requirements such as emergency call.
Rebecca Copeland [Editor]
VoLTE (Voice over LTE) must compete with upcoming WebRTC. VoLTE as IP based app, is very much like Internet VoIP. How can carrier differentiate, when the differences are blurred?
【Tu Jiashun】VoLTE is based on the 3GPP standard IMS. IMS can seamless interconnect capabilities with legacy CS, PSTN and PLMN networks. The eSRVCC technology is a typical example. When users move outside LTE coverage, eSRVCC ensures voice handover to a 2G/3G CS network while the ALL-IP based WebRTC has no handover mechanism and thus has call interruption. Another example is DRVCC in Wi-Fi environment. When users are on Wi-Fi, their DRVCC capable phones switch the ongoing calls to the Wi-Fi network, which releases the wireless resources and thus achieves the best utilization of data pipe resources. These technologies enable carriers to migrate their users to ALL-IP networks while keeping the user numbers.
In addition, VoLTE has E2E QoS guarantees and meanwhile offers emergency call and other regulation required services.
Rebecca Copeland [Editor]
Can VoLTE API enable triggering VoLTE (not WebRTC) from any web app, allowing the carrier to decide how to carry Voice?
【Tu Jiashun】3GPP, OMA and other standards organizations have defined many open APIs to open up the network capabilities to third-party platforms. In addition, the convergence of IMS and WebRTC has become a hot topic in 3GPP as well.
Rebecca Copeland [Editor]
If WebRTC is becoming more like VoLTE, what is done to make VoLTE more like WebRTC?
【Tu Jiashun】WebRTC will never compete with VoLTE in the aspect of legacy service inheritance, that is, a legacy CS user will never naturally become a WebRTC user with the CS number and has the ability to hand over to CS smoothly. But since WebRTC has already been an access mode for IMS in VoLTE, VoLTE users can access IMS through both SIP terminals and browsers with WEBRTC. The introduction of WebRTC will enrich VoLTE application scenarios.
Rebecca Copeland [Editor]
Can VoLTE apps, such as RSC, help to encourage take-up? As a native phone facility, can it still compete with popular social media, especially when it is armed with WebRTC?
【Tu Jiashun】A telecom user will always like to just have One Number to be identified, but different
Internet application may need many accounts such as Skype, Facebook and Wechat, none of which is in common use. VoLTE+RCS can be implemented in the IMS platform to achieve the unified ID which is same to telephone number. In addition, the cloud-based IMS and RCS compete with OTT in both cost and function. Then how to attract user services (PS, IM, sharing, voice and conference) to IMS is decided by a carrier’s business model.
Rebecca Copeland [Editor]
Can the unmanaged ‘stupid’ Internet deliver ‘good-enough’ Voice QoS? Can it ever be as safe and reliable as VoLTE? Would people pay for that, or choose the cheaper internet Voice? Can ‘good-enough’ be defined and quantified?
WebRTC empowers anyone to become a virtual Voice provider – a threat to the powerful carriers whose stronghold on apps has already slipped.
【Tu Jiashun】As an end user, I have to admit the free “stupid” Internet services are attractive. However, VoLTE can also support these “stupid” services by using a variety of Qos and security mechanisms with different charge policies.
Obviously, OTT has huge security risks. In comparison, VoLTE has IPSEC, MSRP, AKA, SRTP, TLS and other technologies to provide reliable security. Of course these technologies need network cost, but for special customers such as enterprises, they worth the cost.
The IMS-based VoLTE has introduced the ALL-IP and cloud computing technologies just like OTT. It rivals OTT in cost and function. Compared with OTT, VoLTE can inherit legacy CS services, achieves smooth migration from 2/3G network and converges with PS/wireless networks to guarantee E2E Qos.
More information please refer to
tohttp://wwwen.zte.com.cn/endata/magazine/ztetechnologies/2012/no6/201211/P020121121367696600090.pdf
Rebecca Copeland [Editor]
Large enterprises still need reliable Voice, and can manage their own networks to improve IP voice quality – but what standards and what products will they choose?
【Tu Jiashun】The IP-based IMS provides enterprise-oriented IP PBX solution. The solution implements the above mentioned services as well as security mechanisms. In addition, it offers custom and security services to enterprises.
