3GPP completed release 5
August 15, 2002
The 3GPP’s latest standards release, release 5, has been completed
and is expected to be a significant step toward providing IP multimedia
capabilities for use over GPRS and 3G networks.
Ericsson’s Stephen Hayes, chairman of the 3GPP’s core network technical
specification group TSG-CN, says the completion of release 5 provides
a bottom line for the global industry. “Operators wanting to switch
to an all-IP network can begin to build for it now using release
5 standards,” he says. The TSG-CN group is responsible for 3G network
infrastructure. It covers all protocols involved with the core 3G
network.
It is the unenviable job of TSG-CN to ensure that telecom and datacom
services remain secure and of high quality during the controlled
migration to 3G, and that standards in the core network are open
and flexible enough to support them. To put it bluntly, TSG-CN’s
role is to provide operators with their 3G cake … and help them
eat it.
Brave, open new world with more free, open and flexible services,
the open architecture that characterizes all-IP networks can seem
at first sight to create as many problems as it solves.
Internet protocols allow open services but they are not optimized
for wireless networks. The Internet model is based on largely free
services and best effort regarding quality, neither of which is
of much use to telecom operators.
“We are trying to create a system that is well controlled and reliable,
and at the same time has an openness that allows innovation and
expansion,” Hayes says. “The system must allow controlled growth.”
Quality not quantity
But it is the quality of services that Hayes says is the most difficult
issue facing 3GPP specifications and IP standards. Mechanisms within
the Internet are still evolving, and ensuring quality of service
throughout a system that is still is evolving is tough. End users
will not accept services being randomly disconnected, or voice quality
dropping unpredictably.
“We had to find a way of ensuring quality of service,” Hayes says.
“We had to solve the signaling problems to make sure that when a
multimedia session is set up you can guarantee a given bit rate
or latency. It has been our goal to achieve that within the 3GPP.
I believe the solution to these problems is built into release 5.”
3G: how soon is now?
Time is another problem the 3GPP is up against. Many operators
are heading toward all-IP networks, but they all have different
timeframes. Some operators want to fully develop the types of services
tailored for current 2G or 2.5G networks; others want to jump straight
to all-IP using 3G bandwidths.
“Different timeframes force the 3GPP to find a middle path which
allows for growth without leaving 2G or 2.5G players behind,” Hayes
says.
Application developers also put heavy demands on 3G standards.
The 3GPP’s solution provides three mechanisms for service development.
The first is Camel, which will provide mechanisms for controlling
voice-based IP services. The second is the Open Service Architecture,
which provides application program interfaces (APIs) and allows
application developers to use servers on which they can provide
third-party applications. The Open Service Architecture was also
part of release 99. The third is the Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP) application server, which will also be introduced in release
5.
|
3G Motorola A920
