Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April 2009 Need of Interoperability “within” an NGN – An approach Rajeshwar Dayal, Director Dept. of Telecommunications, India FORUM ON NEXT GENERATION STANDARDIZATION (Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April 2009)

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April What interoperability means for : ITU – The ability of two or more systems or applications to exchange and mutually use the information that has been exchanged ( Y.101) ETSI – Capability to provide successful communication between end users across a mixed environment of different domains, networks, facilities, equipments etc. ( TR ) - where one component, from one manufacturer, can be replaced with another, and the basic operation of system remains unaffected. (TR ) IETF – The ability of software and hardware on multiple machine from multiple vendors to communicate meaningfully. ( RFC 1983)

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April Context of interoperability No common definition or context Multiple definitions by same SDO  Network  System  Application  Component  Terminal/ CPE  Software & Hardware

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April Interoperability –Between networks and within a network Operator A Operator B Network A Network B VOIP Gateway SIP Application Server WEB Portal Router Within a network there are various network elements, systems, equipments, Components……

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April Network Expansion Case 1– Same vendor Network from Vendor A VOIP Gateway SIP Application Server WEB Portal Router Expansion equipments from Vendor A Interoperability is ensured Smooth expansion

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April Network Expansion Case 2 –Different vendor Network from Vendor A VOIP Gateway SIP Application Server WEB Portal Router Expansion equipments from Vendor B & vendor C Network Expansion ??? Interoperability Missing

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April Need of interoperability ‘within’ NGN More modularity in the network Comfort of plug-and-play More competition Faster and smooth deployment Eliminate locking up with vendor Need of time Scenario of convergence & merger ITU-T Objective of NGN (Y.2001)-Fair competition Resolution 2- Mandate & responsibility of SG13

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April Current approach to achieve Interoperability Testing against Conformance and Interoperability Test Suits Interop Events.. Plugtests Plugfest Bake off

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April Why Interop. is not a natural outcome of conformance to standard ? Misinterpretations : Ambiguity, Not complete ( Normal Expected behavior but what if unexpected happens) Multiple options for implementation Difficult to interpret Flexibility - for consensus or … interests Not comprehensive - cross references

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April What is specified by ITU for NGN Functional architecture ( Y.2012) NNI UNI ANI For interworking and interoperability at network boundary level.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April What is specified for ‘within’ NGN ? “Within” NGN Y.2012 Functional Architecture Q.3030 Signalling Architecture for service control plane

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April What is required for interoperability ‘within’ an NGN? Standards providing : Architecture identifying interoperable Functional / Physical Entities and their open interfaces. Requirements, spelt out unambiguously & comprehensively, for such open interfaces covering aspects such as its applicable stacks /layers, protocols & their profiles for interoperability, technology specific interfaces / protocols, etc.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April From existing architecture to An architecture with open interfaces Multi-vendor equipments VOIP Gateway SIP Application Server WEB Portal Router Interoperability Missing Open interfaces

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April Conclusion (1/2) Steps to bring interoperability as natural outcome of conformance to standards- Standards / Recommendations need to be categorized e.g. for ‘Protocol’, ‘Network’, ‘Equipment’, ‘Services’. A template & checklist need to defined/ developed for each, to address interoperability. e.g. physical equipment aspect ( and not only functional aspects) in standards related to equipments.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April Mechanism need to be worked out for : Testing of Standards - before final approval. - may be those required for developing interoperable equipments or services - testing infrastructure e.g. ITU-ZNIIS ITTC Feedback - from developers, implementers, users, testing / certifying agencies, etc. e.g.Resolution-44, Forums of Interop Events Synergy of related activities at ITU & SDOs. e.g. JCA-CIT, SG-17,SG-11, ITTC, Res. 44 Conclusion (2/2)

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-10 April Thank You