[October 2, 2001]

Multiservice Switching Forum Approves First Open MEGACO Profiles

The Multiservice Switching Forum (MSF) announced that its membership has given final approval to two Implementation Agreements (IAs) that mark the industry's first available open, non-proprietary MEGACO/H.248 profiles. The two IAs, developed by the MSF's Media Control Working Group, address interoperability amongst Media Gateway Controllers (MGC), access gateways and trunking gateways using Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) trunks.

"The approval of these Implementation Agreements demonstrates the progress that the MSF is making in its work to foster interoperability in the distributed switching arena," said Roger Ward, MSF president. "The work of the MSF in this area benefits carriers, vendors and the industry as a whole by fostering cooperation and dialogue among the companies leading the way in the development of next generation communication systems."

A Multiservice Switching System (MSS) is a distributed switching method -- frame, cell or packet-based -- designed to support voice, video, private line and data such as ATM, Frame Relay and Internet Protocol (IP) services. MSS may use a broad range of access technologies, including traditional Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL), wireless data, and cable modems. MSF IAs define the requirements of the interfaces between components of an MSS.

The first IA, designated MSF-IA-MEGACO.001, enhances the MEGACO protocol by addressing the compatibility of subscriber trunks such as PBX or local exchanges coming into access gateways. An access gateway, as profiled in this IA, is an interface between aggregate subscriber trunks, typically connected to subscriber owned PBXs and an ATM network. The subscriber-side trunks are T1/E1, and the links from the gateway to the network are ATM links. The IA allows 10 digit North American dialing and EU 16 digit dialing and supports commonly needed services such as local number portability, Caller ID and 911 and 999 emergency calls.

MSF-IA-MEGACO.002 enhances the interoperability between MGCs and trunking gateways, essentially serving as a gateway between networks, allowing them to hand off traffic seamlessly. A trunking gateway, as profiled in this IA, provides an interface between Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN) trunks connected to a Local Exchange and a packet network. The links from the gateway to the network are ATM links and the trunking gateway has no subscriber interfaces but may have MF trunks.

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