IMS Service Creation: The Value of a Converged Approach

By Mike McHugh

To address this threat, the telecom industry is looking towards the adoption of IMS, which ostensibly will decrease operational costs of existing infrastructure and, more importantly, enable new revenue streams with enhanced service offerings. As service providers consider how best to architect and implement IMS-based solutions, it is important to understand how different approaches can enable flexible and easy service creation both for the service providers and third party application developers.

Although there are several service creation paradigms, including programmable APIs, scripting languages and graphical Service Creation Environments (SCEs), I will focus on specific development models relevant to the “convergence” of proven Internet development models, including SIP Servlets and Web services that enable flexible and easy service creation.

The success of the Internet and World Wide Web can be attributed to numerous factors, one of which is that modern servers are easily programmable. Web servers can host a variety of applications that can be updated and managed independently of Web browsers. SIP Servlets, developed under the Java Community Process (JCP), exploit the aforementioned World Wide Web’s simple programming model for next generation SIP-based networks. Service providers and third-party developers can use SIP servlets to build multimedia applications explicit to the SIP protocol and that leverage Web-based programming models. The Servlet programming model simplifies application development by embedding standardized message processing in a “servlet container.” This simplifies the programming model for the developer, provides a consistent environment, and removes potential programming problem areas.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Servlets are widely used to build and maintain Web pages. SIP Servlets leverage the highly efficient, reliable HTTP Servlet model by exposing SIP capabilities to the application developer while hiding the protocol details. This not only produces a high-performing scalable SIP engine, but also provides a platform for converging IT processing with network signaling, while significantly reducing the time to development for most applications. Furthermore, the simplicity of the model broadens the developer community available to build new services. Telecom network operators are facing constant pressures to improve their financial performance, while keeping their competitors at bay. Due to the rapid adoption of Internet and Web technologies such as SIP and Java, non-telecom service providers are increasingly able to blend communications capabilities into predominantly IP-based applications, thereby launching new and innovative, real-time, multimedia consumer and enterprise services. A strategic advantage of these new entrants is their ability to launch new services rapidly using existing Internet and Java-based service creation and execution models.

For telecom network operators there are significant advantages to running both HTTP Servlets and SIP Servlets within the same platform. Applications running in a converged platform combine both HTTP-based Web application components and SIP application components and the sharing of information among those components. Services have native access to all APIs and capabilities. This integrated environment enables applications to combine the effects of the APIs; for example a SIP event could trigger an HTTP action, and an HTTP event could trigger a SIP action within the same platform — a distinct performance advantage. This converged SIP and HTTP platform is most commonly provided within a SIP application server, sitting at the service layer of the IMS framework.

Any discussion of service creation within IMS must reflect the growing industry interest and commitment to the collection of standards and technologies broadly defined as “Web Services.” Web Services is gaining significant momentum as a platform for the future development of Web-based applications. Although not strictly an “IMS service” today, the telecommunications industry is trending towards inter-working between Web services and IMS services.

The main goal of Web services is the realization of an interoperable network of services focused mainly on service reuse and it is suitable both to interact with third-party applications and to export services by a service provider. As a result, Web Services creates an application and services layer that facilitates the rapid creation, deployment, and customization of mobile voice and data applications through standards-based, Java technologies such as Parlay X. In addition, technologies supported by the IMS framework, including SIP and SOAP, utilize XML, one of the key components of Web services. These common paradigms give service providers a greater set of options to deploy application servers and services themselves or with third parties.

Although Web Services is not formally related to IMS, it represents a trend that should be considered by service providers planning on providing IMS services — both to the consumer and enterprise segments. Enterprises are already adopting a Web Services approach to achieve similar advantages as IMS — less complexity for network management and to users. When available, IMS services will need to integrate into existing network environments that are at least partially designed using Web services concepts.

The SIP Servlet and Web Services service models are designed to isolate application logic from the details of external protocol interfaces and network elements, and from the operational concerns of resource management, fault tolerance, scalability, management, and security of network systems. The end result is a significant reduction on development and maintenance costs as well as the costs associated with application faults. In addition, there is a wide development community that has extensive knowledge of these Java and Java programming models, giving service providers a wealth of resources within the community with which to utilize in these enhanced service offerings. Using these technologies, service providers end up reducing the total cost of ownership of deploying and managing new services. Ultimately, the goal of IMS will be best realized through the proliferation of new and innovative services, which leverage the best capabilities and network features offered by both Internet and telecom networks.

Mike McHugh is vice president and general manager, BEA WebLogic Communications Platform, at BEA Systems. For more information, please visit the company online at www.bea.com. (news - alerts)

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