ConvergeNET Recap: Miami 2002
ConvergeNet is one of the more exciting attractions that can be found at
every Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO�. Essentially, ConvergeNet
is a live, on-site network serving as a multi-vendor interoperability
proving ground, serving as a proof-of-concept environment on the exhibit
floor.
On February 6-8, 2002, ConvergeNet made yet another successful appearance
at the Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO�, held at Miami�s famed
Hotel Inter-Continental. About 25 percent of the exhibitors at the
conference participated, led by event sponsor Mockingbird Networks. Other
key participants included VoIP Group, Congruency, Pingtel, and Wombo.
Huge Crowd Delays Start
With almost double the expected attendance on the first day of the show,
ConvergeNet took a back seat to keeping booths fully staffed. Even the
engineers who were brought to the show specifically to participate in
ConvergeNet were asked to man booths and help manage the capacity crowds.
However by one o�clock that afternoon, the engineers had all made their
way to the ConvergeNet booth to start their testing.
Day 1
It was decided that the Mockingbird Impresaria ESS (which includes a
softswitch, SIP server, H.323 Gateway, and a SIP-H.323 protocol translator)
would act as the hub of the network. Not only would this make for a better
demonstration, but it was also technically necessary, since no two IP
telephones on the floor were capable of communicating directly due to
protocol and codec support issues. The Congruency i.Picasso 6000 supports
H.323 and the G.729 codec. The Pingtel expressa supports SIP and the G.711
codec. The VoIP Group�s gateway supports H.323 and both the G.729 and
G.711 codecs. The plan was to have the Mockingbird softswitch facilitate the
communication between these non-interoperable devices.
The first scenario was to move calls between the Congruency i.Picasso
6000 and the Pingtel expressa. This would be accomplished by having calls
start at the Congruency i.Picasso 6000, move to the Congruency CNS 3200
Enhanced Hosted Communications Platform, over to the Mockingbird Impresaria
ESS and then to the Pingtel expressa telephone. All of the signaling was
made successfully, as the Mockingbird Impresaria ESS properly translated the
H.323 signaling to SIP signaling. However, the calls were rejected by
Pingtel�s expressa telephones due to a codec mismatch. There was no device
that was part of the ConvergeNet that could transcode the G.729 supported by
Congruency to the G.7.11 supported by Pingtel.
Calls going in the opposite direction, from the Pingtel expressa to the
i.Picasso 6000 were also rejected due to the same codec mismatch.
Day 2
On the second day, we attempted calls from the Pingtel expressa to the PSTN.
This would be accomplished by having calls start at the Pingtel expressa,
move to the Mockingbird Impresaria ESS, over to The VoIP Group�s VcomX
Gateway and then out into the public network. After a number of hours of
trying, the call could not make it out into the public network. It was
determined that the problem was in the Faststart procedure within the H.323
signaling protocol. Faststart is part of the Impresaria ESS, but is not
implemented on the VcomX Gateway.
Interoperability Is Still An Issue
After successful interoperability events in the past, we were ready to
declare interoperability a �dead Issue.� We figured that the technical
issues had been solved and that it was high time for the vendors to move on
towards created applications, billing systems, and OSS that could work
within a converged network. However, it now seems that the upheaval within
our industry (with many �Early Entrants� now resigned to the telecom
dust heap of history) has caused a momentary backward step in the area of
interoperability. Some new entrants into the space are once again supporting
proprietary signaling protocols and codecs, or they are fighting protocol
and codec wars, choosing to support one over the other, rather than building
a flexible product that can work in many environments under many conditions.
We hope that by the next installment of ConvergeNet, at Internet Telephony
Conference and EXPO � October 1�3 in San Diego � equipment and
software manufacturers will have moved beyond these issues so that we can
once again begin looking at interesting applications and other required
back-office systems that are required for the commercial implementation of
converged networks.
[ Return
To The April 2002 Table Of Contents ]
|