TextBook: Soft Switch

ETE405 :: Lecture 12 Chapter 3 Softswitch Architecture p.50- p.59

Switching

Gatekeeper and Media Gateway Controller A softswitch is the intelligence in a network that coordinates call control, signaling, and features that make a call across a network or multiple networks possible. A softswitch coordinates the routing of signaling messages between networks. Signaling coordinates actions associated with a connection to the entity at the other end of the connection. For signaling, the predominant protocols are SIP, Signaling System 7 (SS7), and H.323. For media control, the predominant signaling protocol is the Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP).

Signaling Gateway

Signaling gateways are used to terminate signaling links from PSTN networks or other signaling points. The SS7 signaling gateway serves as a protocol mediator (translator) between the PSTN and IP networks. That is, when a call originates in an IP network using H.323 as a VoIP protocol and must terminate in the PSTN, a translation from the H.323 signaling protocol to SS7 is necessary in order to complete the call. Physically, a signaling function can be embedded directly into the MGC or housed within a standalone gateway.

Application Server

The application server accommodates the service and feature applications made available to a service providers customers. Examples include call forwarding, conferencing, voice mail, forward on busy, and so on. Physically, an application server is a server loaded with a software suite that offers the application programs.

Applications for Softswitch

Where does a softswitch fit in a next-generation network? What does it do? How does it compare with PSTN switches? The following pages will note how softswitch technologies are deployed to replace TDM switches ranging from PBXs to Class 5 switches.

IP PBX

Perhaps the earliest application for VoIP was the installation of a VoIP gateway on the trunk side of a PBX. This gateway packetized the voice stream and routed it over an IP network (corporate WAN,UPN, Internet), which saved the business much money in long-distance transport costs. This solution used the existing PBXs set of features (conferencing, call forwarding, and so on). It also provided investment protection to the user by leveraging the legacy PBX into a VoIP solution. The intelligence in this solution was contained in software known as the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper was the precursor to the softswitch.

IP PBX (soft PBX)

Class 4 Replacement Softswitch

The next step in scale for the VoIP industry and tangentially the softswitch industry was Class 4 replacement. Long distance bypass operators used VoIP gateways for international transport.

Challenges

Initially, these service providers used enterprise-grade media gateways that interfaced with TDM switches in the PSTN. Technical challenges for these operators arose as their business flourished and demand grew.

First, the media gateways were not dense enough for the levels of traffic they were handling. Second, the gateways that controlled these gateways were also limited in their capability to handle ever-increasing levels of traffic over these networks. Thirdly, international traffic called for interfacing different national variants of SS7 signaling (each nation has its own variant).

Solution

Class 4 replacement softswitch solution, Comprised of more densely populated gateways managed with greater intelligence than an MGC. Example: Nortel DMS-250.

Architecture of Class 4 switches with VoIP gateways

Class 4 replacement softswitch solution

Note the absence of Class 4 TDM switches.

Class 5 Replacement Softswitch

the Class 5 marks the final disruption of the legacy telecommunication infrastructure. A Class 5 switch can cost tens of millions of dollars and require at least half a city block in real estate. The evolution of a successful Class 5 replacement softswitch has staggering implications for the worlds local telephone service providers

Objection

Objections to a Class 5 replacement softswitch solution include the need for E911 and Communication Assistance for law Enforcement Act of 1994 (CALEA). Another objection is the perception that softswitch cannot match Class 5 features.

A 5ESS Class 5 switch from Lucent Technologies is reported to have some 3,500 features that have been developed over a 25-year time frame.

Present status: a number of successful Class 5 replacement softswitch installations have taken place and this segment of the industry is growing rapidly.

Class 5 Replacement Softswitch