Assignment: 1

Soft switch network architecture

Submitted By: Rohan S Kamat Div: B Pr No: 10030241078

Table of Contents
1. Soft switch Literature Review ............................................................................................................. 3 2. Working of Soft Switch and H248 Protocol......................................................................................... 4 3. Architectural Considerations: ............................................................................................................. 5 4. Advantages.......................................................................................................................................... 7 6. Major Usage ........................................................................................................................................ 8

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1. Soft switch Literature Review

A Soft Switch is a device in a network which connects calls together entirely by means of software running on a computer system. The soft switch architecture involves the separation of the media path and media-conversion functions from the call control and signalling functions. The entities that handle call control are known as call agents or MGCs i.e. Media Gateway Controllers, while the entities that perform the media conversion are known as MGs or Media Gateways. The name soft switch is used because many of the switching functions traditionally handled by large monolithic systems in the circuit-switched world are instead emulated by software systems. In fact, in many quarters, the term soft switch is used to refer to a call agent or MGC as opposed to the overall architecture. The soft switch architecture has many supporters within the VoIP industry. The following figure depicts the architecture of Media Gateway Controllers:-

Figure 1 : Architecture of Media Gateway Controller

In fact, many of the leaders in the industry have come together in an organization known as the International Soft switch Consortium. This organization promotes the soft switch concept and related technologies, it allows interested parties to share ideas and cooperate in the ongoing development and deployment of the technology, and it facilitates interwork testing between different implementations. One of the reasons why the soft switch approach is so popular is the fact that it is a distributed architecture. For a network operator, it is possible to use different network components from different vendors, such that the best in each class may be chosen in each area.

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The soft switch acts as a central device which connects telephone calls from one phone line to another, typically via the internet, entirely by means of software running on a general-purpose computer system. It is more conventionally applied to a device that handles IP-to-IP phone calls, while the phrase access server or media gateway is used to refer to devices that either originate or terminate traditional "land line" (hard wired) phone calls.

2. Working of Soft Switch and H248 Protocol

Telephone Exchange

Incoming Voice Channel

Outgoing Voice Channel

The incoming voice channel carries all the bearer traffic to the telephone exchange .The telephone exchange acts as the controller and connects the two channels i.e. the incoming and the outgoing channels. Different gateways are put IP Network. The software switch can control the ip's .This switch is the media gateway controller. The Media Gateway connects different types of digital media stream together to create an end-to-end path for the media (voice and data) in the call. It may have interfaces to connect to traditional PSTN networks It may also have interfaces to connect to ATM and IP networks, and the most modern systems will have Ethernet interfaces to connect VoIP calls. The call agent will instruct the media gateway to connect media streams between these interfaces to connect the call - all transparently to the end-users. Protocol: H248 The Media gateway Control Protocol or MEGACO is an implementation of the Media Gateway Control Protocol architecture for controlling media gateways in Internet Protocol (IP) networks and the public switched telephone network (PSTN). It is for the control of elements of a physically decomposed multimedia gateway, which enables separation of call control from media conversion. Though H.248 performs the same functions as MGCP, it uses different commands and processes and supports a broader range of networks. H.248 is meant to address the relationship between the Media Gateway, which converts circuit-switched voice to packet-based traffic, and the Media Gateway Controller . H.248 instructs an MG to connect streams coming from outside a packet or cell data network onto a packet or cell stream such as the Real-Time Transport Protocol.
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Megaco defines the protocol for media gateway controllers to control media gateways for the support of multimedia streams across computer networks. It is typically used for providing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services (voice and fax) between IP networks and the PSTN, or entirely within IP networks. H.248 encompasses not only the base protocol specification in H.248.1, but many extensions defined throughout the H.248 Sub-series. Another implementation of the Media Gateway Control Protocol architecture exists in the similarly named MGCP protocol. This is used over the same interface and similar in application and service functionality, however, it is a different protocol and the underlying differences make them incompatible.

3. Architectural Considerations:

Figure 2: Architectural Considerations

The key architectural considerations should include: Interoperability with Telecom equipment and carriers Services and protocols integration Bandwidth and external connectivity required Sizing requirements Equipment required Network operations interface(s) required Operations management requirements Scale as you grow criteria for services and volume Service availability requirements
Major Components of a Soft switch:

Soft switch can consist of one or more of these components. These functions can reside in one system or span across several systems.

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1. The Gateway Controller is one of the key functional units of the Soft switch. The Gateway Controller holds the call processing rules, but uses the Media Gateway and Signalling Gateway to perform the job. 2. The Signalling Gateway serves as the gateway between the SS7 Signalling network and the nodes managed by the Soft switch in the IP network. A Signalling Gateway requires physical connectivity to the SS7 network and must be aware of the required protocol suites. 3. The Media Gateway handles the voice media data payload (the digitized samples of speech during conversation). 4. The Media Server performs peripheral functions, to enrich the Soft switch with media capabilities. If required, it supports digital signal processing (DSP) resources. If IVR functionality is needed (e.g.: to prompt voice responses), those tasks would be performed by the Media Server. A Media Server when applicable would also serve video Media. 5. The Feature Server provides all the revenue generating features and services such as billing, multi-party conferencing, etc. The Feature Server uses the resources and related services located on other components of the Soft switch. It may also support certain services to meet certain implementation necessity e.g.: Gatekeeper

Figure 3Softswitch

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4. Advantages

Softswitches may be the best bet for generating new, differentiated services. They help in providing seamless, enhanced, next-gen services requires a new network with an infrastructure that allows service creation and implementation across various access technologies. They help in determining where the network intelligence will reside and how it will be applied cost effectively across those technologies is a major challenge for network designers. They help in providing transport efficiency and network simplicity.

Flexibility and scalability are the main advantages of softswitches, since carriers can add functionality and ports as their markets demand. In addition, the switches have a lower price--from one-tenth to one-half less than a Class 4 or Class 5 switch. They are also significantly smaller, taking up less CO space, and don't require custom air conditioning, backup electrical power or new flooring.

5. Disadvantages

Limited by immature development

Trade off need to be considered since presence of multiple vendors Currently standards are evolving and changing and hence need to cope up with them Pricing experience is limited Network security is an issue

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6. Major Usage
Soft switches can support a wide variety of services. It is important to understand the business focus of the switching applications in order to select the most appropriate suite of services for the environment. This allows the business to maximize its return on investment in Soft switch technologies. In the telephone industry, there are many services that can be given but require better switching facilities. Many popular enhanced services include call forwarding, call hold, call transfer, call waiting, caller ID, and three-way and multi-party conferencing. The advent of Internet usage over telephone system has resulted in new services such as click-to-dial and Internet call waiting. Several companies currently offer these features. The integration of the telephone network with wireless networks and cable networks presents major opportunities to offer value-add services. These types of services are best supported by the Soft switch approach.

It is required to work with the existing Operations Support System (OSS) that handle many types of operational details, as well as the Business Support System (BSS) which also performs the actual billing. The flexibility of Soft switch technology allows a provider to support a wide variety of billing options. Soft switches can support traditional features offered to telephone systems customers such as consultation hold, call forwarding, conferencing, etc., as described in the local telephone directory.

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