Lucent likes IMS

We recently had an opportunity to talk with folks at Lucent about their views on IP Multimedia Subsystem. Lucent is very bullish on what IMS brings to the table for both wireless and wireline convergence.

We recently had an opportunity to talk with folks at Lucent about their views on IP Multimedia Subsystem. Lucent is very bullish on what IMS brings to the table for both wireless and wireline convergence.

According to Lucent, the true value in IMS is that it is a clearly defined three-layer architecture incorporating the application, call/session control and transport layers in an environment that allows access to a network using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

The application layer can support a wide variety of standards-based telephony and non-telephony network application servers.

The call/session control layer provides a common control element through which all customer signaling can pass in order to support seamless interworking between different applications. This layer also includes a home subscriber database providing a single common database for applications – promoting application interworking and simplified service provisioning.

All IMS applications can be offered in an access network-agnostic manner through common interfaces to the transport layer. SIP provides universal access to the network, accommodating any device or transport technology.

Another key benefit of the IMS architecture is that it opens the door for technologies such as 802.11 and Code Division Multiple Access to reside in one device providing the foundation for converged services, video applications and high-speed data access – regardless of access method or device.

Beyond basic IP connectivity, the application layer of IMS allows a host of non-proprietary applications to provide valuable business and personal services. The 3GPP/3GPP2 standards-based IMS architecture supports the access points necessary to apply creative and useful applications to a structured architecture.

By adopting IMS, operators can think beyond VoIP to a broader, revenue-enhancing “value over IP” concept, combining many forms of voice, video and data into packets that are treated equally and effectively.