Perspectives on the AIN architecture

The advanced intelligent network (AIN) is examined in terms of its history, present day architecture, and future evolution. The history of the AIN is traced from predivestiture 800 and calling card service capabilities, through IN/1, IN/2, and IN/1+, leading to the various AIN releases. The present-day view of the AIN architecture includes the switching system and other network systems, as well as operations. The AIN functionality supported by this architecture is described from a customer point of view, by means of an illustrative service that could be provided from an AIN platform. The next steps in the AIN evolution are discussed. An appendix that provides detailed information about the AIN Release 1 call model is included     

The intelligent network concept

The intelligent network (IN) concept evolved from the networks which are planned or in existence in 1988 to provide network services such as the 800 service. The IN architecture will require an expansion of the capabilities which recognize the need for specialized processing and formulate a query to a database system. The expanded capabilities, along with an expected increase in the number of calls requiring special processing, place greater demands on system resources. The distributed nature of service implementation, along with the complex interactions among services, requires advanced, highly efficient operations. The authors describe the IN architecture and the process of creating a service in that environment. An illustrative example is include     

Intelligent network/2: The architecture-The technicalchallenges-The opportunities

The Intelligent Network/2 (IN/2) architecture concept diverges from the traditional new service introduction approach by distributing call-processing capabilities across multiple network modules, by constructing network services with service-independent capabilities, and by using standard signaling protocols among the network elements. The IN/2 approach provides opportunities to implement new services while reducing the service introduction interval. The IN/1 architecture provides new-service introduction from a centralized point, allowing users throughout a wide geographic area to have access to the service simultaneously. The IN/2 concept extends the IN/1 approach and sharply reduces the new-service introduction interval. IN/2 applies the premise that multiple network services or service features can be constructed from a set of reusable network capabilities, which apply to many services and are therefore independent of a particular service application. An overview of the IN/2 architecture is presented, highlighting the key technical issues     

AT&T's MPLS OAM architecture, experience, and evolution

This article provides an overview of AT&T's MPLS OAM architecture, and gives examples of operational experience. Hallmarks of the architecture are a single, converged, and integrated MPLS/optical network, and the evolution to fully automated, zero-touch network operation. The concept of one converged IP/MPLS architecture will reduce operations, development, and capital costs. The concept of zero aims to bring full automation for every human-to-computer interaction currently required for setting up and maintaining network services, delivering services to customers in real time with zero defects and cycle time, and supporting both a network as well as an operational environment with six nines reliability. This approach effectively opens the network to the customer, enabling new levels of customer network management, service creation, and ordering, and empowering enterprise customers with the tools to create their own network services as they transform their own internal networks. In the article we describe AT&T's MPLS-enabled services, the corresponding MPLS operations architecture (including MPLS MIBs), our MPLS OAM operational experience, and MPLS OAM evolution needs for MPLS MIB enhancements and new network capabilities. By applying technologies such as artificial intelligence, self-healing/self-identifying network elements, expert systems, rules-based processes, and automatic speech recognition, the architecture will migrate from a predictive network that monitors, correlates, and recommends action; to an adaptive network that monitors, correlates, and takes action; to a cybernated network that has integrated components that dynamically manage by business rules and policies. We give several examples of how AT&T is already investing in and implementing this future vision, and conclude by challenging network researchers, developers, and key industry players to apply new technologies in fully realizing the operational vision.     

Beyond IN and UPT-a personal communications support system based onTMN concepts

The vision for future telecommunications is often described by the slogan “information at any time, at any place, in any form”, driven by both society's increasing demand for “universal connectivity” and the technological progress in the area of mobile computing and personal communications. In order to realize this vision, the emerging concept of personal communications support (PCS), which includes support for personal mobility, service personalization, and advanced service interoperability, is becoming increasingly important since it allows users to configure their communications environment in accordance with their individual needs, thereby providing them with controlled access to telecommunication services, regardless of their current location, terminal and network capabilities. This paper provides an overview of a personal communications support system (PCSS). The PCSS represents a platform providing advanced PCS capabilities in a uniform way to numerous communication applications in distributed multimedia environments. From a functional perspective, the PCSS provides enhanced intelligent network (IN) and universal personal telecommunication (UPT) capabilities with respect to user addressing (based on logical names instead of numbers) and advanced user control capabilities. From a design perspective, the centralistic IN/UPT approach to the realization of service logic has been replaced by a highly distributable, object-oriented approach based on X.500/X.700/telecommunications management network (TMN) concepts. This paper addresses the basic aspects of the PCSS, including design criteria, system architecture, supported applications, and evolution issues     

Consideration on common channel signaling evolution for globalintelligent networking

With the evolution of digital networks and intelligent network (IN) capabilities, the role of common channel signaling has become more and more important. In respect to IN, common channel signaling would play a significant role not only inside one network but also over multiple networks. International credit card validation and internetworking for digital mobile services represented by GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) are examples which utilize internetwork signaling capabilities in the framework of the initial-phase IN. Enhanced service providers (ESPs) may access the public network through the common channel signaling interface to make use of the IN capabilities, as is being discussed in terms of ONA (open network architecture) or ONP (open network provision). This paper first identifies various scenarios where internetwork signaling interactions would take place in the framework of IN in the forthcoming era. It then identifies various requirements to cope with these scenarios. It finally discusses the directions for evolution of common channel signaling toward global intelligent networking     

Toward an all-IP-based UMTS system architecture

Looking into the future, two main drivers for the mobile telecommunications market can be identified: third-generation mobile systems (e.g., UMTS) and the Internet (e.g., the introduction of IP technologies like voice/multimedia over IP in mobile networks). UMTS is seen as the enabler of wireless multimedia applications and portability of a personalized service set across network/terminal boundaries, as defined within the virtual home environment (VHE) system concept. In light of these evolutions, this article investigates the impact of the evolution toward an all-IP UMTS network architecture on the UMTS service architecture, which is based on the VHE concept. The article discusses two possible scenarios for supporting VoIP services in the UMTS service architecture and analyzes their applicability in an all-IP-based UMTS network. The first is based on the traditional centralized IN service architecture. The second proposes a new decentralized architecture based on direct control of VoIP call control equipment by open service architecture interfaces     

PHS roaming signaling protocol architecture toward global mobilitynetwork

The network for supporting the global personal communication is called the global mobility network (GLOMONET), where global mobility is guaranteed by coordination between intelligent networks (INs). This paper describes the implementation of a roaming signaling protocol for the personal handy-phone system (PHS) GLOMONET, clarifying the concepts of the PHS architecture regarding the GLOMONET. The PHS is a more economical personal communication system than existing cellular systems, by introducing the concept that the PHS service is provided by the most effective use of the existing ISDN and IN functions, where the majority of network functions to provide ISDN services are commonly used for functions for PHS service provision. The PHS mobility function realized by the IN guarantees flexible and effective roaming service provision for the globalization of future personal communication. The proposed PHS signaling protocol architecture is based on the intelligent network capability set 2 (IN CS2) defined by the International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Study Group 11 and a visitor location register (VLR) database scheme with efficient signal transfer in the GLOMONET. The PHS specific roaming signaling protocol is defined by the service-independent IN application protocol (INAP). The proposed PHS concepts and roaming signaling protocol were reflected to the national telecommunications standards in the Telecommunication Technical Committee (TTC) and standards in the PHS-memorandum of understanding (MoU)     

Intelligent Network Analysis by Closed Queuing Models

With the wide deployment of intelligent network (IN) services, there is an urgent need to understand and solve teletraffic performance issues of the evolving network intelligence platform. This paper discusses a queuing system model for the performance analysis of IN call processing. The intelligent network is presented as a network of queues where the total number of customers (e.g., SSPs) is fixed, thus forming a closed queuing network. The IN distributed architecture is modeled as a finite source queuing model – M/G/1/K/K. The expected response time for that model is analyzed and computed. The numerical results and the corresponding curves are provided and, related to open questions, future work is summarized.     

The intelligent network in France

The introduction of an intelligent network (IN) architecture in France by France Telecom is described. Two main technical issues of present IN architecture are discussed: the programming interface to be used for service creation and the control-resource interface such as the SSP/SCP interface. The long-term evolution of IN, including the application to networks other than public switched telephone networks (PSTN) and the development of operating systems to handle IN-supported services, is outlined. Major technical problems in implementing a global IN architecture are also discussed     

Evolutionary mobility and service support in DECT access networks

This paper presents an access-independent network architecture for supporting UMTS service capabilities. The approach is based on an enhanced B-ISDN core network with personal and terminal mobility provided by intelligent network techniques. A physical realization is presented, and the protocols corresponding to the physical interfaces are identified. Protocols are proposed for UMTS mobility and service support, and the impact on the B-UNI and IN interfaces is considered. Reflecting the vision of the ETSI global multimedia mobility (GMM) standardization framework, UMTS service support through non-UMTS access is considered. Consideration of DECT as a UMTS access technology leads to an interworking proposal that presents each DECT terminal to the core network in terms of UMTS functional entities. Access-independent usage of UMTS terminal applications motivates additional interworking in the terminal to encapsulate the access network. The desirability of an access-independent UMTS application programming interface in the terminal is indicated     

Evolutionary trends in intelligent networks

A number of groups are currently developing technologies aimed at evolving and enhancing the capabilities of intelligent networks. In this article we discuss three of these initiatives: PINT, Parlay, and IN/CORBA interworking. The IETF PINT work addresses how Internet applications can request and enrich telecommunications services. The Parlay consortium is specifying an object-oriented service control API that facilitates the access, control, and configuration of IN services by enterprise IT systems. The OMG's IN/CORBA interworking specification enables CORBA-based systems to interwork with existing IN infrastructure, thereby promoting the adoption of CORBA for the realization of IN functional entities. We address how all three of these technologies could be deployed together in order to provide a basis for a more flexible and open IN architecture. We also identify a number of common trends and potential pitfalls highlighted by current work on the evolution of IN     

Impact of the intelligent network on the capacity of networkelements

The effect that integration of the intelligent network (IN) concept into the existing network architecture has on the capacity of the various network elements is addressed. The effect of excessive load on that and other existing services is also examined. The discussion covers: methods of characterizing capacity and performance; major causes of increased load with the IN; perception of increased delay by the user; effect of delay on service introduction; and methods of improving IN performance. The example of the call-forwarding service is used to show the effect that IN can have on the performance of services, as perceived from the delays experienced by the user     

An Intelligent IN

The Intelligent Network [IN] is a network concept to ease the introduction of new services based on more flexibility and new capabilities. This paper describes an evolution towards a more intelligent structure provided by Advanced Information Processing techniques with emphasis on a Distributed Artificial Intelligence concept.     

Mobile agents - enabling technology for active intelligent networkimplementation

The emerging notion of active networks describes the general vision of communication network evolution, where the network nodes become active because they take part in the computation of applications and provision of customized services. In this context mobile agent technology and programmable switches are considered as enabling technologies. This article looks at the impact of mobile agent technology on telecommunication service environments, influenced by the intelligent network (IN) architecture. The authors illustrate how the integration of mobile agent platforms into IN elements, notably into the IN switches, will realize an active IN environment. This enables telecom services implemented through mobile service agents on a per user basis to be instantly deployed at programmable switching nodes, which results in better performance and fault tolerance compared to traditional IN service implementations     

IBIS: a testbed for the evolution of intelligent broadband networkstoward TINA

This article analyzes a possible path for the evolution of telecommunication networks toward open distributed architectures like the TINA-C architecture. The results of a research project called IBIS carried out within the CoRiTeL Laboratory are presented. The IBIS project starts from the activities of the ACTS project INSIGNIA, which has proposed and demonstrated an architecture for the integration of the intelligent network concept over B-ISDN platforms (the so-called intelligent broadband network, IBN). In the IBIS approach, TINA service components replace the traditional IN service logic, providing the intelligence needed to control broadband services in a very flexible and open environment. The handling of the transport connections is performed in a more traditional way, exploiting the capability offered by the IBN. This article focuses on how the TINA and IBN paradigms can profitably interact, providing the intelligence to support advanced multimedia services     

The intelligent network-changing the face of telecommunications

The realization of the intelligent network concept is traced, first in the former Bell System in the early 1980s, and subsequently in the Regional Operating Companies, post divestiture. The history of common channel signaling and the introduction of 800 Service, Calling Card Service, and Private Virtual Network Service are described. The network nodes and operations systems that are the major components of the intelligent network are introduced, and their potential application for a wealth of voice, data, and video services is suggested. The next generation of the intelligent network, called the advanced intelligent network, which through its service-creation capabilities holds promise for rapid service development and a cornucopia of customized services, is described     

Intelligence design patterns

Whenever mention is made of intelligence in the context of communications it is not long before reference is made to IN. The IN in this case is an explicit reference to intelligent networks and very likely an explicit reference to the ITU/ETSI defined standards in Europe or AIN ANSI in America. But this is only one specific instance of the intelligence design patterns. To represent the span of intelligence design patterns as IN is to represent by analogy all knots with the reef knot.Intelligence continues to be a tool that the telecommunications industry wields to tackle the complexity of service design, to try to reduce the cost of service development (through platform reuse), and to emulate the productivity of the software industry by adopting converged technology approaches to improve service creation productivity.This paper briefly maps out the design patterns that are considered intelligent, ranging from the service node concept, the classical intelligent network, the service delivery platform, the distributed application server, through to enterprise intelligence and the intelligent client, in each of which we can see repeating mechanisms, such as service triggering and service selection.     

Network evolution in the context of the global informationinfrastructure

This article describes network evolution in the context of the global information infrastructure (GII), taking into consideration social and regulatory environments. It provides a GIIs vision for the evolution of wireless networks, which relies on the intelligent network (IN) to support the global and seamless introduction of services. It examines issues related to the Internet (e.g., resources, QoS, and security), which must be addressed properly before the Internet can be considered as the paradigm for the GII. In addition, this article discusses the software aspect of network evolution, equally applicable to all network paradigms. It focuses on the emergence of full network operating systems, which should transform networks into integrated programmable platforms supporting the development and execution of a wide range of services. Finally, this article suggests cooperation in standards definition among all players to effectively answer the technological challenges of future networks and provide both fair competition and regulated liberalization. The standardization of emerging network capabilities encompassing broadband, wireless/mobility, the Internet, and ultimately the GII, is presently ongoing in the ITU-T Study Group (SG) 13, the lead study group on the GII, and other standards organizations     

A new network architecture with intelligent node (IN) to enhanceIEEE 802.14 HFC networks

In the hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) architecture, a number of 500-2000 subscribers in the CATV (community antenna TV) network may cause serious collisions during the request phase. In this paper, we propose a new network architecture which using an intelligent node (IN) to stand for a group of subscribers to request the demand resources. The intelligent node has the ability to reduce the collision probability as well as the collision resolving period. The simulation results shown that the throughput and average buffer delay obtained by the proposed architecture is better than that of the standard architecture