1. A NEW TECHNOLOGICAL REALITY

In the mid-1990s, we were introduced to a new technological reality resulting from the emergence of the Internet protocol (IP), based on the possibility of integrating telecommunication networks via the Internet, moving from different protocols for voice and data service provision (e.g., X.25, ATM, or Frame Relay) to the possibility of integrating different services via a single protocol (IP). It ultimately meant the very possibility of using a single network to provide different services.

• Convergence scheme

Reference:

PROTOCOL CONVERGENCE
Platforms based on multiple separate protocols Networks based on a single protocol

CONVERGENCE OF SERVICES AND NETWORKS

TRADITIONAL NETWORKS
Telephony
Television
Broadcasting Network of networks
Messaging
Data transmission

CONVERGENT SERVICES & NETWORKS

As can be seen from the figure, we have moved from a system of multiple technological platforms, each with its own protocol, to a system where all platforms can be IP-based.

We have also moved from a concept of multiple networks, depending on the type of service to be provided, to IP-based networks designed to provide convergent services.

Therefore, technological convergence (as a force driving a new telecommunication regulatory model) is the implementation of single, IP-based, telecommunication networks for the provision of different services formerly provided over separate networks.

IP is a protocol used for communication over a network via packet switching (as opposed to traditional switched circuit networks) where the bandwidth available for communication is essential. IP is the communications protocol most implemented today, and the one enabling convergent telecommunication services to be provided. However, this does not mean that earlier, pre-IP, protocols should be discarded. On the contrary, one advantage of IP-based New Generation Networks (NGN) networks is precisely that they afford the possibility of operating jointly with or integrated into traditional networks.

Little by little, IP has become not only the most widely used communications protocol, but also a veritable force driving technological development in connection with the development of a new telecommunication network concept. Its advantage is that it makes possible presence on any type of network, fixed or mobile, that is, it is a protocol designed to serve as an open architecture model consistent with the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model, so that it can be used on any type of network, such as fiber optic or GPON, or mobile networks such as WiMAX or LTE-based next generation cellular networks.

Important developments have taken place with IP in the last ten years, moving from an initial version characterized by the “best effort” concept in packet transmission, where service quality was not guaranteed, to much more developed versions, such as IPv4 or IPv6, where not only is point-to-point service quality guaranteed, but the possibility also exists of controlling or managing the entire IP-based network.

This IP evolution has enabled a new telecommunication concept to emerge, associated with NGN networks. These are becoming the veritable force driving technological convergence, with IP as their fundamental support at the network’s heart. Thus, IP has become not only the force driving the technological convergence concept, but also the force driving the establishment of a new concept of networks (NGN) which, as we will see, will be those gradually implemented as operators decide to update their networks so as to be able to provide new telecommunication services or applications.

IP, associated with NGN networks, makes numerous applications available (voice, video, data) on different terminals, fixed or mobile, since they are capable of integrating different technologies meeting information needs of users, providing them with total information transmission transparency, i.e., regardless of the transport technology used by the service provider.

• Diagram: From a traditional network to an NGN multiservice network

Reference:

Traditional Networks Next Generation Networks
Independent services Content
Independent administration Administration
Mobile Fixed Data Cable TV Access Access Access
Different access, transport, and switching networks Mobile Fixed Data Cable TV

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in ITU-T Recommendation Y.2001, Study Group 13, Standardization Sector, a Next Generation Network (NGN) is:

“… a packet-based network able to provide Telecommunication Services to users and able to make use of multiple broadband, QoS-enabled transport technologies and in which service-related functions are independent of the underlying transport-related technologies. It enables unfettered access for users to networks and to competing service providers and services of their choice.

It supports generalized mobility which will allow consistent and ubiquitous provision of services to users.”

As may be seen from the figure above and the definition contained in the ITU Recommendation, NGNs’ importance lies in the fact that they: (i) enable multiple services to be provided over a single network; and (ii) enable traditional networks to be integrated with the NGN network so that operators need not dispose of their old networks, but instead can integrate them into the new NGN network, making any gradual migrations required so that the network eventually becomes 100% IP in keeping with the operator’s needs.

Francisco Castro
Coordinator
Asociación Colombiana de Ingenieros