Sewnet -: a framework for creating services utilizing telecom functionality (original) (raw)
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IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews), 2003
Value added services, or more simply-services, are the critical ingredient for the success and the survival of Internet Telephony. Services can be defined as anything that goes beyond two party voice calls. Some examples are multiparty gaming, customized stock quotes and call screening. This paper focuses on service creation in Internet Telephony. Service creation plays a major role in Internet Telephony because it enables openness and programmability by offering frameworks for the development of value added services. Two principal sets of standards have emerged for Internet Telephony: H.323 from the ITU-T and SIP from the IETF. No service creation framework comes with the H.323 set. Two frameworks come with the SIP set: the Call Processing Language (CPL) and the SIP common gateway interface (CGI). Besides the IETF, other forums such as Parlay and JAIN have proposed pertinent frameworks. The first part of the paper provides an overview of the service creation frameworks for Internet Telephony. A common characteristic of these frameworks is that they require knowledge that nonexperts may not have (e.g., scripts, programming languages). High-level service creation environments may help these nonexperts. The second part of the paper presents a case study on a high level service creation environment (SCE) where pre-defined graphical components are combined into services. The environment is discussed in detail along with the service logic execution environment (SLEE) where the services are executed. The SCE and SLEE make no assumption on the service creation framework supported by the network, and any of the standard frameworks could be used provided it offers the functionality abstracted in the graphical components. We have used the Parlay APIs as a framework and the prototype is built for a SIP environment. The prototype is described and the lessons we have learned are presented. Index Terms-Internet telephony, open APIs, service creation and execution environments, value added services. I. INTRODUCTION S ERVICE creation is used to refer to the set of activities related to the specification, design and testing of value added services in telephony networks. It is sometimes called service construction [1], or service programming [2]. Value added services, or more simply-services, are defined as anything that goes beyond two-party voice calls. Service creation is critical
Toward a Telecommunications Service-Oriented Architecture
2007
Abstract: Web Services are often used for providing and composing business services but this approach does not scale easily for telecommunication services and for value added ones, composing services offered by IT providers with telecom operators ones.
Towards a Telecommunication Service Oriented Architecture
2007
Web Services are often used for providing and composing business services but this approach does not scale easily for telecommunication services and for value added ones, composing services offered by IT providers with telecom operators ones. The typical request-response interaction style is the main bottleneck when applying web services protocols to the telecom domain, which requires higher performances and needs efficient ways to handle notifications of events produced by different network resources in the telecommunication infrastructure. This paper evaluates benefits and drawbacks of Web Service applications within a Telecom domain, analyzing current standardization proposals for asynchronous web services, which are a necessary evolution towards a fully interoperable telecommunication service oriented architecture.
Proceeding of the 17th international conference on World Wide Web - WWW '08, 2008
With Telecom market reaching saturation in many geographies and revenues from voice calls decreasing, Telecom operators are trying to identify new sources of revenue. For this purpose, these operators can take advantage of their core functionalities like Location, Call Control, etc. by exposing them as services to be composed by developers with third party offerings available over the Web. To hide the complexity of underlying Telecom protocols from application developers, the operators are steadily adopting Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and reference standards like Parlay-X and IMS. However, a number of challenges still remain in rapid utilization of Telecom functionalities for creating new applications -existence of multiple protocols, different classes of developers, and the need to coordinate and manage usage of these functionalities. In this paper, we present SewNet, a framework for creating applications exploiting Telecom functionality exposed over a (converged) IP network. More specifically, SewNet a) provides an abstraction model for encapsulating invocation, coordination and enrichment of the Telecom functionalities, b) renders a service creation environment on top of this model, and c) caters to various different categories of developers. With the help of two use-case scenarios, we demonstrate how SewNet can create services utilizing rich Telecom functionality.
Development and Implementation of a Third Party Call Parlay X API for Application Development in NGN
The search for technologies to develop value-added services in Next Generation Networks created what is being called Information and Communication Technologies convergence or ICT. The success of such convergence will depend on, among other factors, adequately opening NGN capacities to support value-added applications development by IT community. Open APIs such like OSA/Parlay and Parlay X are being considered the "bridges"between both worlds. Despite such APIs, there are other technologies and several possible paths involved in this task. In this scenario, our paper firstly shows how next generation converged networks and its functionalities can be exposed properly to someone else, through Parlay X interfaces, implemented in Web-Services-based application gateways. Therefore, this paper cames to fulfil the lack of literature regarding methodology for valueadded applications development in NGN. Secondly, we developed and implemented a Third Party Call Parlay X API inside a Parlay X gateway emulator to demonstrate how useful a gateway emulator could be in order to provide quick and correct design and implementation of NGN applications. Finally, we discuss the results obtained.
Internet service delivery, application platforms, and product evolution
Bell Labs Technical Journal, 2002
Interface to SIP-enabled endpoints, such as SIP hard phones, SIP softphones, personal data assistants (PDAs), and wireless phones. • Call/session control, for example, interface to media gateway controllers, softswitches, proxies. • Media service control, for example, interface to media gateways and media servers. • Service control, for example, interface to application servers and services mediation functions. • Service creation/authoring, for example, support of call processing language (CPL), common gateway interface (CGI), and servlets [16, 26]. • Intelligent network/Internet protocol (IN/IP) internetworking, for example, the SIP-based Services in the PSTN/IN Requesting Internet Services The session initiation protocol (SIP) is a unifying protocol for providing integrated telephony and Internet types of services, such as Web, presence, instant messaging, and chat. To provide for the integration of these disparate types of services, considerations must be given from a network point of view. However, little attention has been given in the literature to identify the network elements required to provide these services or the mechanisms for integrating these different types of services for end users. This paper describes a network-level services architecture for SIP, including network functions and entities needed to support the services integration. We will discuss how services can be incorporated at different levels in the network, and the types of services typically created at each of these levels. We will also describe a service access and mediation function, which blends disparate types of services in creating a seamless and rewarding user experience.
Rapid development and delivery of converged services using APIs
Bell Labs Technical Journal, 2002
To what extent will the emerging set of application programming interfaces (APIs), and environments that provide these APIs, support the vision of rapid service development for converged networks? In this paper, we report on lessons learned, both through participation in standards bodies and from recent prototyping using some of these APIs. We describe four API environments: Telecommunications Service Access and Subscription (TSAS), Parlay, Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and Java* APIs for Integrated Networks (JAIN*). We then discuss how these API environments address several issues key to rapid service development and deployment.
Providing middleware support for the control and co-ordination of telecom mashups
Proceedings of the 2007 Workshop on Middleware for next-generation converged networks and applications - MNCNA '07, 2007
The emerging Web 2.0 marketplace presents an important opportunity for Telecom operators to sell their own capabilities and content as services. Operators have a wealth of content associated with their network as well as core network enablers, such as call control, presence and messaging, that could serve as potential new revenue streams in a Web2.0 world. Moreover, with the looming threat from Internet companies to build content and communication services, thereby treating the network as dumb pipes, there is an increasing need for operators to make both core and value-added functions reusable and mashable. To this end, operators are gradually embracing the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and looking at developing next-generation of SIP-based applications that can be mashed up in innovative ways to provide value-added services. However, in order to do so, IMS/SIP-based services need to be empowered with the necessary customization controls to be suitable in a Web 2.0 development environment. This, in turn, requires protocol-level control to be rendered to the mashup developer-an issue that has not been sufficiently addressed by the community. In this paper, we highlight the need for middleware support in facilitating the control and coordination of Telecom mashups, and describe a prototype service that demonstrates the capabilities of our proposed architecture.
Self-Configuring User-Centric Communication Services
International Conference on Systems, 2008
The functionality of communication applications, such as instant messaging, has dramatically improved due to market competition. The quest for the competitive edge has resulted in the development of open platform APIs that al- low communication applications to become building blocks, or communication frameworks for more elaborate commu- nication applications. The services available through these different communication frameworks can however be
Service creation for end-users
2008
The current computing and communication services are driven by various technologies. The creation of such services is however not an easy task. The different platforms lack openness that simplifies interoperability. Service development is still mainly technical oriented, where service creation tools are meant for serving and assisting the professional developers. Service creation is not seen as a task for end users right now.