Service Provision: Technologies for Next Generation Communications

Description:

This book provides the first overview of the service technologies available to telecoms operators working in a post-convergence world. Previous books have focused either on computer networks or on telecoms networks. This is the first to bring the two together and provide a single reference source for information that is currently only to be found in disparate journals, tool specifications and standards documents.
In order to provide such broad coverage of the topic in a structured and logical fashion, the book is divided into 3 parts.
The first part looks at the underlying network support for services and aims to explain the technology that makes the user-visible services possible. This section covers multimedia networking, both traditional (legacy) and future (softswitch) call processing, intelligent networks, the Internet, and Wireless networks.
Part 2 deals with how these services may be analysed and managed. Chapters cover topics such as commercial issues, service management, quality of service, security, standards and APIs.
Part 3 concludes the book by looking ahead at evolving technologies and more speculative possibilities, discussing the kinds of services that may be possible in the future and the technologies that will support them.

• Focuses is on how the technology supports the services, rather than on technology for its own sake
• Contributors drawn from both academia and industry (companies such as Marconi, BT, Telcordia, Cisco, Analysys) to give both theoretical and real-world perspectives
• Unique singe-reference source for a wide range of material currently found only in disparate papers, specs and documentation
• Covers brand new technologies such as JAIN, JTAPI, Parlay, IP, multimedia networking, active networks, WAP, wireless LANs, agent-based services, etc.

 

Table of Contents:

List of Contributors.

Preface.

PART I: NETWORK SUPPORT FOR SERVICE.

1. Introduction and Context (Kenneth J. Turner, Evan H. Magill and David J. Marples).

1.1 Communications Services.

1.2 Network Support for Services.

1.3 Building and Analyzing Services.

1.4 The Future of Services.

2. Multimedia Technology in a Telecommunications Setting (Alistair McBain).

2.1 Definition of Multimedia.

2.2 Market Drivers for Multimedia.

2.3 Standards for Multimedia Services.

2.4 Multimedia Services and their Constituent Media Components.

2.5 Interworking between Multimedia and Traditional Voice.

2.6 Terminal Equipment and User Interfaces.

2.7 The Future.

3. Call Processing (Graham M. Clark and Wayne Cutler).

3.1 The Beginnings of Call Processing.

3.2 Key Attributes of Call Processing Systems.

3.3 Switch Architectures and Call Models.

3.4 Switch-Based Services.

3 . 5 Call Processing for Intelligent Networks.

3.6 Softswitches.

3.7 Future.

4. Advanced Intelligent Networks (Robert Pinheiro and Simon Tsang).

4.1 History of the Intelligent Network (IN/AIN).

4.2 Intelligent Network Architecture.

4.3 Components of IN Service Delivery.

4.4 Intelligent Network Services.

4.5 Assessment of Intelligent Networks.

4.6 Future of Intelligent Networks.

5. Basic Internet Technology in Support of Communication Services (Marcus Brunner).

5.1 Introduction.

5.2 Transport Service Quality in the Internet.

5.3 Internet Telephony.

5.4 Directory-Enabled Networks (DEN).

5.5 Open Services Gateway Initiative.

5.6 Active Networks.

5.7 Conclusion.

6. Wireless Technology (James M. Irvine).

6.1 Introduction.

6.2 Cellular Systems.

6.3 Private Mobile Radio.

6.4 Broadcast.

6.5 Local wireless.

6.6 The Future of Wireless.

PART II: BUILDING AND ANALYZING SERVICES.

7. Service Management and Quality of Service (Pierre C. Johnson).

7.1 Overview.

7.2 What is Service Management?

7.3 Service Level Agreements.

7.4 Quality of Service.

7.5 Further Reading.

8. Securing Communication Systems (Erich S. Morisse).

8.1 Introduction.

8.2 Cryptosystems.

8.3 Authentication.

8.4 Access Control.

8.5 Security in Practice – Digital Cash.

8.6 Future.

8.7 Further Reading.

9. Service Creation (Munir Cochinwala, Chris Lott, Hyong Sop Shim and John R. Wullert II).

9.1 Overview.

9.2 Introduction.

9.3 Services in the Public Switched Telephone Network.

9.4 Internet-Based Data and Communication Services.

9.5 Integrated Services.

9.6 Service Introduction.

9.7 Conclusion.

9.10 Further Reading.

10. Service Architectures (Gordan S. Blair and Geoff Coulson).

10.1 Introduction and Motivation.

10.2 Early Developments.

10.3 Current Architectures.

10.4 Applying the Technologies.

10.5 Meeting Future Challenges.

10.6 Conclusion.

11. Service Capability APIs (John-Luc Bakker and Farooq Anjum).

11.1 Introduction.

11.2 Telecommunications Information Network Architecture.

11.3 Java APIs for The Integrated Network.

11.4 The Parlay APIs.

11.5 X Web Services.

11.6 Conclusion.

11.7 Further Reading.

12. Formal Methods for Services (Kenneth J. Turner).

12.1 What is a Formal Method?

12.2 Classification of Formal Methods.

12.3 Formal Methods for Communications Services.

12.4 Formal Methods for Telecommunications Services.

12.5 Evaluation of Formal Methods for Services.

13. Feature Interaction: Old Hat or Deadly New Manace (Evan H. Magill)?

13.1 Overview.

13.2 Introduction.

13.3 Feature Interaction in POTS.

13.4 Response of the Communications Community.

13.5 Regulatory Changes.

13.6 Technological Changes.

13.7 Future Services, Old Interactions.

13.8 Future Services, Future Interactions.

13.9 Future Services, More Complex Interactions.

13.10 New Challenges, New Opportunities.

13.11 Summary.

PART III: THE FUTURE OF SERVICES.

14. Advances in Services (James T. Smith).

14.1 Introduction.

14.2 Service Convergence.

14.3 Context: Putting Communications in Perspective.

14.4 Context: The next Killer Service Feature.

14.5 Sharing Service Context.

14.6 SIP: The Oil that makes Context Flow.

14.7 Discovering Service Context.

14.8 The New Converged Home Network.

14.9 Conclusion.

15. Evolving Service Technology (Peter Martin and Stephen Corley).

15.1 Introduction.

15.2 Software Agents.

15.3 Constraints Satisfaction.

15.4 Artificial Neural Networks.

15.5 Genetic Programming for Service Creation.

15.6 Conclusions.

15.7 Further Reading.

16. Prospects (David J. Marples, Kenneth J. Turner and Evan H. Magill).

16.1 Introduction.

16.2 Technical Challenges.

16.3 Service Environments.

16.4 Market Changes.

16.5 Commercial Changes.

16.6 And Finally…

Appendix 1. Abbreviations.

Appendix 2. Glossary.

Appendix 3. Websites.

Bibliography.

Index.