Real-time video is what distinguishes 3G from 2.5G. Most 3G services are also supported on 2G and 2.5G networks, but with different performance and quality characteristics. Video telephony is new and has obvious benefits that are easily understood by existing mobile users for an enhanced communication experience.

Video between mobiles and the company LAN shows potential for improving efficiency for business users with easy-to-use video conferences and “show-me” style communications (ideal for central support of remote operations).

Ericsson’s Video Gateway System provides a complete solution for these scenarios with full end-to-end support for video connections (telephony and content streaming) between 3G phones, the Internet and private networks.

In today’s WCDMA networks, video calls are circuit switched in the radio network, using tunneling to ensure quality during transmission. This means that a 64Kbps ISDN channel is allocated for the call.

The Internet however uses packet-switched connections. PC clients for live video and multimedia use Internet standards, such as SIP or H323. Ericsson’s Video Gateway System handles this conversion between circuit and packet-switched connections. It enables video sessions between 3G mobile handsets supporting 3G, 324M and Internet-connected IP clients such as Microsoft NetMeeting or Messenger.

Ericsson’s Video Gateway System is much more than just a gateway to other networks. It is a complete solution that handles the end-to-end connection from the mobile to both the Internet and private networks.

Anna Kristoffersson from product development and Jon Gamble at the Experience Center in Kista, Sweden, say Ericsson is the only supplier to offer a complete end-to-end solution that can be scaled up to handle the expected growth in 3G traffic. There is no other total video telephony system commercially available on the market.

Ericsson’s Video Gateway Solution is connected through a Media Gateway to the mobile network’s switch (MSC) and through a Border Agent to other IP networks.

The Media Gateway handles protocol conversion and a Signaling Gateway handles the signaling.

A Call Server Node, consisting of a Site Keeper, a Service Agent and a User Agent, manages user data and subscriptions of supplementary services such as pre-paid cards.

Fixed-network users who have a subscription with the mobile operator log in to a Terminal Agent. The mobile operator does not administer users belonging to another Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) or Internet Service Provider (ISP). This type of user accesses the system via the Border Agent and does not need to be registered in the Video Gateway System.

The system is based on standards and has open interfaces to external systems for billing, provisioning, management and Authentication, Authorization Accounting (AAA).

The Video Gateway has been sold to a number of operators. Hutchison has already installed the system in a number of countries and has gone live in Italy, leading to a new chapter in the digital revolution

Kristoffersson says: "The interest in this system is considerable, and many operators have said that this functionality is essential when they launch 3G in order to achieve a critical mass of consumers who can communicate via video telephony."

This is extremely important when 3G services are launched, because the number of 3G phones that have been sold is limited. Without Ericsson’s Video Gateway System, video telephony would be limited to friends and colleagues who also have a 3G phone. Kristoffersson says the system received considerable attention when it was demonstrated earlier this year at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes.

It is also possible to integrate the Video Gateway with other systems, to support services such as video mail (where the caller can leave a video message if the person they are calling is not available), video conferencing and live streamed content from the Internet.

Lars Cederquist