Written by: Peter Granström, Sean Olson and Mark Peck
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In this article, the authors describe the session initiation protocol (SIP), which is the new standard for establishing multiparty, multimedia communication in IP-based networks, and some of the implications that its adoption carries for the future of communications. SIP-based solutions are shown to highlight Ericsson’s competitive position in this new technology space.
SIP has been called the integrated services user part (ISUP) of next-generation networks. Certainly, the two protocols share many characteristics, but whereas ISUP embodies the evolution of common-channel signaling over the span of many years in the history of telephony, SIP has the potential to be a groundbreaking, disruptive force for change. We foresee that the adoption of SIP will usher in a new era of multimedia communications that leverage the strengths of Internet technologies to provide opportunities for innovation.
The authors discuss the basic concepts behind SIP, including some of the technologies on which it builds. This leads into a discussion of the features and capabilities in the protocol and its defined behavior, which enables operators to deliver rich functional content to their users.
The authors also consider the business drivers behind the adoption of SIP-based networks. These business drivers gave rise to the specification and the development of the IP Multimedia System (IMS), which is surveyed briefly in this article.
The authors conclude the article with an examination of a SIP server that can function as the basis for several SIP-based products in the near future. Although the product is initially targeted for the IMS, other products that use this server as a base can be positioned for a wide array of offerings and operating scenarios in the core networks of Ericsson’s key operator customers. Ericsson is poised to capitalize on the revolution that SIP heralds, which offers an exciting promise for the communication networks of the future.
[First published in Ericsson Review no. 01, 2002]
