Verizon technology lab in Waltham and several other labs in North America, Asia and Europe are in the process of testing a new system which enables incompatible services and networks to function in tandem. The new system will bring about a convergence of network, Web and user devices.

 

Engineers and equipment manufacturers want to know the results of this testing process, called the IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert) (IMS).

 

“IMS is more than a platform; it is a system that will enable the true convergence of services, using some very interesting blends of network and Internet functions,” said Mark Wegleitner, Verizon senior vice president of technology.

 

The new system will enable all content and features encompassing contact lists, voice messaging, photo files and e-mails to be universally available to all equipments and on any network a user is connected to. This is a simple application of the new system.

 

On a complex level, it allows Internet-based geo-mapping to be combined with any service in another realm. It will allow a user with a handheld device to transmit details regarding his location to another person along with a photo taken from the same device instantly. Several such combinations are possible, Wegleitner said.

 

The testing event is known as the Biennial Global Multiservice Interoperability testing event and is sponsored by the MultiService Forum (News - Alert). This forum is an industry group which promotes network and vendor focus on system and service compatibility. Some years back, the MultiService Forum’s Global Multiservice Interoperability (GMI) event promoted refining of the IMS with respect to the multisupplier and multicarrier world.

 

Verizon, the National Communication System (NCS) and the UNH-IOL in North America, British Telecom and Vodafone in the United Kingdom, and China Mobile (News - Alert) in Asia will help create a global ecosystem. Several standards will be tested for suitability to different service configurations, including those developed by the ATIS IPTV (News - Alert) Interoperability Forum (IIF).

 

ATIS’ IIF has been working on IPTV standards and industry implementation agreements. Generally, IPTV implementations do not employ IMS but it is expected to be highly beneficial. Non-IMS implementation will result in more infrastructure and will limit IP video potential for interaction with other services like limits on the usage of how users move video to mobile phones or play games on multiple platforms.

 

GMI participants will be testing IMS-capable IPTV products and IPTV service-management solutions which will analyze IPTV service quality. IMS functions will be scrutinized, including quality of service standards, inter-platform contact setup and tear-down processes. GMI will test other services too.

 

This year, 22 equipment companies will participate in the testing, including Acme Packet, Alcatel-Lucent, Codenomicon, Empirix (News - Alert), Fujitsu, Huawei, Ixia, JDSU, Motorola and others. After the completion of the testing event, the results will be published. Following this, standards for interoperability will be applied and services created and launched.