0. the carriers’ perspective for the migration
International Interconnect Forum for Services over IP (i3 Forum)
i3 Forum:
the carriers’ perspective for the migration
to an integrated IP-based platform
(Miami, Interconnect 2008 – Nov. 17th, 18th 2008)
Carlos Da Silva
France Telecom-Orange
Chairman WS “Service Requirements”, i3 Forum
Alessandro Forcina
Telecom Italia Sparkle
Chairman WS “Technical Issues”, i3 Forum
This presentation has been approved by i3 Forum

1. i3 Forum Achievements (released in June ‘08)
Agenda
i3 Forum Why / What / When / How
 i3 Forum Achievements (released in June ‘08)
Service perspective
Technical perspective
  i3 Forum Phase 2 Workplan

2. i3 Forum: members and mission
The Founders
i3 Forum was founded in Q by 8 majors International Carriers. Currently the i3forum accounts for 18 members.
All members together have an extensive fixed and mobile retail base totaling over 1Billion customers in over 80 countries.
Mission and Vision
Provide specifications, on the basis of existing standards, which can be usefully implemented from the wholesale international industry in order to have an efficient and effective migration of existing voice services towards IP technology and then contribute to enable new IP-based multimedia retail services.

3. i3 Forum: scope and objective
From the commercial perspective all the issues and topics relevant to the migration from TDM to IP of voice interconnections and to the implementation of business models for existing and new services (maintaining, or exceeding, the quality level and service features presently in operation).
From the technical perspective: all the issues and topics relevant to the definition of a network architecture (based on existing standards & recommendations) capable of supporting a number of interconnection models for the implementation of trusted, secure and QoS compliant international bilateral IP-based interconnection for the voice international services as well as other multimedia services
Out of scope matters
The definition of domestic interconnections (TDM/IP; IP/IP) is out of the scope
The definition of competitive specificities (SLAs, prices…) is each carrier's product responsibility and is out of scope of the forum
Accomplishing
A guide for selecting the proper standard among multiple alternative: how to put the pieces together.
The i3forum provide several options to address the different needs of different customers across the world.
A faster and more efficient migration to VoIP bypassing lengthy discussions on technical matters and commercial uncertainties.

4. i3 Forum: role and working method
Governance
Two levels of membership (Full and Associate)
Minimum level of attendance required to WorkStream and SteerCo meetings
Simple decision making / voting procedures
Position vs. other existing industry forums/bodies
i3 Forum is NOT a standardization body
I3 Forum makes use of existing standards (from e.g. ITU-T, ETSI TISPAN, IETF, 3GPP) for specifying how to achieve IP-based international interconnections
Open to liaise with other industry body (e. g. GSMA, IPIA)
Agenda and Timeline
Working on a phased approach with a pragmatic approach
Phase 1 achievements presented on June 2nd 2008 at ITW (Washington, DC, USA)
Phase 2 ongoing until June 2009.

5. i3 Forum: structure & organization
Steering Committee
as governing entity
WS “Service Requirements” taking care of all aspects relevant to and limited to the international interconnections domain.
Business models
Service features
Quality levels
WS “Technical Issues” taking care of specifications relevant to
Network architecture
Protocols / Interfaces
QoS parameters / levels
Testing / Interoperability
WS “Migration” taking care of specifications relevant to
Migration process from TDM to IP

6. i3 Forum Achievements (released in June ‘08)
Agenda
i3 Forum Why / What / When / How
 i3 Forum Achievements (released in June ‘08)
Service perspective
Technical perspective
  i3 Forum Phase 2 Workplan

7. i3 Forum deliverables (issued at ITW 2008)
A set of documents (V1.0):
“IP International Interconnections for Bilateral Voice Services”
“Technical Interconnection Model for Bilateral Voice Services”
“Interoperability Test Plan for Bilateral Voice Services”
“Interconnection Form for Bilateral Voice Services”
Allowing an efficient migration to IP-based interconnections
Not a "one fits all" solution, but a small set of different solutions to address all types of markets and networks needs.

8. Main Service Aspects Business Model Quality Level Service Features
based on existing models (VoIP is a technology not a business model)
new models could be worked out following market trends and needs.
Quality Level
Target: to guarantee, or to exceed, existing TDM QoS levels
Multiple interconnection models and technical elements imply multiple combinations of quality levels
Two quality levels worked out in the document
Top quality: e.g. based on private dedicated interconnection
Best effort Quality: e.g. based on an interconnection via Public Internet which intrinsically implies variable quality levels
Service Features
enhancing present set of capabilities
Voice call / IDD (fixed and mobile), Toll Free Numbers and Home Country, Voice ISDN
Fax calls, DTMF / Modem support
Ready for wide-band codecs, videocalls

9. i3 Forum Achievements (released in June ‘08)
Agenda
i3 Forum Why / What / When / How
 i3 Forum Achievements (released in June ‘08)
Service perspective
Technical perspective
  i3 Forum Phase 2 Workplan

10. General Reference Configuration
MEDIA
Transport Platform
TDM
VoIP
Carrier A
Carrier B
SIGNALLING
International Domain
Domestic Voice Platform
International Voice Platform
Areas Covered
Transport protocols/capabilities
Signalling protocols
Media codec schemes
QoS parameters
E.164-based addressing schemes
Security issues
Accounting and Charging issues
Testing process

11. Private Interconnection Configurations
Private-oriented interconnection: no unidentified third party is able to affect the bilateral VoIP service.
Transport Alternatives:
Alt. 1: Layer 1
Alt. 2: Layer 2
Alt. 3: Layer 3
This interconnection can replace existing TDM-based one and, as a result, guarantees the highest level of quality both in terms of voice call quality, service quality, network availability and network security.

12. Public Interconnection Configurations
Public-oriented interconnection: when the VoIP traffic is mixed with other IP traffic coming from the Public Internet, thus allowing the gateways’ interfaces to be reached from unidentified third parties which can affect the service performance and quality.
Transport Alternatives:
Alt. 1: Layer 1 / Layer 2 direct interconnection sharing data and VoIP traffic
Alt. 2: via Public Internet: non direct interconnection
PE router
PE router
Border
Functions
Carrier A
IP network
Carrier B
IP network
Alt. 1
Border
Functions
Internet Traffic +
Voice Traffic
Carrier A
IP network
Carrier B
PE router
Alt. 2
Border
Functions
These interconnections imply lower costs (resources shared with other services) and, in general, lower provisioning time

13. Transmission and IP issues
Transmission interfaces
Based on existing PDH, SDH, Ethernet and DWDM standards.
IP Routing
The dynamic BGP protocol or a static routing protocol can be used to exchange routes between carriers’ networks.
IP Addressing
The IPv4 addressing scheme shall be supported. The IPv6 addressing scheme is optional and can be agreed on a bilateral basis.
IP Packet Marking
For all above interconnection configurations, packet marking guideline is based on the DiffServ and IP Precedence TOS marking scheme.

14. Signalling and Media issues
Signalling Protocols: two protocols selected
SIP protocol ( IETF RCF 3261): a specific profile has been defined
ISUP enabled SIP profile (ITU-T Q Annex C Profile C)
Other protocols not considered suitable due to
obsolescence (H.323)
no sufficient standardisation and interworking with the TDM environment (e.g. SIP-T)
Media Functions: support of
Voice conference calls;
DTMF support;
Fax connections based on T.38 protocol;
Modem connections according to ITU-T Recc. V.150.1

15. Recommended Voice Codecs
Mandatory codecs: provided that at least one of the mandatory codecs is present in session description protocol (SDP) offer, and provided that at least one of the mandatory codecs is supported by the end sides, then codec negotiation is guaranteed to be successful.
Optional codecs: other codecs with a market relevance.
Mandatory Codecs
Optional Codecs
G.711 A-law, μ-law 64 kbit/s
G.722
G.729, G.729a, G.729b, G.729ab 8kbit/s
G.723.1
G.729.1
AMR
WB-AMR
Packetization time for mandatory codecs:
for G.711 A-law and μ-law packetization time will be 20 ms
for G.729, G.729 a, G.729b, G.729 ab packetization time will be 20 ms or 40 ms

16. Security and Addressing issues
Border Functions
It is strongly recommended that Border Functions be always implemented, achieving
topology hiding and NAT/NAPT translation
Encryption
For private-oriented interconnection the use of encryption is not recommended either for the signalling or for the media flows.
For public-oriented interconnection to be applied, via IPSec, only to signaling information
TLS encryption scheme is for further study.
Access Control
In order to protect carrier’s networks is recommended to implement IP packet access control based on Access Control Lists (ACL) and rate limiting
Numbering and Addressing Scheme based on ITU-T E.164 scheme
to be used in either in the Tel-URI or SIP-URI format

17. Quality, Accounting/Charging and Testing issues
Minimum set of QoS parameters
IP parameters: RTP jitter, round-trip RTP delay, RTP packet loss
Voice/media parameters: MOS / R-factor, Bit error rate (for modem), Fax quality
Network parameters: ALOC, ASR, NER, PGRD
Accounting and Charging capabilities
Call Data Record fields identified to support settlement and performance.
No recommendation on CDR format or collection method
CDR supports data attributes for TDM or VoIP types of calls and services.
Testing process
A Pre-Service Inter-Operability Test Plan has been defined in order to provide tools for testing a new transmission bilateral path ensuring signaling compatibility and providing expected quality and performance levels.

18. i3 Forum Achievements (released in June ‘08)
Agenda
i3 Forum Why / What / When / How
 i3 Forum Achievements (released in June ‘08)
Service perspective
Technical perspective
  i3 Forum Phase 2 Workplan

19. WS “Service Requirements” Phase 2 Workplan
Hubbing and new wholesale services Business opportunity
Extend/enhance bilateral recommendations to voice hubbing services and remaining TDM services to be migrated over IP.
New Routing and addressing concepts: business opportunity
Formalize the business and services opportunity to enable new routing and addressing solutions for international carriers.
Elaborate recommendations on solutions to implement these new "ways". This will not be a commercial endorsement or recommendation (out of i3forum scope).
Enabling New retail services interconnection over IP
Study and describe potential new services and associated business models for new international services over IP. Define the role of carriers and recommendations to enable these services internationally.
Results expected to be delivered at ITW 2009

20. WS “Technical Issues” Phase 2 Workplan
Enhancing Phase 1 deliverables
Signalling Functions: end-to-end information to be transported and SIP/SIP-I mapping in case of protocol interworking
Media Functions: possible addition of new codecs
QoS parameters: better definition of KPIs, measurement interfaces and target values
New Routing and addressing concepts: technical impact
Define external interfaces (for querying and for uploading info) between carriers (carriers provided with IP routing directories Enum-based)
Elaborate references architecture(s) for international service
Enabling New retail services interconnection over IP
On the basis of WS “Service Requirements” inputs, impact on specified Ip-based interconnection
Results expected to be delivered at ITW ’09

21. i3 Forum / Standardization Fora: win-win relationship
i3 Forum is NOT a standardization body
i3 Forum “collects and picks ups” existing standards for the benefit and development of international services
making use/exploiting the large activities carried out in the official standardization fora worldwide.
Should i3 Forum recognize the lack of specification or part of a specification, it is a Carriers’ interest to liaise with standardization fora for a immediate and complete alignment and update of the standards/specifications

22. Thank you!