This must-have reference on packet switching and signaling offers you an in-depth understanding of the core packet switching architectures, signaling flows, and packet formats, as well as service delivery. It describes in detail the design principles for packet telephone switches and emphasizes the benefits of a distributed architecture and separating bearer and control. Successful carrier-grade deployments of packet telephony entail much more than simply stuffing voice samples into IP packets or ATM cells. They involve deploying multiple protocols, and this book gives you a solid understanding of all protocols used and a clear sense of where individual protocols fit in a packet-based system. It enables you to understand which protocols are complementary and which compete with one another, and it lets you evaluate the merits of competing protocols. You find extensive coverage of critical technologies, including Megaco, MGCP, SIP and SDP. Sections on soft switching, protocol internetworking, and quality of service (QoS) round out this complete reference for meeting the challenges of migrating to Voice over IP.
Introduction - In the Beginning There Was Voice. Motivation: What is the Case for Packet Telephony. Switch Design. Motive and Opportunity for Carriers. What Are Waiting For? Motivation for this Book. ; Essentials of Next-Generation Switching - Another Look at the Backhaul Example. Ability to Enter New Markets. Switch Components and Terminology. A Useful Abstraction. Defining the Fabric.; Motivation for Packet Telephony Revisited - Separation of Bearer and Control. Packet Fabrics.; Signaling and Services - The Control Plane. What is A Service? Where Do Services Live and What Do They Entail? Limitations of Legacy Networks.; Protocols - What is a Protocol Stack? The OSI Reference Model. Internet Protocol. Signaling System 7. ; A Closer Look at the Internet Protocol - The IPv4 Header. The IPv6 Header. Managing Bindings between Pieces of Information in IP Networks. Routing. ; The Bearer Plane - Voice Encoding. Bearer Internetworking with Legacy Networks: Media Gateways. Voice over IP. Traditional Telco Routing and Traffic Engineering.; The Control and Service Planes - Control of Legacy Networks. Internetworking with Circuit-Switched Networks. Signaling between Media Gateways and Their Controllers. Signaling between Two Distributed Switches. The H.323 Protocol Suite. SIP. Blurring the Distinction between Bearer, Control, and Service Planes.; Services - SS7 Service Architectures: Intelligent Network. A Curious Hybrid: SPIRITS. Short Message Service. Push to Talk. ; Properties of Legacy Telephone networks - Security. Scalability. Survivability and Reliability. Billing Functionality. Features of Circuit Switches.; Conclusion.; Appendices - Frame Relay and X. 25. Asynchronous Transfer Mode. Ethernet.
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Matthew Stafford
Matthew Stafford is a principal member of the technical staff at Cingular Wireless in Austin, Texas. He holds two Ph.D. degrees, one in operations research from the University of Texas and another in mathematics from Northwestern University.