IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) : the hype and the reality

3G:

IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) : the hype and the reality

Ovum Research & Consultancy
Market Study January 2005

Overview

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) concept has become a telecommunications technology bandwagon with huge momentum over the last few months. As the mobile telecoms industry has experienced with 3G and WAP, over-zealous and over-simplistic marketing by vendors (or even operators) can cause significant problems in investor and customer relationships. That’s why it’s vitally important to ‘reality check’ IMS: what is it, what is its potential, what might it realistically deliver and when?

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) gives operators the ability to construct an open IP based service infrastructure allowing an easy deployment of new rich multimedia communication services mixing telecom and data services. This compares to the 'mobile Next Generation Network' approach which just carries circuit services on top of the Internet Protocol (IP).

The Alcatel IMS solution is based on 3GPP specifications but is also able to provide common IMS services for mobile and other access networks including fixed. IMS will provide new services, such as Instant Messaging, Presence, Push to Talk over Cellular (PoC), that are not too demanding for the underlying radio access network. These services will attract customers and create new telecommunication needs without inducing the technical risks and costs of speech with stringent quality over packet radio.

Glossary of terms and abbreviations

3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

API Application Program Interface

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

DSL Digital Subscriber Line

EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution

GPRS General Packet Radio Services

GSM Global System for Mobile communications

HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

IETF Internet Engineering Task Force

IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem

IP Internet Protocol

ISC IMS Service Control

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network

MMS Multimedia Messaging Service

PoC Push to Talk over Cellular

PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

QoS Quality of Service

SDK Software Development Kit

SIP Session Initiation Protocol

SMS Short Message Service

SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol

WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

For full details, please email jeremyk@cmsinfo.com

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