Enabling technology choices for application developers

2. Enabling technology choices for application developers Mike Donoghue, VP Sales Aculab

3. Enabling technology choices – agenda • Legacy solutions • Today’s choices • Host CPU-based media processing • Open source • Proprietary • DSP-based media processing • PCI, cPCI, PCIe • API choices • VXML, MSML • Proprietary • The best fit for your applications

4. Legacy solutions – hardware • Since 1996, most enabling technologies for VoIP were based on DSP platforms • Most with optional TDM interfaces • Mostly fixed functionality • DSPs were required to support complex transcoding capability • DSPs were required to meet scalability targets • DSP designs were required to ensure QoS • Evolved to SIP-based call control

5. Legacy solutions – software • The VoIP industry has never agreed on a programming standard • Vendors have traditionally offered proprietary APIs in support of their signalling and media processing solutions • High and low level interfaces • Differentiation • Offers differentiation but makes it difficult to evolve applications and use best-of-breed technologies from other vendors

6. Legacy solutions – platforms/OS • Most legacy VoIP solutions are based on standard platforms • PCI • cPCI • Intel, AMD and Sun processors • Windows, Linux, SPARC Solaris

7. Today’s solutions • With the increasing power of the host CPU, increasingly inexpensive bandwidth, together with more efficient codecs, application developers have more enabling technology choices than ever before • The key is to choose the solution that fits the application • How do you manage system growth? • How do you allow for feature enhancements? • FMC, video, SIP, etc.

8. Today’s solutions – host media processing (HMP) • An increasingly popular choice for VoIP enabling technology is media processing that utilizes the host CPU instead of specialized DSP cards; why? • Cost – $10s instead of $100s per channel • Scalability – easy granular expansion • Reliability – no single point of failure • Open standards-based • Moore’s law provides a bright future

9. Today’s solutions – host media processing (HMP) • Developers can now choose between open source and proprietary host media processing • Open source solutions carry no licensing costs • Open source solutions benefit from the improvements of a diverse community of developers • Open source solutions do not always offer timely support • Open source solutions do not allow for unique, defensible features • Improvements to the open source media processing become available to the entire user community

10. Today’s solutions – host media processing (HMP) • Proprietary HMP solutions are fully supported by the enabling technology vendor • Vendors may offer features that allow application developers to differentiate their solutions • Proprietary HMP solutions are more expensive than open source solutions • Commercial opportunities are a guide for the feature roadmap

11. Today’s choices – DSP resource boards • DSP resource boards remain a solid choice for applications with complex requirements including • Dynamic feature mix • Messaging, conferencing, fax, advanced call progress detection • High density in a small footprint • The latest DSP-based media processing cards offer 1000s of resources in a single server • Ideal for edge devices and all-in-one solutions • TDM/IP functionality in one expansion slot

12. Today’s choices – DSP resource cards • Today’s DSP resource cards support application requirements offering a wide set of standard backplane designs • PCI • cPCI • PCIe • ATCA

13. Today’s choices – API choices • Up until recently, VoIP application developers had no choice but to work with a vendor’s proprietary API • This helped early developers build highly effective solutions • Locked in the particular vendor • It was very difficult, if not impossible, to reuse code when changing enabling technology vendors • This led many application developers to build a vendor independent abstraction layer

14. Today’s solutions – API choices • The development and acceptance of standard programming interfaces is unprecedented in the industry • Driven by the application developer’s reluctance to be tied to one vendor • Driven by users’ insistence on standards • VXML • MSML • Others

15. Today’s solutions – API choices • However, proprietary APIs still have their advantages • The ability to utilize the vendor’s competitive differentiation • The ability to influence the timing of new features by exerting commercial pressure • Vendors generally do a better job supporting their own products

16. Today’s choices • The good news is that you can have it all! • Choose either HMP or DSP technology, with similar capabilities and programming interfaces, for your solutions • You choose the right solution for your application • Your applications do not have to change • Choose enabling technology that supports both standards-based and proprietary APIs • MSML e.g., for conferencing • VXML e.g., for IVR • MRCP e.g., for speech recognition • Proprietary for fax, video, and advanced call progress

17. The best choices are the ones that work for you! Recording Playback Transcoding Conferencing Media processing Echo cancellation Live speaker detection Voice morphing DTMF handling Pulse/rotary detection Special tones detection CNG VAD AGC Signalling and control SIP/SDP H.323 RTCP MRCP SNMP Jitter buffer PLC RTP Secure RTP Packet forking Media layer G.711(I & II) G.726 G.728 G.729AB G.723.1A Voice codecs GSM-FR AMR-NB MS-GSM EVRC GSM-EFR IMA ADPCM OKI ADPCM iLBC SMV T.30 relay T.37 T.38 T.30 T.38 gateway Fax

18. Distributed architecture Software, distributed amongst several servers, can act as one solution Contact centre solution

19. Enabling technology directions • IP video solutions • Mobile video solutions • Video gateways • Transcoding • Transizing • High availability, high service continuity • Better user experience and high quality voice Media Processing • Wide band codecs • IMS • 3G • Secure RTP • SIPS • TLS

20. Enabling technology choices • Developers have more, and better, enabling technology choices than ever before • Developers’ and users’ insistence on standards has resulted in more standards than ever before • Find the best fit for your applications and target customer base • IT Expo is the perfect place to find today’s solutions

21. Thank you!Mike Donoghuemichael.donoghue@aculab.comSee us on booth 1217