IP Media Servers In A Next Generation Network (NGN)

IP Media Servers In A Next–Generation Network (NGN)

Print Media Solution Sheet

Description

IP media servers provide a common, shared IP media processing resource for many real-time voice, video, fax, and speech applications residing on softswitch or application server elements in a next-generation VoIP network.

Next–generation networks, however, are architected quite differently. In particular, the telephone exchange is decomposed into a number of components separated by standardized protocols, and each of these components can be supplied by a different vendor. The main components of an NGN architecture, although sometimes called different names by the various standards bodies, are the softswitch (equivalent to call control), application sever (features and applications), media server (service circuits), and media gateway (line and trunk cards).

IP Media Servers In A Next Generation Network

The four key elements of the NGN architecture can be mapped into four quadrants isolating signaling (the signaling gateway) and control (the application server) from transport and media features (the media gateway and media server). Likewise, this architecture also separates gateway functions between the legacy PSTN world and the new IP packet world (the signaling and media gateways) from pure IP devices (the application and media servers).

A media server is a slave media processing device that is connected to an IP network and controlled by a call agent of some kind, for example, a softswitch or application server. The media server performs media processing manipulations on RTP streams such as announcements, IVR, recording and playback, bridging/mixing, automatic speech recognition (ASR), text to speech (TTS), fax handling, and video processing (for example, playing, recording, and conferencing). A media server does not contain any application logic and is therefore a multipurpose component reusable for all media processing tasks in the network.

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