Sonus plays IP 'match-maker' with IPX, IPv6 solutions

Sonus Networks recently rolled out a pair of solutions for helping service providers evolve their increasingly IP-based networks: an IP Packet Exchange (IPX) for spots in fixed and mobile networks where TDM and IP traffic meet, and an IPv4-to-IPv6 solution for helping operators manage that important transition.

Both solutions are built on top of core Sonus platforms and capabilities, including its NBS session border controllers (SBCs), network analytics tools and routing and policy servers. SBCs and related IP platforms are becoming jack-of-all-trades in carrier networks, helping to deliver core signaling and media transcoding need while also enabling key applications like industry standard IPX.

“The world is going to IP, but it’s not all IP yet and it will be a long time if ever before it’s going to be all IP,” said Ali Kafel, director of product marketing and business development at Sonus. “Service providers need to continue to connect legacy networks with new ones.”

There are a variety of points in the network where those connections and that internetworking need to happen. One key requirement for carriers is to support IPv4 and IPv6 simultaneously on their networks, with often already-deployed SBCs a great place to help manage that interoperability. “If you’re going to deploy an SBC for security and other functions, why not deploy it for IPv4 to IPv6 internetworking as well,” said Kafel.

Sonus has been ramping up its IPv6 strategy for some time, crucial as new IPv4 addresses run out yet are likely to continue to exist in carrier networks for years, if not decades. The vendor previously added native IPv4 and IPv6 native support in its NBS5200 and NBS9000 SBCs, as well as its GSX9000 Softswitch and PSX Centralized Routing and Policy Server. The new software, released this week, adds to those capabilities by providing full IPv4-to-IPv6 internetworking across that portfolio, said Kafel. “This is a network enhancement without requiring [a carrier’s enterprise customers] to do anything on their side,” he said.

The Sonus solution supports three approaches to IP interoperability: dual-stack IPv4 and IPv6 support, which lets the two protocols run side-by-side in Sonus-equipped networks; SBC interworking, in which Sonus SBCs can connect to peers and mediate IP-to-IP interworking between different network elements; and parallel and simultaneous deployment, which supports IPv6 and IPv4 on the same hardware interfaces.

Sonus’ new IPX solution, meanwhile, manages IP interworking of a different sort, enabling industry standard TDM-to-IP exchanges at a variety of network points, including increasingly on mobile networks, said Mohan Palat, director of product marketing at Sonus. The IPX solution is based on Sonus SBCs for packet hand-off and security; its Network Analytics Suite for managing customer QOS; and its PSX server for policy-based network routing. In fixed networks, IPX helps with TDM-to-IP migration, while on mobile networks service-aware IPX services help enable roaming and other services on next generation 4G networks.

Sonus’ Palat stressed that carriers need more than just an SBC to deliver true IPX capabilities. “When you look at IPX, quality of service is one of the most important benefits,” he said. “If you don’t have network analytics and a centralized routing server, you won’t be able to provide that function in a robust way.”

And that’s not all. IPX solutions must also include native support for IMS and RCS services; Diameter-based charging functionality; and security capabilities to keep IP traffic safe and secure. Indeed, one of the biggest drivers of IPX is the need to keep IP traffic in a secure and managed carrier environment rather than using the open Internet to carry it between network endpoints.

“From a business standpoint, carriers are concerned about over-the-top services and providers,” Palat said. “To counter that, operators want to keep traffic within operator networks, in a controlled environment. When you do that [via IPX] you need certain capabilities – you need a charging model, you need quality of service, you need security.”