E1-E2 CFA IP Multimedia Subsystem

8 IP MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM

8.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

 Architecture of IMS
 Different working elements of IMS Core
 IMS interfaces
 Application Servers functionality.

8.2 INTRODUCTION
Many successful services are available today on the Internet, including e-mail, web
browsing, chat, and audio and video downloading/streaming, Internet telephony and
Multimedia Communications Services. Both fixed and mobile operators face problem of
subscriber churn, and the issue is getting worse as new service providers offers cheap, or
free, calls over the Internet that continue to arrive on the scene and gain market share. One
key way to attract and retain subscribers is to offer differentiation in areas like
personalization, service bundling, co-branding, business-to-business relations, tariffs,
single sign-on and quality of service.

 Another key way to retain subscribers is to build on and strengthen the customer
relationship so that subscribers are far more reluctant to switch suppliers, even if
switching means lower call charges in the short term.
In this case, they will have to rapidly push IMS before proprietary solutions become
largely adopted. IMS is the only standardized solution in the telecommunications world.

8.3 WHAT IS IMS ?

 IMS – IP Multimedia Subsystem standardized by the telecommunications world
is a new architecture based on new concepts, new technologies, new partners and
ecosystem.

 IMS provides real-time multimedia sessions (voice session, video session ,

conference session, etc) and non real-time multimedia sessions (Push to talk,
Presence, instant messaging) over an all-IP network.

 IMS targets convergence of services supplied indifferently by different types of

networks : fixed, mobile, Internet. IMS is also called Multimedia NGN (Next
Generation Network).

 IMS deployment is a strategic decision, not a network technology decision. It can

be taken either by a traditional service provider in the context of repositioning its

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business on IP services or by any entity that would decide to start an activity in

IP services even without owning an access or transport network.

 IMS offers standardized service enablers and network interfaces that will make
interoperability of new MM services easier to achieve.

 IMS is a tool for operators that enable the creation and delivery of PS based
person-to-person MM services in a way that protects the operator business model
and generates new revenue.

 Service scalability is solved by the IMS architecture. It offers support to compose

services and expand existing services.

 The core of IMS is combining the best of two worlds datacom industry &
telecom industry.

8.4 WHY IMS?

Operator perspective End-user perspective General

Quality Of Service New, exciting services and Faster time to market with
enhancements of existing new services
services
Service Integration Same services available Grow and protect subscriber
regardless of terminal and base, increase ARPU
access type
Keeps charging relation Ease of use & Security Controlling CAPEX and
with user OPEX

Table 4. Operator and End user Perspective

8.5 IMS STANDARDIZATION

The IMS was initially standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Projects (3GPP) as
part of its Release 5 specifications & is practically speaking targeted at supporting non –
real time services .The second release is 3GPP Release 6 & is targeted at supporting real
time services .3GPP release added inter-working with WLAN.

With the increasing penetration of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) and
emerging Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WiMax) as access network
technologies, the IMS scope is now extended within the ongoing Release 7
standardization for any IP access network, including fixed access networks, i.e. DSL.

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8.6 IMS ARCHITECTURE AS DEFINED BY 3 GPP

The IMS provides all the network entities and procedures to support real-time voice
and multimedia IP applications. It uses SIP to support signaling and session control for
real-time services. Fig. 1 illustrates the IMS functional architecture. The main functional
entity in an IMS is the Call State Control Function (CSCF). A CSCF is a SIP server.
Depending on the specific tasks performed by a CSCF, CSCFs can be divided into three
different types.

 Serving CSCF (S-CSCF).

 Proxy CSCF (P-CSCF).
 Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF).

Figure 49: 3GPP IP multimedia subsystems

8.6.1 S-CSCF (Serving Call State Control Function)

An S-CSCF provides session control services for a user. It maintains session states for a
registered user‘s on-going sessions and performs the following main tasks.

o Registration: An S-CSCF can act as a SIP Registrar to accept users‘ SIP

registration requests and make users‘ registration and location information
available to location servers such as the HSS (Home Subscriber Server).
o Session Control: An S-CSCF can perform SIP session control functions for a
registered user. Relay SIP requests and responses between calling and called

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parties.
o Proxy Server: An S-CSCF may act as a SIP Proxy Server that relays SIP
messages between users and other CSCFs or SIP servers.

o Interactions with Application Servers: An S-CSCF acts as the interface to

application servers and other IP or legacy service platforms.
o Other functions: An S-CSCF performs a range of other functions not mentioned
above. For example, it provides service-related event notifications to users and
generates Call Detail Records (CDRs) neededfor accounting and billing

8.6.2 P-CSCF
A P-CSCF is a mobile‘s first contact point inside a local (or visited) IMS. It acts as a SIP
Proxy Server. In other words, the P-CSCF accepts SIP requests from the mobiles and then
either serves these requests internally or forwards them to other servers. The P-CSCF
includes a Policy Control Function (PCF) that controls the policy regarding

how bearers in the packet-switched network should be used. The P-CSCF performs the
following specific functions:

o Forward SIP REGISTER request from a mobile to the mobile‘s home network.
If an I-CSCF is used in the mobile‘s home network, the P-CSCF will forward the
SIP REGISTER request to the I-CSCF. Otherwise, the P- CSCF will forward the
SIP REGISTER request to an S-CSCF in the mobile‘s home network. The P-
CSCF determines where a SIP REGISTER request should be forwarded based
on the home domain name in the SIP REGISTER Request received from the
mobile.
o Forward other SIP messages from a mobile to a SIP server (e.g. the mobile‘s S-
CSCF in the mobile‘s home network). The P-CSCF determines to which SIP
server the messages should be forwarded based on the result of the SIP
registration process.
o Forward SIP messages from the network to a mobile.
o Compression and decompression of SIP messages. Compression isrequired to
minimize the air-interface time.
o Perform necessary modifications to the SIP requests before forwarding them
to other network entities.
o Maintain a security association with the mobile.
o Detect emergency session.
o Create CDRs.

8.6.3 I-CSCF
An I-CSCF is an optional function that can be used to hide an operator networks internal
structure from an external network when an I-CSCF is used. It serves as a central contact
point within an operator‘s network for all sessions destined to a subscriber of that network
or a roaming user currently visiting that network. Its main function is to select an S-CSCF

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for a user‘s session, route SIP requests to the selected S-CSCF. The I-CSCF selects an S-
CSCF based primarily on the following information:

 Capabilities required by the user.

 Capabilities and availability of the S-CSCF and
 Topological information, such as the location of an S-CSCF and the location of
the users P-CSCFs if they are in the same operators network as the S-CSCF.

8.6.4 The Databases: (HSS And SLF)

HSS (Home Subs Server):

 It is just like HLR & Authentication Centre (AuC).

 All the database of users are stored in HSS ie, authentication data , service profile
,charging etc will be in HSS.
 No VLR concept in IMS.
 HSS is mandatory. Whereas SLF is optional.
 HSS is master user database that supports IMS N/W entities that actually handle
call.
 It contain subscriber profile , perform authentication & authorisation of the user &
can provide information about subscriber location & IP information.

8.6.5 SLF ( Subs Location Function)

•Whenever n/w size is so big that if one HSS cannot store data then SLF is required
,this is an addl. Component.
•Suppose S-CSCF has done some authorization then it has to contact HSS for
downloading, authentication etc.
–If one HSS is there then no ambiguity.
–But if more than one HSS then SLF will check which HSS.
•Both HSS & SLF communicate through Diameter protocol.
•This diameter is called as AAA protocol.
•SLF will have -(User-ID/ HSS-ID ).

Both the HSS and the SLF implement the Diameter protocol (RFC 3588) with an IMS-
specific Diameter application.

The Media Gateway Control Function (MGCF) and the IM Media Gateway (IM-MGW)
are responsible for signaling and media inter-working, respectively, between the PS
domain and circuit-switched networks (e.g. PSTN).

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8.6.6 Multimedia Resource Function Processor (MRFP) –

Provides Resources To Be Controlled By The MRFC
•Sources media streams (for multimedia announcements)
•Processes media streams (e.g. audio transcoding, media analysis)
•Tones and announcements –Applied on receipt of ACK, self-timed with BYE or
stopped on BYE
•Support DTMF within the bearer path.

8.6.7 The Multimedia Resource Function Controller (MRFC)

The Multimedia Resource Function Controller (MRFC) interprets signaling information
from an S-CSCF or a SIP-based Application Server and controls the media streams
resources in the MRFP accordingly.

8.6.8 The Breakout Gateway Control Function (BGCF)

The Breakout Gateway Control Function (BGCF) selects to which PSTN network a
session should be forwarded. IT will then be responsible for forwarding the session
signaling to the appropriate MGCF and BGCF in the destination PSTN network.

8.7 REFERENCE INTERFACES:

The main interface in the IMS can be grouped into the following categories:-
Interface for SIP-based signaling and service control:

These include interfaces Mg, Mi, Mj, Mk, Mr, and Mw, which all use SIP as
the signalingprotocol.

o Interface Mg allows CSCF to interact with MGCF.

o Interface Mi allows a CSCF to forward session signaling to a BGCF so that
the session can be forwarded to PSTN networks.
o Interface Mj allows a BGCF to forward a session signaling to a selected
MGCF that will carry the session to the PSTN.
o Interface Mk allows a BGCF to forward session signaling to another
BGCF.
o Interface Mr allows an S-CSCF to interact with an MRFC.
o Interface Mw allows an I-CSCF to direct mobile- terminated session toan S-
CSCF.
o Interface for controlling media gateways: These include interfaces Mc & Mp,

o Interface Mc allows a signaling gateway to control media gateway. For

example, it is used between an MGCF and an IM-MGW, between an MSC

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Server and a CS-MGW, or between a GMSC Server and a CS- MGW.

o Interface Mp, allows an MRFC to control media stream resources provided by
an MRFP. Signaling over interfaces Mc and Mp uses the
o H.248 /MegaCo Protocol.

Interfaces with the Information Servers: Interfaces Cx between the CSCF and
the HSS allows the CSCF to retrieve from the HSS mobility and
routing information regarding a mobile user so that the CSCF can
determine how to process a user‘s sessions. Signaling over Cx
interface uses the Diameter Protocol.

Interface with external networks: These include interfaces Mb, Mm, and Co.

 Interface Mb, is the standard IP routing and transport

interface with external IP networks. The interface Mb may
be identical to the Gi interface.
 Interface Mm is a standard IP-based signaling interface that
handles signaling inter-working between the IMS and
external IP networks.
 Interface Go allows a PCF to apply policy control over the
bearer usage in the PS domain.

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8.8 SERVICE ARCHITECTURE

Figure 50: 3GPP Service Architecture

With both service architectures, the initial SIP request from a mobile travels from the
originating mobile to the visited P-CSCF first, which then forwards the request to the I-
CSCF (if used) in the originating mobiles home network. This I-CSCF selects an S-
CSCF in the home network for this user session and forwards the SIP request to session
will travel directly between the visited P-CSCF and the S-CSCF in the mobiles home
network.

The S-CSCF is responsible for interfacing with internal and external service
platforms as illustrated in Fig. 3. There are three types of standardized platforms:

(1) SIP application server

(2) Open Service Access (OSA) Service Capability Server (SCS) and
(3) IP Multimedia Service Switching Function (IM-SSF).

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OSA

Application
Servers
MA
P CAMEL
OSA HS Service
API S Environment
Sh Sh SI
CA
P
IM-SSF
OSA SIP Cx
SCS (for Interface
Application withLegacy
(for Providing Servers Service
Open Access Platform)
ISC
to 3rd Party ISC
Service ISC
Providers)
Figure 1: S
IP -
Multimedia C
Subsystems S
C
F
Figure 51: Interactions between S-CSCF and service platforms

The services offered by them are value-added services (VAS or operator-specific

services. The S-CSCF uses the same interface, IMS Service Control (ISC) interface, to
interface with all service platforms. The signaling protocol over the ISC interface is SIP.
The OSA SCS and IM-SSF by themselves are not application servers. Instead, they are
gateways to other service environments. As depicted in Fig. 3, the OSA SCS and IM-
SSF interface to the OSA application server and CAMEL Service Environment
(CSE),respectively. From the perspective of the S-CSCF, however, they all exhibit the
same ISC interface behavior. The services are briefly described:

8.8.1 SIP Application Server:

In addition to session control, a SIP server can also provide various value-added
services. A lightweight SIP-based server enables the CSCF to utilize the SIP-based
services and interact with the ISP application servers without additional components.

8.8.2 Camel Service Environment (CSE):

The CSE provides legacy Intelligent Network (IN) services. It allows operators
leverage existing infrastructure for IMS services. As specified earlier, the CSCF interacts

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with CSE through IM-SSF. The IM-SSF hosts the CAMEL features and interfaces with
CSE by CAP (CAMEL Application Part).

8.8.3 OSA Application Server:

Applications may be developed by a third party that is not the owner of the network
infrastructure. The OSA application server framework provides a standardized way for a
third party to secure access to the IMS. The OSA reference architecture defines an OSA
Application Server as the service execution environment for third-party applications. The
OSA application server then interfaces with the CSCF through the OSA SCS by OSA
API (Application Programming Interface).

Figure 52: Simplified 3GPP IMS Architecture

8.9 CONCLUSION
The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) seems to be the technology that will prevail
in Next Generation Networks (NGNs) and its main goal to make convergence between
any IP networks and a vertical handoff may happening depend on the user requirements
(services, QoS..etc). In this chapter it was presented an IMS based interworking
architecture for NGN networking through which it prevail that how any two user from
any two different IP based network can be involved in a session under the umbrella of
IMS management. By presenting a complete signaling flow for concerning the
authorization, registration, session set up and vertical handoff processes between two
networks.

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