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Opening the networks with Parlay/OSA: Standards and aspects behind the APIs

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Abstract

Recently there has been an enormous increase in efforts to open up telecommunication networks for application development. In opening up the network, new business models emerge where applications can be developed and provided by enterprises outside the traditional network operator domain. This new business model, combined with the fact that applications can be built using standardized API with off-the-shelf IT technology and tools, will result in new innovative applications that will hit the market with drastically reduced development cycles. This article provides an overview of the Parlay/OSA initiatives concerning the specification of a set of open standardized API. Furthermore, the article outlines some architectural aspects that are implied and implicitly contained in the Parlay/OSA specifications. These are critical for understanding the implications when allowing access to the network via Parlay/OSA. The article then outlines different types of applications that can be built using Parlay/OSA. Finally, we conclude with an analysis of the future of Parlay/OSA.

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As the popularity of cloud computing increases, cloud services can provide rich functionality by means of standardized APIs based on open technology. More and more web services offer APIs for application developers to use. APIs act as the intermediate between application developers and web services. The security of cloud computing depends largely on the management of APIs. Hence a strong API access control model is required. In this paper, we design and implement an API access control mechanism based on OAuth which simplifies its process flow under different application scenarios. We also show how access control mechanism can be realized as REST-style web services.
Conference Paper
With the opening up of telecom network resources to third parties, more and more value-added composite applications are developed and deployed. Security management for these composite applications becomes a practical and important issue. This paper presents a new security management mechanism based on hash chains. The new mechanism can provide real time authentication/authorization, real time execution process management, and real time charging validation for composite applications at the same time. In addition the new mechanism is very simple and efficient.
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This paper presents a development paradigm for Ethiopia, based on appropriate services and innovative use of mobile communications technologies via applications tailored for sectors like business, finance, healthcare, governance, education and infotainment. The experience of other developing countries like India and Kenya is cited so as to adapt those to the Ethiopian context. Notable application areas in the aforementioned sectors have been outlined. The ETC 'next generation network' is taken into consideration, with an emphasis on mobile service offering by the Telco itself and/or third party service providers. In addition, enabling technologies like mobile internet, location-based systems, open interfaces to large telecom networks, specifically service-oriented architecture (SOA), Parlay/JAIN and the like are discussed. The paper points out possible endeavors by such stakeholders like: telecom agencies and network operators; businesses, government and NGOs; entrepreneurs and innovators; technology companies and professionals; as well as researchers and academic institutions. ICT4D through mobile services and their role in bridging the digital divide by building a virtual 'network economy' is presented.
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Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) are transient networks formed dynamically by a collection of arbitrarily located wireless mobile nodes without relying on any existing network infrastructure or centralized administration. They are either stand alone or connected to a fixed infrastructure such as 3G. They are useful in situations such as natural disasters, and their use is gaining more and more momentum. This paper proposes a framework for service provisioning in stand-alone MANETs. It focuses on the invocation and execution phases of the service life cycle. The framework is based on SIP servlets and comprises a novel business model and an overlay network. The business model enables service invocation and execution. The overlay network is used for service execution and is based on a distributed SIP servlets engine. Validation aspects are also discussed.
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The IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) is the main component of 3G networks. It aims at the seamless provisioning of multimedia services to end-users. This paper presents a case study on multiparty multimedia game development in IMS. It first reviews the APIs and tools available for multiparty multimedia conferencing applications (e.g. games) development in IMS. It then presents the semantics of the game studied in the case and discusses the implementation architecture. The game is a revisited version of the well known capture the flag game. We have developed it with the Ericsson Service Development Studio (SDS) and implemented a prototype. The prototype is described along with the performance measurements. The lessons learned are presented.
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In this paper, we address feature interaction problem on user-level requirements. To detect service interaction runtime among added-value services in Service Logical Execution Environment with Opening Parlay APIs, we propose a method based on service intention consistency rules (SICR). Firstly, we address User Intention Violations of service interactions. Along with SICR method which is addressed in details, a series of algorithms for handling service interactions at runtime have been presented. At last, a conclusion and future work are addressed.
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There is much interest in the possibility of both wireless and wireline network operators earning new revenues by encouraging the independent application development community to create new, useful ways of exploiting network capabilities; historically such capabilities have been under the exclusive control of the network operator. There are various initiatives supporting this aim through the specifications and promotion of standard application programming interfaces (APIs) that can be used to access these network functions. This paper gives an overview of the main initiatives and examines factors such as developer engagement and policing, that will affect the successful deployment and use of network APIs but that are unrelated to their exact technical specification.
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With more and more demands for various network services, there are many kinds of value added services provided by different service providers. These services overlap with each other and can't operate for each other. Grid service is a new progress, which basic premise is service. Grid service itself is platform-independent and has good interface for communicating with each other. For gridifying teleco-services in next-generation networks, this paper proposes a ParlayGS model and implements ParlayGS prototype. ParlayGS bases on Parlay and open grid services architecture (OGSA), which implement open and integration criteria all in one. We carried a lot of experiments. Our efforts show that ParlayGS are valid and effective, which not only supports new complex services spanning heterogeneous networks, but also enables flexible and rapid ways for service interconnection with lower protocol conversion complexity.
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IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and Web services (WS) are service-oriented architectures developed separately for service delivery in the next generation telecommunications, and IT-centric computing environment, respectively. In order to harness services in both of these platforms and to facilitate combining and blending of services, we propose an integrated telecom and IT Service Delivery Platform for interworking between IMS and WS. We propose to use SIP-based Micro Service Orchestration and Web service bus to seamlessly integrate IMS, WS and the underlying services. We further present an example of managing multimedia services over an Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPON) infrastructure to illustrate that the proposed Service Delivery Platform has the benefits of supporting rapid development and deployment of new converged multimedia services.
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The presence of software and middleware technologies based on open APIs and protocols for advanced service provision in telecoms is the main subject of this article. Specifically, the role and the trade-off between open APIs and Protocols, i.e. OSA/Parlay APIs, JAIN APIs and SIP, in modern telecoms are addressed. We present a technical implementation analysis, based on a call-related telecom service, in order to set a common basis for the aforementioned technologies, since – either way – “voice” is still a common denominator for Fixed and Mobile Operators as well as for Internet Service Providers too. We summarize with a performance evaluation study regarding the implemented services.
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Abstract To increase the pace of development and deployment of new services and applications in telecommunication networks, new service architectures have been proposed. Parlay/OSA is one of the proposals that has aroused most attention. By providing network functionality via Application Program Interfaces (APIs), Parlay/OSA facilitates creation of telecommunication services and applications for independent software developers. With Parlay/OSA there is no longer any requirement for knowledge and technical skills of telecommunications when creating new applications. A Par-
Chapter
Definition of MultimediaMarket Drivers for MultimediaStandards for Multimedia ServicesMultimedia Services and Their Constituent Media ComponentsInterworking between Multimedia and Traditional VoiceTerminal Equipment and User InterfacesThe Future
Chapter
The Beginnings of Call ProcessingKey Attributes of Call Processing SystemsSwitch Architectures and Call ModelsSwitch-based ServicesCall Processing for Intelligent NetworksSoftswitchesFuture
Chapter
OverviewIntroductionServices in the Public Switched Telephone NetworkInternet-based Data and Communication ServicesIntegrated ServicesService IntroductionConclusion Further Reading
Chapter
What is a Formal Method?Classification of Formal Methods Formal Methods for Communications ServicesFormal Methods for Telecommunications ServicesEvaluation of Formal Methods for Services
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The telecommunications information networking architecture (TINA) has reached a mature state and TINA solutions are now appearing in the market. This article presents a brief sketch of TINA's past and the overall objectives as they are seen today. It further describes the current technological state of the architecture with its business model, the computing environment requirements, the session model, the networking resource model, and its impact on the network technology evolution. Eventually, the path TINA will take into the future is indicated by outlining the TINA Trial project and the workgroup activities; the driving forces during TINA's current phase.
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The key principle of intelligent networks is the separation of the software that controls basic switch functionality, such as setting up switch paths, from the software that controls call progression to allow more advanced features to be rapidly introduced. This paper describes the current standardisation activities, the IN conceptual model and the IN components. It also includes a summary of some of the services available on an intelligent network, and some future developments.
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This paper gives an introduction to the open service architecture (OSA) in 3GPP. It describes why such an interface was deemed necessary and how APIs were used in the description of that interface. Mobility was the original focus for the interface and the paper describes the functionality that was felt appropriate for 3GPP's Release 1999 specification. The paper goes on to show the architectural concepts behind this third party applications interface and describes the joint work that is being undertaken between ETSI, 3GPP and Parlay to ensure one consistent API across the piece.
Conference Paper
The implementation of new mobile communication technologiesdeveloped in the third generation partnership project (3GPP) willallow to access the Internet not only from a PC but also via mobilephones, palmtops and other devices. New applications will emerge,combining several basic services like voice telephony, e-mail,voice over IP, mobility or web-browsing, and thus wiping out theborders between the fixed telephone network, mobile radio and theInternet. Offering those value-added services will be the keyfactor for success of network and service providers in anincreasingly competitive market. In 3GPP's service framework theuse of the PARLAY APIs is proposed that allow applicationdevelopment by third parties in order to speed up service creationand deployment. 3GPP has also adopted SIP for session control ofmultimedia communications in an IP network. This paper proposes amapping of SIP functionality to PARLAY services and describes aprototype implementation using the SIP Servlet API. Furthermore anarchitecture of a Service Platform is presented that offers aframework for the creation, execution and management of carriergrade multimedia services in heterogeneous networks.
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The implementation of new mobile communication technologies developed in the third generation partnership project (3GPP) will allow to access the Internet not only from a PC but also via mobile phones, palmtops and other devices. New applications will emerge, combining several basic services like voice telephony, e-mail, voice over IP, mobility or web-browsing, and thus wiping out the borders between the fixed telephone network, mobile radio and the Internet. Offering those value-added services will be the key factor for success of network and service providers in an increasingly competitive market. In 3GPP's service framework the use of the Parlay APIs is proposed that allow application development by third parties in order to speed up service creation and deployment. 3GPP has also adopted SIP for session control of multimedia communications in an IP network. This article proposes a mapping of SIP functionality to Parlay services and describes a prototype implementation using the SIP Servlet API. Furthermore, an architecture of a Service Platform is presented that offers a framework for the creation, execution and management of carrier grade multimedia services in heterogeneous networks.
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Looking into the future, two main drivers for the mobile telecommunications market can be identified: third-generation mobile systems (e.g., UMTS) and the Internet (e.g., the introduction of IP technologies like voice/multimedia over IP in mobile networks). UMTS is seen as the enabler of wireless multimedia applications and portability of a personalized service set across network/terminal boundaries, as defined within the virtual home environment (VHE) system concept. In light of these evolutions, this article investigates the impact of the evolution toward an all-IP UMTS network architecture on the UMTS service architecture, which is based on the VHE concept. The article discusses two possible scenarios for supporting VoIP services in the UMTS service architecture and analyzes their applicability in an all-IP-based UMTS network. The first is based on the traditional centralized IN service architecture. The second proposes a new decentralized architecture based on direct control of VoIP call control equipment by open service architecture interfaces
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JAINTM, a set of integrated network APIs for the Java TM platform, provides a framework to build and integrate solutions (or “services”) that span across packet (e.g., IP or ATM), wireless, and PSTN networks. The objective of JAIN is to provide service portability, convergence, and secure access (by services residing outside of the network) to such integrated networks. JAIN is defined and specified by a large number of participating communication companies (the JAIN Community), and according to a well-documented process (the Java Community Process or JCP). The objective of the JAIN Community is to create an open market for services across integrated networks using Java technology. The authors provide the JAIN business case. They then summarize how the JAIN Community works, and introduce how the JAIN Community is organized. They also explain how separate JAIN work items fit together. In particular, they provide the rationale for the currently supported levels of abstraction (in terms of session/call signaling models) in JAIN, and look at possible implementation scenarios
The Intelligent Network Stondardr: Their A plicotion to Services
  • I Faynberg
I ] I. Faynberg et al., The Intelligent Network Stondardr: Their A plicotion to Services, 1st ed., McGraw-Hill, 1996; or T. W. Abernethy onkA. C. M u n ~ day, "Intelligent Network>, Standordr ond Services," ET Tech. J., vol. 13, no.
The Intelligent Network Standards: Their Application to Services
  • J Faynberg
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  • Intelligent Networks
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White Paper on nonfunctional aspects and requirements related to Parlay
  • G Gylterud
Framework Information Model: A First Analysis
  • C Maiso
  • S Tognon