Evolving to wireless and wireline convergence - an overview of IMS

Summary form only given. Originally specified by 3GPP to support IP multimedia services for mobile users, IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) has become the foundation for future wireless and wireline convergence. IMS offers service providers the opportunity to build an open IP based service infrastructure that will enable an easy deployment of new rich, personalized multimedia communication services mixing telecom and data services. IMS is access agnostic so that a common IMS based service platform can be built to support various access mechanisms such as DSL, cable, wireless (CDMA, UMTS) and WiFi/WiMax. As such, IMS promises a cost-effective evolution path to future wireless and wireline convergence that meet next-generation service demands and requirements. This talk provides an overview of IMS from market, technology and business perspectives. We first look at market drivers for next-generation services supported by IMS. The IMS functional architecture being developed in standards and solution for a wireless and wireline converged network are then examined at a high level. The talk concludes with a few key findings from IMS business cases that demonstrate the potential CapEx/OpEx savings and revenue increase made by IMS over conventional point solutions.