Next Generation Network (NGN) faces the challenge of the rapidly increasing amount of signaling. The growing amount of signaling is a consequence of several reasons arising from the fact that signaling is the main source of network intelligence, analysis, and user behavior monitoring. With the increase in signaling load and complexity, the network management becomes a challenging issue that can impact overall Quality of Service (QoS). To confront this issue, there is a need for reliable and forehand signaling transmission in NGN. As there is much confusion about the interpretation of this concept, this paper aims to provide an overview of the evolution of signaling transmission. Migration towards NGN is analyzed from the signaling perspective. The NGN signaling protocols and related transmission requirements are identified. Through the discussion of standard approaches, the paper considers our previously published approach to signaling transmission along with the current issues and emerging opportunities. 1. Introduction The rapid growth in subscribers, devices, and applications increases the signaling volume that is causing congestion and impacting the Quality of Service (QoS) [1]. In order to deliver the desired levels of service and user’s Quality of Experience (QoE), it is necessary to process significant and growing volume of signaling in real time. There is the need to manage signaling updates and to ensure that service performance is maintained. With the migration to Next Generation Networks (NGNs), the need to manage the growth in signaling has become critical to optimize the network and ease congestion in real time [2]. As networks migrate toward all Internet Protocol (IP) based networks, the growing amount of intelligence is sent through the network [3]. Intelligence means more control over network resources. The optimal source of that intelligence is the signaling. Several advantages are offered using the signaling as the main source of network intelligence, for example, signaling contains the valuable and strategic information in the network that is available nowhere except in the NGN control plane. Therefore, with the growing volume of signaling, the network management becomes the challenging issue. To confront this issue, there is a need for reliable and forehand signaling transmission in NGN. As there is much confusion about the interpretation of this concept, this paper aims to provide an overview of the evolution of approaches to signaling transmission. The NGN is an IP-based packet-switched network, which does not rely on separate
References
[1]
J. M. Batalla, J. Sliwinski, H. Tarasiuk, and W. Burakowski, “Impact of signaling system performance on QoE in next generation network,” Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, pp. 117–130, 2010.
[2]
T. Magedanz, M. Corici, and H. Coskun, “Telecom signaling evolution for IMS, OTT and M2M services,” in Proceedings of the 13th Annual NGN Signaling Evolution Forum, Berlin, Germany, 2012.
[3]
E. Mikoczy, I. Kotuliak, and O. van Deventer, “Evolution of the converged NGN service platforms towards future networks,” Future Internet, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 67–86.
[4]
B. Orimoloye and H. Hanrahan, “Formalizing the next generation “signaling network”,” in Proceedings of the Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Application Conference (SATNAC '04), Western Cape, South Africa, 2004.
[5]
D. K. Grandischnig and M. Tuxen, “Signaling transport over IP-based networks using IETF standards,” in Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on the Design of Reliable Communication Network (DRCN '01), pp. 168–174, Budapest, Hungary, 2001.
[6]
R. Stankiewicz, P. Cholda, and A. Jajszczyk, “QoX: what is it really?” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 148–158, 2011.
[7]
J. Barakovi？, H. Bajri？, M. Kos, S. Barakovi？, and A. Husi？, “Prioritizing signaling information transmission in next generation network,” Journal of Computer Networks and Communications, vol. 2011, Article ID 470264, 11 pages, 2011.
[8]
J. G. Van Bosse and F. U. Devetak, Signaling in Telecommunication Networks, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2nd edition, 2007.
[9]
E. Vazquez, M. Alvarez-Campana, A. Hernandez, and J. Vinyes, “Reliable signalling transport in next generation networks,” in Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Wired/Wireless Internet Communications (WWIC '08), pp. 53–66, Tampere, Finland, 2008.
[10]
J. Barakovi？, H. Bajri？, and A. Husi？, “QoS design issues and traffic engineering in next generation IP/MPLS network,” in Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Telecommunications (ConTEL '07), pp. 203–209, June 2007.
[11]
J. Zhang and N. Ansari, “On assuring end-to-end QoE in next generation networks: challenges and a possible solution,” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 49, no. 7, pp. 185–191, 2011.
[12]
General principles and general reference model for next generation networks, ITU-T Recommendation Y.2011, 2004.
[13]
Functional requirements and architecture of next generation networks, ITU-T Recommendation Y.2012, 2010.
[14]
J. Bariarz, K. Chan, and F. Baker, “Configuration guidelines for DiffServ service classes,” Tech. Rep. RFC 4594, IETF, 2006.
[15]
Signalling architecture for the NGN service control plane, ITU-T Recommendation Q.3030, 2008.
[16]
H. Liu and P. Mouchtaris, “Voice over IP signaling: H.323 and beyond,” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 38, no. 10, pp. 142–148, 2000.
[17]
B. Khasnasish, Implementing Voice over IP, vol. 2003, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, USA.
[18]
ITU-T NGN FG Proceedings, Part II. Working Group 1 Deliverables—Service Requirements, 2005.
[19]
F. Belqasmi, R. Glitho, and C. Fu, “RESTful web services for service provisioning in next-generation networks: a survey,” IEEE Communication Magazine, vol. 4912, pp. 66–73, 2011.
[20]
J. Barakovi？, H. Bajri？, and S. Barakovi？, “Priority level configuration for signaling service class,” in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Communication Theory, Reliability, and Quality of Service, pp. 122–127, Athens, Greece, June 2010.
[21]
J. Barakovi？, S. Barakovi？, and H. Bajri？, “The impact of control information prioritization on QoS performance metrics,” in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Communication Theory, Reliability, and Quality of Service (CTRQ '11), pp. 60–65, Budapest, Hungary, 2011.
[22]
M. Alasti, B. Neekzad, J. Hui, and R. Vannithamby, “Quality of service in WiMAX and LTE networks,” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 104–111, 2010.
