DoCoMo Spearheads IMS Space

NTT DoCoMo (DCM - Analyst Report), the largest wireless operator in Japan, together with its five vendors has developed major new specifications for a mechanism that delivers network-based value added services for IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS).

Other members in this collaboration are Alcatel-Lucent (ALU - Analyst Report), LM Ericsson AB (ERIC - Analyst Report), Fujitsu Ltd., NEC Corp., and Nokia-Siemens Network; a joint venture of Nokia Corp. (NOK - Analyst Report) and Siemens AG (SI - Analyst Report). This mechanism includes a service composition component that coordinates various applications using IMS session management service.

IMS is a set of specifications that describes the next-generation networking architecture for implementing IP-based telephony and multimedia services. It defines a complete architecture and framework that enables the convergence of voice, video, data and mobile network technology over an IP-based infrastructure.

IMS uses Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for easy integration with the Internet. This architecture was originally formulated to deliver Internet services over GPRS. Later, the wireless standard body 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) evolved IMS as a fixed-mobile convergence standard to support networks such as Wireless LAN, CDMA 2000 and fixed line.

The DoCoMo-headed collaboration has given technical specification for two major services - (1) converting a photographic image into water printing and (2) translating text messages from Japanese language to English. As of now, IMS is capable of either sending or receiving data. According to this partnership, the underlying specification is applicable to any wireless service provider in any geographic location.

The consortium has submitted these specifications to the GSM Association as candidate features for its Rich Communication Suite (RCS). RCS was designed by the GSM Association to enrich and speed up development of advanced IMS features for various wireless networks.

Besides NTT DoCoMo, several wireless service providers throughout the world have taken steps to innovate the IMS architecture. Verizon Wireless (VZ - Analyst Report) started this initiative a few years ago. Last June, three South Korean wireless operators, KT Corp. (KTC), SK Telecom (SKM - Analyst Report) and LG Telecom, decided to work on RCS specifications. China Mobile Ltd. (CHL - Snapshot Report), the leading wireless service provider in China, may also invest for IMS innovation.

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