Application Session Controller
Encyclopedia
The Application Session Controller (ASC) network element
resides at the application layer
and sits between the application layer and the core network
to provide and manage connectivity to the evolving telecom
network
. It insulates the application server farm
from the network below via a programmable network abstraction engine, thereby providing the application specific call-control functions independent of each network. The ASC incorporates a number of open standard APIs
, plus the signaling, media, and the feature inter-working between disparate networks that converged and consolidated applications require. It is scalable to support tens of millions of subscribers via a single system or via clustering and provides the necessary calls per second / transactions per second required for large-scale multi-network environments.
As Communications Service Providers continue to deploy new network assets and technology at an increasingly rapid pace, achieving feature transparency
becomes very challenging. The benefit of creating a solution to ensure feature transparency will provide subscribers application feature parity across multiple networks, enable the service providers to consolidate their application platforms and fully enable them to leverage their network assets to offer converged applications across ever evolving networks.
Network element
A network element is usually defined as a manageable logical entity uniting one or more physical devices. This allows distributed devices to be managed in a unified way using one management system....
resides at the application layer
Application layer
The Internet protocol suite and the Open Systems Interconnection model of computer networking each specify a group of protocols and methods identified by the name application layer....
and sits between the application layer and the core network
Core network
A core network, or network core, is the central part of a telecommunication network that provides various services to customers who are connected by the access network. One of the main functions is to route telephone calls across the PSTN....
to provide and manage connectivity to the evolving telecom
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
network
Telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections...
. It insulates the application server farm
Server farm
A server farm or server cluster is a collection of computer servers usually maintained by an enterprise to accomplish server needs far beyond the capability of one machine. Server farms often have backup servers, which can take over the function of primary servers in the event of a primary server...
from the network below via a programmable network abstraction engine, thereby providing the application specific call-control functions independent of each network. The ASC incorporates a number of open standard APIs
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
, plus the signaling, media, and the feature inter-working between disparate networks that converged and consolidated applications require. It is scalable to support tens of millions of subscribers via a single system or via clustering and provides the necessary calls per second / transactions per second required for large-scale multi-network environments.
As Communications Service Providers continue to deploy new network assets and technology at an increasingly rapid pace, achieving feature transparency
Transparency (computing)
Any change in a computing system, such as new feature or new component, is transparent if the system after change adheres to previous external interface as much as possible while changing its internal behaviour. The purpose is to shield from change all systems on the other end of the interface...
becomes very challenging. The benefit of creating a solution to ensure feature transparency will provide subscribers application feature parity across multiple networks, enable the service providers to consolidate their application platforms and fully enable them to leverage their network assets to offer converged applications across ever evolving networks.
See also
- Frost and Sullivan White Paper at The Messaging Industry Association Web site
- http://telephonyonline.com/ims/news/apptrigger-application-session-042307/
- http://nxtcommnews.com/ims/
- http://www.convergedigest.com/voip/voiparticle.asp?ID=21664