IMS & IPTV

This article caught my attention today. Specifically, this line:

Ericsson is looking to leverage its strengths in IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) technology to succeed in the IPTV market ... [Their vision] encompasses PCs mobile and television as client devices, working off IMS within operator networks ... You would be able to access your favourite services and content wherever you are, whenever you want and with whatever device you are using.

When I teach IMS classes, I tell my students to be wary of statements like this. It sounds suspiciously like someone's playing a game of buzzword bingo.

IMS may well be a useful architecture in which to develop applications and services, but it doesn't necessarily lend itself to all applications. The control plane is based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), and SIP, by definition, addresses session-oriented applications. So SIP is fine for doing things like telephony, push-to-talk, conferencing, gaming, and instant messaging. You wouldn't, however, want to use it for basic web surfing, sharing files, or downloading emails. And since the IPTV control plane is based on IGRP and RTSP, it's not at all clear that you'd want SIP to control your IPTV application.

So ... what are they getting at? Will the IPTV client send an INVITE request to change the channel? Will the CSCF route RTSP messages to the IPTV application server? Well, not exactly. Some further digging on Ericsson's website yields this press release.

It also includes guidelines for integration with IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) functions, such as charging and end-user authentication

So the IMS and IPTV systems can share a common authentication and billing function. Why didn't they say so in the first place?


Categories: IMS, IPTV, Ericsson, SIP, RTSP, IGRP