CONVERGED NETWORK: Future Foretold

Gone

are the days when the network architecture revolved around the

efficient transmission of voice. Skim the surface of the new

breed of network, which is about to take off. It is all about

integrating voice, data, and video into a single network

infrastructure. Dig in a bit deep. You will find the low cost of

optical networking in the core and high-speed Internet access

technologies like cable modems and ADSL. Simply defined,

convergence means moving to a single layer network protocol–IP,

which spells doom for those who still believe their networks

should be optimized for voice telephone calls.

For enterprises, IP

convergence is a lucrative deal. Apart from simplified

management, converged network offers business customers

considerable cost savings and a host of new applications to gain

a cutting edge. A white paper on convergence by Cabletron points

out that by developing a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) implementation

strategy with an initial WAN deployment, an organization can

realize immediate savings in its IT operations. Consider these

staggering figures: You can save up to 60 percent by using

packetized voice and Fax-over-IP (FoIP), bypassing Public

Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) tolls. You can avoid costly

forklift upgrades by leveraging your exiting voice equipment.

And since you will have just one combined network, you will save

on management costs, enjoying a fast Return on Investment (RoI). 

The new age infrastructure

will also make it possible to deploy multimedia and video

streaming applications that can be shared by employees,

partners, and vendors alike. This would mean a distinct

competitive advantage and a better way of doing business. So is

it any wonder that an increasing number of Indian corporates are

taking a serious look at network convergence? 

The Genesis

The

roots of network convergence can be traced to the advent of

digital communications, which reduced information into discrete,

identifiable and thus, more easily transferable pieces of

information. It also efficiently maximizes the transfer of

information by allowing more signals to move through a single

communication path. Network convergence utilizes this attribute

of digital communication to efficiently and effectively

distribute different types of information–voice, video, and

data on the same communications network. Moreover, network

convergence reduces the inefficient flow of voice, video, and

data whose different characteristics led to the development of

separate communications network that were designed differently,

and are often incompatible. Various studies point out that given

the advancement of ubiquitous digital technologies for the

transmission of information, the greatest value of information

will be realized by network convergence.

Network convergence has

also developed from the implementation of digital

packet-switching technologies, such as IP telephony that permits

the transmission of voice, video, and data over

computer networks that were originally developed only for data

transmission. Moreover, because of the platform-independent

nature of IP telephony, the data networks, which were originally

designed as ancillary networks, are soon surpassing the capacity

and use of the traditional telephone and cable networks because

of the efficiency provided by digital telecom through a network

convergence architecture.  The New

Paradigm

With

the blurring of geographical boundaries, thanks to the distance

insensitive Internet, majority of business and individuals are

becoming part of a high-speed networking fabric which will

enable secure digital communication of voice, data, and video to

or from anyone, anywhere and anytime. Till recently, it would

have sounded like a chapter straight out of science fiction.

Fortunately, the technology now exists to deliver it. Customers

now want to pick and chose from narrowcast and broadcast. They

want a fusion of voice, data, and video in all possible mixes.

In other words, this means the availability of multiple

technology choices to fulfill the customer’s desire for

anytime access to people, information, and commerce. According

to an Ernst & Young study, this would be most obvious in the

cornucopia of emerging terminal devices. But convergence does

not necessarily sound the death knell of age-old technologies.

In fact, it leaves enough room for many technologies to co-exist

and one will not replace the other outright. This is

because no one technology can meet all the requirements of the

market-place. Hence, each technology will find its niche and

redefine new and old classes of service and user terminals. In

this context one can safely assume that there will be a rash of

new user terminals that will let us communicate in ways we

dream.

Hues and

Colours

According to

3Com, one of the leading vendors of convergence products,

converged networking encompasses several aspects, all of which

are related to the aggregation of networking



activity. A 3Com white paper puts it down thus:

• Payload
  
  convergence is that
  
  aspect of converged networking wherein different data types
  
  are carried in the same communications format. For example,
  
  in the past audio and video traffic was carried over
  
  circuit-switched network as Layer 1 bit streams, while
  
  bursty data traffic was carried over packet-switched
  
  networks in Layer 3 datagrams. Payload convergence describes
  
  the trend to carry both audio/video and bursty traffic in
  
  Layer 3 datagrams. However, the payload convergence does not
  
  prohibit the network from handling packets, according to
  
  their service requirements.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Protocol
  
  convergence is the
  
  movement away from multi-protocol to single protocol
  
  (typically IP) networks. While legacy networks are designed to
  
  handle many protocols and one type of data, converged networks
  
  are designed to handle one protocol and provide the services
  
  necessary for multiple types of data (such as voice, one-way
  
  video, and interactive video).

• Physical
  
  convergence occurs when
  
  payloads travel over the same physical network equipment
  
  regardless of their service requirements. Both multimedia and
  
  Web traffic can use the facilities of an edge network, even
  
  though the former has more stringent bandwidth, delay, and
  
  jitter requirements than the latter. Resource reservation,
  
  priority queuing and other Quality of Service (QoS) or Class
  
  of Service (CoS) mechanisms within the network are used to
  
  differentiate the service requirements of one type of traffic
  
  from another and to deliver the necessary service to each.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Device
  
  convergence means the
  
  trend in network device architecture to support different
  
  networking paradigms in a single system. Thus, a switch may
  
  support Ethernet packet forwarding, IP routing and ATM
  
  switching. Network devices may handle data, carried by a
  
  common network protocol that have separate service
  
  requirements. In addition, an end system may support both
  
  Web-based data applications and packet telephony.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Application
  
  convergence represents
  
  the appearance of applications that integrate formerly
  
  separate functions. For example, Web browsers allow the
  
  incorporation of plug-in applications that allow web pages to
  
  carry multimedia content such as audio, video, high-resolution
  
  graphics, virtual reality graphics and interactive voice.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Technology
  
  convergence signifies
  
  the move towards common networking technologies that satisfy
  
  both LAN and WAN requirements. For example, ATM can be used to
  
  provide both LAN and WAN services.

Network Utopia

If

the promises of network convergence are so compelling, why do

separate networks for voice, data and video still predominate

the enterprise network landscape? To answer this question, one

has to take a cursory glance at the biggest concerns about

moving to a converged network. Top of the list would be

reliability and complexity involved in the change. Following

suite the fact that voice-over-data services are still unproven

and lack of standards here are holding back many enterprise

customers from migrating to an unified network. But this is not

to say that companies are cold-shouldering network convergence

because it is still a work in progress. In fact, many are

testing the water as the potential benefits are too luring to

turn a blind eye. Forward looking companies

in US and Europe have already embraced convergence as they have

been able to drastically cut down networking costs by turning

voice into data packets and running them over efficient IP, ATM

and frame relay networks. You don’t get any prices for

guessing that soon Indian corporates, who have already seen what

enterprise networks and applications have done for their

counterparts elsewhere, will be in a hurry to catch up. Most of

companies which are toying with the idea of a shift are

primarily interested in the multimedia applications such as

video collaboration, unified messaging, voice-data call centres

as they consider it strategic to their business. And convergence

offers them what they exactly need–cutting cost. On the flip

side, howerver, is that many of the carriers and switch makers

have not been able to demonstrate the savings involved and if

they succeed in doing so, convergence market is bound to

skyrocket.

Battle for the

Convergence Cake

Network

equipment, which traditionally delivered either functionality or

performance, is no match for the new environment. Software-based

routers, while richly featured, are slow. Hardware-based Layer-2

switches are fast but lack the functionality to be in the

backbone and lack the scalability to be in a large network. This

has necessitated the need for a new set of products and blazing

the trail are vendors like Cisco, Nortel Networks, 3Com and

Cabletron. All these companies are hedging their bets on

convergence and are vying with each other to grab a pie of this

cake. All these vendors have rolled out products that will let

carriers offer converged network services.

Nortel Networks has

recently unveiled a new suite of products for unified networks.

To effectively manage the deployment and operation of this new

breed of network, Nortel and Nortel Networks plan to combine

their respective management strengths to create unified network

management. This combined product leverages the best features

from the Nortel Networks Optivity Network Management System and

Nortel’s Open Management System for Passport (OMS). This

solution provides application intelligent management across LAN,

WAN, and PBX, campus, and enterprise.

Cisco’s new WAN backbone

switching solutions meet the needs of service providers and

large enterprises for integrated ATM, Frame Relay, IP, Internet,

voice, and video services. It also offers the industry’s

highest performance and QoS for delivering multiple types of

traffic over a consolidated backbone network.

Not to be outdone,

Cabletron has come out with its new family of switching routers

which deliver wire-speed Layer 2, Layer 3 and Layer 4

functionality. Built for the enterprise and ISP backbone on a

foundation of Gigabit Ethernet, Cabletron’s new SmartSwitch

Router solutions offer massive table capacity, a multi-gigabit

non-blocking backplane, low latency, and seamless scaling.

Another leading vendor,

3Com, is already shipping out its CommsWork IP telephony

platform which integrates seamlessly with existing network

infrastructures including the PSTN and Signaling System 7(SS7)

network. It’s an open, standards-based solution that lets one

take advantage of new service opportunities like VoIP, FoIP,

Signalling System 7 (SS7)/Intelligent Networks (IN),

Internet call waiting, web-based call centres, unified

messaging, etc. Convergence at

What Price?

Though

this plethora of products and services bodes well for the coming

era of converged networks, there are not many takers for this

new breed of networking equipment because of the price tag. And

naturally, only those companies with pressing business needs are

taking the leap. This could be one of the serious hurdles to

network convergence in a price sensitive market like India.

However, there is no

denial of the fact that a wide range of applications and

business environments will benefit from network convergence in

the coming years. Whether or not an organization’s immediate

plans include convergence, today’s infrastructure investment

should include features and capabilities that position the

network to support

these applications in the future. Else, it’s the simplest

formula for gradual extinction.