trefor.net - Page 6 of 92 - Insider comments from the world of internet communications

Second WebRTC Apps Competition finalist

Post author By Trefor Davies
Post date Tuesday, 29 September, 2015
No Comments on Second WebRTC Apps Competition finalist

WebRTC Apps Competition finalist DRD Communications.

The WebRTC apps competition we ran in conjunction with/sponsored by GENBAND came up with three clear leaders and one eventual winner. One entry actually showed how WebRTC would be monetized and the others presented their solution it as an an overlay to existing support services.

The idea was that entrants would be given free accounts on the GENBAND KANDY WebRTC Platform as a Service and then use those accounts to put together innovative service ideas.

The second WebRTC Apps Competition finalist was DRD Communications. DRD will be more familiar to you as the holding company that owns the Vanilla IP Broadsoft wholesale provider..

DRD’s simple but very effective entry showed the simplicity by which WebRTC via the KANDY APIs can be integrated into existing successful applications to provide useful day to day functionality. The original scenario allowed DRD to add a test calling function to their augment their market leading back office provisioning, billing and integration Uboss www.uboss.com but the same JavaScript APIs could have just have easily been used to provide voice and video access to a support engineer or sales representative. Additionally using the conferencing and collaboration functionality provided by the KANDY platform those conversations could allow users to be walked through configuration or other troubleshooting scenarios on a shared screen.

The judges saw that the DRD’s development company were implementing small and simple code additions to an already powerful management platform to provide significant functional options. The code they used meant they could quickly apply the WebRTC/KANDY functionality to other areas of the application allowing them to react quickly to Uboss developments or potentially to a customer’s needs.

This application is likely to one of the big wins for the WebRTC technology.

See our WebRTC section on this blog for other related posts.

Apps Business business applications webrtc

GENBAND Summer of Apps WebRTC Competition finalist Manor IT

Post author By Trefor Davies
Post date Tuesday, 29 September, 2015
No Comments on GENBAND Summer of Apps WebRTC Competition finalist Manor IT

WebRTC apps competition winners include monetisation of the technology

The idea was that entrants would be given free accounts on the GENBAND KANDY WebRTC Platform as a Service and then use those accounts to put together innovative service ideas.

The first of the finalists was Manor IT:

Manor IT

Manor IT’s “WebPhoneBox” entry impressed the judges as it directly monetized the WebRTC where as other entries used the technology to augment services improving existing commercial or business process functions. The Website allowed Manor to address the maximum subscriber audience on two levels. Firstly it was designed so you could use the service without having a to register an account just like a “PhoneBox” but secondly the access could be from any device and network without having to download an app.

To make a call the user logs onto ‘www.webphonebox.com” website (currently this function is in beta and not openly available) and enters the dialed number, payment method and payment amount. This information is then securely passed to the Manor IT Application Server. Alternatively existing account details and DDI can be used.

The Application Server verifies the payment details with the appropriate financial house.

The destination tariff is identified via Manor IT’s JeraSoft rating platform providing a maximum call duration. An authentication token is then provided to the KANDY WebRTC platform and passed to the web browser which then initiates the call

The call can then be established through KANDY and via Manor IT’s Session Border Controllers utilizing and utilizing Manor IT’s full LCR. 1 minute before call is cleared down a pop up allows the user to top up the account.

Using this method of paying for a call groups of people can share PC or Tablet devices far more easily as logging out of the website or the time restrictions on the access keys meaning there is no fear of other users accidently using their credit. The inbuilt WebRTC protocol NAT traversal and variable codecs on the media path coupled with the use of HTTPS on the signaling path means that any network should be usable even if it is locked down for SIP (e.g. Hotel WIFI) or has complex NAT or bandwidth issues.

Overall this was a simple idea that used various properties of WebRTC to provide an innovative solution and Genband congratulate Manor IT and their development are Devine IT www.divineit.net.

See our WebRTC section on this blog for other related posts.

End User travel

Thoughts from a cocoon

Flight BA 462 to Madrid

I’m buried in music on a flight to Madrid. My own earphones insulate me from the tinny emissions of a cheap set of earphones across the aisle. The dress code is high summer. Whilst Autumn in the UK has screeched around the corner and slid to a halt in front of me kicking up the detritus of the season of light it is still hotter in Madrid than the highest temperatures we see back home.

I’ve read some of the paper (FT) and had a brief snooze which was only interrupted by the food trolley. Fair play the iced bun was quite tasty. It was slightly annoying having seen copies of the Financial TImes available free of charge as I got on the plane. I had just forked out £3.50 barely 30 minutes earlier.

At least I was in the privileged position of priority boarding on account of my BA frequent flyer status (bronze – 🙂 It’s a pleasant enough flight. Seat 16F has an empty seat beside it so room to spread out the FT and another tray on which to put my cup of tea. Yes folks, a cup of tea. The 3 days in Sheffield talking about the internet last week were quite boozy and I’d rather arrive at the hotel tonight reasonably fresh. A beer on the terrace, assuming there is such a facility, will then be most refreshing.

Yesterday I bought a campervan. It’s an early VW T2 bay – 1971. No road tax as it’s considered to be a vintage car. We havent decided what to call it yet. The previous owners called it Kay, presumably due to it’s K reg number plate. That’s a bit wishy washy for me. Ideally I wanted a Dave. We will have to give the name some thought. I’m not even sure if it’s a boy or a girl.

When I get back to the UK I need to book tickets to Latitude. If you have a campervan you need to go to festivals. MIght even do it from Madrid. I believe the internet arrived there some time ago. It’s a nice hotel where I’m staying. NH Collection Eurobuilding. I’m there for the European Peering Forum – EPF as those who know call it.

It’s just going to be an extension of Sheffield – long days talking to people and long nights eating and drinking. I might just have a quiet night in at the hotel tonight. Bit of a swim followed by a healthy meal and some refreshing mineral water. Yea. Honest! 😉

The hotel has a very nice looking spa with a load of treatments on offer. I never bother with the treatments. For one my back is too ticklish. A massage has me writhing in ticklish agony. Usually I end up just wallowing in a hot tub for a while. This time I have brought my swimming goggles – I’m gonna try and get some exercise.

10 minutes to landing. That’s all you’re getting. Ciao amigos.

Engineer engineering internet

UKNOF32 Sheffield Day 2

Engineer peering

UK & Ireland Peering Forum Sheffield

Post author By Trefor Davies
Post date Wednesday, 16 September, 2015
No Comments on UK & Ireland Peering Forum Sheffield

Live blogging from the UK & Ireland Peering Forum

Engineer Mobile mobile connectivity UC

Mobile Unified Communications Network Architecture – an Operator Perspective

Post author By Juan Hernandez
Post date Monday, 14 September, 2015
No Comments on Mobile Unified Communications Network Architecture – an Operator Perspective

Introduction to Mobile Unified Communications Network Architecture

Vodafone Group Solutions Architect Juan Hernandez presents us with an authoritative look at mobile Unified Communications Network Architecture

Unified communications (UC) is a hot topic in the industry. Although the provided services may be pretty much the same in different market niches, the way in which such services are implemented can vary significantly.

This post is aimed at providing the perspective of a mobile operator. We cannot talk about UC in mobile operators without talking about IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem). IMS has become a standard across the mobile operators for a number of reasons. Although IMS was designed to integrate SIP devices and obviously 2/3 G mobile phones are not SIP end points, the arrival of the 4G standard (LTE) has introduced a new and interesting actor in the scene, the VoLTE device. VoLTE (Voice over LTE) implementation is the most important challenge the mobile operators are facing nowadays. This type of device is a SIP device, what brings mobile phones into the sphere of native end-points manageable by an IMS.

This post does not intend to be a comprehensive description of the UC implementation with IMS, but an introduction to the IMS as a concept and to the role it is playing in UC in the context of mobile operators.

CHARACTERISTICS OF IP MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM (IMS)

IP Multimedia Subsystem

This name highlights two important aspects:

IP → IMS is based on end to end IP connections.
Multimedia → Different media can be combined, like voice, video, images, text, etc.

It means that “circuit switch” (CS) technology has been overcome and that there is not a split between voice calls and data connections any more. All media formats are managed by means of IP connections instead.

Separate and standardized access, routing and service planes

In my opinion, this is the major advantage we get with the introduction of an IMS. The three functions get separated and independent: access, routing and service. Standardized modularity allows the combination of different vendors and access technologies, and makes network evolution more flexible.

Fig.1 Separation of access, routing and service planes

Multi-access and multi-terminal

IMS platform is access independent. We will see later on how the IMS elements P-CSCF and AG (access gateway) play the role of proxy, to face SIP and other VOIP protocol devices (H323, mgcp) respectively.

Fig.2 Multi-access and multi-device within an IMS

The previous figure shows how the P-CSCF interfaces all SIP connections, independently from the type of connection or device in use. Embedded SIP clients can be used in 3G networks. In this case a data session is established between the mobile network and the P-CSCF. On the other hand LTE devices are able to establish SIP voice calls directly with the P-CSCF. It is important to highlight that VoLTE devices can place SIP calls in a native way, without the need of embedded SIP clients.

SIP Internet connections can be also established against the P-CSCF. So, voice calls (VoLTE) and voice calls encapsulated into data connections can be managed by the IMS.

On the other hand, the AGCF (Access Gateway Control Function) can manage other VOIP protocols, translating them into SIP in the boundary of the IMS space.

Of course, SIP phones can also be managed by the IMS by means of the P-CSCF.

Convergence

Of services
Of billing

Fig.3 Service convergence

The previous figure shows the way in which both, fixed and mobile devices, can use exactly the same services, provided by the AS (Application Server) in the service plane. Therefore, the user experience is the same, independently from the user device.

Fig.4 Billing convergence

It comes evident from the figure 4 that once the same Application Server provides the services to fixed and mobile devices, the CG (charging gateway) can get convergent billing data for fixed and mobile networks.

IMS ARCHITECTURE

IMS architecture is anything but simple. The already commented characteristics of function separation and modularity leads to a complex architecture that can be seen in the next two figures.

Fig.5 Functional modules in IMS

Fig.6 IMS architecture

Next, I proceed to explain the roles of the most important elements in an IMS:

P-CSCF (Proxy – Call Session Control Function)

Access contact for SIP native clients
Security control
QoS Policy function.

The IMS space is considered to be a trusted area, since the P-CSCF applies a series of security procedures towards the access plane.

The QoS policy function is applied when a Policy server is deployed, in order to apply QoS policies in the access network. The P-CSCF communicates with the Policy server to orchestrate the QoS policies.

I-CSCF (Interrogating – Call Session Control Function)

Allocation of the S-CSCF to serve the user trying to register
Allocation of the S-CSCF serving an IMS called user

I-CSCF accepts requests for registration and terminating calls, and it interrogates the HSS (Home Subscriber Server) to retrieve the corresponding S-CSCF address.

S-CSCF (Serving- Call Session Control Function)

User registration
Authorization and authentication of users
Service triggering.

The S-CSCF is in charge of registering a user and triggering the services for such user by routing the incoming requests to the Application Server.

HSS (Home Subscriber Server)

Service profile
Subscription data
Application Server allocation
- HSS registers the S-CSCF assigned to a user during the REGISTRATION procedure
Authentication information
- Authentication tuples calculation and delivery of such authentication tuples to the S-CSCF

The HSS is the data base where all the information related to a subscriber is provisioned. It is the equivalent to the HLR for mobile networks.

MGCF (Media Gateway Control Function)

Interworking with PSTN (signalling)
MGW control by means of H.248

The MGCF is in charge of interworking with PSTN by exchanging ISUP messages. It is also in charge of managing the allocation of ports in the Media GW to support the media interworking between the IMS and PSTN. This control of the Media GW is based on H248 protocol.

MGW (Media Gateway)

Interworking with PSTN (bearer)

The media gateway offers TDM connectivity against PSTN and IP connectivity for RTP flows with the IMS devices.

AS (Application Server)

It applies the supplementary services
It applies Unified Communication services

So, in the context of IMS, while the UC services are applied by the Application Server, the routing and access management functions are done by the IMS.

IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS IN AN IMS

Unified communication services can be implemented in a number of ways. The major distinction can be done depending on whether the service is deployed locally within the end user premises, or it is hosted in a central platform serving a lot of local customer offices. In the first model a series of local servers (presence, telephony, instant messaging, etc.) are deployed in order to provide the service to a single office or to a series of premises within the same company. In the second model, an Operator company hosts the service for a big number of customer sites. The latter is an Operator model that can be deployed in several ways.

The traditional way to implement UC services by an Operator company is by using a compact softswitch in which routing, provisioning and service planes are put together into a compact platform. CS2K by Gendband and Broadsoft Application Server (stand-alone mode) would match with that model.

As we have seen in the previous sections, IMS is the new way in which mobile Operators are deploying their services nowadays. In this model, access, routing and service planes have been separated. Now, the service is only associated with the application server placed in the service layer. The previous cited vendors, Gendband and Broadsoft, have IMS compliant implementations. In both cases the service engine (application server) is used connected directly to an IMS. So, routing and other capabilities in the stand-alone product are not use in this implementation. Of course, a series of requirements like offering a standard isc interface to the S-CSCF are required in an Application server to be compatible with any IMS vendor.

As summary, I would say that the understanding of how mobile operators are deploying UC services nowadays, requires the understanding of IMS technology, what is not an easy challenge. IMS modularity brings flexibility but it leads to a higher level of complexity in the way in which the different modules interact among them.

Juan Hernández (Solution Architect at Vodafone Group)

Blog: www.unveilingthereality.com

Twitter: @unveilingthereality

Linkedin: https://es.linkedin.com/in/unveilingthereality

chromebook End User

He’s dead jim

He’s dead Jim & Captain I cannae hold her

This He’s dead Jim is getting to be a bit of a nuisance. I often find tabs have crashed on my Chromebook with the message “He’s dead Jim”. This is usually a memory issue.

Google reveals that lots of people have the same issue. Indeed my lovely daughter Hannah has the same problem and she has the same model of Chromebook as me.

Now the thing is I only paid £150 plus VAT for this Chromebook. It’s a low end job but serves me perfectly apart from this bit about getting my name wrong. My name as you all know is not Jim.

Problem is that references to Jim are becoming more frequent and a pain in the proverbial. Online advice suggests rebooting my Chromebook more often to get rid of unnecessary background processes. I’ve just done this and it remains to be seen whether it has an effect. I will have to tell you later.

In the meantime I’ve been thinking about upgrading my Chromebook. They are very cheap but this is part of the problem. What I’d really like is a Pixel but that costs over a grand and in my mind shies away from the whole concept of disposability of hardware which I am a fan of.

If I lose or break (difficult) my Acer I just buy another, log on and hey presto I am up and running. If my device costs a thousand pounds this principle doesn’t apply.

The Pixel does have some benefits – 12 hours battery life (wtf omg!!!), a better screen resolution and better audio. I’m not sure the touch screen functionality is an attraction.

Whether it will cure the He’s dead Jim problem I am not sure – I wouldn’t be very happy if the problem persisted on a device I paid that much cash for. It could push me toward the dark side (ie the fruit).

I’ll have a think about it and if a conclusion is reached be sure you will be the first to know.

Check out more Chromebook posts.

PS I just chucked in that comment re “Captain I cannae hold her” for a laugh. If you don’t understand you are not on my wavelength 🙂

End User security

Secure data stolen from Lloyds Bank datacentre

Post author By Trefor Davies
Post date Thursday, 10 September, 2015
No Comments on Secure data stolen from Lloyds Bank datacentre

lloyds bank data theft

I note Police are investigating the disappearance of a storage device that contains people’s names, addresses, sort codes and account numbers, after it was taken from a data centre in July (Telegraph).

Some thoughts here.

Why would the Telegraph store this kind of info unencrypted on a data device? Indeed why would they store it on a physical device that could be stolen at all? Doesn’t sound like a very secure situation to me at all.
Lloyds might have argued that Datacentres themselves are inherently secure. Well yes they are but there have been a number of examples over the years where people have stolen kit, usually expensive routers, from “secure” racks in “secure datacentres”. Datacentre security usually involves multiple layers of sign-in/verification and also involves cctv. Doesn’t seem to stop this kind of thing happening though.
On this basis we should consider all data to me inherently insecure and open to theft at some point and assume that it will be stolen. The only way around this is to have a regime that involves regular password changes. I assume you all do this right? Even then it doesn’t guarantee the security of your data.
If we assume that data will inevitably at some point be stolen then the question arises as to whether we are storing this data unnecessarily. eg do you need to keep your online banking login information stored somewhere that may be stolen. How about on a bit of paper hidden in a sock instead? (no clues being given here btw:)
We should also question it when others propose to store your personal data for their own purposes. I’m sure there are many examples of this – you can name your own.

At this stage if I let it get to me I’d be a quivering wreck. There’s a lot of stuff out there about me. What can I do about it?

Part of the problem (problem?) is that stick a lot of stuff online myself without being prompted. Yesterday’s video of a goods train passing in front of me got over 4,500 views on Facebook with no effort whatsoever.

People will know I was at that specific railway crossing at the time the video was taken. Given enough time you could build up a profile of my regular movements and habits just from information publicly available on the web.

Although I know some people who shy away from platforms like Facebook for this very reason I don’t. In fact I’ve started to use Facebook more and more as believe it or not it is good for business. I’ve even installed the Facebook app on my droid despite my previous misgivings about the personal data it wanted to access on my phone.

I’ve basically just said “to hell with it” and plunged into the deep-end instead of playing about where I was able to stand up without the water coming over my head.

I don’t know where all this is going. On Tuesday one of my kids became the proud owner of a macbook pro. During the (brief) install phase he told me the machine was asking him whether he wanted to encrypt the disk. I googled this and found that Apple had introduced this feature as standard to make it harder for governments to snoop on their customers’ data.

We probably need to rely on these big companies doing the right thing because they have the resources to be able do it right. It is a worry though especially when half their business model relies on them collecting enough personal information about you to be able to sell it.

I’ve gone on enough here and it’s nearly time to go home. I’m cooking a pork casserole so that we have something ready for when we get back from Galashiels at the weekend. Look out for a post about The Pylons gig we are going to see at the 100 Bands Festival. In fact if you are in the area come and see them. 1pm main stage Saturday.

Lots more posts on the subject of data theft and online security in the security category of this blog.

PS I am a Lloyds Bank customer and user their mobile app. I am happy to do this because they guarantee to cover any losses due to theft arising from my use of the app. It’s the way ahead.

Apps End User mobile apps spam

WhatsApp spam

WhatsApp spam endemic

Aaaargh just received my first WhatsApp spam message. I don’t even use WhatsApp though I do have the App on my droid. It’s getting uninstalled right now.

The spam originated from someone who created a group , added me to it, sent the spam and then removed me from the group. Must be a machine in play there.

An App must truly be labelled useless if all it does is serve you with spam.

I also still get phone call spam. I spent much of this afternoon getting my Snom M700 DECT system working. Wasn’t totally straightforward as it isn’t a Voipfone supported device but they have some great engineers and we got it sorted.

So now our home phone number points at two Snom DECT handsets (kitchen and TV room), a Yealink (conservatory/office) and on the CSIPSimple App on my mobile. I was just running through the ringtone options with the family when a son told me my mobile was ringing. This was somewhat confusing as so was the phone I had in my hand. Trouble is I was trying out a ringtone when it happened so little old me got confused initially.

I eventually did answer the Snom only to find it wasn’t a sales call from the subcontinent but a survey (from the subcontinent). The caller told me he was from a company called UK Surveys, or simlar. I asked him where in the UK he was and told him I didn’t trust him so he put the phone down on me. Oh ok.

I told the family that these calls would start getting less frequent as I would be implementing call barring where the inbound number was withheld. This raised a chorus of complaints on the basis that the call might be important. My view is if a person doesn’t have the courtesy to tell me their number they don’t deserve to be answered.

Anyway we are now a landline-less household. The home number is virtual. It is the way of the ~~future~~ present. I am now also WhatsApp-less. A truly uninspiring experience. At least WhatsApp spam is no longer going to be receivable on my phone.

See previous tome on WhatsApp. If you get WhatsApp spam they have a page on the subject that isn’t massively helpful.

PS I realise some of might not consider one spam message to be “endemic”. I do.

PPS I’m back. Hols are over. They were great. Now I need to get some work done and lose some weight.

charitable food and drink Weekend

Evening meals and aid for refugees

Post author By Trefor Davies
Post date Saturday, 5 September, 2015
No Comments on Evening meals and aid for refugees

Lincoln aid for refugees

Tonight we are having pork curry. It’s been cobbled together from some leftovers from last night’s bbq and the use of some spices I bought last year when strolling through Lincoln market. I came across a stall selling Indian spices so I bought a few quid’s worth without really knowing when I’d make use of them.

Since then the garam masala mix has been used pretty extensively but we hardly seem to have touched the huge bagful. This time I roasted and ground some of the spices then fried them in oil and ghee together with garlic, ginger and green chili. Add onions, green pepper, bbd’d pork from last night, a tin of coconut milk and two of tomatoes and we are cooking on gas (yes).

Rugby has been watched but cricket ignored – I don’t think it’s going very well. Hannah and I have also been to deliver food to the collection point for the Calais refugees. The whole situation has caught everyone’s imagination and there was a constant stream of people delivering mostly clothes to the collection point down behind the Horse and Groom pub in Lincoln.

Hannah and I had been to Tesco to return the borrowed glasses we used for the party last night. Whilst we were there we stacked up with basic foodstuffs – oil, rice, flour etc for our donation. For some reason it gave me quite a pleasure on emptying the Tesco shelves of their value tomato puree. Maybe it was the ordered rows of tubes of puree that I liked although it was quite an emotional thing to fill the shopping trolley with food destined for people with a real need for it. I tried to imagine who it would end up with.

The whole refugee situation has become distressing. Over time my attitude to the refugees has changed from “these are just trying to get somewhere they can have a richer life” to “wow these are real people with really desperate problems trying to flee to somewhere safe where they can lead normal lives and their kids can go to school”.

We stacked up our trolley with food but in doing so wondered whether there was a more efficient way of using the money. Buying the food from a wholesalers rather than Tesco. Buying sacks of rice rather than small bags of the value stuff, though those did seem to offer the best value in-store. At least it made us feel that we were helping in our small way and unfortunately I’m not sure I trust big charities enough to donate them cash.

I think I will at least value the fact that we are able to have the curry in the comfort and safety of our own kitchen tonight rather than be hungry on some roadside or in a refugee camp somewhere in Europe.

WebRTC Apps Competition finalist DRD Communications.

WebRTC apps competition winners include monetisation of the technology

Flight BA 462 to Madrid

UKNOF32 Sheffield Day 2

Introduction to Mobile Unified Communications Network Architecture

CHARACTERISTICS OF IP MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM (IMS)

IP Multimedia Subsystem

IMS ARCHITECTURE

IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS IN AN IMS

He’s dead Jim & Captain I cannae hold her

lloyds bank data theft

WhatsApp spam endemic

Lincoln aid for refugees

beach street – summer of excess

Rachel Hair do – you going?

Walking around Peel Shoprite

Peel Saturday 29th August

Fenella Beach Peel

Peel breakwater first light Peel breakwater at first light on Thursday morning. Had just returned from Douglas after dropping Joe off at the ferry. He had to go home early from the holiday as the Pylons had been invited to play at the Jamie Oliver Feastival in the Cotswolds.

The boating lake – Onchan Park

Peel dawn – tref is still on holiday

word of god – tref is on holiday # 13

No Smoking – tref is on holiday

Boat repairs in Peel

Rhossili beach clean

Pirate camp

Last known use of the Gelert Zenith 6 – view is of interior atrium where cats could be swung.

Clothes on rhossili beach

Hammock innit!

Rhossili National Trust

rhossili beach clean

Peel breakwater first light

Peel breakwater at first light on Thursday morning. Had just returned from Douglas after dropping Joe off at the ferry. He had to go home early from the holiday as the Pylons had been invited to play at the Jamie Oliver Feastival in the Cotswolds.