Hyperscale Communications Infrastructure

Transcription

1 Hyperscale Communications Infrastructure VoIP Gateways, Session Border Controllers and Network Function Virtualization Whitepaper Sign up for updates hp.com/go/getupdated Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Trademark acknowledgments, if needed. 4AA3-xxxxENW, Month 20XX

2 Contents Introduction... 3 Network Functions Virtualization... 4 Solution Summary... 5 Block Diagram... 6 IP IP VoIP Transcoding... 7 H.248 Signalling Stack... 7 DSP Resource Management... 8 Summary... 8 About the Authors

3 With the introduction of NFV many of network functions have been targeted for virtualization. The Session Border Controller (SBC) is an example of this type application. Introduction Telecom and networking applications are often provided as vertically integrated solutions, where a vendor optimizes the overall solution for the purpose of maximizing performance and delivering optimal power efficiency. Specialized hardware and software tailored for the task at hand has been the mainstay. This has often taken the form of purpose built hardware based on a proprietary or Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) form factor. With the introduction of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) many network functions have been targeted for virtualization. The Session Border Controller (SBC) is an example of this type application. At a high level, an SBC functions to provide a firewall and Network Address Translation (NAT) for VoIP interconnections. There are many other functions associated with SBC; one of them being transcoding of VoIP connections. In today s networks SBCs are often combined in the same purpose built hardware platform with a transcoding function. In this case the norm is that a bulk of the processing is done by an x86 device and the transcoding of the VoIP connections is accomplished by DSP technology. 3

4 The HP Moonshot based m800 cartridge [Type the sidebar content. A sidebar is a standalone supplement to the main document. It is often aligned on the left or right of the page, or located at the top or bottom. Use the Drawing Tools tab to change provides the formatting the of the latest sidebar text box. generation Type the sidebar content. A sidebar is a standalone technology supplement in to the a main document. It is often aligned on left or right commercial of the page, or located off at the top or bottom. Use the Drawing Tools tab to change shelf the (COTS) formatting of form the sidebar text box.] factor that can easily be incorporated into the NFV standard. Network Functions Virtualization For NFV it is straight-forward to adopt and x86 processor for next generation solutions; however, for the VoIP transcoding, the x86is not a great fit. DSP technology has been used in SBC deployments because of lower power consumption, high channel density, and both OPEX and CAPEX benefits. Since most of today s servers do not support DSP technology, this transcoding function has either been set aside as outside of NFV or a SoftDSP solution has been implemented as a nonoptimum compromise. The HP Moonshot platform along with the ProLiant m800 cartridge solves this problem of a two box solution. The m800 provides the latest generation technology in a commercial off the shelf (COTS) form factor that could easily be incorporated into the NFV standard. 4

5 The HP Moonshot Compliant ProLiant m800 includes four TI SOCs with each SOC containing four ARM A15 cores and eight C66x DSP cores. Solution Summary In order to effectively evaluate this technology software must be developed to take advantage of this new archticture. einfochips has integrated its voice transcoding software with an H.248 signalling stack and is producing a prototype transcoding engine for the m800. The m800 includes four TI System on Chip (SOC) s with each SOC containing four ARM A15 cores and eight C66x DSP cores. In the einfochips prototype the ARM A15 cores will be used for signaling and balancing the transcoding load across the SoCs within the Moonshot chassis. The DSPs will perform the transcoding along with many of the other required functions to support a full carrier grade VoIP conversation. This prototype development will allow Service Providers or Network Equipment Providers to easily integrate their solutions into the Moonshot environment and take advantage of the low power and low latency inherent in DSP technology. The Moonshot software defined server allows for unprecedented scalability which keeps the cost-per-channel and power footprint under control. 5

6 Functional Diagram of Transcoding Solution using m800 6

7 IP IP VoIP Transcoding Features of the Voice Transcoding Software Tone Detection and Generation Caller ID Generation Gain Adjustments IP-IP Transcoding Voice software will run on the C66x DSP cores. The software converts media stream from the IP network with specific codec compression to a different codec compression and sends it back. The gateway also performs many other operations like tone generation and detection, Fax processing, audio message and IVR playback, Media Conferencing, etc. Conferencing Support Voice Activity Detection (VAD) Voice Playout Unit (VPU) to adaptive or fixed modes Packet Routing Unit (PRU) Network Encapsulation Unit (NEU) FAX RELAY RTP Common Unit (RCU) Funcitonal Diagram of IP IP VoIP Transcoding Application H.248 Signalling Stack H.248 is an ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU- T) recommendation which defines protocols that are used between elements of a physically decomposed multimedia gateway. It is an implementation of the Media Gateway Control Protocol Architecture (RFC 2805) and also called Megaco in IETF domain. The current (September 2005) standard by ITU-T is 7

8 H.248.1: Gateway control protocol: Version 3. The H.248 Solution Benefits Massively Scalable, based on the HP Moonshot Chassis Support for dynamic and complex mix of signaling and media processing Superior transcoding density with reduced cost-perchannel Accelerated development time for deployments on all- IP environments signalling stack will execute on the ARM A15 cores of the TI SoC. DSP Resource Management The transcoding engine supports management of the processor loading so that no single DSP core is overloaded. This requires assignement of calls to the various processors within the Moonshot chassis. Overloading of any processor for this type application can cause serious degradation in voice quality. This function is the key in keeping calls connected and maintaining the optimum voice quality. Aligns well with NFV Summary The introduction of NFV is fundamentally changing the marketplace for telecommunication infrastructure. einfochips efforts in producing a Voice Transcoding prototype will go a long way to enable massively scalable next generation transcoding solutions to be effectively managed and deployed in carrier networks. einfochips is excited to work with service providers and network equipment providers to enable new solutions. 8

9 About the Authors John Warner Fixed End Equipments Manager, Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is a global semiconductor design and manufacturing company that develops analog ICs and embedded processors. By employing the world's brightest minds, TI creates innovations that shape the future of technology. TI is helping more than 100,000 customers transform the future, today. Learn more at Harshiddh Mania Technology Manger, einfochips einfochips provides Product Engineering Services to global enterprises. The company has the infrastructure, processes, expertise and experience to deliver turnkey solutions for Aerospace, Consumer Devices, Industrial Automation, Media and Broadcast, Medical Devices and Healthcare, Home Automation, Retail and ecommerce, Security and Surveillance, Semiconductor, and ISV. einfochips expertise has been recognized by Gartner, Deloitte, Frost & Sullivan, NASSCOM and Zinnov. Today, over 1400 professionals operate from 10 design centers across USA and India. The company has sales offices in USA, Canada, Japan, UK and India. For further information write to marketing@einfochips.com or visit us at 9