BOSTON -- The MultiService Forum (MSF) today announced publication of its Release 3 Architecture, the first industry specification to describe physical implementations of IMS-enabled devices in real-world deployment scenarios that explicitly include first-generation VoIP SoftSwitches, PSTN interworking and evolution to a true IMS network. Building on existing work, the Release 3 Architecture refines the definition of key MSF Release 2 elements such as the Session Border Controller and also introduces a new class of user terminal, the IMS-aware SIP UA.

"The availability of the Release 3 Architecture specification provides a clear and compelling development road map for any company serious about the implementation of an IMS-based network," said Roger Ward, Office of the CTO, British Telecom and President of the MSF. "This is a major milestone for the MultiService Forum and the industry in general."

The MSF's Release 3 Architecture specification outlines how carriers can integrate both IMS and MSF R2 network elements within a single converged network domain. By taking account of both the 3GPP IP Multimedia System (IMS) architecture and existing deployed core network wireline VoIP systems, the MSF R3 specification reflects the reality of wireless-wireline networks today and in the foreseeable future.

"Given the industry's intense effort to define an all embracing Next Generation Network (NGN) architecture and service framework, we felt it was important to collaborate with other major players across the industry to provide a significant practical level of implementation detail early in the development process, said Stuart Walker, Principal Architecture and Technology Advisor of Leapstone Systems and chairman of the MSF Architecture Working Group. "One key advantage of the MSF approach is the pragmatic way the Release 3 Reference Architecture anticipates the degree to which the industry has already begun to converge on such an architecture."

MultiService Forum