US : Siemens Networks LLC is dedicating a new 3G/IMS laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology on Monday, October 23. The new lab, co-sponsored by Cingular Wireless, the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) and the Georgia Tech Research Network Operations Center (GT-RNOC), will serve students and researchers as a test bed for the creation of third generation IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) convergence applications and services that bring together audio, video and data over computer networks.

In addition to the dedication of the new facility, Monday’s event will feature informational panel discussions as well as demonstrations of some of the multimedia applications and services currently running in the lab.

Initially, the 3G/IMS laboratory is to be used by students participating in an IMS Research Competition co-sponsored by Siemens, Cingular and Georgia Tech. Qualified students who participate in the year-long competition will be eligible to receive a portion of $100,000 in cash prizes.

As part of its sponsorship, Siemens Networks is equipping the new 3G/IMS lab with the latest technology from its IMS portfolio, including IMS@vantage, a 3GPP-compliant implementation of IMS. The IMS@vantage product offering includes the Multimedia Session Controller CFX-5000 and the Home Subscriber Server CMS-8200, as well as the Media Gateway Controller CFX-5200 and the Media Gateway CMG-3000. The IMS@vantage suite gives network operators a strategic platform to deploy multimedia services, such as Voice over IP (VoIP), for fixed or wireless infrastructures.

Siemens is also including a suite of enabling servers to allow student applications to use key IMS building blocks. These enablers include Siemens Mobile Presence Manager (Presence status), Community Service Data Manager (Group list management), Instant Messaging and Chat, and Push and Talk over Cellular.

“Thanks to sponsors such as Siemens Networks, the new 3G/IMS laboratory will give Georgia Tech’s students an opportunity to work with leading-edge technology in their quest to develop new and unique applications,” said Ron Hutchins, associate vice provost for research and technology and chief technology officer at Georgia Institute of Technology.

In addition to the Siemens IMS platform, the 3G/IMS laboratory will incorporate subsystems and services from sponsors Ubiquity Software, BridgePort Networks and Azaire Networks.

In support of the 3G/IMS lab, Ubiquity will donate licenses of its award-winning SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) Application Server (SIP A/S), and its advanced SOOF (Service Oriented Object Framework) architecture for enabling real-time applications. Ubiquity’s Service Components, a set of pre-built, re-useable software building blocks for rapid creation and management of converged applications, will enable students to incorporate application capabilities that leverage Siemens Mobile Presence Manager (Presence status), Community Service Data Manager (Group list management), Instant Messaging and Chat, and Push and Talk over Cellular. Ubiquity will also support the 3G/IMS lab with training and related support services.

BridgePort Networks, a provider of end-to-end Mobile VoIP applications, is supplying its NomadicONE™ IMS Convergence Server (ICS) software to the 3G/IMS lab, enabling mobility management for IMS. In conjunction with the Siemens advanced IMS capabilities, the NomadicONE ICS enables the 3G/IMS lab to feature dual mode handsets with both GSM/UMTS and WiFi/VoIP capability. Seamless automatic network selection and mid-call voice handovers between networks are supported.

Azaire Networks provides hybrid network technologies enabling mobile broadband services. Azaire Networks is providing the 3G/IMS laboratory with its TTG/PDG technology, based on ATCA platform, which supports leading-edge 3GPP Interworking WLAN (IWLAN) functionality. IWLAN allows end users to authenticate their access to WiFi networks using their cell-phone providers’ SIM cards and maintain secure access over WiFi to all of the existing applications provided by Cingular today, along with the new IMS applications. This means WiFi users do not need to go through a manual sign-in process, such as ones that prompt for an ID and password.

“Siemens is proud to be a sponsor of this unique engineering project,” said Harald Braun, President and COO of Siemens Networks LLC. “We see sponsoring development environments such as the 3G/IMS lab at Georgia Tech as an important step forward in promoting next-generation network and wireless applications.”

The deadline for students to enter the IMS Research Competition is set for November 27, 2006. A ceremony to present the project submissions and to recognize the winners of the IMS Research Competition will be held in May 2007. For more information on the IMS Research Competition and a copy of the Official Rules, when available, visit http://forgedbyims-research-competition.com.

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