Patent Application
20110119388
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of digital networks, more particularly to a method and system for optimization of multimedia services over IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) Networks.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In an example embodiment in accordance with the invention, a method is described for providing predetermined multimedia services to a plurality of users through a IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The IMS comprises a presence server that maintains information about the plurality of users, where the information about the plurality of users includes a position of each user. The IMS further comprises a plurality of application servers, where each application server includes at least one multimedia application configured to provide at least one multimedia service, and a placement server that has access to a repository containing information about the plurality of application servers and the associated multimedia applications, the information about the plurality of application servers and the associated multimedia applications including a position of each application server. The method comprises receiving a request at the placement server of a multimedia service by at least one of the plurality of users, the placement server retrieving on the presence server information about the at least one user, and the placement server identifying application servers including a multimedia application capable of providing the requested multimedia service, the placement server selecting an application server that is located a minimum average distance from the at least one user. In response to the minimum average distance being greater than a predetermined threshold, a local application server is selected with an average distance from the at least one user that is less than the predetermined threshold, a virtual image of the multimedia application is created on the selected local application server, and a connection is established between the at least one user and the selected local application server.
In another example embodiment of the present invention, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) for providing multimedia services to a plurality of users comprises a presence server that maintains information about the plurality of users, where the information about the plurality of users includes the position of each user, a plurality of application servers, where each application server includes at least one multimedia application configured to provide at least one multimedia service, a repository that includes information about the plurality of application servers and the associated multimedia applications, where the information about the plurality of application servers and the associated multimedia applications includes a position of each application server, and a placement server that has access to the repository and the presence server and is further configured such that, upon receipt of a request of a multimedia service by at least one of the plurality of users. The placement server is configured to identify application servers capable of providing the requested multimedia service, select which of the identified application servers is located a minimum average distance from the at least one user, responsive to such minimum average distance being greater than a predetermined threshold, select a local application server with an average distance from the at least one user that is less than the predetermined threshold, and create a virtual image of the multimedia application on the selected local application server. The IMS further comprises a network configured to establish a connection between the at least one user and the selected application server.
In another example embodiment of the present invention, a computer program product is provided for performing a method of providing predetermined multimedia services to a plurality of users through an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The IMS comprises a presence server to maintain information about the plurality of users, the information about the plurality of users including a position of each user, a plurality of application servers, each application server including at least one multimedia application configured to provide at least one multimedia service, and a placement server that has access to a repository containing information about the plurality of application servers and the associated multimedia applications, the information about the plurality of application servers and the associated multimedia applications including a position of each application server. The computer program product comprises a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to execute a method on a data processing system, where the method comprises the placement server receiving a request of a multimedia service by at least one of the plurality of users, the placement server retrieving on the presence server information about the at least one user, the placement server identifying application servers including a multimedia application capable of providing the requested multimedia service, the placement server selecting the application server having a minimum average distance from the at least one user, responsive to the minimum average distance being greater than a predetermined threshold, selecting a local application server with an average distance from the at least one user that is less than the predetermined threshold, creating a virtual image of the multimedia application on the selected local application server, and establishing a connection between the at least one user and the selected application server.
The above and further features and advantages of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description thereof, when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein like reference numerals in the various figures are utilized to designate like components.
IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a set of specifications that describes the Next Generation Networking (NGN) architecture for implementing IP based telephony and multimedia services, over combined wired/wireless networks.
IMS is a substantial evolution with respect to the traditional network environment that supported individual services. Rather then being based on the traditional network-tailored hardware (HW) and software (SW) solutions, which tended to silo implementations of Providers' Services, IMS (see
In particular, the Presence Server provides the service that allows a user to be informed about the reachability, availability and willingness to communicate with another user. Furthermore, the presence service allows users to give details of their communication means and capabilities (e.g., whether they have capabilities such as audio, video, instant messaging, etc. and in which terminal those capabilities are present). The entity (person or system) that is providing presence information to the Presence Server is called presentity. A given presentity has several devices known as Presence User Agents (PUA) which provide information about their presence: for example a SIP Phone, a laptop or a PDA are PUAs.
Presence information may be used by other entities that want to communicate with the presentity. The other entities are called watchers. Watchers can be notified about changes in the presence information.
In state of the art IMS networks, the collocation of the IMS service plane elements and Media Servers need not be related to presence information in order to optimize resource consumption (e.g., by avoiding unnecessary or unwanted network congestions) in IMS Service and Control planes, where such optimization conserves resources, energy and traffic.
With reference to
An example embodiment of the present invention exploits the advantages provided by the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architecture. IMS is a set of requirements and specifications defined by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2). These two projects were formed through collaboration agreements which involved a number of regional telecommunication standard bodies (e.g. European Telecommunications Standards Institute, Association of Radio Institute and Businesses/Telecommunication Technology Committee (ARIB/TTC) (Japan), China Communications Standards Association, Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (North America) and Telecommunications Technology Association (South Korea)). IMS defines a unifying architecture for IP-based services over both packet and circuit switched networks. It enables the convergence of different wireless and fixed access technologies for the creation, delivery and consumption of multimedia services. IMS also supports services integration through standardized reference points (akin to interfaces and protocols), which not only makes service creation faster and easier, but also leverages the services available through Internet technologies such as Web Services. One of the objectives of IMS is the ability to develop and deploy services as quickly as possible. The IMS architecture is designed to enable this capability by providing an environment which is in contrast to the traditional vertically silo network environment that supported individual services. On the other hand, the single converged network environment created by IMS aims at eliminating multiplicity of services by enabling sharing of services across the different functionality planes thereby reducing cost and creating better user experience.
The following are some examples of IP based multimedia services which could be delivered to users through an IP Multimedia Subsystem network:
Multimedia services are provided by multimedia applications which are available on application servers. In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to improve the efficiency of such a network by providing and managing IMS services (in particular, but not exclusively, gaming services) based on IMS workload and the position of the users connected, exploiting information about user location and users' device capabilities (e.g. in terms of bandwidth and distance).
Using such collected information, the Placement Server 309 can determine which is the best virtual environment to allocate the IMS applications and Media Server based on the current users that are connected. In the example of
The decision regarding how to arrange the virtual environment and the selection of the best placement for the previously selected IMS elements can be based on several different parameters and properties including, without limitation, the following examples:
Following the example shown in
Thus, the example embodiments of the present invention provide a method and system that exploits information about a user (e.g. position and characteristics of user's equipment) available in the Presence Server, for implementing a more efficient virtual environment to allocate IMS applications based upon currently connected users. It is possible to improve the efficiency of the IMS network by providing and managing IMS services (e.g., gaming services) based upon IMS workload and the position of the users connected, exploiting information about user location and users' device capabilities (e.g. in terms of bandwidth and distance).
Alterations and modifications may be made to the above without departing from the scope of the invention. Naturally, in order to satisfy local and specific requirements, a person skilled in the art may apply to the solution described above many modifications and alterations. Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity with reference to preferred embodiment(s) thereof, it should be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details as well as other embodiments are possible. Moreover, it is expressly intended that specific elements and/or method steps described in connection with any disclosed embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other embodiment as a general matter of design choice.
For example, similar considerations apply if the computers have different structure or include equivalent units. It is possible to replace the computers with any code execution entity (such as a PDA, a mobile phone, and the like).
Similar considerations also apply if the program (which may be used to implement each embodiment of the invention) is structured in a different way, or if additional modules or functions are provided.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The one or more example embodiments of the present invention provide a number of advantages including, without limitation, the leveraging of information about a user (e.g. position and characteristics of user's equipment) available in the Presence Server, for implementing a more efficient virtual environment to allocate IMS applications based on currently connected users. The presence information dynamically optimizes the allocation of the IMS Service plane applications, and Media Servers are deployed in a virtual environment. In an example embodiment, the optimization will occur both in terms of number of users connected from the same zone and the best available communication bandwidth.
Although embodiments of the present invention have been demonstrated in detail as examples, it should be understood by a person skilled in the art that the above examples are only intended to be illustrative but not to limit the scope of the present invention. It should be understood by a person skilled in the art that the above embodiments can be modified without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the attached claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09176136.1 | Nov 2009 | FR | national |
