NNI Task Force Publishes Interconnect Profile for Comments

The IP-Network to Network Interface (NNI) Joint Task Force is a cooperative effort between the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and the SIP Forum. This task force has completed a proposed profile for SIP-based Service Provider to Service Provider IP Interconnection.

One of the critical obstacles that has prevented the full potential of Voiceover IP (VoIP) communications has been the conversion of VoIP communication to Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) technology when calls are interconnected from one service provider to another. Lack of a standard interconnect technique has been one of the factors that has prevented ubiquitous SIP interconnection among service providers. Adoption of the new proposed profile is a major step toward realizing high definition voice calls, video calls and lower costs for telecom services.

The proposed profile includes two documents now available for public comment.

1. IP Interconnection Profile. The IP-NNI Profile Specification defines a reference architecture and specifications for both the protocol and media as it appears "on-the-wire" at interconnect points. The specifications reference commonly used IETF, 3GPP, and other related industry specifications and identify protocol extensions and capability information needed for all-IP telephony peering.
2. IP Interconnection Routing Report. The IP-NNI Routing Technical Report documents mechanisms for identifying the preferred IP interconnection point for a given telephone number (TN). This report presents multiple views of current IP interconnection mechanisms based on aggregate PSTN constructs andinterim solutions based on all-IP routing using a per-TN registry. The also includes hybrid approaches across both mechanisms during the transition to all-IP telecommunications network.