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Acme Packet and CounterPathA Solution for Over-The-Top (OTT) Service Delivery

The significant growth and uptake in IP telephony and SIP trunking has been accompanied by equally impressive uptake in the use of the Internet for real-time communications services, otherwise known as over-the-top (OTT) services, not surprising given that over 50% of mobile subscribers now use smartphones1 and that number is expected to grow to 80% in the U.S. alone by the end of 20142. The number of OTT services has also grown by an order of magnitude in recent times, but statistics on Skype usage alone tell a compelling story that traditional service providers can no longer ignore:

•Upto40millionconcurrentSkypeconnections3 •InternationalSkype-to-Skypecallvolumein2012equatedtojustover33%

of the 438 billion minutes of international PSTN traffic seen in 20114 •Skypeisthefourthmost-downloadedfreeappofalltimeforboththe

iPhone and iPad5

In spite of these impressive numbers, fundamental issues, both technical and business-related, remain for OTT communications. Technical issues include security, interoperability and service quality. Issues that are business-related include regulatory compliance, end user support and network consolidation. In the end, executive decision makers realize that these issues must be overcome in order to maximize return on investment (ROI) from OTT services. Otherwise these new services and applications could quickly spiral on a downwards path to unprofitability and eventual cancellation.

With over twenty years of combined experience in IP voice, multimedia and real-time communications, Acme Packet and CounterPath firmly understand these problems and are partnering to deliver a solution that solves the majorunderliningchallengesinsupportingsecure,high-qualityreal-timecommunications over the Internet for mobile subscribers, remote workers and even enterprises who support bring-your-own device (BYOD) for an increasingly mobile workplace.

1 Nielsen, July 20122 Business Insider, January 20133 Skype, Inc., The Big Blog, April 20124 TeleGeography, January 20125 The Huffington Post, March 6th, 2012

Background

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Acme Packet and CounterPathA Solution for OTT Service Delivery

The Acme Packet/CounterPath solution is based on new product innovations from Acme Packet, including a new Net-Net Operating Software (Net-Net OS) function called Tunneled Services Control Function (TSCF), and a set of client libraries for mobile operating systems that integrate with CounterPath’s Bria™ smartphone app. The solution allows tunnel-enabled Bria clients to easily traverse firewalls and NATs and deliver very high service quality real-time communications, even in lossy network environments. And unlike proprietary OTT solutions, this solution does not require the use of proprietary codecs, supports standard signaling and media flows through the secure tunnels and can automatically determine which security method, Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS), is most appropriate for the given network environment.

The solution solves a number of technical challenges commonly encountered in OTT services:

1. NAT and firewall traversal issues that cannot be solved by technologies like ICE, TURN and STUN2. Unpredictable or inconsistent voice quality over networks designed for “best effort” delivery 3. Dropped calls when roaming between 3G/4G and Wi-Fi networks4. End to end security, including the protection and optimization of service delivery infrastructure normally delivered by session border controllers5. Lack of compliance with government regulations (E-911, CALEA, etc.) that protect the public but are not supported by existing OTT services6. Integration with existing services and applications based on IPPBX and unified communications (UC)

As shown in the diagram, the solution is invoked when the CounterPath Bria client places a call, at which point a TSCF-compliant “tunnel,” actually an encrypted (TLS or DTLS) connection, is initiated towards the TSCF server, in this case an Acme Packet Net-Net SBC. SIP, RTP and other real-time communications protocol messages and media are then securely and reliably tunneled through this connection to and from the SBC. The SBC/TSCF terminates the encrypted connection, at which point the SBC applies its usual controls to the now unencrypted traffic and forwards the sessions to mobile core elements responsible for connecting the caller with the called party (or parties). Once the call is established with active bidirectional media,

Solution Overview

Acme Packet / CounterPath OTT Solution

PA R T N E R B R I E F

Acme Packet and CounterPathA Solution for OTT Service Delivery

the SBC asserts controls over the active signaling and media traffic while continuing to maintain the tunnel with the Bria client. While the call is active, the Bria client maintains a single service-wide identity even while roaming between Wi-Fi data and 3G/4G mobile data networks. Once the call is disconnected, the tunnel is torn down as well. The solution is capable of simultaneously maintaining tens of thousands of these connections and communications sessions.

The TSCF-enabled SBC is the Net-Net Session Director-4500 (SD-4500) equipped with an Enhanced Traffic Control (ETC) network interface unit (NIU). The ETC NIU features 4 X 1 Gbps Ethernet connectivity and high-capacity hardware-accelerated encryption capable of supporting up to 200,000 tunnels simultaneously. The NEBS certified SD-4500 offers carrier-class high availability and delivers optimal signaling performance and session capacity in an efficient 1RU form factor. The service-enabling TSCF operates within Net-Net OS as the server side of the solution, responsible for tunnel creation and control. On the client side, CounterPath, a leading mobile VoIP application developer, has integrated the Acme Packet client libraries to make their Bria softphone app tunnel-compatible with the TSCF. Bria is a carrier-grade next generation softphone that easily and efficiently manages real-time communications including VoIP and video calling over IP, presence, instant messaging (IM) and file transfer.

Built on SIP and open standards, Bria is interoperable with many of the industry’s standard platforms and devices. It also includes features specifically designed for business and enterprise users and can be deployed within an enterprise environment either by manual configuration via the softphone Graphical User Interface (GUI) or by using a provisioning server. The final solution component is CounterPath’s Client Configuration Server (CCS), a carrier-grade platform specifically designed for service operators who have or intend to deploy softphone end-points. CCS enables enterprises and service providers to deploy their own CCS solution, a critical requirement in any softphone or SIP endpoint deployment.

The CCS automatically applies the proper configuration to an end user’s softphone device, performs configuration updates over time and upgrades client softphone software. The CCS platform also delivers the reliability and scalability required for the combined Acme Packet/CounterPath solution.

Solution Components

Acme Packet Net-Net SD-4500

TSCF-compliant CounterPath Bria

CounterPath Client Configuration Server

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Acme Packet and CounterPathA Solution for OTT Service Delivery

© 2013 Acme Packet, Inc. All rights reserved. Acme Packet, Session-Aware Networking, Net-Net and related marks are trademarks of Acme Packet. All other brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.ThecontentinthisdocumentisforinformationalpurposesonlyandissubjecttochangebyAcmePacket without notice. While reasonable efforts have been made in the preparation of this publication to assure its accuracy, Acme Packet assumes no liability resulting from technical or editorial errors or omissions, or for any damages resulting from the use of this information. Unless specifically included in a written agreement with Acme Packet, Acme Packet has no obligation to develop or deliver any future release or upgrade or any feature, enhancement or function.

100 Crosby DriveBedford, MA 01730 USAt +1 781.328.4400f +1 781.275.8800www.acmepacket.com03/04/13