1

ICEBERG: An Architecture for

Multimodal, Multimedia Communications

Randy H. KatzUC Berkeley

ETH ZurichNovember 1999

http://iceberg.cs.berkeley.edu Cellular “Core” Network

Bridge to theFuture

S. S. 7

2

Outline

• Motivation• It’s all about Services• The ICEBERG Project• Summary and Conclusions

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Outline

• Motivation• It’s all about Services• The ICEBERG Project• Summary and Conclusions

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Mobile Telephone & Internet Users

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Source: Ericsson Radio Systems, Inc.

Mobile TelephoneUsers

Internet Users

Millions

Year

5

Data Dominates

02468

10121416

VoiceIP

United States Network Traffic Growth (gigabits, bn)

Source: Nortel in The Economist, 13 Mar 99

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Core Network BecomesData-Oriented

IP-Based WAN

Local Exch Local ExchPSTN

Local SwitchIWF + Router

Local SwitchIWF + Router

Voice TrafficConnection-Oriented

Data TrafficPacket-Oriented

Local Gateway Local GatewayCore NetworkAccessNetwork

AccessNetwork

Local ExchNet (LEC)

Local ExchNet (LEC)

InterexchangeNetwork (IXC)

Local Switch Local Switch

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IP-Based WAN

Packet-OrientedVoIP Gateway VoIP Gateway

Core NetworkAccessNetwork

AccessNetwork

Router Router

Core Network BecomesData-Oriented

• Appl-specific routing overlays, e.g., info dissemination • Routing infrastructure with DiffServ support• Service-level agreements spanning multiple ISPs• Services running on servers in the infrastructure

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Smart Appliances/Thin Clients

Qualcomm PDQ Phone

PDA

PCS

9

• Top Gun MediaBoard– Participates as a reliable

multicast client via proxy in wireline network

• Top Gun Wingman– “Thin” presentation layer in PDA

with full rendering engine in wireline proxy

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Critical Trends

• Multimedia / Voice over IP networks– Lower cost, more flexible packet-switching core network– Simultaneous support for delay sensitive and delay insensitive

flows via differentiated services• Intelligence shifts to the network edges

– Third-party functionality downloaded into Information Appliances like PalmPilots

• Programmable intelligence inside the network– Proxy servers intermixed with switching infrastructure– Mobile/extensible code, e.g., JAVA: “write once, run anywhere”– Rapid new service development– Speech-based services

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Outline

• Motivation• It’s all about Services• The ICEBERG Project• Summary and Conclusions

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The Future: Internet-basedOpen Services Architecture

“Today, the telecommunications sector is beginning to reshape itself, from a vertically to a horizontally structured industry. … [I]t used to be that new capabilities were driven primarily by the carriers. Now, they are beginning to be driven by the users. … There’s a universe of people out there who have a much better idea than we do of what key applications are, so why not give those folks the opportunity to realize them. … The smarts have to be buried in the ‘middleware’ of the network, but that is going to change as more-capable user equipment is distributed throughout the network. When it does, the economics of this industry may also change.”

George Heilmeier, Chairman Emeritus, Bellcore

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Policy-basedLocation-basedActivity-based

Speech-to-TextSpeech-to-Voice Attached-EmailCall-to-Pager/Email Notification

Email-to-SpeechAll compositions

of the above!

Universal In-box

Transparent Information Access

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RoomEntity

Text toCommand

ICSISpeech

RecognizerMicrophoneCell phone

A/V Devices

Response to Client

PathAudio Text Cmd

Composable Services• E.g., voice control of A/V devices in a “Smart Room”

– Multistage processing transformation– Strongly typed connectors– Service discovery service– Automated path generation

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Outline

• Motivation• It’s all about Services• The ICEBERG Project• Summary and Conclusions

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ICEBERG: Internet-based core for CEllular networks

BEyond the thiRd Generation • Motivation:

– People use a multitude of communication devices and networks:» Cell phones, PSTN, VoIP, E-mail, V-mail, fax, etc.» 3G cellular: UMTS/IMT2000» Wireless LANs: Bluetooth / HomeRF» Home Access Networks: DSL / Cable modem

– Access to real-time services embedded in diverse networks• Model: Person-to-Person and Person-to-Service

communication across diverse access networks– Not device to device!– Service handoff across devices and access networks

» Potentially Any Network Service (PANS)– Different coverage, bandwidth, latency, and cost characteristics

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ICEBERG Goals• Demonstrate ease of new service deployment

– Packet voice for computer-telephony integration– Speech- and location-enabled applications– Complete interoperation of speech, text, fax/image across the

PDAs, pads, pagers, phones (4 P’s)– Mobility and generalized routing redirection

• Demonstrate new service architecture supporting innovative applications

– Personal Information Management» Universal In-box: e-mail, news, fax, voice mail» Notification redirection: e.g., e-mail, pager

– Home networking and control of “smart” spaces, sensor/actuator integration

» Build on experience with A/V equipped rooms in Soda Hall

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Experimental Testbed

SimMillenniumNetwork

Infrastructure

GSM BTS

Millennium Cluster

Millennium Cluster

WLAN /Bluetooth

Pager

IBMWorkPad

CF788

MC-16

MotorolaPagewriter 2000

306 Soda326 Soda “Colab”

405 Soda

Velo

Smart SpacesPersonal Information Management

TCI @Home

H.323GW

Nino

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• Bases (1M’s)– scalable, highly available– persistent state (safe)– databases, agents– “home” base per user– service programmingenvironment

Wide-Area Path

• Active Proxies (100M’s)– not packet routers, may beactive networking nodes – bootstrap thin devices into infrastructure– soft-state and well-connected

NINJA Distributed Computing Platform

• Units (1B’s)– sensors / actuators– PDAs / smartphones / PCs– heterogeneous– Minimal functionality:

“Smart Clients”

Jinidevices

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ICEBERG Feature Set

• Potentially Any Network Services (PANS)– Any service can from any network by any device;

network/device independence in system design• Personal Mobility

– Person as communication endpoint with single identity• Service Mobility

– Retain services across networks • Easy Service Creation and Customization

– Allow callee control & filtering• Scalability, Availability, Fault Tolerance• Security, Authentication, Privacy

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ICEBERG Architectural Elements

• ICEBERG Access Point (IAP)– Encapsulates network specific gateway (control and data)

• ICEBERG Point of Presence (iPOP) – Performs detailed signaling

» Call Agent: per communication device per call party» Call Agent Dispatcher: deploy call agent

• Name Mapping Service– Mapping between iUID (Iceberg Unique ID) and service end point

• Preference Registry– Contains user profile: service subscription, configuration, customization

• Personal Activity Tracker (PAT)– Tracks dynamic information about user of interest

• Automatic Path Creation Service– Creates datapath among participants’ communications devices

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Transformation and Redirection

IP Core

PSTN

Pager

WLANCellularNetwork

H.323GW

GW

GW

GW

IAP

IAP

IAP

IAPIAPTransducerAgent

RedirectionAgent

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More Detailed View

Iceberg Network

PSTN GSM

PagerWaveLAN

GSM PSTN

IAP

IAP

IAP

IAP

IAP

IAPiPOP iPOP

iPOP iPOP

CalStanfordNaming Server

Preference RegistryPersonal Activity TrackerAPC Server

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iPOP administration domains

More Detailed View

PSTN GSM

PagerWaveLAN

GSM PSTN

IAP

IAP

IAP

IAP

IAP

iPOP

iPOP iPOP

iPOPIAP

Multicast tunnels

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ICEBERG Signaling System

• Signaling System– Distributed system w/agents communicating via signaling

protocol for call setup, routing, & control• ICEBERG Basic Call Service

– Communication of two or more call participants using any number of communication devices via any kind of media

– If call participant uses more than one devices, must be used synchronously

• Essential Approach– Loosely coupled, soft state-based signaling protocol

w/group communication– Call Session: a collection of call agents that communicate

with each other

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Signaling: Call Session Establishment

Name MappingService

Preference Registry

Alice Bob

Carol

IAP1

33 5

6

IAP78 9

1011

1314IAP 15

16

2Call Agent Dispatcher

Call Agent

iPOP

4Call Agent Dispatcher

Call Agent

iPOP

12Call Agent Dispatcher

Call Agent

iPOP

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Call Control and Call States

• Control– For established call session, alter/propagate call states.

Modify datapath correspondingly• States

– Call party identities, in-use devices in use & their call status, datapath information on active data streams

• Challenge– Reliable propagation of call state changes to call agents,

given highly dynamic call session environment• ICEBERG Approach

– Light Weight Sessions– IAP: network specific gateways maintain hard state– IAPs and iPOPs exchange heartbeats; loss triggers

recovery

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Light-Weight Call Session

Call Agent

Call AgentData Path

Table

Call Session

Auto PathCreation

Call State Table

Call Agent

Announce Announce

Listen Listen

Create/tear downdata path

Create/tear downdata path

Add orremove

path

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New ICEBERG Capabilty: Service Handoff

• Service handoff occurs when users switch communication devices in midst of call session

• Enables service mobility• Service handoff is:

– Generalized call transfer– Special case of conference call

» User uses one device to invite another device» Then hangs up the first device

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Service Handoff Scenario:Cell Phone to Laptop

CallerIAP

CalleeIAP

CallerIAP2

handoff fromcell phone to

VAT

Multicast Session

announceListen

announceListen

announceListen

Cell phoneturned off

Start new IAP

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Service Handoff Scenario

CallerIAP

CalleeIAP

CallerIAP2

handoff fromcell phone to

VAT

Multicast Session

announceListen

announceListen

Cell phoneturned off

Start new IAP

• Simple reliability scheme• IAP fault tolerant• Simultaneous service handoff• Multiparty calls trivial• Security through encryption

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New ICEBERG Capabilty: Policy-Based Redirection

Home Phone

Voice MailPager

Cell Phone Office Phone

Calls during business hours

Calls in theevening

AnonymousCalls

Friends & family calls

E-Mail

Importante-mail headers

E-mail accessvia phone

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Policy-Based RedirectionIF (9AM < hour < 5 PM)

THEN Preferred-End-Point = Office-Phone

IF (5 PM < hour < 11 PM) THEN Preferred-End-Point = Home-Phone

IF (11 PM < hour < 9 AM) THEN Preferred-End-Point = Voice-Mail

PersonalActivityTracker

Preference RegistryUser

PreferenceProfiles

OtherPersonal

StateCallee location

Callee state

Per Call Statee.g., Caller IDTime of Day

Caller End PointType

Callee’s PreferredEnd Point

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Preference User Interface

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Outline

• Motivation• It’s all about Services• The ICEBERG Project• Summary and Conclusions

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Implementation Status

• Much of architecture initially implemented– IAPs: GSM, PSTN (H.323), WaveLAN; Service handoff– iPOPs in Berkeley CS LAN: local area components for name

service, pref resolution, activity tracking• Areas under development:

– Wide-area APC for service composition and instantiation– Graphical capture/playback of user preference specs– Billing architecture– New services to test the architecture:

» Call completion on busy subscriber» Ninja jukebox to audio information appliance

• Evaluation– Critical metric is scalability, resistance to failure– Soft-state vs. hard-state performance tradeoffs

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Summary

BasesActiveProxies

UnitsNinja ExecutionEnvironment

Data PlaneOperators Connectors

Paths

ControlPlane

IAP

PAT

PRLS

APC

Pref Reg

Name S

vc

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Conclusions• Emerging Network-centric Distributed Architecture

spanning processing and access• Open, composable services architecture--the wide-

area “operating system” of the 21st Century• Beyond the desktop PC: information appliances

supported by infrastructure services--multicast real-time media plus proxies for any-to-any format translation and delivery to diverse devices

• Common network core: optimized for data, based on IP, enabling packetized voice, supporting user, terminal, and service mobility