SIP based services and virtual home UMTS environment in the IST research project "FUTURE"

The integration of a terrestrial UMTS network with a satellite platform represents one of the most attractive proposals to develop a functional Virtual Home UMTS environment for a generic mobile user provided with an "ad-hoc" dual mode terminal, which will be able to exploit the two integrated systems (hereafter referred to as "segments") for a set of innovative multimedia services. At this purpose, the IST research project "FUTURE" (Functional UMTS Real Emulator) aims at studying and implementing an integrated Satellite and Terrestrial UMTS (S-UMTS, T-UMTS) demonstrator in order to develop new multimedia services provided "anywhere for everyone", targeting, at the same time, to an efficient exploitation of the satellite transmission capabilities. This paper deals with the implementation and the demonstration of new services, based on the adoption of the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), in the overall FUTURE scenario.