IMS Evolution and IMS Test-Bed Service Platforms

The paper presents the future trends in network evolution and multimedia services provision and delivery. In the context of Next Generation Networks vision, Mobile and Fixed access networks converge over the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) platform that will control the delivery of user-centric secure broadband quad-play services. The IMS has been well defined for the mobile world; however its integration with fixed line networks requires extended functionalities in the architecture, application and security planes. This study is concerned with the research efforts for extending IMS in order to become the common control architecture that will support the convergence of heterogeneous networks and the integration of quad-play services. Furthermore, the most up-to-date open source code IMS platforms and testing scenarios are presented.