Service architecture evolution for global networking

Public-switched networks rapid changes undergoing customer demands and technological breakthroughs. The end customers are requesting more services, much shorter time-to-market for service applications, more control, and more customization of service features. Coincidentally, the rapid advances in computing and information-based technologies have added new dimensions of sophistication to the public-switched network infrastructure. Network providers are deploying fault-tolerant, higher-capacity and faster computing platforms to provide the needed network resources. In addition, these platforms have software architectures more amenable to service creation and modularization. Network infrastructure that support integrated switching, transmission and operations functionalities are also emerging.<>