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Triple play, next-generation network services, value-added broadband services and managed enterprise services… Whatever name you give them, the vision for all of these starts with the ability to uniquely identify the user and dynamically set his or her session characteristics, based on application requirements. The reason for this is simple: the bandwidth as service model is not going to provide the service provider with a competitive position within the market--from both a revenue and customer acquisition perspective. Whether the goal is to accelerate the growth of broadband subscribers in the residential market or to migrate enterprise customers onto a converged IP/MPLS network, forward-thinking service providers understand that they must offer more than bandwidth to attract and retain new customers.

Their vision for the future is a service-rich environment that leverages a network infrastructure that dynamically responds to application and user requests, based on inherent knowledge of the applications requirements and user rights. This approach to next-generation services will enable the vision of high-definition IPTV, VoIP and data services to succeed in the residential community, while enabling business-ready voice, video and collaboration applications to be delivered with the correct levels of security, quality and availability to a highly mobile enterprise environment.

The most advanced service providers are taking the first step toward delivering on this vision and laying the foundation for the future of broadband and IP networks. Today, some of the first broadband and IP network services are being created that can inherently recognize the user, identify the application request and deliver a quality-enabled application experience in real time. This approach is often called application-driven quality of service, or ADQ.

The foundation for ADQ is an intelligent command and control layer--the policy control layer--that enables subscriber and application requests to be converted into network operations in real time. The result is an extensible network infrastructure that can deliver an assured application experience on a per subscriber basis.

The new policy control layer and its capabilities are the subject of much activity today within many standards bodies, from CableLabs to ETSI, 3GPP and the DSL Forum. All these groups have begun to define architectures that leverage a multi-tiered solution defining an intelligent control layer that mediates between the application and network layers. The goal of this new layer is to enable network resources to be intelligently controlled, based on business levels policies that drive application requests on behalf of the user. Simply stated, this new control layer enables the network to respond in real time to application, user, and back office requests, whether it is for a simple bandwidth increase or a complex reallocation of CoS settings across an MPLS access and backbone network.

This newly defined policy control capability is enabling the dynamic delivery of quality-enabled services with a level of security, control and availability that was previously unattainable. Moreover, this new infrastructure is accelerating the convergence of the many overlay networks onto one homogeneous IP network that has the ability to reduce operating costs while accelerating the introduction of new value-added services to residential and enterprise customers alike.

How is this being accomplished? By distributing responsibilities for critical decisions such as authentication and authorization, network resource capacity and application availability across the three layers, this next-generation network is able to act as a unified system--ecosystem--with a centralized command structure--the policy control Layer.

One of the main goals of this intelligent ecosystem is to define interfaces between system elements within its domain of control and to identify cross-domain integration points that will enable the acceleration of integration between wireline and wireless networks and services. It will also enable inter-carrier network resource controls that will provide true mobility services that can be delivered with the same levels of quality and security as if the user is in his home network environment.

Once this intelligent, real-time control infrastructure is in place, the foundation for the service-rich network services future that has been much discussed and prophesized by industry experts, leading providers and networking heavyweights alike will become possible. Moreover, by creating an open environment with well-defined interface points, service providers will be able to enlist an army of third-party application and service developers to accelerate the introduction of compelling services. Furthermore, this intelligent network will have the ability to dynamically respond to an ever-growing demand for the delivery of a personalized, secure and quality-enabled experience, regardless of access medium or location.

To validate this vision, one only has to look at the many proof points that exist in the market today. From the IPTV announcements to announced migration to an all-IP network, service providers have embarked on a path with the vision of creating an environment that delivers three critical elements for success:

• Accelerated speed to market--creating an environment that simplifies the introduction of new services, enables the reuse of existing components and provides standard interfaces to existing and new resources.
• Enhanced customer experience--offering a personalized, highly secure and quality-enabled environment that can be driven by the subscriber through a self-service customer environment, or simply by the initiation of an application.
• Reduced operations costs--leveraging policy-based process and service automation to remove the need for human intervention for the delivery of services, as well as enabling existing network assets to be leveraged to deliver new capabilities.

Service providers are at the early stages of delivering on this new service-rich world by implementing a policy control solution that enables the introduction of the three-tiered network architecture that defines the next-generation IP network. The policy control layer is the foundation that enables next-generation IP networks to dynamically respond to application and user requests with the correct levels of security, quality and availability on a per session basis--true application-driven quality of service.

Richard Cardone is Director of Marketing at Tazz Networks.

Visit Tazz Networks online.