World IPv6 day has arrived, and as organizations offer their content over IPv6 for a 24-hour test flight, we hope to prepare the industry for a successful transition from the old to the new. On February 3rd, 2011, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) assigned the last IPv4 addresses, and as a result, the need for IPv6 is becoming a real requirement for service providers, government bodies, and enterprises alike. However what is not apparent is how applications like voice and video will utilize this next-generation IP and how we will ensure industry-wide interoperability.
A time of transformation
Until now, the tech industry has experienced successful transitions to newer technologies by providing a clear path to industrywide interoperability and certification standards, e.g. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED, CERTIFIED USB, Broadband Forum MPLS CERTIFIED, MEF Metro Ethernet Certified Services, etc. The value in this approach is apparent because it lowers the price for a given solution, helps prevent vendors from holding buyers hostage, and it builds a rich ecosystem of multi-vendor collaboration. Hence IPv4 Internet provides a massive global fabric, rich with a rainbow of applications and heterogeneity. Now imagine it all going away unless we can make IPv6 just as rich as its predecessor.
Challenges ahead
One potential challenge is with Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C), and more specifically how UC&C technologies will utilize IPv6. One scenario that poses a challenge is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). The much-ballyhooed "war" between H.323 and SIP is nearly at an end, and while there have been tremendous advancements in SIP standardization, vendor support for SIP over IPv6 (SIPv6) is in its early stages (with an industry-wide certification program for SIPv6 still pending). As a result, end users cannot rely upon guaranteed, seamless plug-and-play operation between systems for audio and video.
While the IETF considers the work of SIP over IPv6 largely done with the publication of its IPv6 Augmented Backus-Naur Form (ABNF) and IPv6 transition documents, in practice there is still a disconnect. For example the Real-Time Communication in WEB-browsers (RTCWEB) architecture supports Internet Connectivity Establishment (ICE--RFC 5245) while several existing SIP implementations still use Alternative Network Address Types (ANAT). From an IETF perspective, ICE is the current IPv4/IPv6 RFC address selection standard, but many UC&C vendors still implement ANAT, which is the older deprecated IPv4/IPv6 network selection mechanism (RFC 4901/4902). Network selection and candidate flexibility is one the most important design aspects of IPv4/IPv6 application internetworking.
SIPv6 has a rich array of implementation possibilities but this leaves many vendors disjointed, with the onus of deploying heterogeneous solutions left to our customers.
Unlike the network layer protocols of IPv6, SIP is very dependent on a larger set of ecosystem services for end-to-end communication and collaboration. Dependencies such as name services, certificate authority, register services, proxy services, SIP trunking service providers and gateways all play a critical role in the end-to-end experience. To date, creating a heterogeneous UC&C solution over IPv6 is a very black-art process with few implementations.
Here are a few observations:
* Making UC&C and its rich ecosystem of solutions work over IPv6 will likely be expensive and require extensive work. It's no wonder that IPv6 didn't take off sooner. How can we expect the new IPv6 Internet to be ubiquitous when we expect customers to finance heterogeneous deployment experiments on interoperability?
* There are issues with respect to testing over IPv6. These include issues with obtaining native IPv6 connectivity, latency issues on tunnel brokers that affect voice, etc.
* Carriers plan to deliver IPv6 services in 2012 but are largely dependent on vendors to first deliver SIPv6 capable equipment in 2011. Carrier dependence on vendor support for IPv6 is a pre-requisite for any kind of service offerings.
* While there is a SIPv6 profile defined by the United States Department of Defense, or being defined by other forums, most vendors don’t have an industry-defined way to validate their products via an industry-wide interoperability certification program.
The Unified Communications Interoperability Forum
This is where the Unified Communication Interoperability Forum (UCI Forum) comes in. The UCI Forum is currently investigating a certification program that would allow vendors from every aspect of UC&C to SIPv6-certify their solutions. This would benefit both vendors and customers because vendors could pass the SIPv6 certification requirements more quickly and cost-effectively, thereby delivering solutions to market in a timelier manner.
How would the UCI Forum initiative impact the industry? Well let's fast forward to a day when UC&C over IPv6 interoperability is defined. A vendor would simply plug its product(s) into a virtualized, cloud-like and always-on service and select from a set of SIPv6 industry defined interoperability tests. Any test(s) that fail could quickly be fixed, and another regression could run iteratively. That would eliminate guesswork, the need to attend "plug fests", or in-person testing, all of which are costly and time-consuming.
Solution at hand
In conclusion, what is needed is an online SIPv6 interoperability network, allowing for easy and inexpensive vendor implementation testing over IPv6. In other words, an online test suite that enables vendors to test their products at any time. Given the dramatic upsurge in interest in IPv6, the above needs to be delivered soon so as to enable the industry to achieve a decent degree of interoperability before SIPv6 implementations ship en masse.
It's been proven time and again that interoperability is one of the key paths to success. It keeps things simple, makes end-to-end solutions work together seamlessly, and creates a rich ecosystem of best-of-breed products. The end result is lowered total cost of Ownership (TCO) for our customers. Isn't it time that we take SIPv6 to the same level?
Pascal Menezes has been working in the internetworking industry for the past 25 years and is currently at Microsoft Lync in a program management role. He is the pro-tem chair for the UCI Forum Voice Study Group (VSG) and has participated in many other forums in various leadership roles. Pascal can be reached at [email protected]
Robin Raulf-Sager serves as director of communications for RADVISION Americas and also oversees marketing efforts for the UCI Forum. She has led global high-tech corporate communications programs for more than 10 years and is passionate about unified communications and collaboration. Robin can be reached at [email protected]. Jamie Stark looks after voice, networking and interoperability for Microsoft Lync. Just like how we were all promised jetpacks, Jamie thought we would all have IPv6 by now...in the meantime he tweets at @nomorephones. Jamie can be reached at [email protected][email protected]
Robin Raulf-Sager serves as director of communications for RADVISION Americas and also oversees marketing efforts for the UCI Forum. She has led global high-tech corporate communications programs for more than 10 years and is passionate about unified communications and collaboration. Robin can be reached at [email protected].
Jamie Stark looks after voice, networking and interoperability for Microsoft Lync. Just like how we were all promised jetpacks, Jamie thought we would all have IPv6 by now...in the meantime he tweets at @nomorephones. Jamie can be reached at [email protected][email protected]
