Motivation

Distributed service networking (DSN) can greatly facilitate the provision of current NGN services and new services by using distributed technology.

Distributed services networking (DSN) has the potential of providing operators with reduced CAPEX/OPEX, improved scalability/ubiquity, self organization/maintenance and fault tolerance capabilities compared to traditional centralized information and communication processes used in current networks.

This Question will consider how an innovative services architecture, framework and environment deploying distributed computing and networking technology could make the evolving NGN more flexible, reliable and extensible.

Distributed technology such as peer to peer (P2P) and mesh technology may be used in managed peer to peer (MP2P) networks to create an overlay network which has an ability to share resources between different nodes and links within a managed network deployment. These networks should have the advantages of self-configuring, self-managing, and self-healing and should result in the provision of service with better performance and lower cost.

Question

Study items to be considered include, but are not limited to:

• What new service and functional requirements should be supported by a distributed services network?
• What architectural framework will a distributed services network have?
  • Distributed service control functions
  • Distributed transport control function including resource control and access network control
  • Distributed access transport functions
  • New functions introduced by distributed technologies and features may be needed
• Impact of the distributed technologies to NGN
• Will DSN impact the provision of public interest services, e.g. emergency telecommunications?
• How can DSN provide a controllable and manageable network?
• How should interoperability issues between distributed services networks and current networks be handled?
• What enhancements to existing Recommendations are required to provide energy savings directly or indirectly in information and communication technologies (ICTs) or in other industries? What enhancements to developing or new Recommendations are required to provide such energy savings?

Tasks

Tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Explore distributed services networking in the context of the questions above.
• Develop proposals, e.g. new Questions or proposed draft Recommendations, based on the study of distributed services networking. Documents produced under this Question will generally progress through, or in coordination with, other related Questions.

Relationships

Recommendations: Y-series

Questions: All NGN and network related Questions

Study groups: ITU-T study groups concerned with NGN aspects

Standardization bodies, fora and consortia:

• ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 6
• 3GPP
• IETF
• IEEE