Service Delivery Platforms

Convergence between the two largest networks (Telecom and IP) is taking place very rapidly and at diff erent levels: (1) network level: unifi cation of IP networks with traditional Telecom networks through evolving standards (Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Realtime Transfer Protocol (RTP), SS7, 3G) to support interopera- bility; (2) service level: traditional Telecom services like voice calls are being provi- sioned on the IP backbone (VoIP), while traditional IP services (most data-driven services such as multimedia, browsing, chatting, gaming, etc.) are accessible over the Telecom network.