Provisioning routing information and control in each of these SIP elements is extremely expensive and error-prone. Enabling each element to make routing decisions also increases capital costs since additional hardware processing is required by each element.

Acme Packet OSR ecosystem members provide leading routing database products and services. These enable routing decisions for both the PSTN SS7/C7 and IP networks and include LNP, CNAM, LERG, E911, LCR, private and public ENUM and DNS. These databases are accessed via open, standards-based protocol interfaces - ENUM, SIP, DNS, XML. Dynamic, global and extremely large numbers of routing rules are best supported using the high-capacity database products and services from Acme Packet’s OSR ecosystem members. The Net-Net SR also can support static, localized routing decisions using provisioned policy rules and local route tables that can scale to a few million routes. These choices provide tremendous deployment flexibility and facilitate network evolution from small to large numbers of border points and from PSTN to IP network-focused connectivity.

 
Figure 1 - Acme Packet Open Session Routing architecture

Acme Packet Net-Net Session Router advantages
Acme Packet’s Net-Net SR is a high-performance session routing proxy (SRP) responsible for efficiently routing SIP-based interactive communication sessions—voice, video, instant messaging and multimedia—within and between networks. Acme Packet’s Net-Net Session Router features several significant technical advantages that maximize SIP routing performance, enable flexible deployment options, ensure non-stop service availability and minimize costs.

High-performance SIP routing
Net-Net SR configurations are supported on three hardware platforms—the 1RU Net-Net 4000 and 7 RU 9000 systems, and the Net-Net 4000 ATCA blade. Across these platforms, transaction-stateful routing performance scales to 5400 SIP message per second, stateless performance to 7500 messages per second. The ability of these platforms to scale to these performance levels reduces the number of session routing proxies required in a network, minimizing capital equipment and operating expenses.

Extensive routing control, flexible routing database deployment options
Leading routing database products and services from Acme Packet ecosystem members are accessed via open, standards-based protocol interfaces—ENUM, SIP, DNS, XML.  These databases enable routing decisions for both the PSTN SS7/C7 and IP networks and include LNP, CNAM, LERG, E911, LCR, private and public ENUM and DNS. Routing decisions may be made using simple or very sophisticated combinations of parameters. Standard routing parameters include any combination of incoming network, destination number/URI, source number/URI, time/day, cost, carrier preference and codec. Acme Packet’s powerful SIP header and parameter manipulation rules enable routing by any number/URI in the SIP header.

Routing database information may be centralized or distributed to each Net-Net SR. The Net-Net SR best supports static, localized routing decisions using locally provisioned policy rules and local route tables that can scale to 2 million routes. Dynamic, global and even larger numbers of routing rules are best supported using the high-capacity database products and services from Acme Packet’s OSR ecosystem members. These choices provide tremendous deployment flexibility and facilitate network evolution from small to large numbers of border points and from PSTN to IP network-focused connectivity.

Open, flexible and interoperable solution
From a IMS SIP signaling perspective, the Net-Net SR serves as the Breakout Gateway Control Function (BGCF). This function is responsible for selecting the optimum session border controller or softswitch/media gateway for sessions leaving a provider’s network, and the Serving Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF) for incoming sessions. For session security, the Net-Net SR offers hardware-accelerated, high-performance, high-capacity IPsec and TLS encryption of SIP signaling. Interworking of SIP transport and encryption protocols, and response codes is also supported. The Net-Net SR configuration is available on Acme Packet-designed systems as well as the Net-Net 4000 ATCA blade platform for wireless and wireline ATCA chassis integration.

Carrier-class high availability
The Net-Net SR can continuously check external routing database availability and utilize back-ups in the event of database server or network failure. Similarly, the Net-Net SR can check egress SBC and softswitch/media gateway availability and re-route if required. SIP transaction load balancing is also supported across multiple SIP signaling elements. The Net-Net SR also protects itself against malicious or non-malicious SIP DoS/DDoS attacks and overloads including mass calling events such as contest or entertainment televoting. In the event of Net-Net SR failure, SIP messaging transaction state is checkpointed between active and standby units to ensure uninterrupted service.

Cost-effective, compact solution
In comparison with session-stateful, softswitch-based approaches, the compact high-performance Net-Net SR platforms reduce capital and operational expenditures as service providers transition to and evolve their next generation networks.

About Acme Packet
Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT), the leader in session border control solutions, enables the delivery of trusted, first class interactive communications—voice, video and multimedia sessions—and data services across IP network borders. Our Net-Net family of session border controllers, multiservice security gateways and session routing proxies supports multiple applications in service provider, large enterprise and contact center networks—from VoIP trunking to hosted enterprise and residential services to fixed-mobile convergence. They satisfy critical security, service assurance and regulatory requirements in wireline, cable and wireless networks; and support multiple protocols—SIP, H.323, MGCP/NCS and H.248—and multiple border points—interconnect, access and data center. Our products have been selected by 500 customers in 85 countries, including 24 of the top 25, and 82 of the top 100 service providers in the world. For more information, contact us at +1 781.328.4400, or visit www.acmepacket.com.

Acme Packet Safe Harbor Statement
Statements contained herein that are not historical fact may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements may relate, among other things, to our position in the session border control market, our expected financial and operating results, our ability to build and grow Acme Packet, the benefits and expected deployments of our product, and our ability to achieve our goals, plans and objectives.  Such forward-looking statements do not constitute guarantees of future performance and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These include, but are not limited to: difficulties in growing our customer base, difficulties leveraging market opportunities, difficulties providing solutions that meet the needs of customers, poor product sales, long sales cycles, difficulty developing new products, difficulty in relationships with vendors and partners, higher risk in international operations, difficulty managing rapid growth, and increased competition.  Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially form those projected or suggested in any forward-looking statements are contained in our recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in such filings.