Session border controller

Acme Packet Net-Net session border controllers (SBCs) provide critical control functions to allow mobile service providers to deliver trusted, first-class interactive communications across IP network borders. A broad range of 3G (CDMA and UMTS) and 4G (LTE and WiMAX) services and applications are supported ranging from basic VoIP to any IMS enabled service—voice, interactive video, video share, presence, instant messaging, IPTV, video on demand, RCS, IPX, and femtocell and WiFi-enabled fixed-mobile convergence.

A “session" is any real-time voice, video, presence, instant messaging or multimedia collaboration session using IP session-layer signaling protocols, such as SIP. The "border" is any IP-IP network border and the "control" functions satisfy critical mobile service provider requirements in five major areas:

  • Security—A Net-Net SBC secures the mobile subscriber access border and the interconnect/peering border. They protect themselves and other elements of the service delivery infrastructure from malicious denial-of-service (DoS/DDoS) attacks and non-malicious overloads. They protect mobile subscriber endpoints and privacy.
  • Service reach maximization—The SIP interworking capabilities of a Net-Net SBC ensure interoperability with-and-between SIP subscriber endpoints and femtocells, MSCs, mobile softswitches, IMS CSCF elements, application servers, media servers, media gateways and SBCs in peering networks. They enable sessions to traverse IPv4 and IPv6 networks, public and private networks using overlapping IP addresses, and virtual private networks. Net-Net SBCs mediate between different signaling, transport and encryption protocols, converting between incompatible codecs, and translating signaling-layer telephone numbers, addresses and response codes.
  • SLA assurance—A Net-Net SBC plays a critical role in assuring session capacity and quality. It performs admission control using local policies and/or external policy servers to ensure that both the network and service infrastructure has the capacity to support a session with high quality. SBCs also control IP network transport, and monitor and report actual session quality to determine compliance with performance specifications set forth in service level agreements between service providers.
  • Regulatory compliance—Government-mandated regulations worldwide, including national emergency services such as E911, national security emergency preparedness services such as Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) and lawful intercept such as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) in the United States are supported by Net-Net SBCs.
  • Cost and revenue management—A Net-Net SBC helps service providers control costs and increase revenues with options for integrating many IMS functions, by routing sessions optimally to minimize costs, by providing accounting and related mechanisms to maximize billable sessions, and by protecting against both bandwidth and quality of service theft.

Our Net-Net OS software can be configured to create several different types of border control solutions. Acme Packet SBCs may be configured to control signaling and media control in a single system (integrated SBC), or to control only signaling or media (decomposed SBC). Net-Net SDs support many IMS functions. Access SBC functions include P-CSCF, E-CSCF, I/S-CSCF-equivalent functions via Net-Net SMX, signaling firewall (SF), and IMS-AGW. ATCF and ATGW functions, as part of the access SBC, provide seamless call continuity and call handover between LTE and circuit mobile networks. The BGCF for core session routing can also be incorporated into a single SBC system. Interconnect SBC functions include I-BCF, IWF and I-BGF/TrGW.

Our SBC configurations for mobile service providers are supported on a family of hardware platforms — the Net-Net 3820, 4500, 9200 and 14000. This family delivers the highest levels and broadest range of signaling performance and media capacity. In addition, our Net-Net Session-aware Load Balancer (SLB) is used with Net-Net Session Director SBCs to create a Net-Net cluster supporting two million subscribers from a single SIP IP address. All Net-Net products support carrier-class high-availability (HA) operation.