Virtual IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Network

If you’ve deployed LTE networks, you want to capitalize and monetize the investment. Offering new services like VoLTE can help open new market opportunities and increase revenue streams. However, as subscriber growth and demands for network capacity increase, you also need to build out your network to rapidly create, launch, and scale new services. A core component of deploying VoLTE services in an LTE network is the IMS network, where SIP and Diameter signaling elements must be scaled out.

Migrating your network to NFV and virtualizing the IMS network will reduce complexity and costs while providing a scalable solution that allows you to spin up and spin down services based on customer and network requirements.

F5 virtual signaling solutions, including the Traffix Signaling Delivery Controller (SDC), which incorporates the virtual Diameter Routing Agent (vDRA) and virtual Diameter Edge Agent (vDEA), can be deployed to address scaling in network signaling and control planes. With SDC, you can ensure a high quality of experience (QoE) for services such as VoLTE that are running over an IMS network.

The vDRA provides a context-aware routing engine that manages Diameter signaling to ensure high performance and reliability in the control plane. The vDRA also supports LTE network roaming, policy and charging rules, and enforcement. It also interconnects legacy and LTE network use cases.

The vDEA provides tighter security and normalized functionality in LTE roaming, allowing IPX carriers to provide security for traffic from other mobile network operators (MNOs) and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). The vDEA can also be located at the edge of the network to protect against unexpected signaling surges that can disrupt service.

F5’s virtual Application Delivery Controller (vADC) provides scalability for SIP services within an IMS architecture. The vADC handles SIP traffic and ensures service availability by continuously monitoring SIP servers and applications and managing sessions between servers. The vADC also provides SIP security and protects IMS networks from DoS and DDoS attacks, stealth floods, and botnets, as well as malformed or unroutable SIP requests.

• Quickly introduce and deploy new network services.
• Reduce CapEx and OpEx for delivery of services on customer premises.
• Achieve end-to-end service automation and orchestration.
• Dynamically spin up and spin down services.
• Improve customer satisfaction and retention.