Broadband Video Conference in an integrated IN/B-ISDN architecture

The current state of Broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) signalling, based on ATM technology is not sufficient for advanced multimedia applications where interaction and greater intelligence will be needed in the network. Future B-ISDN multimedia services will require additional capabilities for service selection, service provider selection, billing, to name just a few. With the move towards the liberalisation of the telecommunication market there are increasing demands on rapid services introduction in a multivendor service provisioning environment. As a result, an important issue facing network operators is how much of the service functionality and control should reside in the network and how much will be provided in a new generation of multimedia terminals or third-party service providers. The paper proposes an approach for the provisioning of Broadband Video Conference service in an intelligent broadband network offering the advantages of both IN and B-ISDN architectures. This approach is under development in the ACTS-INSIGNIA Project [1].