Table of Contents:

Definition and Overview

1. Local Access Today

2. The Impact of Packet Voice

3. Challenges for Local Voice Service Providers

4. Introduction to Softswitch

5. Application of Softswitch to Local Telephony

6. Migration Path for Packet Voice in Local Telephony

7. Conclusion

Self-Test

Glossary

PDF of this tutorial

AIN
advanced intelligent network

API
application programming interface

ATM
asynchronous transfer mode

CAC
carrier access code

CAS
channel associated signaling

CFDA
call forward don’t answer

CLEC
competitive local exchange carrier

CO
central office

DID
direct inward dialing

DLC
digital loop carrier

DS–0
digital signal-level 0

DSL
digital subscriber line

HDSL
high–bit rate digital subscriber line

IAD
integrated access device

IETF
Internet Engineering Task Force

IMT
intermachine trunk

IP
Internet protocol

ISDN
integrated services digital network

ITU
International Telecommunications Union

LAPD
link access protocol for D-channels

LNP
local number portability

MG
media gateway

MGC
media gateway controller

MGCP
media gateway control protocol

MTP
message transfer part

PBX
private branch exchange

PIC
preferred interexchange carrier

PRI
primary rate interface

PSTN
public switched telephone network

QoS
quality of service

SCTP
simple control transmission protocol

SIP
session initiation protocol

SS7
signaling system 7

TCP
transmission control protocol

UDP
user datagram protocol

VoDSL
voice over digital subscriber line

VoIP
voice over Internet protocol

VPN
virtual private network

XML
extensible markup language