Each of the functions in the diagram is explained below. The IP multimedia core network subsystem is a collection of different functions, linked by standardized interfaces, which grouped form one IMS administrative network. A function is not a node (hardware box): An implementer is free to combine two functions in one node, or to split a single function into two or more nodes. Each node can also be present multiple times in a single network, for dimensioning, load balancing or organizational issues.
Access network The user can connect to IMS in various ways, most of which use the standard IP. IMS terminals (such as
mobile phones,
personal digital assistants (PDAs) and computers) can register directly on IMS, even when they are
roaming in another network or country (the visited network). The only requirement is that they can use IP and run SIP user agents. Fixed access (e.g.,
digital subscriber line (DSL),
cable modems,
Ethernet,
FTTx), mobile access (e.g.
5G NR,
LTE,
W-CDMA,
CDMA2000,
GSM,
GPRS) and wireless access (e.g.,
WLAN,
WiMAX) are all supported. Other phone systems like
plain old telephone service (POTS—the old analogue telephones),
H.323 and non IMS-compatible systems, are supported through
gateways.
Core network HSS – Home subscriber server: The
home subscriber server (HSS), or
user profile server function (UPSF), is a master user database that supports the IMS network entities that actually handle
calls. It contains the subscription-related information (subscriber
profiles), performs
authentication and
authorization of the user, and can provide information about the subscriber's location and IP information. It is similar to the GSM
home location register (HLR) and
Authentication centre (AuC). A
subscriber location function (SLF) is needed to map user addresses when multiple HSSs are used.
User identities: Various identities may be associated with IMS: IP multimedia private identity (IMPI), IP multimedia public identity (IMPU), globally routable user agent URI (GRUU), wildcarded public user identity. Both IMPI and IMPU are not phone numbers or other series of digits, but
uniform resource identifier (URIs), that can be digits (a Tel URI, such as
tel:+1-555-123-4567) or alphanumeric identifiers (a SIP URI, such as
sip:john.doe@example.com ).
IP Multimedia Private Identity: The
IP Multimedia Private Identity (IMPI) is a unique permanently allocated global identity assigned by the home network operator. It has the form of a Network Access Identifier(NAI) i.e. user.name@domain, and is used, for example, for Registration, Authorization, Administration, and Accounting purposes. Every IMS user shall have one IMPI.
IP Multimedia Public Identity: The
IP Multimedia Public Identity (IMPU) is used by any user for requesting communications to other users (e.g. this might be included on a
business card). Also known as Address of Record (AOR). There can be multiple IMPU per IMPI. The IMPU can also be shared with another phone, so that both can be reached with the same identity (for example, a single phone-number for an entire family).
Globally Routable User Agent URI: Globally Routable User Agent URI (GRUU) is an identity that identifies a unique combination of IMPU and
UE instance. There are two types of GRUU: Public-GRUU (P-GRUU) and Temporary GRUU (T-GRUU). • P-GRUU reveal the IMPU and are very long lived. • T-GRUU do not reveal the IMPU and are valid until the contact is explicitly de-registered or the current registration expires
Wildcarded Public User Identity: A
wildcarded Public User Identity expresses a set of IMPU grouped together. The HSS subscriber database contains the IMPU, IMPI,
IMSI,
MSISDN, subscriber service profiles, service triggers, and other information.
Call Session Control Function (CSCF) Several roles of SIP servers or proxies, collectively called Call Session Control Function (CSCF), are used to process SIP signaling packets in the IMS. • A
Proxy-CSCF (P-CSCF) is a
SIP proxy that is the first point of contact for the IMS terminal. It can be located either in the visited network (in full IMS networks) or in the home network (when the visited network is not IMS compliant yet). Some networks may use a
Session Border Controller (SBC) for this function. The P-CSCF is at its core a specialized SBC for the
User–network interface which not only protects the network, but also the IMS terminal. The use of an additional SBC between the IMS terminal and the P-CSCF is unnecessary and infeasible due to the signaling being encrypted on this leg. The terminal discovers its P-CSCF with either
DHCP, or it may be configured (e.g. during initial provisioning or via a 3GPP IMS Management Object (MO)) or in the
ISIM or assigned in the
PDP Context (in
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)). • It is assigned to an IMS terminal before registration, and does not change for the duration of the registration. • It sits on the path of all signaling, and can inspect every signal; the IMS terminal must ignore any other unencrypted signaling. • It provides subscriber authentication and may establish an
IPsec or
TLS security association with the IMS terminal. This prevents
spoofing attacks and
replay attacks and protects the privacy of the subscriber. • It inspects the signaling and ensures that the IMS terminals do not misbehave (e.g. change normal signaling routes, disobey home network's routing policy). • It can compress and decompress SIP messages using
SigComp, which reduces the round-trip over slow radio links. • It may include a Policy Decision Function (PDF), which authorizes media plane resources e.g.,
quality of service (QoS) over the media plane. It is used for policy control, bandwidth management, etc. The PDF can also be a separate function. • It also generates charging records. • An
Interrogating-CSCF (I-CSCF) is another SIP function located at the edge of an administrative domain. Its IP address is published in the
Domain Name System (DNS) of the domain (using
NAPTR and
SRV type of DNS records), so that remote servers can find it, and use it as a forwarding point (e.g., registering) for SIP packets to this domain. • it queries the HSS to retrieve the address of the S-CSCF and assign it to a user performing SIP registration • it also forwards SIP request or response to the S-CSCF • Up to Release 6 it can also be used to hide the internal network from the outside world (encrypting parts of the SIP message), in which case it's called a
Topology Hiding Inter-network Gateway (THIG). From Release 7 onwards this "entry point" function is removed from the I-CSCF and is now part of the
Interconnection Border Control Function (IBCF). The IBCF is used as gateway to external networks, and provides
NAT and
firewall functions (
pinholing). The IBCF is a
session border controller specialized for the
network-to-network interface (NNI). • A
Serving-CSCF (S-CSCF) is the central node of the signaling plane. It is a SIP server, but performs session control too. It is always located in the home network. It uses Diameter Cx and Dx interfaces to the HSS to download user profiles and upload user-to-S-CSCF associations (the user profile is only cached locally for processing reasons and is not changed). All necessary subscriber profile information is loaded from the HSS. • it handles SIP registrations, which allows it to bind the user location (e.g., the
IP address of the terminal) and the SIP address • it sits on the path of all signaling messages of the locally registered users, and can inspect every message • it decides to which application server(s) the SIP message will be forwarded, in order to provide their services • it provides routing services, typically using
Electronic Numbering (ENUM) lookups • it enforces the policy of the network operator • there can be multiple S-CSCFs in the network for
load distribution and
high availability reasons. It's the HSS that assigns the S-CSCF to a user, when it's queried by the I-CSCF. There are multiple options for this purpose, including a mandatory/optional capabilities to be matched between subscribers and S-CSCFs.
Application servers SIP
Application servers (AS) host and execute
services, and interface with the S-CSCF using SIP. An example of an application server that is being developed in 3GPP is the
Voice call continuity Function (VCC Server). Depending on the actual service, the AS can operate in SIP proxy mode, SIP UA (
user agent) mode or SIP
B2BUA mode. An AS can be located in the home network or in an external third-party network. If located in the home network, it can query the HSS with the Diameter Sh or Si interfaces (for a SIP-AS). • SIP AS: Host and execute IMS specific services •
IP Multimedia Service Switching Function (IM-SSF): Interfaces SIP to
CAP to communicate with
CAMEL Application Servers •
OSA service capability server (OSA SCS): Interfaces SIP to the OSA framework;
Functional model The AS-ILCM (Application Server - Incoming Leg Control Model) and AS-OLCM (Application Server - Outgoing Leg Control Model) store transaction state, and may optionally store session state depending on the specific service being executed. The AS-ILCM interfaces to the S-CSCF (ILCM) for an incoming leg and the AS-OLCM interfaces to the S-CSCF (OLCM) for an outgoing leg. Application Logic provides the service(s) and interacts between the AS-ILCM and AS-OLCM.
Public Service Identity Public Service Identities (PSI) are identities that identify services, which are hosted by application servers. As user identities, PSI takes the form of either a SIP or Tel URI. PSIs are stored in the HSS either as a distinct PSI or as a wildcarded PSI: • a distinct PSI contains the PSI that is used in routing • a wildcarded PSI represents a collection of PSIs.
Media servers The
Media Resource Function (MRF) provides media related functions such as
media manipulation (e.g. voice stream mixing) and playing of tones and announcements. Each MRF is further divided into a
media resource function controller (MRFC) and a
media resource function processor (MRFP). • The MRFC is a signalling plane node that interprets information coming from an AS and S-CSCF to control the MRFP • The MRFP is a media plane node used to mix, source or process media streams. It can also manage access right to shared resources. The
Media Resource Broker (MRB) is a functional entity that is responsible for both collection of appropriate published MRF information and supplying of appropriate MRF information to consuming entities such as the AS. MRB can be used in two modes: • Query mode: AS queries the MRB for media and sets up the call using the response of MRB • In-Line Mode: AS sends a SIP INVITE to the MRB. The MRB sets up the call
Breakout gateway A
Breakout Gateway Control Function (BGCF) is a SIP proxy which processes requests for routing from an S-CSCF when the S-CSCF has determined that the session cannot be routed using DNS or ENUM/DNS. It includes routing functionality based on telephone numbers.
PSTN gateways A PSTN/CS gateway interfaces with
PSTN circuit switched (CS) networks. For signalling, CS networks use
ISDN User Part (ISUP) (or
BICC) over
Message Transfer Part (MTP), while IMS uses SIP over IP. For media, CS networks use
Pulse-code modulation (PCM), while IMS uses
Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP). • A signalling gateway (SGW) interfaces with the signalling plane of the CS. It transforms lower layer protocols as
Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP, an IP protocol) into
Message Transfer Part (MTP, a
Signalling System 7 (SS7) protocol), to pass
ISDN User Part (ISUP) from the MGCF to the CS network. The SGW does call control protocol conversion between SIP and ISUP/BICC under the control of the MGCF. • A
media gateway controller function (MGCF) is a SIP endpoint that interfaces with the SGW over SCTP. It also controls the resources in a
Media Gateway (MGW) across an
H.248 interface. • A
media gateway (MGW) interfaces with the media plane of the CS network, by converting between
RTP and
PCM. It can also transcode when the
codecs don't match (e.g., IMS might use
AMR, PSTN might use
G.711).
Media resources Media Resources are those components that operate on the media plane and are under the control of IMS core functions. Specifically,
Media Server (MS) and
Media gateway (MGW)
NGN interconnection There are two types of
next-generation networking interconnection: •
Service-oriented interconnection (SoIx): The physical and logical linking of NGN domains that allows carriers and service providers to offer services over NGN (i.e., IMS and PES) platforms with control, signalling (i.e., session based), which provides defined levels of interoperability. For instance, this is the case of "carrier grade" voice and/or multimedia services over IP interconnection. "Defined levels of interoperability" are dependent upon the service or the QoS or the Security, etc. •
Connectivity-oriented interconnection (CoIx): The physical and logical linking of carriers and service providers based on simple IP connectivity irrespective of the levels of interoperability. For example, an IP interconnection of this type is not aware of the specific end to end service and, as a consequence, service specific network performance, QoS and security requirements are not necessarily assured. This definition does not exclude that some services may provide a defined level of interoperability. However, only SoIx fully satisfies NGN interoperability requirements. An NGN interconnection mode can be direct or indirect. Direct interconnection refers to the interconnection between two network domains without any intermediate network domain. Indirect interconnection at one layer refers to the interconnection between two network domains with one or more intermediate network domain(s) acting as
transit networks. The intermediate network domain(s) provide(s) transit functionality to the two other network domains. Different interconnection modes may be used for carrying
service layer signalling and media traffic.
Charging Offline charging is applied to users who pay for their services periodically (e.g., at the end of the month).
Online charging, also known as credit-based charging, is used for
prepaid services, or real-time credit control of postpaid services. Both may be applied to the same session.
Charging function addresses are addresses distributed to each IMS entities and provide a common location for each entity to send charging information.
charging data function (CDF) addresses are used for offline billing and
Online Charging Function (OCF) for online billing. • Offline Charging : All the SIP network entities (P-CSCF, I-CSCF, S-CSCF, BGCF, MRFC, MGCF, AS) involved in the session use the
Diameter Rf interface to send accounting information to a CDF located in the same domain. The CDF will collect all this information, and build a
call detail record (CDR), which is sent to the billing system of the domain.Each session carries an
IMS Charging Identifier (ICID) as a unique identifier generated by the first IMS entity involved in a SIP transaction and used for the correlation with CDRs.
Inter Operator Identifier (IOI) is a globally unique identifier shared between sending and receiving networks. Each domain has its own charging network. Billing systems in different domains will also exchange information, so that
roaming charges can be applied. • Online charging : The S-CSCF talks to a
IMS gateway function (IMS-GWF) which looks like a regular SIP application server. The IMS-GWF can signal the S-CSCF to terminate the session when the user runs out of credits during a session. The AS and MRFC use the
Diameter Ro interface towards an OCF. • When
immediate event charging (IEC) is used, a number of credit units is immediately deducted from the user's account by the ECF and the MRFC or AS is then authorized to provide the service. The service is not authorized when not enough credit units are available. • When
event charging with unit reservation (ECUR) is used, the ECF (event charging function) first reserves a number of credit units in the user's account and then authorizes the MRFC or the AS. After the service is over, the number of spent credit units is reported and deducted from the account; the reserved credit units are then cleared.
IMS-based PES architecture IMS-based PES (PSTN Emulation System) provides IP networks services to analog devices. IMS-based PES allows non-IMS devices to appear to IMS as normal SIP users. Analog terminal using standard analog interfaces can connect to IMS-based PES in two ways: • Via A-MGW (Access Media Gateway) that is linked and controlled by AGCF. AGCF is placed within the Operators network and controls multiple A-MGW. A-MGW and AGCF communicate using
H.248.1 (
Megaco) over the P1 reference point. POTS phone connect to A-MGW over the z interface. The signalling is converted to H.248 in the A-MGW and passed to AGCF. AGCF interprets the H.248 signal and other inputs from the A-MGW to format H.248 messages into appropriate SIP messages. AGCF presents itself as P-CSCF to the S-CSCF and passes generated SIP messages to S-CSCF or to IP border via IBCF (Interconnection Border Control Function). Service presented to S-CSCF in SIP messages trigger PES AS. AGCF has also certain service independent logic, for example on receipt of off-hook event from A-MGW, the AGCF requests the A-MGW to play dial tone. • Via VGW (VoIP-Gateway) or SIP Gateway/Adapter on customer premises. POTS phones via VOIP Gateway connect to P-CSCF directly. Operators mostly use
session border controllers between VoIP gateways and P-CSCFs for security and to hide network topology. VoIP gateway link to IMS using
SIP over Gm reference point. The conversion from POTS service over the z interface to SIP occurs in the customer premises VoIP gateway. POTS signaling is converted to SIP and passed on to P-CSCF. VGW acts as SIP user agent and appears to P-CSCF as SIP terminal. Both A-MGW and VGW are unaware of the services. They only relay call control signalling to and from the PSTN terminal. Session control and handling is done by IMS components.
Interfaces description == Session handling ==