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September 26, 2002

Summer may be winding down but things at MSF are heating up! GMI 2002 is just on the horizon and the GMI 2002 Project Team, led by Tom Lunsford, Rich Seager and the GMI 2002 Hosts, is working diligently to ensure a very successful event. The GMI Team meets weekly, and nearly every day in between there is ongoing correspondence to put the pieces in place. As Roger Ward notes in his report from the Denver meeting, "The highlight (of the Denver meeting) was the hard work that is obviously going into making the November 2002 Global MSF Interoperability event (GMI 2002) a meaningful success." That work is ongoing and although it can be difficult at times, MSF will benefit as a result.

Without question we have all been affected by the downturn in the industry. Some skeptics may think now is not the time for GMI 2002. On the contrary! In my mind, the success of GMI 2002 will be a turn-around, a signal to all that work is being done, global interoperability can be achieved and that hard work, dedication and a commitment to excellence are the traits of MSF and its members.

Cheers,
Guy

IN THIS ISSUE:

FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK

Report on MSF Technical Meeting,
Denver 29 July - 1 August 2002.

Overview

I must say that that recent turmoil in the industry seems to have had a positive rather than a negative effect on our work and recently, I have been delighted to see a new-found focus of interest in the MSF as a vehicle for gaining benefits through collaboration rather than going it alone. This was particularly evident in the Denver meeting, which was well attended and, along with the welcome to our 5 new members, was generally a meeting which I shall remember as full of commitment & contribution.

As would be expected, much of the work done in Denver was focused on technical committee issues that Rich Seager reports on more fully in his report. For me however, the highlight was the hard work that is obviously going into making the November 2002 Global MSF Interoperability event (GMI2002) a meaningful success. In addition, there was sustained progress towards completion of the Release 2 Architectural Framework, as well as enriching the MSF repertoire of protocol profile Implementation Agreements (IA's) were particularly worthy of note.

For now, I would like to focus on the work we have done as a Board looking towards MSF 2003 and some of the things that my company, BTexact, is doing to make GMI2002 a success.

MSF Future Plans

The MSF Board of Directors held a full-day strategic workshop on the Monday prior to the Technical Meeting to look ahead to 2003. As a result of this and other work, we now have a comprehensive statement of MSF 2003 objectives and an outline 2003 technical plan which the MSF leadership is now finalizing with a view to sharing the detail with the membership as soon as possible.

"A picture is worth a thousand words", and for me the chart of the MSF "Product Stack is the best way I can describe how the MSF works. From branding, architectural framework, protocols & profiling, interoperability testing through to commercially viable Implementation Agreements (IA's) is what the MSF is all about, and I was glad to see this view endorsed at the Board Strategic Workshop.

So, with the addition of #2 to some of the things you are already familiar with, I make no apology to include once again this very important chart in this newsletter.

MSF Product Set


As well as endorsement of our "Product Set" the MSF leadership has agreed the following priorities as we go into 2002/03:
  • Focus on IP and VoIP Technologies
  • Address the Access/Enterprise space more diligently
  • Dig Deeper in Service/Application Environments
  • Begin client based inter-working
  • Wireless should be more integrated into the architecture
  • Security Impacts and solutions
  • Quality of Service
  • Routing within the IP Space/Address Resolution
Global MSF Interoperability 2002 Programme (GMI 2002)

As you already know, the main event of the GMI2002 programme will be called "Global MSF Interoperability 2002". It will take place 4 - 15 November 2002 and major carrier testing facilities will be used to host this event - NTT Next Generation Networking Labs, Tokyo; University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab, New Hampshire, US; BTexact Network Acceptance Laboratory - Adastral Park.

For me, I was very pleased to get the commitment of my company (BTexact Technologies), to step forward to this important challenge and offer the World Class test & evaluation capabilities that we have in the UK at our Adastral Park Laboratories as the European host site for GMI2002. In addition, I was delighted to be able to secure International ATM connectivity into the US from my colleagues in BTignite to make sure that BT fully supports this programme.

Whilst the details are of course not yet finalized the MSF Marketing, Awareness & Education Committee, you will be interested to know that BTexact's PR agency is planning to host a press day on 12 November 2002 for the UK end of GMI2002 at which we will be inviting 500 journalists to Adastral Park! As well as a welcome from my CEO (Stewart Davies), we envisage a day of presentations from myself as President of the MSF, my internal customer for this work in BT wholesale and of course, the vendors who are participating, lab visits and conference call link up to other GMI2002 locations in the US and Japan.

Roger Ward,
MSF President
BTexact,
London, UK

Back to In This Issue

TC CHAIR's NOTEBOOK

First, I would like to thank all of the MSF membership for their contributions and excellent work over these past few months leading up to and including the Denver TC meeting. This has moved the MSF forward in getting much closer to achieving the 2002 goals set forth at the beginning of the year and defining new objectives for 2003.

I would like to welcome Avri Doria to the position of Technical Committee Vice-Chair. Avri has been associated with the MSF in different roles as the Management Committee Chair and her assistance within the TC is greatly needed as she fills a very important and needed role.

The Protocol and Control group successfully moved the SIP IA into the Final Ballot stages and are planning on moving the DSL, Trunking Gateway, MPLS BGP and IP Access IA into the Straw ballot stages within the next month. The Final version of the SIP-T IA has been made public after completing the balloting stages; please look for it on our web site.

The Architecture group has been extremely successful in generating many agreements and plans on moving forward with an aggressive schedule to further define the Release 2 Functional Architecture. Many documents were defined and the group is aggressively targeting completion of the key architecture documents for draft by the Korea meeting.

The Interoperability group successfully completed the Straw Ballot for the SIP Test Plan and in conjunction with the all ready approved H.248 Test Plan Test plans for the GMI 2002 event are also being worked aggressively with two more test plans being moved into the final balloting stages and four more have been moved back into the straw allot stages. The logistics and documentation for GMI 2002 event continue to move forward and all work is on track to support the event planned for November 4 through the 15. The event will be hosted at the NTT labs in Japan and the BT Labs in England, the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab. Look for our new GMI 2002 section on the MSF website where you can get all of the latest information and quick answers regarding the trial. For updates or questions directly relating to the trials please contact Tom Lunsford, Interoperability Event Coordinator.

As we are all working very hard to make 2002 successful we are now moving forward with the planning of the 2003 goals and objectives. The Technical Committee was very busy in Denver solidifying the technical targets that are to be addressed in 2003 and beyond. We are also accepting ideas and other concepts not yet listed during the closing plenary and we will be moving forward with getting approval from the BoD and general membership to move forward with these plans. Be looking for the 2003 Plan of Record in your Email soon.

In order to continue our success we are always in need of getting more support in the Technical Committee leadership team, we have openings for Vice Chairs in both the Architecture and Protocol & Control working groups, if you are interested in supporting either of these groups please contact Mike Kallas (Architecture), Chris Gallon (P&C) or myself.

To wrap up this update, we want to again acknowledge all of the hard work our members have put forth in preparing for the Denver meeting and keeping our events on track. We are all ready getting ready for Korea and are looking forward to receiving your input and contributions as we prepare for that meeting. A lot will have happened between meetings and we will have a lot to tell you about our future plans, growth and results of our interoperability event.

Thanks again for your continued support.

Rich Seager,
Technical Committee Chair

Back to In This Issue

GMI 2002 UPDATE

As both Roger Ward an Rich Seager announced, the GMI Project Team is delighted to confirm the Host Locations for the upcoming GMI 2002. The locations include: BTexact Technologies' Advances Research and Technology Centre based at Adastral Park near Ipswich, UK; NTT Musashino Research and Development Center in Tokyo, Japan and the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab in New Hampshire U.S.

Calling all GMI 2002 Participants! If your company is planning to participate in GMI 2002 and you have not already faxed your signed contract/NDA, please fax it immediately to +1.510-608-5917, attn: Julianne Fitzpatrick, GMI 2002

If you would like more information about GMI 2002, please see the MSF website at http://www.msforum.org/interoperability/GMI2002.shtml.



Back to In This Issue

NEW MEMBERS

The Board of Directors is very pleased to welcome two new Principal Members to MSF: Spirent Communications and Korea Telecom.

Spirent Communications (http://www.spirentcom.com/) is a worldwide provider of integrated performance analysis and service assurance systems for next-generation network technologies. Our solutions accelerate the profitable development and deployment of network equipment and services by emulating real-world conditions in the lab and assuring end-to-end performance of large-scale networks.

Korea Telecom (a href="http://www.kt.co.kr/eng/">http://www.kt.co.kr/eng/) was founded on December 10, 1981, to contribute to social welfare and convenience in everyday life by operating an efficient telecommunications service and developing telecommunications technology.

Back to In This Issue

GET YOUR MSF LOGO HERE!

Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Marketing Committee and the GMI Project Team, MSF now has an official GMI 2002 logo. The logo can be used by any GMI Participant to promote their participation in the event.

The logo and updated usage guidelines can be found on the MSF website at http://www.msforum.org/interoperability/GMI2002.shtml.

Back to In This Issue

MSF TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING

Register now for the Multiservice Switching Forum's fourth quarter Technical Committee meeting, Tuesday - Thursday, October 22-24, 2002, at the Shilla Cheju in Seogwipo-Shi, South Korea.

In addition to the meeting, Samsung Electronics will be sponsoring a dinner for the MSF on the evening of Tuesday, October 22, and LG Electronics will be sponsoring a tour of Jeju on Friday, October 25. Please sign up in advance for these events when you register for the meeting.

To register for the meeting, please complete the on-line registration process outlined on the MSF web site under Meetings and Events at http://www.msforum.org/events/upcoming.shtml. The registration fee is $325 if you register before Tuesday, October 8, 2002 and $450 after that date.

Hotel accommodations with the Shilla Cheju must be made by Tuesday, October 1, 2002. Please call +82.2.2230.3892 to make your reservations, or fax the reservation form (available on the registration page) to the hotel at +82.2.2230.3687. You must mention "Multiservice Switching Forum" in order to secure the discounted room rate of 212,000 - 260,000 Won per night (approx. $182 - $224 USD).

Please note the following important deadlines below for this meeting:
- Hotel Reservations made on or before - Tuesday, October 1, 2002
click here for hotel fax form: http://www.msforum.org/events/korea_fax_form.doc
- Registration on MSF web site before - Tuesday, October 8, 2002
- Contributions must be submitted before - Tuesday, October 8, 2002
For more information about travel to Korea (including visa requirements), please visit http://www.msforum.org/events/travel.shtml.

Please note: Hard copies of the contributions will NOT be available for this meeting. Please be sure to download any contributions you will need before the meeting starts.

Back to In This Issue

CONTACT US!

Feedback? Want to include something in the next issue? We want to hear from you! Send your comments and contributions for the next issue to jfitzpatrick@msforum.org.


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