a technical perspectivea technical perspective

The "Evolution" of Communications As communications technology becomes more and more perva-sive, users find themselves inundated with multiple - and some-times conflicting - communication environments struggling tocontact one another. The number of devices, networks, technolo-gies, and types of media available all conspire to create a commu-nication landscape that is, at best, difficult to navigate and, atworst, frustrating and confusing.

The current communications paradigm is based on connectingdevices to similar devices. Historically, this made sense. Telephoneswere the first network end-points and as that infrastructure grew,it was logical to specify the end-point device as the point of "con-tact" even though a person was always the implicit target for the

communication. In today's' world, however, connecting devices isno longer sufficient.

Axiom8 Ossia™ - The Next StepOssia is a communication tool. It provides a simple, reliable, androbust method of connecting people to people. Ossia serves as abridge between vastly dissimilar technologies, bringing InternetProtocol (IP) networks and the Public Switched TelephoneNetwork (PSTN) into a single unified and seamlessly convergedcommunication fabric. Additionally, Ossia removes the need toknow and remember multiple points of contact for a person - aname is sufficient to specify not only where but how a personshould be contacted.

How Does it Work?

The Ossia Registry and Media Servers allow devices on incompatible net-works, using different protocols and mismatched media formats, to com-municate with each other. This is accomplished via gateways that bridgeall endpoint devices to the IP network. The Registry and Media Serversreside on that IP network and perform all management and routing func-tions between the endpoint devices and gateways.

On a PC, a software client acts as the endpoint device. This client providessystem access, directory management, session initiation, and media con-trol. Additionally, the client serves as the user interface for the system.Over the PSTN, the Ossia Telephony Gateway provides similar functional-ity to telephony devices albeit with a palette of options better suited to theaudio-only nature of the instrument.

To complete a call, Ossia connects one endpoint device to the RegistryServer where selections are made to specify a target user. The system thendetermines the status, availability, and appropriate routing to connect thefirst endpoint device with the target user at some other, initially unspeci-fied, endpoint device. Note that no additional information is required tocomplete the connection. The target user is specified to the system, notan endpoint device. Ossia connects the appropriate device based on sta-tus, availability, and routing, automatically determining which gatewaysare needed, what media types are appropriate to the platforms being con-nected, and whether or not the initiating user has access to the target atthis time.

Architecture DiscussionThe Ossia™ architecture is based on the premise that while stan-dards are the fabric of our communication infrastructure, the cur-rent landscape is heavily burdened with conflicting standards andtechnologies that confuse and slow the adoption of convergencetechnology. Additionally, no single standard provides a set ofcapabilities that can address the application needs of Ossia. TheOssia solution is a bridge between these varied technologies.

The Ossia architecture comprises the following components:Registry Server, Media Server, and Telephony Gateway. In thisarchitecture, additional gateways can be designed to serve asaccess points to different networks and devices. This allows Ossiato remain platform-agnostic regarding how connections are estab-lished between users while maintaining maximum connectivity.Additionally, deployment of Ossia does not require that existinginfrastructure or practices be changed; users can continue com-municating in the ways that they are most comfortable with. Thisis a key factor in understanding the Ossia platform philosophy.Axiom8 recognizes that forcing a change in infrastructure is along, slow, painstaking process while users are seeking solution forproblems today.

The Registry Server acts as the central controller and is responsiblefor managing all end-point device interactions with the system.Specifically, the Registry Server handles all communicationbetween an end-point device, the Media Server and network gate-ways. The Registry Server also functions as the system-wide direc-tory. All Registered Users and their unique Routing Tables arehoused within this directory. The Registry Server responds torequests for system data from an end-point device, requests toestablish conferences, requests to pass data to other end-pointdevices, and issues commands to end-point devices, MediaServers, and network gateways. The Registry Server also providessystem and conference security with user identification, authenti-cation and password protection, and maintains up-to-date pres-ence information about system users.

The Media Server is a scalable component that is responsible fordelivering media streams to end-point devices that are unable toreceive multicast IP traffic. The Media Server performs server-sideaudio channel mixing to improve network performance for band-width-limited end-point devices using dial-up access to theInternet, "dumb" end-point devices that rely on servers to accessOssia (such as PSTN devices), and to minimize network usagebetween Media Servers on a WAN.

The Telephony Gateway is also a scalable component, whichcommunicates with both IP and PSTN networks and the RegistryServer to setup PSTN calls via the H.323 protocol and to establishIP-based calls within the system. The Telephony Gateway also actsas the media delivery interface controlling the flow of audio datato the Media Server. Upon successful call setup, the TelephonyGateway sends a G.711 audio stream to the Media Server for mix-ing and appropriate delivery. Also, the Telephony Gateway pro-vides a speech-based interface for telephony end-points usingNuance® speech recognition technology. A user is able to dialand issue system commands at any time. Ossia accesses speechrecognition resources during user authentication, call placement,and status management or when the user asks for commandmode access in order to request alternative actions of Ossia, suchas to invite additional participants into a conference.

Ossia - An Enterprise SolutionOssia simplifies and unifies your communications subsystems andprovides the scalability, security, and stability that enterprisesdemand. Integrated into your business systems and processes,Axiom8 delivers what truly can be considered the next step in theevolution of communications.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Axiom8, Inc.421 Wadsworth Street

Middletown, Connecticut 06457www.axiom8.com

860-343-5366

Copyright © 2001 Axiom8, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the USA. Ossia is a trademark of Axiom8, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

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