Research and Development of a mobile voice over IP application which is hosted by open source software running on inexpensive backend servers
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Date
2013-03
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Publisher
NUST
Abstract
Voice over IP has been driven by the convergence of voice and data on a single transport medium.
This means cheaper service usage fees for the user if the offering is costed properly. But for a service
provider there is still an increase in expenditure, solely related to spending on infrastructure such as
call servers, phones and gateways. This study is aimed at analysing a different strategy of deploying
VoIP, by starting at a lower base, meaning hosting the VoIP application on inexpensive hardware and
open source Software. Secondly, the study looks at how to extend the service to mobile subscriber by
introducing a mobile VoIP (mVoIP) application. The study’s main goal is to introduce
telecommunication services at the lowest cost possible while considering reduced complexity,
optimisation, manageability and flexibility. Barriers to deploying VoIP such as reliability and quality
of service are also addressed by the study.
The mVoIP infrastructure is made out of the following main components: Mobile VoIP app, Wireless
Access Point and VoIP Server. Each main component’s functionality and characteristic are carefully
explored in order to understand its contribution to the solution and the study as a whole. The research
also looks at other projects where similar approaches were used to deploy inexpensive VoIP services.
Factors leading to acceptance or rejection of the technology have served as guidance to the study.
During the design, the research compares different open source VoIP server software’s functionalities
and features in order to make a selection of the software to use for the projects pilot network
deployment. A development platform for the mobile application is also selected based on
characteristics such as: the range of devices it runs on, the market share of the platform and the
learning curve of the platform. The development of the application follows the six steps from the Eri
Mobile’s “Mobile Development Process”: Concept Sketching, Research/Strategies, Wire-Framing,
User Interface Design, Development and Testing.
The test scenarios for the research are all lab-based, but it is highlighted that implementing the
solution on broadband, 3G and 4G networks can improve the service drastically in the areas of
network coverage, Quality of Service and Mobility.
Description
Keywords
Software engineering, software applications