Words from the Chair

The international FOKUS FUSECO FORUM (FFF) series represents a follow-up to the famous international FOKUS IMS Workshop series held from 2004 to 2009. Here, the FFF is concentrating on the hot topic of Future Seamless Communications, taking much more into account the growing penetration of new mobile end systems (such as Smartphones and Tablet PCs) and the related global deployment of Mobile Broadband Networks, such as HSPA (High Speed Packet Access),LTE (Longterm Evolution) and the emerging EPC (Evolved Packet Core) providing a seamless connectivity across various mobile access networks to multiple application platforms.

Thus the first FOKUS FUSECO FORUM “Business and Technical Challenges of Seamless Service Provision in Converging Next Generation Fixed and Mobile Networks” held in October 2010 in Berlin (Germany) was concentrating mainly on investigating the challenges and potentialities of the new mobile and core network infrastructure and its relationship with IMS (IP Multimedia System) services and Over-The-Top (OTT) internet applications.

Irrespective of the global slowdown in the IMS industry in 2009/2010, due to missing business cases and the growing competition originating from the mobile Web 2.0 in broadband internet, we have recognized an increasing interest in IMS by the industry in the last months. Market analysts are predicting an 100 percent increase in IMS sales over the next five years. The need to provide Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services across converging fixed and mobile broadband networks, as well as the need to provide voice over (IP only) LTE networks (VoLTE), and the hope for global Rich Communications Services (RCS) take-up, fuels the global interest in IMS. Furthermore, we see a growing interest to extend IMS for emerging M2M (Machine-to-Machine) and internet of things applications.

However, from a technical expert perspective, it is important to adopt a holistic applications infrastructure and control platform view, namely to carefully discuss all architectural options which exist to realize new multimedia applications on top of converging networks. Thus IMS stands not alone and the EPC represents a powerful infrastructure going to be extended in the near future to address new application domains. Particularly in the context of the Future Internet, which represents a mix of views, such as the network of the future, the internet of things, the internet of contents, and the internet of services, manufacturers and operators are seeking for new control platforms to master this emerging “total convergence” of application domains.

In this regard the second FOKUS FUSECO Forum to be held in the new Fraunhofer Forum in the heart of Berlin on November 17/18, 2011 is themed “From FMC toward Total Convergence: New Applications and Platforms for Converging Mobile and Fixed Next Generation Networks and the Emerging Future Internet”. Following our proven two day event structure we will provide on Day 1 in the morning two tutorials, which introduce the control platforms and applications for Next Generation Networks and the Future Internet, as well as the globally FOKUS testbed toolkits, namely OpenEPC and the Open IMS Core to set-up your own FUSECO Testbeds. In an interactive workshop in the afternoon international manufacturers and operators will address EPC/IMS deployment issues and new service potentialities in mobile and fixed Next Generation Networks. A social event in the evening will enable delegates to continue technical discussions and come to know each other in a unique Berlin location. On Day 2 we will run the international conference themed “Towards Real Converged Mobile & Fixed Next Generation Networks”, where global analysts and operators will report on the recent experiences around LTE, EPC, IMS, VoLTE, RCS and more in Germany, Europe and abroad. Alongside this program attendees can enjoy newest FOKUS demonstrations and the exhibition of our sponsors in the breaks.

Whether you are already part of the FOKUS family or whether you may plan to visit us for the first time, I am convinced, that you will enjoy two interesting days in the vibrant city of Berlin, where you will gain new insights, have interesting expert talks and make new friends from all over the world.

Thus I hope you will find this program interesting and hope to see you to our second international FOKUS FUSECO Forum in Berlin, Germany, on November 17-18, 2011.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Thomas Magedanz and the TU Berlin/FOKUS team