5th FUTURE SEAMLESS COMMUNICATION FORUM
Nov. 13–14, 2014 – Berlin, Germany

Cloud-based ICT Platforms and Virtualized Networks for flexible Ecosystem enablement within Smart Cities

Welcome to FFF14, the fifth edition of the successful FFF series. We hope again to bring more than 250 people from all over the world together here in Berlin, Germany. Following our tradition of bringing together international technology experts as an independent leading research organization attendees will learn in these two highly interactive days filled with tutorials, workshops, technology demonstrations, and a high caliber conference about:

  • How is Mobile Broadband evolving into 5G?
  • What role will Satellite and Professional Networks play in LTE and 5G networks?
  • What will 5G be covering and when will we see prototypes?
  • Is there a future of IMS be sites VoLTE?
  • Is there any future for RCS?
  • Will WebRTC be the SIP of the Future?
  • What are the first experiences with virtualized network elements and platforms, such as vIMS and vEPC?
  • What are the expected cost savings of virtualized control and service platforms?
  • What are the real benefits and limitations of OpenFlow?
  • How soon will browsers replace specific application clients?
  • What is the status in Cloud-based Service Delivery Platforms?
  • What differentiates M2M from H2H communications?
  • What is the status quo of the Internet of Things (IoT) and what role play M2M standards and platforms?
  • Which M2M / IoT applications are most important in a Smart City?
  • Big Pipes for Big Data? - What are the impacts of Big Data onto Mobile Broadband?
  • How do IoT/M2M and Big Data relate?
  • What is the status Quo in H2H and M2M platform integration?
  • What is the impact of SDN and Cloud-SDPs on vendor and operator strategies?
  • How do operators benefit from SDN and Cloud-SDPs?
  • Which new value chains and ecosystems will arise in Smart Cities?
  • What is the status quo of current OTT vs. operator partner programs / openAPIs?
  • Which role play SMEs within Smart Cities?
  • Where and how to use Smart City Technologies and Testbeds?
  • Are Smart Cities globally facing the same challenges?
  • Which regions of the world are more advanced in Smart City building?

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, which discussed Next Generation Network (NGN) technologies and emerging multimedia services enabled by the IP Multimedia System (IMS). However, within the FFF series IMS technology represents just one important control platform for human-to-human multimedia communications, such as Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Rich Communication Services (RCS), within the overall converging telecommunication and Internet infrastructure. Thus we started in 2010 to consider increasingly more the impacts of alternative control and service delivery platform technologies and new emerging application domains inspired by internet technologies, which will be delivered seamlessly via different wireless broadband networks onto smartphones, tablet PCs, and other emerging mobile internet devices. In the last years we also have witnessed the rising notion of the Future Internet (FI) as a container for advances in the fields of Internet of Services (IoS), Internet of Things (IoT) and Network of the Future (NoF), and since 2011 it has become clear, that “Smart City ICT Infrastructures and Applications” represent the show case for these Future Internet technologies merging human to human and machine to machine communications.

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 services and Over-The-Top (OTT) internet applications and has attracted 150 experts from 21 nations.
See 1st FOKUS FUSECO Forum event minutes!
The second FOKUS FUSECO Forum held in the new Fraunhofer Forum in the heart of Berlin on November 17 & 18, 2011 was themed “From FMC toward Total Convergence: New Applications and Platforms for Converging Mobile and Fixed Next Generation Networks and the Emerging Future Internet” and we looked at the impacts of these Future Internet advances on NGN infrastructure and service evolution. 200 people from 30 nations attended that event.
See 2nd FOKUS FUSECO Forum event minutes!
The third FOKUS FUSECO Forum themed “Convergence of Human-to-Human and Machine-to-Machine Communications within Emerging Open Smart City ICT Infrastructures – Using Open APIs, RCS, IMS, MTC, EPC, and LTE as Enablers for Emerging Future Internet Application Domains” was held again in the Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS in Berlin on November 15 & 16, 2012. We managed to attract 200 delegates from more than 30 nations and we looked much deeper at the enablement of Smart Cities by appropriate ICT infrastructures, namely IMS, M2M (Machine Type Communications - MTC), and OTT platforms above different mobile broadband networks interconnected by emerging EPC core networks.
See …. For the minutes
The fourth FFF themed “Smart Communications Platforms for Seamless Smart City Applications“ was held in Berlin on November 28 & 29, 2013 looking at Fixed and Mobile Next Generation Networks Evolution towards virtualized network control and service platforms and Seamless Cloud-based H2H and M2M Applications. Participation level increased again to around 250 participants from over XX nations discussing Network Virtualization and Open Flow, cloud based human-to-human (H2H) and machine-to-machine (M2M) service provision, as well as recent WebRTC and HTML5 advances.
For the minutes see
The upcoming FFF14 themed “Cloud-based ICT Platforms and Virtualized Networks for flexible Ecosystem enablement within Smart Cities” will be held again in the Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS in Berlin on November 13-14, 2014. This time we will look at the impacts of Cloud technologies on all levels of Smart Systems ranging from emerging 5G and Software Defined Networks (SDNs) up to virtualized network control and Cloud-based Service Delivery Platforms supporting IoT/M2M as well as multimedia Web Realtime Control (WebRTC) Applications. So again we want to follow our tradition and incorporate new trends within the established tutorial and workshop streams, such as Network Evolution towards 5G: NFV and SDN/Open Flow, Internet of Things (IoT) / M2M, Cloud-based Networks and Service Platforms, as well as recent advances in the provision of Open Smart City Testbeds.
Following our proven two day event structure we will provide on Day 1 in the morning three tutorials, which introduce emerging Cloud-based smart communication platforms for Smart Cities, 5G foundations and core network evolution driven by NFV and SDN, as well as Uniform IoT/M2M Service Development in Smart Cities.
In the following three interactive afternoon workshops international manufacturers and operators will discuss “Telco Clouds enabling new Ecosystems”, “Towards 5G – Revolution or Evolution?”, and “IoT/M2M Platform Convergence and Services for Smart Cities”.
An additional parallel full day workshop on “Smart CIty Testbeds for SMEs: TestbedaaS vs. Testbeds to Go“ will bring together international testbed providers to discuss newest approaches and experiences.
A social event in the evening will enable delegates to continue technical discussions and come to know each other in a unique location in Berlin, attendees will not forget.
On Day 2 we will run the international conference themed “Cloud-based Network and Service Platforms for Smart Cities”, where global analysts, standard bodies, and operators will report on the recent deployment experiences around LTE, 5G, NFV, SDN, IMS, VoLTE, WebRTC, M2M/IoT platforms, services, and ecosystems from a global perspective. Alongside this program and during the breaks, the attendees will enjoy again the exhibition of our sponsors and the newest FOKUS OpenXXX toolkit demonstrations. This year we are delighted to show our new OpenSDNCore and Open5GCore succeeding the famous OpenEPC toolkit, as well as the brand new OpenXSP platform being part of the FUSECO Playground.
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 very 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 to see you to our fifth international FOKUS FUSECO Forum in Berlin, Germany, on November 13 & 14, 2014.
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Dr. Thomas Magedanz and the TU Berlin/FOKUS Team