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This document presents the following major topics:
This is the first release of this document. Reasons for subsequent releases will be noted in this section.
The Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution provides service providers (SPs) with the required architecture design, network components, software features, functional areas, and provisioning methodologies needed to run a VoIP wholesale service. With an understanding of the concepts underlying the architecture, including interconnect topologies, components, and a variety of important issues that must be considered, the SP can then deploy options from a set of configuration templates. The result is a wholesale network that allows the SP to sell unbranded voice services to retailers, such as Internet telephony service providers (ITSPs), application service providers (ASPs), interexchange carriers (IXCs), or Post Telephone and Telegraph administrations (PTTs).
Central to the delivery of wholesale voice services are voice points of presence (POPs), which are interconnected to other service providers. The specific recommended components and design methods are determined by the type of interconnection or "call topology" that the wholesale SP is supporting. These call topologies are used to build a set of deployment templates for an SP to enable wholesale applications. Figure 1 illustrates the interconnection possibilities that a wholesale VoIP provider must accommodate.
The Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution is a set of solutions and network design and configuration templates that provide trunk-level transport of global switched telephone traffic distributed over VoIP. Calls originate in the PSTN, are routed through IXCs, and are handed off to a wholesale VoIP carrier for transport. To the end user, the service looks like any other long-distance call, except that it is less expensive. To the originating long-distance carrier, the wholesale carrier is only one of a number of termination options.
By using OPT (Open Packet Telephony) distributed architectures, the Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution maintains separate call control, connection control, and transport planes. At the heart of the solution are Cisco gateways (GWs), gatekeepers (GKs), and directory gatekeepers (DGKs), as well as an IP backbone. This solution will provide other network providers with connectivity between basic telephone areas and international routes. (Local residential services and features will not be provided.) The remaining components of the solution are third-party shared services that will vary with each applicationsuch as settlement servers, billing servers, and AAA (authentication, authorization, and accounting) servers, among others.
See Related Documentation, in particular the Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution Overview, for a complete discussion.
The Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution provides the following benefits:
The Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution uses both Cisco and third-party components, as listed in the following sections:
The components comprising the Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution were tested with Cisco IOS software releases 12.2(2)XA and 12.2(T). The caveats listed under Caveats, relate to these releases. However, those caveats will be resolved in releases 12.2(2)XA1 and 12.2(2)T1. Cisco recommends that you use the later releases. Please contact your Cisco account representative for further information.
Tip To determine the release currently running on a machine, see Determining Software Release Versions. |
Table 1 lists minimum requirements of the tested Cisco components that support the gatekeeper core for both SS7 and non-SS7 applications. Flash and DRAM memory requirements must be met to download the image.
Requirements can vary depending on whether IP Plus or Enterprise Plus Cisco IOS software images are used, and whether the images support OSP (Open Settlement Protocol). For more detail about the various images and their filenames, see Table 2.
Component | Hardware | Cisco IOS Release Required | Flash Memory Required, MB | DRAM Memory Required, MB | Hard Disk, GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cisco Voice Gateways | Cisco 3640 | 12.2(2)T | 641 or 962 | | |
| Cisco 3660 | 12.2(2)T | 161 or 322 | 641 or 962 | |
| Cisco AS5300 | 12.2(2)XA | 16 | 128 | |
| Cisco AS5350 | 12.2(2)XA | 32 | 256 | |
| Cisco AS5400 | 12.2(2)XA | 32 | 256 | |
Cisco H.323 Gatekeepers and Directory Gatekeepers | Cisco 3660 | 12.2(2)T | 8 | 64 | |
Cisco 7200 | 12.2(2)T | 16 | 128 | | |
Cisco Signaling Controller3 | Cisco SC2200 | Signaling Controller Software Release 7.4(11) | | 2048 | 4 |
Cisco SS7 Signaling Link3 Terminal | Cisco 2611 | Custom 12.2(2)T image | 16 MB | 48 MB | |
Cisco Switch (optional) | Catalyst 5000 or 6000 series | 12.0(7)XE1 with Release 5.5(1) | | | |
1IP Plus and IP Plus with OSP 2Enterprise Plus and Enterprise Plus with OSP 3Only for applications requiring SS7 signaling |
Table 2 lists the filenames of the images required on the Cisco gateways and gatekeepers. Cisco IOS software can optionally support OSP. Although the functionality is the same, the binary images are different. Please check with your Cisco account representative for details regarding the image variants and your requirements.
The image variants are identified as follows:
Identifier | Image Variant |
---|---|
-is- | IP Plus |
-js- | Enterprise Plus |
-ik8s- | IP Plus with OSP |
-jk8s- | Enterprise Plus with OSP |
-ix- | IP with H.323 |
Component | Hardware | Cisco IOS Image Filename | |
---|---|---|---|
Without OSP Support | With OSP Support | ||
Cisco Voice Gateways | Cisco 3640 | c3640-is-mz.122-2.T.bin | c3640-ik8s-mz.122-2.T.bin |
c3640-js-mz.122-2.T.bin | c3640-jk8s-mz.122-2.T.bin | ||
Cisco 3660 | c3660-is-mz.122-2.T.bin | c3660-ik8s-mz.122-2.T.bin | |
c3660-js-mz.122-2.T.bin | c3660-jk8s-mz.122-2.T.bin | ||
Cisco AS5300 | c5300-is-mz.122-2.XA.bin | c5300-ik8s-mz.122-2.XA.bin | |
c5300-js-mz.122-2.XA.bin | c5300-jk8s-mz.122-2.XA.bin | ||
Cisco AS53501 | c5400-is-mz.122-2.XA.bin | c5400-ik8s-mz.122-2.XA.bin | |
c5400-js-mz.122-2.XA.bin | c5400-jk8s-mz.122-2.XA.bin | ||
Cisco AS5400 | c5400-is-mz.122-2.XA.bin | c5400-ik8s-mz.122-2.XA.bin | |
c5400-js-mz.122-2.XA.bin | c5400-jk8s-mz.122-2.XA.bin | ||
Cisco H.323 Gatekeepers and Directory Gatekeepers | Cisco 3660 | c3660-ix-mz.122-2.T.bin | |
Cisco 7200 | c7200-is-mz.122-2.T.bin | | |
Cisco Signaling Controller2 | Cisco SC2200 | Signaling Controller Software Release 7.4(11) | |
Cisco SS7 Signaling Link2s Terminal | Cisco 2611 | Custom 12.2(2)T image | |
Cisco Switch (optional) | Catalyst 5000 or 6000 series | 12.0(7)XE1 with Release 5.5(1) | |
1The Cisco AS5350 is functionally similar to the Cisco AS5400. 2Only for applications requiring SS7 signaling |
Table 3 lists Cisco optional Cisco network management components and their minimum requirements.
Component | Minimum Cisco Software Release Required | Platform Hardware | Platform Software | RAM Memory Required, MB | Hard Disk, GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CiscoWorks2000 Voice Manager (CVM) | CVM Release 2.0.2 | Windows server with 450 MHz CPU | Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 5, CiscoWorks2000 CD One | 256 | 8 |
Sun server (SPARC/ | Solaris 2.6 with kernel patch 105181-xx, CiscoWorks2000 CD One for Solaris | 256 | 8 | ||
Any client | Windows 95 running Netscape 4.04 or Internet Explorer 4.01 and 64 MB of virtual memory; or Windows NT running Netscape 4.04 or Internet Explorer 4.01 and 64 MB of virtual memory; or Solaris running Netscape 4.04 with Telnet and Java enabled and 64 MB of virtual memory | 64 | | ||
Cisco Internet Performance Manager (IPM) | IPM Release 2.3, | Windows server and client | Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6a; Windows 2000 Professional with Service Pack 1; Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 1; Windows 98 (client only | | |
Sun server and client | Solaris 2.6 or 2.7 with latest patches | | | ||
Cisco Info Center1 | CIC Release 2.0 |
| Solaris 2.6 or 2.7 with latest patches | variable | variable |
1Requirements depend upon client-server architecture. See Internetwork Performance Monitor, Release 2.3, at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/rtrmgmt/ipmcw2k/cipm23/index.htm |
Table 4 lists third-party components that have been tested as optional adjuncts to the Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution. For the most current information, contact your Cisco account representative, visit the manufacturer's website, or contact the manufacturer's representative.
To determine the release version of Cisco IOS software currently running, log in to the router and enter the show version EXEC command. The following sample output from the show version command indicates the version number on the second output line:
Router> show version
Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS (tm) 12.1 Software c5300-i-mz, Version 12.1(6), RELEASE SOFTWARE
Enter the following MML command on the Cisco SC2200:
rtrv-ne
Table 5 lists key new features that are applicable to components that support the Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution with Cisco IOS Release 12.2(2)XA. These features and others in that release are described in detail under New Features in Release 12.2(2)XA at the following URL:
Caution For all available features, always refer to the most recent Cisco IOS documentation, including release notes, for the Cisco IOS a particular platform is running. See Cisco IOS Software Configuration at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/software/index.htm |
Cisco IOS software is packaged in feature sets that support specific platforms. To get updated information regarding platform support for this feature, access Feature Navigator. Feature Navigator dynamically updates the list of supported platforms as new platform support is added for the feature.
Feature Navigator is a web-based tool that enables you to quickly determine which Cisco IOS software images support a specific set of features and which features are supported in a specific Cisco IOS image.
To access Feature Navigator, you must have an account on Cisco.com. If you have forgotten or lost your account information, send a blank e-mail to cco-locksmith@cisco.com. An automatic check will verify that your e-mail address is registered with Cisco.com. If the check is successful, account details with a new random password will be e-mailed to you. Qualified users can establish an account on Cisco.com by following the directions at http://www.cisco.com/register.
Feature Navigator is updated when major Cisco IOS software releases and technology releases occur. As of May 2001, Feature Navigator supports M, T, E, S, and ST releases. You can access Feature Navigator at the following URL:
Table 6 lists severity 1 and 2 caveats for the Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution, and presents workarounds where applicable.
Tip If you have an account with Cisco.com, you can use Bug Navigator II to find caveats of any severity for any release. To reach Bug Navigator II, go to Cisco.com and press Login. Then go to Software Center > Cisco IOS Software > Cisco Bugtool Navigator II. You can also go directly to http://www.cisco.com/support/bugtools/. |
The Cisco IOS software releases that were tested as part of the Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution are undergoing improvements to resolve the caveats listed in Caveats. Consequently, the Cisco IOS image filenames listed in Table 2 may become obsolete, and Cisco recommends that you use the later releases.
Tip Referring to the Cisco IOS software release names listed in Table 1, examples of such software revisions would be from 12.2(2)T to 12.2(2)T1, and from 12.2(2)XA to 12.2(2)XA1. |
Documents supporting the Cisco Wholesale Voice Solution, including these release notes, are available at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/sc/rel7/soln/wv_rel1/index.htm
These include the following:
The above provide all necessary links to reference material required to implement the solution.
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Posted: Tue Nov 19 08:38:51 PST 2002
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