For several years, service providers have been migrating from circuit-switched networks to more flexible network topologies based on IP. To increase flexibility and reduce costs, service providers initially kept existing circuit switches in place and used media gateways to convert to IP. However, service providers are now taking the next step and building services with all IP-based elements, typically using the SIP protocol. These emerging SIP-based networks offer enormous potential for generating new services and increasing revenue per subscriber, but the introduction of IP throughout the network also creates challenges.
Although service providers often use Session Border Controllers for signal translation and security, most do not include the hardware-based signal processing needed for media transcoding. For all-IP environments, new elements are required that can mediate signaling, transcode among different media formats, and handle basic security issues. Dialogic has developed the concept of the Multimedia Border Element (MMBE) to meet these needs, and its carrier-proven products, such as the Dialogic® BorderNet™ 2020 Session Border Controller, are exceptionally well-suited to serve as MMBEs.