Hello, I've started to do some research into the new 4G wireless standard, and there's one part of the standard that intrigues me. Apparently all data is packet based, including the phone calls. Every phone will have its own IPv6 address. This seems to pave the way for a call to go directly from a cell phone to a soft PBX like Asterisk. Is this possible under the 4G spec? If so, what protocol will these 4G phones use for signaling and media? It would be a dream come true for a cell phone call to go straight to Asterisk and not touch the PSTN as part of the core spec of the phone, without the aid of a 3rd party VOIP app. Any thoughts on the 4G spec and its influence on the future of Asterisk dev? Thanks, Chris
On Thu, 30 Apr 2009, Chris Kairalla wrote:> Hello, I've started to do some research into the new 4G wireless > standard, and there's one part of the standard that intrigues me. > Apparently all data is packet based, including the phone calls. Every > phone will have its own IPv6 address. This seems to pave the way for > a call to go directly from a cell phone to a soft PBX like Asterisk.Gosh. Telcos allowing their nice data network to let you connect your shiney new phone to a voice network that they don't control (or bill for)... Somehow I don't think that'll happen, but I'm happy to be proven wrong! My mobile phone currently has an ipv4 address - from RFC1918, so while I can use it (as a modem to my lapop) to make SIP and IAX calls, those calls eat away at my data allowance... Although I'm breaking the T&Cs of my mobile operator by making such VoIP calls anyway, so I'm sure that as soon as thy wise-up, they'll block it, or charge me more.> Is this possible under the 4G spec? If so, what protocol will these > 4G phones use for signaling and media? It would be a dream come true > for a cell phone call to go straight to Asterisk and not touch the > PSTN as part of the core spec of the phone, without the aid of a 3rd > party VOIP app.My mobile phone has a VoIP app built in - SIP. However it only uses Wi-Fi )-: Gordon
<html><body><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;"><blockquote webmail="1" style="border-left: 2px solid blue; margin-left: 8px; padding-left: 8px; font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: verdana;"><div ><br>> Hello, I've started to do some research into the new 4G wireless<br> > standard, and there's one part of the standard that intrigues me.<br> > Apparently all data is packet based, including the phone calls. Every<br> > phone will have its own IPv6 address. This seems to pave the way for<br> > a call to go directly from a cell phone to a soft PBX like Asterisk.<br><br> Gosh. Telcos allowing their nice data network to let you connect your <br>shiny new phone to a voice network that they don't control (or bill <br> for)... Somehow I don't think that'll happen, but I'm happy to be proven <br> wrong!<br> <br></div></blockquote><br>I don't think the carriers care if you carrying voice or data. Think of it.. You can't offer wireless service without paying for the wireless licenses (which means their deep pocket monopolies are still left intact and the government still gets their cut). If all they must do is move packet data from your phone to the internet (whatever connection happens to be cheapest and closest) without having to get involved with mundane tasks like call setup and per-minute billing then why not? <br><br>My capitalistic mind sees a future where carriers charge for two classes of data with two QOS levels. They will make the same amount of money by lowering costs and charging more for the priority data. <br><br><br></span></body></html>