FWDLabs

More on SIP Internet not equal TCP Internet

The "Internet" as a phenomena presently means interconnecting computers. End users use computers to access the Internet and providers deliver content/applications via platforms based on computers. The adoption of cell phones as mobile platforms for accessing the Internet largely emulates the fixed broadband experience.

Virtually all of the traffic on the Internet revolves around file transfers enabled by the TCP part of TCP/IP. Session initiation protocol (SIP) enables functionality entirely distinct from the file transfer process associated with TCP. The "sessions" set up between two devices allow the real-time transfer of content (e.g. voice or video or anything else).

The exploration of applications of the Internet made possible by TCP has covered significant terrain since the web browser arrived in 1991. The exploration of applications made possible by SIP have barely begun, but we are already thwarted by the dependence on using devices (i.e. computers) optimized for TCP. Things get a lot more interesting as the number of SIP based communication devices attached to the Internet grows.

There exist a decent number of SIP devices in circulation (TI reports shipping 450mn ports over 5 years), but almost all the devices remain behind a PBX in an enterprise environment or locked to a single service provider as in the case of Vonage. Creating a scenario where all SIP devices can address each other directly via the Internet would make things a lot more interesting. It would provide a base of devices sufficient to motivate 3rd parties to create new applications.

posted by Daniel @ Wednesday, August 13, 2008