Realtime Communication (RTC) platform

How easier would it be if there was an infrastructure that could connect all devices all communication protocols, old legacy PSTN phones, VOIP ones like SIP all the PBXs of the world, GSM handsets even the very new WebRTC! I have assembled my thoughts on an ideal communication platform in this blog post.

Functional Req :

• 1 on 1 calls
• Group Calls
• Audio/Video/Screenshare
• Record

Non Functioanl Req :

• No latency , no buffering
• Data loss is ok , Straeming protocols can absord droppped frames
• HA ( high avaialiability )

Mid Scale RTC Application

One to One Call

High Level archietcture

Large Scale / Enterprise Communication Platform using SIP and GSM

It involves GSM PLMN PBX IP with their respective gateways, meeting at a particular point that understands all protocols and provides a single registry service for telecom network operations like OSS ( Operation Service), BSS ( Billing service ).

Embedding a bit from NGN ( next generation network) , since I like the concept of softswitch ( Signalling gateway +   Media Gateway controller )  .

All the above should connect to an IP network . why ? Because the future lies in IP telephony . Also because it becomes easier to make provisioning system for the admin to add new policies , review real-time statistics and for the users to avail new servers and customize their services settings any time .

Ofcourse there will arise codec inter- operability issues, firewall ICE issues so on … yet all great inventions start with an idea , dont they 🙂

Also Read the follow up post on a practicle Sclaable VoIP platform building ( written years later )

which discusses Multi-tier cluster architecture for VoIP provider

• Multi geography Scaled RTC platform + Universal Router
• Clusterd SIP telephony Server -> High Availability
• Containerrization + auto reboot -> Failure Recovery 

 Role Abstraction / Micro-Service based architecture

• Load Balancer/ Message Dispatcher
• Backend Dynamic Routing and REST API services 
• OSS/BSS layer

Distributed Event management and Event-Driven architecture

Autoscaling Cloud Servers 

• ScaleUP / Vertical Scaling
• Scale OUT / Horizontal scaling

Security

• Open standards and Data Privacy

Real-Time Analytics 

Feedback and Proactive Issue Tracking

• Pro-active Call Analysis
• Predicting Low Audio / Call quality

It also touches upon the importance to 

• Develop on programmer-friendly , ease to use and interactive and populator frameworks like webRTC 
• Social Media Platform Integration such as Skype for Business, Slack, WebEx
• Product Innovation and Market Differentiator, Competitive Pricing with Low or No Servicing cost
• Flexibility for inter-working