What's a Next Generation Network(NGN)?

Welcome to my blog once again, today I'm going to talk about NGN.

I have been working in the Telecommunication branch for 6 years already, I got to work in the GSM Core Network, including Intelligent Network, HLR and with Core GPRS Equipments.  Later on I worked on the Billing platform. Lately, I was reading about NGN and I wanted to share some of the basics that I found interesting. Let's start with the definition:

A Next Generation Network (NGN) is a packet-based network able to provide services including Telecommunication Services and able to make use of multiple broadband, QoS-enabled transport technologies and in which service-related functions are independent from underlying transport-related technologies. It offers unrestricted access by users to different service providers. It supports generalized mobility which will allow consistent and ubiquitous provision of services to users.

Before introducing NGN, services were integrated vertically  over the network infrastructure, means for example: Telephone service were supplied on the top of a  Telephony Network, Video services were supplied on the top of Video Networks, Internet services were supplied on the top of Internet and Packet Network infrastructure.

With the introduction of NGN, services are now horizontally provided. NGN is then a Platform offering services Endpoints and hiding the Transport layer. We can assume that NGN converges to only one protocol at the end, which is IP!

We used to strugle understating SS7 and Sigtran protocols, with NGN, services are exposed over IP. Interfaces are to be defined by the Network architects, and a set of IMS (IP Multimedia Service) to support additional access networks types such as xDSL and WLAN. I will cover IMS in a different blog post.

NGN is definitely a revolutionary concept that makes easy offering Services to the cloud, by unifying the access types and offering emulation mechanisms for legacy protocols and gateways, but it remains a concern with regards to Security and QoS.  The beauty of it is that all services are carried over IP! This confirms the fact that once should not talk about Telco and IT as sisters any more, they are now married and the future now is now to harmonize all of this with comming Releases of NGN!

I hope you enjoy this post, and I will post again about all related topics(IMS/Emulation of Legacy access networks, etc...)

All the best 

A way of living

A physicist, a business major and a mathematician are asked whether it is better to have a wife or a girl-friend.
The physicist says, of course a wife. She will cook for you have some small-talk with you and keep you up to date about the real world.
The business major says. A girl-friend is much better, you can have sex with her every night and when you are bored by her you just have a new one.
The mathematician say, having both is the best. You can tell your wife that you are at the girl-friend, you tell your girl-friend that you are with your wife and then you finally have time for research.
Of course, someone should tell the story the other way around with husband and lover.

Could it be better ?

An engineer, a chemist, a mathematician, a topologist, a physicist and a theoretical physicist are sent to prison and given only a can with food. Then they are left alone for a week.After a week the guards check the cells.The enigneer is quite OK and you can see a broken can in the corner. When he was left alone and hungry he took out a lever and broke the lid of the can.Also the chemist is alife and in the corner of his cell you can see the steaming left-overs of a can. When he was left alone and hungry he took out some acid and etched away the lid of the can.The mathematician however is no longer. On the wall you can see the following words: I define the can is open. Conclusion, you cannot eat from an open can!

Job Search: How could you be successful ?

Getting out of the university as fresher, you would definitely face a set of challenges and you will start asking your self: from where shall I start? how would I choose my first employer? How can I build up a profile that would value my skills and successfully sell my self ?

The first thing that in my opinion should be at your table, is actually the type of your first employer.
Successfully integrating into the job market is a challenging step, this is obviously due to the fact that the Job market is huge. You may be confused in front of Job portals, stating hundred of Jobs and firms looking for people like you.
After writing your precious application, you will start applying for jobs. Few things need to be checked before starting your journey:

• Read carefully the Job offer! This is a must. Some people just look at the Job offer title, for example: Software Engineer and they just apply! first, the required skills should be checked, the seniority level should be checked, the work environment needs to be checked. If you are a fresher and you apply for a Job mentioning a work experience, then most probably your application would land in the bin... If you do not fulfill the language requirement mentioned on the Job offer, don't apply! 
• How does your application look like? Did you wrote a cover letter? do you value your skills and prove them in your CV? did you checket the language spelling in your application? have you put any reference letter in your application? 
• Are you willing to reallocate if you get a Job? this needs to be mentioned in your application?
• When would you be available for an interview ad eventually to start working?? mention this clearly in your application?
• Salary expectation! Here is a stressing point! Don't overvalue your self, search for a salary survey that would list average salary that would fit your skills. Do remember that the Job location is important in defining which salary your are expecting (e.g. a Job in Frankfurt or Munich pays more than the same Job(even in the same firm) in a small town in Germany.
• Do not lie in your CV. If you don't have a valid experience, don't state it into your CV! You could be ashamed being asked to prove your experience at a further step of the hiring process!

Coming back to the employer, I think that for a fresher, starting in a small firm would be more beneficial.
Usually, in small firms, knowledge transfer is more smooth and communication is less bureaucratic. This means, getting in touch with Senior people is easier, this also applies for company processes, as usually they are compact and adapted to the company size.
I also recommend staying in the same Job at least 2 years. Less than that, the experience would not really make much sense once it's stated in your CV.

Do not run for money, money will come to you if you deserve it! and remember, you need to go for the Job, the Job does not come to you, unless you are a genius :)

Hope you find this post beneficial:)

Talk to you soon
Anis

A thanks note to my mom

I could not start blogging, I felt that a precious person needs to head up all my posts.

Dear Mom,

I couldn't have asked for a better mother! You're always there to give excellent advice, make great food, go shopping, or just listen. You're truly a terrific mom and a special person too. Thank you for being you! 

 When I get to officially declare you the Best Mom Ever. Though I may not always say it (or show it), you mean the world to me. Thank you for being there. I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you!

Your son,

Anis