The State of IP

[Commentary] It's been years since IP slowly but surely began infiltrating into mainstream carrier networks. In 2010 it's poised to make its biggest impact ever. Forget about the attention-getting but ultimately underwhelming VoIP softswitch overlays or IPTV service deployments of yesteryear. In today's carrier networks, IP may not always be hyped or even seen, but it is indeed everywhere - and in 2010, it's only going deeper and making an even bigger impact.

Today the wireline network core is largely based on Internet Protocol -- or IP, for shorthand, the packet-based protocol that most famously handles Internet traffic. Long-haul transport is becoming increasingly so as well, with not just IP but Ethernet - which began its life on the local area network but whose simplicity and compatibility with IP has made it the network of choice almost everywhere - becoming largely predominant. Next up: the access network, where fiber-to-the-node and a focus on network/protocol convergence - not to mention the proliferation of IP applications - are pushing IP into tomorrow's connected homes (and pockets). Also on tap: greater levels of IP interconnect, in which carriers pass traffic from network to network as pure IP.

On the wireless network front, meanwhile, LTE and other 4G technologies are driving IP into tomorrow's mobile packet core. Not to be outdone, IP is moving into the mobile backhaul network as well, where IP and Ethernet are replacing yesterday's leased T1s as bandwidth requirements boom and timing issues challenge backhaul providers mixing voice and data packets on new converged networks. Finally, there's a world of progress being made with IP at the application layer, with deep packet inspection (DPI), policy servers and other IP elements providing a new network intelligence layer.