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Open Settlement Protocol

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OSP is a client/server protocol that Internet service providers use to exchange authorization, accounting, and usage information to support IP telephony. OSP is defined by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) Project TIPHON (Telecommunications and Internet Protocol Harmonization Over Networks).

OSP provides a way for ISPs to support billing for voice and fax over IP services. The protocol is implemented in voice telephony gateways such as softswitches, H.323 multimedia conferencing gateways, and SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) proxies.

Settlements are based on per-minute charges like the existing PSTN. With settlements in place, IP telephony can expand beyond the confines of single service providers or confederations of service providers into a global service.

A press release of September 2, 1998, announced that the industry leaders 3Com Corporation, Cisco, GRIC Communications, iPass, and TransNexus had "teamed up to promote inter-domain authentication, authorization and accounting standards for IP telephony through the Open Settlement Protocol (OSP)." The Open Settlement Protocol is being developed under the authority of the <a href="http://www.etsi.fr/">European Telecommunications Standards Institute's (ETSI)</a> project TIPHON, <a href="http://www.etsi.fr/tiphon/">Telecommunications and Internet Protocol Harmonization Over Networks</a>. The TIPHON project objective is "to support the market for voice communication and related voiceband communication (such asfacsimile) between users . . . [to] ensure that users connected to IP based networks can communicate with users in Switched Circuit Networks (such as PSTN /ISDN and GSM), and vice versa." One of the benefits of the new Open Settlement Protocol is 'flexible and feature rich information exchange via the Extensible Markup Language (XML).' The message system defined in the protocol architecture uses HTTP to communicate the principal message content; this includes a MIME header together with the XML document in a <Message>.

A provisional (draft, not official) version of the Open Settlement Protocol may be found in the document Telecommunications and Internet Protocol Harmonization Over Networks (TIPHON): Inter-domain pricing, authorisation, and usage exchange = ETSI DTS/TIPHON-03004 V1.3.0 (1998-09). The document's statement of scope: "This document specifies a set of protocols and associated profiles to permit the exchange of inter-domain pricing, authorisation, and settlement information between internet telephony operators. The protocols specified fulfil the essential requirements of such services, by providing appropriate functionality between multiple administrative domains in a secure manner. The specification also provides for non-standard extensions that permit co-operating parties to augment or replace the basic functionality." Section 6 ('XML Content') "specifies the actual message format used to exchange pricing, authentication and authorisation, and usage information. It outlines the overall XML document structure, lists the individual XML elements, and describes how those elements are combined into exchanges." XML element and attribute declarations in this section define the provisional DTD for the Open Settlement Protocol in this draft version.

A revised/corrected version of the TIPHON document cited above is: Telecommunications and Internet Protocol Harmonization Over Networks (TIPHON): Inter-domain pricing, authorisation, and usage exchange = ETSI DTS/TIPHON-03004 V1.4.0 (1998-09). Dated 1998-08-28. It contains revisions based upon TIPHON 9 TD50.

The root as given:

<!DOCTYPE Message [
<!ELEMENT Message ( ( PricingIndication | PricingConfirmation
        | AuthorisationRequest | AuthorisationResponse
        | AuthorisationIndication | AuthorisationConfirmation
        | UsageIndication | UsageConfirmation | ReauthorisationRequest
        | ReauthorisationResponse )+ ) >
...
]>

Note that the approved version of this document (1.4.1) has not yet been made public.

Links:

  • <a href="http://www.etsi.fr/">European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)</a>

  • <a href="http://www.etsi.org">ETSI</a> - Alternate Web site

  • TIPHON (<a href="http://www.etsi.fr/tiphon/">Telecommunications and Internet Protocol Harmonization Over Networks</a>)

  • <a href="http://docbox.etsi.fr/tech-org/tiphon/Document/tiphon/07-drafts/wg3/DTS03004/">TIPHON Draft documents</a>

  • [September 10, 1998] <a href="http://docbox.etsi.fr/tech-org/tiphon/Document/tiphon/07-drafts/wg3/DTS03004/V1.4.0/DTS03004v1_4_0.doc">Version 1.4.0</a> ETSI DTS/TIPHON-03004 V1.3.0 (1998-09) from Working Group 3. Dated 1998-08-28.

  • <a href="http://docbox.etsi.fr/tech-org/tiphon/Document/tiphon/07-drafts/wg3/DTS03004/V1.3.0/">Version 1.3.0</a> - ETSI DTS/TIPHON-03004 V1.3.0 (1998-09) from Working Group 3. See the previous item.

  • [September 03, 1998] Press release: <a href="openSettProtAnn.html">"Industry Leaders Advance IP Telephony Standard. 3Com, Cisco, GRIC, iPass, and TransNexus agree to support the Open Settlement Protocol."</a> - "Industry leaders 3Com Corporation, Cisco, GRIC Communications, iPass, and TransNexus have teamed up to promote inter-domain authentication, authorization and accounting standards for IP telephony through the Open Settlement Protocol (OSP). OSP includes a "flexible and feature rich information exchange via eXtensible Markup Language (XML)." Also - equivalent <a href="http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/146/september98/4.html">press release from Cisco</a>.

  • [September 08, 1998] <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?98098.ehosp.htm">"Vendor Support Moves IP Telephony Standard."</a> By Laura Kujubu and Stephen Lawson. In <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/">InfoWorld [Electric]</a> (September 8, 1998). Posted at 8:02 AM PT. According to Jim Dalton, CEO and president of TransNexus in Atlanta, "the main benefits of OSP include it confidentiality of information via Secure Sockets Layer encryption; secure, mutual authentication of communicating parties through public and private key cryptography methods; nonrepudiation of all communications through digital signature technology, so that, for example, a receiving party has verification that another party used their network; and information exchange via Extensible Markup Language. . . Other key players such as Lucent Technologies and Northern Telecom expressed interest and support of IP telephony standards in general but are still evaluating OSP, company representatives said. But others such as Ascend Communications, GTE, AT&T, and Internet Telephony Exchange Carrier (ITXC) - although not part of the formal OSP announcement made this month - expressed their support. Sprint and MCI WorldCom were unavailable for comment."

  • Or: <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayArchive.pl?/98/37/n01-37.37.htm">"Vendors Back IP Telephony Spec. OSP Provides IP Telephony `Settlement' Information."</a> By Laura Kujubu and Stephen Lawson. In <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/">InfoWorld</a> Volume 20, Issue 37 (September 14, 1998), page 37.

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