Promoting innovative mobile applications via a third party IMS-enabled ecosystem

Today's IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) client on a mobile device provides basic services, including voice, presence, messaging, and contact management. In the future, the IMS client should be prepared to handle a large variety of innovative and unexpected services that integrate into the client seamlessly among existing services. Bell Labs' Client/Service IMS Architecture group has defined a product concept called API for Mobile IMS Client Application (AMICAL) that provides multiple levels of application programming interfaces (APIs) for third parties developing IMS-enabled applications. By using a plug-in framework, AMICAL allows users to enhance the IMS client with innovative features without modifying the proprietary core software. At another level of abstraction via an IMS kernel service, third party developers can write their own application completely independently of the IMS client, yet enable it with IMS features such as presence-enabled objects and easily deployed communication services. These components provide a demonstrably effective means to promote new and innovative IMS-enabled services and applications by third party developers.