NAT Traversal Channel

A Q&A with Eyeball Networks

September 26, 2007

Eyeball Networks talks about NAT Traversal, VoIP and the direction the company is moving.

Eyeball Networks is a pioneer and world leader in Internet telephony and instant messaging software enabling service providers, application developers, and device makers to deliver carrier-grade communications solutions in a cost-effective and timely manner.

What is NAT, and why should I be concerned about NAT traversal?

More than 90 percent of PCs or end-devices access the broadband Internet using private IP addresses. These private IP addresses get mapped into real Internet addresses using a mechanism called Network Address Translation (NAT), which is implemented in all broadband access devices (also called broadband routers such as from LinkSys, NetGear or SMC) and sometimes also in the service provider network. NAT traversal refers to the problem, and solution thereof, where two computers behind NATs sometimes fail to communicate with each other for features such as IM, VoIP, file-sharing and online-games. If you are building devices, applications or services involving Internet communications, then NAT traversal should be a concern.

What are some applications NAT traversal technology is used for?

A list of applications requiring NAT traversal technologies follow:

•  VoIP and video telephony
• File-sharing such as picture and video sharing
• Online games
• Collaboration tools such as presentation and white-boarding
• Any other applications using client-to-client data transfer

How has the availability of effective NAT traversal solutions changed the way VoIP and other IP-based services are delivered and used?

Traditionally NAT traversal has been one of the critical barriers for widespread VoIP adoption. Development of IETF standards such as STUN, TURN and ICE provide a rich set of mechanisms for an interoperable standards-based and scalable solution to this problem. Availability of an effective NAT traversal solution such as Eyeball AnyFirewall Engine has removed this barrier providing guaranteed traversal of VoIP calls through NATs, firewalls and web-proxies. It is effectively bringing VoIP and other IP-based services to plug and play level between devices, applications and service providers.

What are some of the challenges traditionally faced by developers of client-to-client networking applications, especially in peer-to-peer and VoIP settings?

Traditionally developers did not have proper technologies and tools to solve the NAT traversal problem for client-to-client networking applications. For example, for VoIP applications the developers/operators faced the following issues. Some products implemented only partial NAT traversal solution. For example, many VoIP phones only support STUN, and therefore cannot be used for client-to-client data transfer by most broadband Internet users. In most cases, operators settled for using a relay server (such as Session Border Controller) for all calls. Since all calls are relayed, the relay server becomes a bottleneck (and expensive) for service scalability, and deteriorates call quality by injecting additional delay, jitter and packet-loss. Also since SBCs implement proprietary protocols products from one vendor do not work with those from another vendor. In some cases, developers have developed proprietary NAT traversal solutions (such as Skype ) that do not interoperate with others.

What types of features and capabilities is the VoIP industry looking for in a NAT traversal solution?

 -- Here is a list if features and capabilities the VoIP industry is looking for:

• 100 percent traversal of VoIP calls through NATs, firewalls and web-proxies.
• Standard-based solution to ensure 3rd party interoperability (IETF drafts STUN, TURN and ICE).
• Works without changing NATs, firewalls or other infrastructures.
• Most calls should be peer-to-peer for best media quality and scalability.
• Comprehensive solution with handset/client and server components.
• Small footprint for the end-point solution with support for multiple PC and embedded platforms.
• Mature and field-proven technology.

The bottom-line is that when a user purchases a VoIP phone or service, it should just work in all cases without any service scalability bottlenecks.

What is Eyeball AnyFirewall Technology and how is it being used by your customers?

The award winning AnyFirewall Engine is the industry's leading NAT traversal Software Development Kit (SDK) for guaranteed VoIP and video call completion across NATs, firewalls, and Web proxies. AFE incorporates the most -- comprehensive implementation of the IETF standards STUN, TURN and ICE. Eyeball's patented AnyFirewall Technology offers - for the first time in the industry- a completely software-based solution that is standards-based (i.e. STUN, TURN, ICE) and primarily peer-to-peer resulting in 100% VoIP and video call completion. Our customers are integrating this technology into soft phones, video phones, set-top boxes, and PDA-based mobile phones.

Why does Eyeball use STUN, TURN and ICE for NAT traversal technologies?

STUN, TURN and ICE are results of international standardization body IETF which is responsible for developing all Internet-related protocols. Together they provide an excellent methodology for NAT traversal which is being standardized in order to ensure interoperability between products and services from different vendors. Earlier efforts on NAT traversal solutions such as application level gateways (ALGs) and session border controllers (SBCs) either did not work well enough or had interoperability, performance and scalability problems. STUN, TURN and ICE have received widespread industry support from vendors such as Cisco, Microsoft (News - Alert) and Nokia; and has been adopted for CableLabs IMS specification for next-generation communications architecture. Eyeball AnyFirewall Engine provides the most comprehensive implementation of STUN, TURN and ICE along with features such as UPnP and http-tunneling.

What is Eyeball MessengerSDK and how is it being used by the VoIP industry?

Eyeball MessengerSDK provides application developers and service providers with the industry's most robust and feature-rich VoIP, video telephony and instant messaging API. Here are a few examples on how our customers use MessengerSDK:

• Branded Messenger for IM, VoIP and file-sharing including federation with AOL, Google (News - Alert) Talk and MSN and Yahoo!
• Branded Soft Phones for VoIP services (free, pre-paid or post-paid).
• Integrated communication tool for web-based social networking applications.
• Soft Phone to access mobile phone and SMS service as part of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) solution.
• Click-to-dial application.
• Custom applications such as in-store kiosks and video end-point for the hearing-challenged people.

What are some other offerings from Eyeball Networks?

As a pioneer and leading provider in the VoIP, video telephony, and instant messaging industry, Eyeball offers a modular suite of proven endpoint software, turnkey server software, and software development kits (SDKs) based on industry standards and whenever possible, peer-to-peer media delivery. For many Internet communications applications, Eyeball can provide a one stop solution including customized soft-client and carrier-grade servers for IM, presence, VoIP and video telephony features. Other offerings from Eyeball:

• Eyeball Messenger is a standards-based soft client that is SIP and XMPP-compliant, providing full-featured VoIP, video telephony, presence, and instant messaging feature including interoperability with AOL (News - Alert), MSN, Yahoo!, and Google Talk.
• SIP Proxy Server: enables service providers to deploy scalable VoIP and video telephony applications and services. The SIP Server is standards compliant with a comprehensive feature-set.
• Eyeball IM Server: provides a carrier-grade presence and instant messaging features based on the XMPP open standard.
• Eyeball AnyFirewall™ Server: provides a scalable firewall and NAT traversal solution for SIP end-points based on IETF standards such as STUN, TURN and ICE.

What else should people know about NAT traversal and Eyeball Networks?

Eyeball is the leading provider for comprehensive NAT traversal solution for VoIP and other Internet-based communications:

• More than 95 percent calls use peer-to-peer media transport for UDP connections. AnyFirewall Engine allows rapid integration of NAT traversal features into VoIP phones, video phones and other applications.
• Carrier-grade AnyFirewall Server provides scalable service for large-scale Internet-wide deployments.
• AFE is available in many PC and embedded platforms including Windows 2000, XP & Vista, Windows Mobile, Linux and embedded Linux. A small foot-print and C-style interface makes this especially suitable for embedded applications and devices.
• Hundreds of VoIP service providers, application developers, and device makers have used AnyFirewall Technology to deliver instant, seamless, and guaranteed call completion.
• Eyeball Networks has been a leader in NAT traversal solutions for over 5 years. It has been field tested by millions of end-users in several countries.