Performance Evaluation Framework for a SIP-based Telecommunication Call Handling System

Abstract: Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) has been used for signaling in many Voice over IP(VoIP) applications. Being more cost-effective than conventional circuit-switchedsystems, IP-based telecommunication systems are extensively employed by manyservice providers. As these systems gain more popularity, the need for dimensioningof such systems grows correspondingly. Moreover, accurate information about systemcapacity is necessary for future improvements of the system, as well as service provision and implementation planning. For these reasons, a solution supporting system performance evaluation is useful and beneficial in several ways. The goal of this research was to develop a performance evaluation framework for a SIP-based telecommunication system. The developed framework facilitates measurements of the maximum number of requests which can be processed by a system, and the amount of time required for call session establishment. With a userfriendly interface, the framework enables system testers to perform experiments using simulated SIP traffics, as well as to deal with results interpretation easily. In order to achieve the objective, studies of related technologies and available tools for SIP traffic generation have been carried out. Afterwards, the performance evaluation framework is designed and implemented. Lastly, the developed framework is used for evaluating the performance of EasyVPaBX, a SIP-based call handling system, in various system configurations. Keywords: SIP, Performance, Evaluation, Dimensioning, Measurement