Capability Exchange

In the following example we will assume that two users are connected over the CS
domain i.e., they have a CS connection between them. In this example Tobias called
his sister via her international phone number. In order to allow the combinational services
to work, several conditions have to be fulfilled:
within CS signalling, the calling network needs to provide Tobiass phone number (the
MSISDN) in full international format to Theresas UE e.g., +44123456789;
Tobiass MSISDN also needs to be registered in Tobiass home IMS network as a tel
URL e.g. tel:+44123456789;
also, Theresas MSISDN must be sent via CS signalling to Tobiass UE. Theresas
MSISDN must be indicated in international number format and must be registered in
Theresas IMS home network as a tel URL e.g. tel:+36987654321; and
both Tobias and Theresa need to be registered with their tel URLs from the very same
UEs they are using to establish CS calls with each other.
In order to simplify the example, we assume that both users, Tobias and Theresa, are each
registered only from one UE. This is done in order to avoid forking cases. Theresa and
Tobias both have an IMS-based application installed on their UEs that allows them to
share videostreams in real time in addition to an existing CS voice call. This peer-to-peer
application will only work if the application is present on both UEs. In order to give
a consistent user experience, the menu item for video sharing will only be shown to
106 The IMS: IP Multimedia Concepts and Services
Theresa and Tobias, if their UEs have verified that the application is also supported at the
remote end.
In order to query the capabilities of the remote end the SIP OPTIONS request is used
(see Fig 3.34). After establishing the CS call, both UEs send an OPTIONS request to
the tel URL of the remote user. The tel URL will be derived from the MSISDN of the
remote user in the CS call. In our example, Tobiass UE sends an OPTIONS request to
the following address:
OPTIONS tel:+36987654321 SIP/2.0
Theresas UE will send a 200 (OK) response to this OPTIONS request, indicating
the UEs capabilities. One of these capabilities will be support for the video-sharing
application. The same OPTIONS/200 (OK) exchange is done in the other direction. After
these exchanges have been finished, both Theresa and Tobias will be offered the possibility
of sharing a videostream with the other user in the CS call.
As said above, the example given here is very basic and only shows how capabilities
between UEs can be exchanged in principle.