ALTERNATIVE DBMS ULTIMATE DBMS-ALTIBASE Corp.

BcN Service Research Institute within KT Service Development Research Institutes is a technology development research institute formed to implement Next Generation Network for Telecommunications (NGN). They are verifying various technologies in order to realize a new application service that has been initiated by KT. KT internally calls NGN service as 'BcN'.

This institute develops platforms needed to push for application services, which are based on data and phone calls provided by BcN Network. A pilot NGN services were launched this year and the commercialization will start in 2005 in full swing. The BcN Service Research Institute's construction of Altibase's MMRDBMS solutions dates back to 2002.

In order to revitalize ever-declining wired telecommunication business due to the development of mobile technology, KT has devised various business models. Among them, the most profitable ones to KT are 'World Phone Plus Card', a prepaid-card and 'KT Pass Card'. Back in 2002, BcN Service Research Institute came to a conclusion that it is ridiculous to provide new services due to aging facilities when they examined KT's IT system in an effort to realize new service model.

While constructing next generation intelligent network-based system, they studied the need for entire system replacement as they judged that the system would show problems in capacity and performance in providing services to more subscribers. And for the system replacement, 'telecommunication data real-time processing technology', core technology needed for introduction of a new type of telephone card, emerged as a key challenge to them.

But it was not easy to find such companies within the country. In 2001, they identified a couple of companies but even the technologies of the companies are at the level of maintaining performance, far from real-time processing technology. They also thought about using solution of TimesTen, a US-based MMRDBMS company, but it has possibility of problems due to lack of post management.

After all, Altibase remained as the only candidate. Altibase received a high score because it has the source technology as a domestic company and gave credibility for good follow-up support. The new type of intelligent network system, which was constructed in Nov. 2002, was commercialized in full swing on Nov. 11.

KT is currently using Altibase's MMDBMS solution for its World Phone Plus Card and KT Pass Card services without any problems. Altibase's DBMS has development environment in SQL format and therefore, it supports easy-to-use development tool environment and it is equipped with data replication function in the Memory DB itself. A fourfold replication is implemented through replication in system itself for the sake of better service stability and separate local replication.

The real-time processing technology is important to KT's service card in that the technology is the key to providing convenient customer services in the telecommunication network environment of PSTN. Mr. Woo pointed out, "When customers are using the service through KT card, for example, if 500 won is used, the balance data should be synchronized in a real-time basis. What rendered us interested in the Altabase technology is that real-time processing is supported through its own algorithm.
KT card intelligent network system requires processing speed of 4000TPS per system at one query, incomparable to the data processing speed at ordinary banks. Encoding/decoding for network protocol and execution of service logic (the technology that the card number input by customers is detected and processed in the next stage) are being smoothly conducted.

For example, users push the access number when they execute card service. The service request is detected in the signaling network and the service logic sends out information message. If the users push their card number, the data is collected and data request is made to Memory DB. When the user's balance data is read and his or her password is verified, service is provided.

Main Memory DBMS technology started to be applied in the country partly because limitations in memory have reduced due to speedy improvement of domestic computing environment up to 64 bits. By embedding data in the memory, quick business data access has become possible and accordingly transaction-processing time was cut down.

As the card number and password of the subscriber are embedded in the memory data, allowing provision of real-time services through telephone number upon the request of the service. Now it has been one and a half years since World Phone Plus Card and KT Pass Card were commercialized and the average annual sales turned out to be over 100 billion won. The majority of customers are military men and overseas travelers. At the current time when demand for wired services is on the decline, replacement services such as pre-paid cards are emerging as important new source of revenue. An increasing number of telecommunication companies are attracting overseas travelers, frequent business travelers and students who are staying abroad and thus, such basic technology promises further penetration into other areas.

KT intends to reach out to new service areas by connecting this technology with NGN telecommunication network that are currently in the pipeline. KT's BcN Service Research Institute is currently developing various applied technologies to generate multiple sources of profits from voice-based services. So far, it has been providing fundamental technologies to be utilized for new businesses that KT is planning on exploring by developing application server, media server, messaging server, streaming server and subscriber status data management server.

KT is pushing ahead the plan to provide a wide range of services from the current voice service to additional voice services, wired/wireless services, and voice/data/telecom/broadcasting-integrated services. From the perspective of technology, the existing circuit-based PSTN network is evolving to package-based BcN service (NGN).

Core of BcN service lies in the provision of integrated data service combining picture, voice and data. For the commercialization of NGN, KT has conducted demonstration of software switch application service needed for NGN on Dec. 26, last year and it is stepping up its efforts to complete its preparation of pilot business this year.