"Thanks to its IP multimedia communication platform, IMS is providing multimedia communication services such as Voice over LTE (VoLTE), Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi), and Rich Communication Services (RCS). However, with the arrival of 5G, voice and video-based multimedia communications are no longer limited to simple communication between people. New communication requirements between 'people and things' or 'things and things' will inevitably permeate vertical industries alongside the growth of 5G IoT applications. Furthermore, 5G will offer ultra-wideband capabilities, enabling the rapid development of high-definition video-based multimedia communication services such as high-definition videoconferencing or ultra-high-definition video streaming. IMS's current architecture is too complex and has a long implementation cycle, preventing it from flexibly and efficiently meeting new on-demand communication needs."
 
Regarding the evolution of IMS, Liu Wei commented: "The new generation of IMS core network must be based on the SDN/NFV cloud and be an integral part of IT innovation."
 
To build an innovative 5G-oriented IMS as a service multimedia communication platform (IMSaaS), developers must:
- Adopt microservices to achieve network function reconstruction.
- Perform network slicing, offering customized services or on-demand networks.
- To demonstrate capacity. By intervening deeply in the services of other operators to control the mobile internet value chain.
- Leverage the DevOps of the operators by providing a microservices-based IMS network slicing with a closed-loop environment that has automatic design, automatic development, automatic deployment, and automatic operation and maintenance (O&M).
 
As a leading global provider of IMS solutions, ZTE has worked with major operators and joined numerous standards organizations and open source communities, including the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), 3GPP, Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP), Open Platform for NFV (OPNFV), OpenStack, OpenDaylight, and the Open Network Operating System (ONOS). To date, ZTE has successfully deployed over 260 IMS business offices and labs worldwide and built the world's largest commercial RCS network for China Mobile, based on a virtualized IMS.

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