MC7354 VoLTE support

IoT Modules MC/EM Series
1

We have couple of MC7354 cards here. I was reading the Sierra MC7354 brochure and it says that the VoLTE feature is coming soon; however, after checking the latest hardware/software technical documents of MC7354 in Sierra Developer site, there is no any related information about VoLTE feature. So I would like to ask:

(1) When is the VoLTE feature released for MC73xx?

(2) Where can I get the support document or any information support of VoLTE for MC73xx?

Thanks

2

Hi,

The position with regards VoLTE is as follows.

  • We have gained a lot of expereince through the US networks with VoLTE.
  • Due to the way VoLTE is specified the networks can stick it together in lots of different ways, which are all compliant with the specs but required firmware changes within the units (this applies to all handsets as well). This is obviously unlike 2G/3G where the procedures and architecture were hard set.
  • At the moment it is generally only for the handset market, and then only on specific networks i.e. AT&T, Europe is way behind on this implementation at the moment.

The result of the above is as follows.

  • A VoLTE release has got to be operator specific, we will be doing this on an business case basis. Note that this a big undertaking as it brings some significant requirements to us for testing (as opposed to producing a data only device), especially with regards the US networks.
  • We, as an OEM, cannot produce a generic release of firmware that you can configure through AT commands that we know will work on all of the networks.

There are test releases around that we have working with VoLTE, if you wan to try using this then you will need to talk to your commercial channel to see if it available for you.

The above will work for handsets because the operators buy handsets directly from the OEM’s i.e. Samsung, Apple, Sony, etc. so they are able to have a tailored version of firmware, it will then work in roaming as the roaming network will see the VoLTE connection as data and route it all back through the home network which will then work with their implementation.

My personal opinion is that if you want to run VOIP services over LTE from an M2M application, because of the above limitations Sierra and consequently customers are faced with, the most generic and hence flexible way would be to use a 3rd party VOIP client such as Skype.

Regards

Matt