Skype-XMPP IM Gateway: open source Karaka demoing at eComm

Vipadia's Karaka open source software is another reason to go to this week's Emerging Communications Conference (20% off with 'skypejournal' discount code).

The Karaka libraries manage Skype farms (many instances of Skype running in a data center) and bridge chat users to the Skype network through XMPP applications.

Skype farming is part of building a gateway. Fring, iSkoot, Eqo, Ribbit, IM+ and anyone else who wants to offer Skype chat, Skype presence, Skype profiles and other Skype data must have a gateway. Karaka helps you build your farm management system.

Neil Stratford, Vipadia's CEO, said "we needed the gateway to support our ClackPoint service - as a building block it seemed that it would be more widely useful, so we decided to release it publicly."

 

Scope of a generic Skype gateway?

• Instance lifecycle management: creating, monitoring, and closing instances of Skype.
• Instance virtualization: running your Skype instances on many servers/blades so you scale to meet demand.
• Multisite hosting: minimizing latency (speeding up round trips) by routing conversations to the closest server with available resources
• Skype client configuration:  streamlining instances to avoid using a computer's memory, cpu and bandwidth, and to avoid memory leaks.
• Session management: mapping outside clients to sessions in your gateway, even when they have flaky connectivity.
• Security: the usual, but more so.
• Modeling: associating Skype's data models for people, groups, chats, calls, to your own software and APIs.

What Karaka does and doesn't do:

• Instance lifecycle management: Yes.
• Instance virtualization: Yes. 
• Multisite hosting: No. You can use DNS SRV record load balancing to different sites. 
• Skype client configuration:  Defaults to a basic config, but you can script your own.
• Session management: Yes.
• Security: Up to you. "We have an API to enable encrypted transmission of credentials, but otherwise we rely on the security of the associated XMPP infrastructure."
• Modeling: Yes for those elements in the XMPP definition, No for SIP call elements.

In English:

Look at Vipadia's GPL'd libraries when you want to build a gateway to Skype, to have Skype inside your product or service.

The news release.

Vipadia is pleased to announce the release under the GPLv2 of Karaka, the open-source XMPP-Skype Gateway.

Existing Skype interconnect solutions focus on bridging voice even though the primary use of Skype is for instant messaging and associated presence data. Interconnecting with Skype messaging and presence has been a major stumbling block for many who wish to offer Skype interconnection to their network. Karaka bridges the XMPP and Skype clouds, removing this stumbling block by converting Skype messaging and presence to the popular XMPP protocol as used by, e.g., Google Talk.

Karaka is a scalable distributed XMPP transport that bridges instant messaging and presence between a user's XMPP and Skype accounts. In addition to full presence and instant messaging exchange, it also automatically detects Skype multi-party conversations, elevating them into XMPP conference rooms.

Karaka implements the XMPP standards XEP-0100 for gateway support, XEP-0045 for multi-user chats and XEP-0144 for roster exchange.

Karaka is licensed under the GPLv2 and is hosted on Google Code at <http://code.google.com/p/karaka/>. For more information visit <http://vipadia.com/products/karaka/>.

Vipadia <http://vipadia.com/> is a Cambridge, UK based startup that creates and innovates in the field of IP communications, specialising in Voice, Video, Messaging and Presence over IP.

Karaka uses the Skype API but is not endorsed or certified by Skype.

tags: skype, vipadia, karaka, code, platform, platforming, xmpp, ecomm09, ecomm, gateway, opensource, bridge

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diagram credit: Vipadia