IT-3303-3

Broadband Networks
Punjab University College of Information Technology,
University of the Punjab.

VoIP and H.323

Lecture - Objectives

VoIP
Advantages of VoIP
How to Use VoIP?
VoIP Protocols
Background to H.323
Components of H.323
H.323 Protocol Overview
H.323 Call establishment

VoIP
VOIP is an acronym for Voice over Internet
Protocol, or in more common terms phone
service
over
the
Internet.
If you have a reasonable quality Internet
connection you can get phone service delivered
through your Internet connection instead of
from your local phone company.
VoIP, is a method for
taking analog audio signals,
and turning them into digital data
that can be transmitted over the Internet.

Advantages of VoIP
There are 3 main causes for the evolution of the
Voice over IP market:
Low cost phone calls
Merging of data/voice infrastructures

How to Use VOIP?

There are three different ways of VoIP service in common use
today:
ATA - The simplest and most common way is through the use of a
device called an ATA (analog telephone adaptor). The ATA allows
you to connect a standard phone to your computer or your
Internet connection for use with VoIP. The ATA is an analog-todigital converter. It takes the analog signal from your traditional
phone and converts it into digital data for transmission over the
Internet.
IP Phones - These specialized phones look just like normal
phones with a handset, cradle and buttons. But instead of having
the standard RJ-11 phone connectors, IP phones have an RJ-45
Ethernet connector. IP phones connect directly to your router
and have all the hardware and software necessary right onboard
to handle the IP call.

How to Use VOIP?

Computer-to-computer - This is certainly the easiest
way to use VoIP. You don't even have to pay for longdistance calls. There are several companies offering
free or very low-cost software that you can use for
this type of VoIP. All you need is the software, a
microphone, speakers, a sound card and an Internet
connection, preferably a fast one like you would get
through a cable or DSL modem. Except for your
normal monthly ISP fee, there is usually no charge for
computer-to-computer calls, no matter the distance.
A softphone is client software that loads the VoIP
service onto your desktop or laptop.

VoIP Protocols
There are several protocols currently used for
VoIP. These protocols define ways in which
devices connect to each other and to the
network using VoIP. They also include
specifications for audio codecs.
The most widely used protocol is H.323, a
standard
created
by
the
International
Telecommunication Union (ITU). H.323 is a
complex protocol that was originally designed
for video conferencing.

VoIP Protocols
An alternative to H.323 is Session Initiation
Protocol (SIP). SIP is a much more streamlined
protocol, developed specifically
for VoIP
applications. Smaller and more efficient than
H.323, SIP takes advantage of existing protocols
to handle certain parts of the process.
Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) is a
third commonly used VoIP protocol that focuses
on endpoint control. MGCP is geared toward
features like call waiting.

H.323
The first successful set of protocols for VoIP was
developed
by
the
International
telecommunications Union (ITU). This set is
known as H.323 and has the title, Packetbased Multimedia Communications Systems.
H.323 is a comprehensive and very complex
protocol that was originally designed for video
conferencing.
It
provides
specifications
for
real-time,
interactive videoconferencing, data sharing and
audio applications such as VoIP.

H.323
Actually a suite of protocols, H.323 incorporates
many individual protocols that have been
developed for specific applications.
H.323 is a large collection of protocols and
specifications. That's what allows it to be used
for so many applications.

H.323 Network Architecture

H.323 Terminal

H.323 Terminal

H.323 MCU
Packet Network

H.323 Gateway

H.323 Gatekeeper

PSTN

ISDN

H.323 Components

H.323 Components
The H.323 standard specifies its network
architecture. This architecture consists of four
components:
Terminals
Gateways
Gatekeepers
Multipoint controller units (MCUs)

Terminals
H.323 terminals are primarily IP telephones and
PCs, not traditional telephones. An H.323
terminal must have:
A network interface
Audio codecs
H.323 software

Terminals
H.323 terminals must support audio (G.711
mandatory,
G.723.1
and
G.729
are
recommended for networks of low bandwidth).
Video and data support is optional; H.261 is
mandatory when video is supported. H.245 and
H.225 are required for control functions, and
the RTP is required for sequencing media
packets.

H.323 Gateways
Gateways provide a means for interoperability
among different telecommunications systems.
Gateways provide many functions, including:
H.323 gateway provide translation services
between the H.323 network and another type of
network, such as an Integrated Services Digital
Network (ISDN) or the Public Switched Telephone
Network (PSTN).
One side of the gateway supports H.323
signaling
and
terminates
packet
media
according to the requirements of H.323.

H.323 Gateways
The other side of the gateway interfaces to a
circuit-switched network and supports the
transmission characteristics and signaling
protocols of the circuit-switched network.
On the H.323 side, the gateway has the
characteristics of an H.323 terminal. On the
circuit-switched side , it has characteristics of a
node of circuit-switched network.

Gateway

Gatekeepers
A gatekeeper is an optional entity within an
H.323 network, however, if they present, they
controls a number of H.323 terminals,
gateways, and multipoint controllers (MCs). The
gatekeeper provide the following services:
Address Translation: call originating within an
H.323 network may use an alias to address the
destination terminal. So the gatekeeper must be
able to translate an H.323 alias addresses into a
transport address.
H.323 alias = email-ID (e.g. schlatter@switch.ch), or
e164Number (e.g. 004112681549)

Gatekeepers

Endpoints do register with their H.323 aliases1

and call signaling IP address
A GK translates H.323 aliases into call signaling
IP addresses (especially useful for endpoints
with dynamic IP addresses)
This function is particularly important in
scenarios where a phone on the circuit-switched
network is attempting to call a PC on an IP
network. (an E.164 number like 212-555-2121
will be translated into an IP network address
like 180.23.12.78)

Gatekeepers
Admission Control: the gatekeeper can control the
admission of the endpoints into the H.323 network. It
uses RAS messages, admission request (ARQ), admission
confirm (ACF), and admission reject (ARJ) to achieve this.
Admission control can be a null function that admit all
endpoints to the H.323 network.
Bandwidth Control and Management: the gatekeeper
provides support for bandwidth control by using the RAS
messages, bandwidth request (BRQ), confirm (BCF), and
reject (BRJ). For instance, if a network manager has
specified a threshold for the number of simultaneous
connections on the H.323 network, the gatekeeper can
refuse to make any more connections once the threshold
is reached.

Gatekeepers
Zone Management: the set of terminals,
gateways and MCs controlled by a single
gatekeeper is known as a zone. Within its zone,
a gatekeeper must provide required functions
(for example: address translation, admission
control, bandwidth control) to all endpoints that
have registered with it.
Call Authorization: the gatekeeper can decide
to authorize or reject a given call; the provider of
the H.323 service specifies the reasons for
authorization and rejection. Reasons may
include the time of the day, type of service
subscription, desire to access a restricted
gateway, or lack of available bandwidth.

Multipoint Control Unit (MCUs)

MCUs provide conference support for three or
more endpoints.
All terminals participating in the conference
establish a connection with the MCU.
It
manages
conference
resources
and
negotiations between endpoints to determine
which audio or video codec to use.

MCU

H.323 Protocol Stack

H.323 Protocols Overview:

RAS
RAS stands for Registration, Admission, and
Status. RAS is also known as H.225 protocol.
RAS messages are used for:
Gatekeeper discovery (often done manually)
Gatekeeper registration
Name resolution (H.323 alias IP Address)
Admission control (to restrict the entry of an
endpoint into a zone)
Bandwidth control
Status requests
RAS messages use UDP protocol with ports 1718
(GK discovery) / 1719

RAS

H.323 Protocols Overview:

Q.931, H.245
Q.931- Call Signaling
call signaling protocol used in the ISDN D
Channel
Q.931: TCP, port 1720
H.245- Control Signaling
Flow control messages
Opening and closing logical channels used to
carry media streams
H.245: TCP, dynamic port (>1024)

Q.931, H.245

H.323 Protocols Overview:

Video Codecs
H.261 and H.263 are ITU series of video codecs.
A video codec is used to encodes video from the camera for
transmission on the transmitting terminal and decode the
received video code that is sent to the video display on the
receiving terminal.
H.263
successor of H.261
same video quality as H.261 but lower bitrate
Future: H.264 = MPEG-4
Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP)
IETF RFC 1889
end-to-end media stream transport protocol
payload type, sequence number, timestamp
UDP, dynamic port (>1024)
(RTP: even, RTCP: odd numbered port)

Video Codecs

H.323 Protocols Overview:

Audio Codecs
G.711, G.723, G.729 are series of ITU audio codecs.
An audio codec encodes the audio signals from the
microphone for the transmission on the transmitting
terminal and decode the receive audio code that is
sent to the speaker on the receiving terminal.
G.711
PCM, 64 kbits, voice quality: good
G.729
8 kbits, voice quality: good
RTP Control Protocol (RTCP)
quality feedback, RTP session control
UDP, dynamic port (>1024)
(RTP: even, RTCP: odd numbered port)

Audio Codecs

H.323 Protocols Overview:

T.120
T.120
Used for data conferencing

File transfer (T.128)

Text chat (T.134)
TCP, port 1503

T.120

Reference Material
3G Wireless Networks (chapter 8)
by CLINT SMITH and DANIEL COLLINS
CISCO Voice Over IP
by ELLIOT LEWIS
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/iptelephony1.htm
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/What+is+V
OIP