Transcript H.323: Alive and Well

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H.323: Alive and Well
Paul E. Jones
Rapporteur for ITU-T Q.2/16
E-mail: [email protected]
Copyright © 2003
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Agenda
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What is H.323?
Brief history of H.323
“What’s New” in H.323 standardization
H.323 in the marketplace today
H.323 Forum
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What is H.323?
• Recommendation H.323 is a standard
published by the International
Telecommunications Union
Telecommunications Sector (ITU-T)
– Formerly known as CCITT
– Refer to http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/
– A permanent organ of the United Nations
System (refer to http://www.unsystem.org/)
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What is H.323? (cont.)
• H.323 is the international standard for multimedia
communications over packet-based networks,
including the convergence of voice, video, and data
communications
• H.323 has made strong progress in terms of maturity
and rate of adoption
• H.323 standardization work continues within ITU-T
Study Group 16
• H.323 version 5 is scheduled for approval in May
2003
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H.323 Standardization
• The ITU-T is comprised of various “Study
Groups”
• Study Group 16 (SG16), specifically
“Question 2,” is responsible for
standardization work related to H.323
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Study Group 16 Structure
WP1
WP2
WP3
WP4
Facsimile and Modems
MM Platform and Interworking
Media Coding
MM Framework
E - Media coding
A - MediaCom 2004
6 - Advanced video coding
B - MM Architecture
7 - Wideband speech coding
C - MM Applications and
Services
H - Accessibility to MM
Systems and Services
D - Interoperability of MM
Systems and Services
11 - Modems
F - Quality of Service and End
to End Performance
12 - DCE-DCE protocols for
the PSTN and ISDN
G - Security
8 - Speech coding at 4 Kbit/s
13 - DTE-DCE Interfaces and
Protocols
1 - MM Systems, Terminals
and Data Conferencing
9 - Variable bit-rate speech
coding
14 - Facsimile terminals
2 - MM over Packet Networks
(H.323)
10 - Software tools and
maintenance of speech coding
standards
3 - Infrastructure and
Interoperability
4 – Video and Data
Conferencing using Internet
Supported Services
I – Emergency
Telecommunications Services
15 - Distributed speech
recognition/distributed speaker
verification
5 - Mobility for MM Systems
and Services
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History of H.323
• H.323 version 1 was first approved in 1996, with a
focus on enterprise voice, video, and data
collaboration
• H.323 version 2 was approved in 1998, with a
focus on “Internet Telephony”
• H.323 version 3 was approved in 1999 with
incremental improvements
• H.323 version 4 was approved in 2000 with major
enhancements focused on the requirements of
service providers
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H.323 Core Documents
• H.323 – “Umbrella” document that describes the
usage of H.225.0, H.245, and other related
documents for delivery of packet-based
multimedia conferencing services
• H.225.0 – Describes three signaling protocols
(RAS, Call Signaling, and “Annex G”)
• H.245 – Multimedia control protocol (common to
H.310, H.323, and H.324)
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Additional Documents
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H.235 – Security within H.245-based systems
H.246 – Interworking with the PSTN
H.450.x – Supplementary services
H.460.x – Various H.323 protocol extensions
H.501 – Protocol for mobility management and
inter/intra-domain communication
• H.510 – User, terminal, and service mobility
• H.530 – Security specification for H.510
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Elements of an H.323 System
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Terminals
Multipoint Control Units (MCUs)
Gateways
Gatekeeper
Border / Peer Elements
Referred to as
“endpoints”
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Where We are Today…
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Voice, video, and data conferencing capability
T.38 fax support
Modem over IP support
Many supplementary services defined
Strong interoperability with other H.32x systems,
including H.320 (ISDN) and H.323M (3GPP mobile
wireless)
Specification of media gateway decomposition (via H.248)
Support for signaling and media security
User, terminal, and service terminal mobility
Support for emergency services signaling
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Where we are today… (cont.)
• Extremely wide deployment
• Billions of minutes of traffic per month
worldwide (counting public networks only)
• More than 90% of all VoIP traffic today is
H.323, with H.323 video traffic on the rise
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More Recent Enhancements
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Modem over IP support
Local number portability
Circuit map status reporting
Call priority designation
Extended Fast Connect
Digit maps
Querying for alternate routes
QoS monitoring / reporting
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A Cry for Stability… Heard
• Enterprise and service providers have requested
“stability”, citing a real need for a mature protocol
that is not a “moving target”
• H.323 version 4 introduced a new extension
mechanism, referred to as the “Generic
Extensibility Framework” (GEF) that facilitates
the addition of new features without making
changes to the core standards
• All new features that are not considered
horizontally useful are being added as separate,
optional extensions via the GEF mechanism
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Ongoing Standards Work
• LDAP schema specifications
• Definition of usage of the H.323 URL, allowing
the use of DNS and ENUM with H.323
• Enhanced third-party call control
• Quality of Service
• Scalability enhancements
• Short message service
• H.323 version 5
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Notable Events
• January 2002: IMTC approves the formation of the H.323
Forum as a part of its organization
• May 2002: H.323 Forum “kick-off” in Geneva and a web site
• June 2002: H.323 Forum at Collaborative East
• August 2002: Certification levels 1a/1b defined
• September 2002: First worldwide H.323 Forum video
conference was held
• October 2002: H.323 Forum at VON
• October 2002: ETSI and OSP users group support H.323 Forum
• November 2002: H.323 Forum at Collaborative West
• November 2002: First H.323 Forum industry conference
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Where is H.323 Used?
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Wholesale transit
Calling Card
Voice Conferencing
Voice VPNs
Unified
Communications
IP-PBX
PC-to-phone
Video conferencing
Distance Learning
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Call center
IP-Centrex
Mobility services
Custom news / info
Voice/Data/Video
Collaboration
• Broadband residential
• More…
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H.323 Forum Web site
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Products / Services
Standards
White papers
General industry links
FAQs
H.323 Forum mailing list
Meeting minutes and presentations
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H.323 Activities
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Live conferences (two or three per year)
Video conferences (three or four per year)
Equipment certification requirements
Strategic press releases
Organized presentations at other
conferences
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Getting Involved
• Join the mailing list!
• Participate in planning sessions
• Become a member of the H.323 Forum
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Informative H.323 Sites
• Packetizer
http://www.packetizer.com/
• H.323 Forum
http://www.h323forum.org/
• OpenH323
http://www.openh323.org/
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