VoIPThe Detail

An in depth look at how VoIP works

Introduction
VoIP is the generic name for voice over the Internet Protocol. It comes in many flavours including Hosted VoIP. Hosted VoIP is a generic name for telephone services where the switchboard is located in the Internet as opposed to within the building with the rest of the phone systems.

Phones
We are going to consider how telephone calls are made over the internet using an internet based switchboard. A telephone call is made between two or more people. At each end of the telephone call you must have a telephone or a device capable of acting like a phone such as a computer (to state the obvious). I am going to describe the network in terms of these phones but wherever you see the word phone you could substitute it for a computer based soft phone or an adapter. These phones are specially designed for this use and are called by different names such as IP Phones (IP stands for Internet Protocol) or SIP phones (SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol). These IP phones are phones specially made to work with the Internet. They are far more intelligent than standard old fashioned analogue hand sets.

Internet Addresses
Each device connected to the Internet must have a unique code number which identifies it to the network. So if the network gets a message it knows where to send it. This code is known as an IP address. (IP stands for Internet Protocol.) There are two types of IP addresses dynamic and static. When you plug your IP phone into a network socket the network gives it a dynamic IP address. The part of the network that actually allocates the address is usually a device called a router this is an electronic device which routes network traffic to the correct destination. The address will expire if you unplug the phone. When you get a new phone it has to know about itself. A VoIP company like Birchills will already have loaded an Internet Address for it to visit and find the information it needs. This process is called provisioning. It tells the phone its extension number, passwords, its model number and most importantly the address of the Switchboard in The Sky so it knows where to connect to and where to send information.

www.birchills.net

Page 1

Protocol Stacks and Packets

So now your phone is connected to the Internet and has a unique address. How does it 'talk' to the other devices on the network? When you pick up your handset the phone sends out a message to the network and you hear a dial tone. What has actually happened is quite complex. You have invoked a SIP session. So lets try and explain that.

Protocols, Protocols
Protocols are a series of computer based rules which are applied to data. If protocols are linked so that they apply one after another to a message then they are called a protocol stack. Each device that connects to the Internet uses a protocol stack which allows it to send out the messages in a format that the other devices attached to the network will understand. The messages are sent out broken down into small pieces called packets. What happens is that any data is broken down into a stream of packets and these packets are passed down the protocol stack with each layer in the stack operating on the packet and passing it along to the next layer. When the packet reaches the bottom of the stack at the local device it is passed along the network to the address defined within it. This means that a packet once processed by the phone heads off into the network to the next server address. When incoming packets are received they start at the bottom of the stack and work up.

www.birchills.net

Page 2

TCP/IP Protocol Stack

The protocol stack used on the Internet is referred to as the TCP/IP protocol stack because of the two major communication protocols used. The TCP/IP stack has 4 layers: 1) The Application Protocols Layer These protocols are specific to the application. In our case this is where the telephony protocols SIP and RTP is RTP is located. There will be a lot more about SIP and RTP later. 2) Transmission Control Protocol TCP The TCP layer converts the data into a format which can be sent over the Internet by the IP layer. Due to network congestion, traffic load balancing, or other unpredictable network behaviour, IP packets can be lost or delivered out of order. TCP detects these problems, requests retransmission of lost packets, rearranges out-of-order packets, and even helps minimise network congestion to reduce the occurrence of the other problems. 3) Internet Protocol Layer IP This layer directs the packets to a specific address. 4) Hardware Layer This layer converts outgoing binary packet data to network signals and receives incoming network signals and converts them back into packets. The packet is then passed back up the stack.

Session Initiation Protocol - SIP

SIP is the protocol that establishes the call. It finds the phone to which the call is to be made and then negotiates what protocols will be used during the call and then sets up the session. Because the SIP supports name mapping and redirection services, it makes it possible for users to initiate and receive communications and services from any location, and for networks to identify the users wherever they are. SIP works in concert with several other protocols and is only involved in the signalling portion of a communication session

www.birchills.net

Page 3

SIP Agreement
SIP reaches agreement as to which protocols to use for the call including how the data is encoded. The protocol adopted for data encoding is referred to as a codec. There are several codecs available and SIP has to agree the codecs. By default our system will try and use the G711a Codec, although SIP may change that if the receiving end does not agree. SIP "sessions" are packet streams of the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP). RTP is the carrier for the actual voice or video content itself.

Real-time Transport Protocol - RTP

There are two parts to RTP: Data Transfer Protocol and an associated Control Protocol. The RTP data transfer protocol manages delivery of real-time data between end systems. The RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) provides reception quality feedback, participant identification and synchronisation between media streams. RTCP runs alongside RTP, providing periodic reporting of this information. While the RTP data packets are sent every few milliseconds, the control protocol operates on the scale of seconds.

How does this all come together?

We can see how this works by taking a look at a simple example of user 'A' trying to call user 'B'. A picks up his phone which sends a SIP invitation request to the Switchboard in the Sky via the internet. The Switchboard In The Sky passes on the invitation and becomes an intermediary in the process. So if A requests a protocol that B cant support the Switchboard can translate as it goes. The invitation includes a full description of the session including all of the media streams that A wants to use. B replies to the invitation, but includes a description of any modifications that he wants to make. This has to happen for compatibility as B might not support all of the features that A asked for.

www.birchills.net

Page 4

Session
After this negotiation is completed, the session is created and then A and B can communicate. The voice is digitised and then cut up into packets. The packets pass through the various protocol stacks and out onto the Internet, where they are routed via the various servers and routers including the Switchboard In The Sky. They are sent on their way until eventually they arrive at the destination phone B. They then work their way back up the protocol stack on the phone recombining into a message stream and then back into analogue at the speaker end of the handset. Meanwhile B is busy sending out packets toward A as the conversation continues. At the end of the call, either side can send a disconnect, terminating the session. All of this process is automatic. For example, when A calls B, if B picks up his phone, the phone automatically handles the media negotiation process. When B puts the phone down, the disconnect is automatically sent.

Its Not Really A Switchboard Is It?

No, its a server running a standard operating system. On top of the system server based software runs handling all of the packet routing and requests to the various other servers that make up the Internet.

How Does This Connect in To The Normal Telephone Network?

The normal phone network is called the PSTN network (Public Switched Telephone Network). There are providers who provide gateways to the PSTN and so when you request a PSTN number the Switchboard in the Sky bounces the request on to the gateway and a session is established with the gateway acting as an intermediary.

www.birchills.net

Page 5

Business class, hosted VoIP, is changing the face of telecoms. At the forefront of this revolution is Birchills Telecom. Whatever you want to say its simpler and cheaper with Birchills.net the simplest VoIP yet. Ask us for a quote today.

Free cloud based PBX Quality VoIP hardware Free telephone numbers Simple low monthly fees Free 100% UK support

Most powerful feature set No long term contract Free Trial Low call costs DECT for VoIP