01-Chapter 1 H.248

Technical Manual – Signaling & Protocols Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 H.248.................................................................................................. ..........................1

1.1 Overview.......................................................................................................... .................1
1.1.1 Definition and Functions of the Mc Interface....................................................... ....1
1.1.2 H.248 Implementation in CSCN......................................................................... .....2
1.1.3 Structure of the Protocol Stack.............................................................. .................2
1.2 Introduction of H.248 Protocol.................................................................................... .......3
1.2.1 Overview............................................................................................................. ....3
1.2.2 Message Structure................................................................................................. .6
1.3 Signaling Procedures....................................................................................... ...............15
i
Technical Manual – Signaling & Protocols 1H.248
Chapter 1 H.248
1.1 Overview
H.248/MEGACO has been jointly developed within the ITU-T and the IETF. It is
named H.248 by the ITU-T and MEGACO by the IETF. Hereinafter, both are called
H.248 in this manual.
H.248 is a media gateway control protocol. In a decomposed gateway model, the

H.248 protocol is used for the communication between a media gateway controller
(MGC) and a media gateway (MG), implementing the function of the MGC controlling
MGs. In UMTS, the H.248 protocol is applied on the Mc interface.
1.1.1 Definition and Functions of the Mc Interface
I. Definition of the Mc Interface
The Mc interface is the standard interface between the MSC Server (GMSC Server)
and the MGW. It is H.248 protocol compliant. Aiming at special requirements of 3GPP,
H.248 extended Transaction and Package are defined. The Mc interface is an
additional interface for 3GPP R4. The physical interface mode may be ATM or IP.
Protocol messages through the Mc interface may be encoded in a binary format or in

a text format. The underlying transmission mechanism provides protocol bearer for it
by using MTP3b (ATM based signaling transfer) or SCTP (IP based signaling
transfer).
II. Functions Provided by the Mc Interface
The Mc interface provides the capabilities of the static and dynamic resources for the
MSC Server (GMSC Server) controlling the various transmission modes
(IP/ATM/TDM) in the MGW in the call processing procedure, such as terminal
property, terminal connection switching relationship, MGW borne media streams. The
Mc interface also provides the call independent MGW status maintenance and
management capability.
1
1.1.2 H.248 Implementation in CSCN
The H.248 protocol is utilized on the interface between MSOFTX3000 and UMG8900,
namely Mc interface defined in UMTS. See 1.1.2.
MSC Server GMSC Server

(MSOFTX3000) (MSOFTX3000)
Nc
H.248 H.248
Mc Mc
MWG MWG
(UMG8900) (UMG8900)
Figure 1.1H.248 protocol implementation in CSCN
1.1.3 Structure of the Protocol Stack
As shown in 1.1.3, the H.248 protocol is applied to the Mc interface. Protocol

transmission may be based on IP (figure a) or based on ATM (figure b). IP based
transmission is typically used due to the current networking architecture.
Mc Mc
(G)MSC Server MGW (G)MSC Server MGW
H.248 H.248
H.248 H.248
MTP3B MTP3B
SCTP SCTP STC STC
IP IP SAAL SAAL
AAL5 AAL5
MAC MAC
ATM ATM
L1 L1 PL PL
a) IP based b) ATM based
Figure 1.2Structure of H.248 protocol
2
1.2 Introduction of H.248 Protocol
1.2.1 Overview
I. Basic Concepts
 Media Gateway (MG): The media gateway converts media provided in one type
of network to the format required in another type of network. For example, a MG
could terminate bearer channels from a switched circuit network (for example,,
PCM) and media streams from a packet network (for example,, media streams in
an IP network). This gateway may be capable of processing audio, video and
data alone, and will be capable of full duplex media translations. The MG may
also play some audio/video signals and perform a number of interactive voice
response (IVR) functions, or may perform media conferencing.
 Media Gateway Controller (MGC): Controls the parts of the call state that pertain
to connection control for media channels in a MG.
 Multipoint Control Unit: An entity that controls the setup and coordination of a
multi-user conference that typically includes processing of audio, video and data.
 Stream: Bidirectional media or control flow received/sent by a media gateway as
part of a call or conference.
II. Connection Model
The connection model for the protocol describes the logical entities, or objects, within
the Media Gateway that can be controlled by the Media Gateway Controller. The main
abstractions used in the connection model are Terminations and Contexts. II
illustrates the connection model:
3
Media Gateway
Context
Context Termination
SCN Bearer Channel
*
Termination
RTP Stream
Termination
SCN Bearer Channel
Context Null Context
*
Termination Termination
RTP Stream SCN Bearer Channel
Context
Termination
*
Termination
RTP Stream SCN Bearer Channel
Figure 1.3Example of H.248/MEGACO connection model
In the connection model defined by the H.248/MEGACO, two entities, namely Context
and Termination, are included. A Context shall contain one or more Terminations;
otherwise, the Context will be deleted. A Termination shall exist in only one Context at
a single time point.
1) Context
A Context is an association between a number of Terminations. The Context

describes the topology and the media mixing/switching parameters if more than two
Terminations are involved in the association.
There is a special Context called the null Context. It contains Terminations that
Terminations that are not associated to any other Termination. Terminations in the null
Context can have their parameters examined or modified, and may have events
detected on them.
The maximum number of Terminations in a Context is a MG property.
The attributes of Contexts are:
 ContextID: Context identifier, which is 32-bit and uniquely identifies a Context

within the scope of the MG.
Some special contextIDs are coded as shown in 1:
4
Table 3.1Codes of special Contexts
Context Binary code Text code
NULL Context 0 ‘-’
CHOOSE 0xFFFFFFFE ‘$’

Context
ALL Context 0xFFFFFFFF ‘*’
 Topology: The topology of a Context describes the flow of media between the
Terminations within a Context. In contrast, the mode of a Termination describes
the flow of the media at the ingress/egress of the media gateway.
 Priority: The priority is used for a Context in order to provide the MG with
information about a certain precedence handling for a Context. The value range
is 0~15. The less the value is, the higher the priority is.
 Emergency indicator: An indicator for an emergency call is also provided to allow
a preference handling in the MG.
2) Termination
A Termination is a logical entity on a MG that sources and/or sinks media and/or

control streams. A Termination is described by a number of characterizing properties,
which are grouped in a set of descriptors that are included in commands.
Terminations have unique identifies (TerminationIDs), assigned by the MG at the time
of their creation.
Usually Terminations are grouped into two classes: semi-permanent Terminations and
ephemeral Terminations. Terminations representing physical entities have a semi-
permanent existence. For example, a Termination representing a TDM channel might
exist for as long as it is provisioned in the gateway. Only if the configuration
information is deleted, the corresponding Termination disappears. Ephemeral
Terminations represent ephemeral information flows, such as RTP flows, would
usually exist only for the duration of their use. Ephemeral Terminations are created by
means of an Add command. They are destroyed by means of a Subtract command. In
contrast, when a physical Termination is added to or subtracted from a Context, it is
taken from or to the null Context, respectively.
 Termination dynamics: The protocol can be used to create new Terminations and
to modify the property values of existing Terminations.
 TerminationIDs: Terminations are referenced by a TerminationID, which is an
arbitrary schema by the MG. A wildcarding mechanism using two types of
5
wildcards can be used with TerminationsIDs. The two wildcards are ALL and
CHOOSE.
 Packages: Different types of gateways may implement Terminations that have
widely differing characteristics. In order to achieve MG/MGC interoperability,
optional properties of the Termination are grouped into Packages, and a
Termination realizes a set of such Packages.
 Termination properties and descriptors: Terminations have properties. The
properties have unique PropertyID.
 ROOT Termination: The ROOT Termination is typically used to refer to the entire
gateway. Packages may be defined on ROOT. Root thus may have properties,
events, signals, statistics and parameters. The ROOT Termination may appear in
a Modify, Notify, AuditValue, AuditCapability and ServiceChange commands. Any
other use of the ROOT TerminationID is an error.
 Commands: The protocol provides commands for manipulating the logical
entities of the connection model, Contexts and Terminations. Most commands
are for the specific use of the Media Gateway Controller as command initiator in
controlling Media Gateways as command responders. The exceptions are the
Notify and ServiceChange commands: Notify is sent from Media Gateway to
Media Gateway Controller, and ServiceChange may be sent by either entity. For
the meanings of the commands, please reference the following section about
command explanation.
 Descriptors: The parameters to a command are termed Descriptors. A Descriptor
consists of a name and a list of items. Descriptors may be returned in the
response as output from a command. In any such return of descriptor contents,
an empty descriptor is represented by its name unaccompanied by any list.
1.2.2 Message Structure
A message is an information unit sent by the H.248 protocol. A message may be

encoded in a binary format or in a text format.
 In the case of binary codes, specifications defined in ITU-T X.680 (ASN.1) are
used for description, and BER rules defined in X.690 for encoding;
 In the case of text format, RFC 2234 ABNF specifications are followed.
MGCs should support both encoding formats. MGs may support one of or both
formats. Any H.248 message shares the same structure as shown in 1.2.2.
6
Megaco/H.248 message
Header Transaction Transaction .... Transaction

Req or Req or Req or
Reply Reply Reply
Trans Hdr ....

Action Action
Ctx ....
Ctx Hdr Command Command
Properties
Trans Hdr Descriptor .... Descriptor
Figure 1.4H.248 message structure
A message contains multiple transactions that have nothing to do with each other and
can be handled separately; a transaction is composed of several actions and actions
correspond to Contexts; an action constitutes a series of commands restricted by a
Context. In this way, H.248 message mechanism is shown in 1.2.2.
H.248 message
Transaction1
ContextID1
Command1
Des-1 Des-n
Commandn
ContextIDn
TransactionIDn
Figure 1.5Message mechanism
7
I. Message
Information units transmitted or accepted by the H.248 protocol are called messages.
A message begins with the Header followed by several transactions.
The message Header contains the Message Identifier (MID) and the Version Number:
 The MID identifies the message sender, and may be set to a provisioned name
(for example, domain address/domain name/device name). Domain name is a
suggested default.
 The Version Number identifies the version of the protocol the message conforms
to. Versions consist of one or two digits, beginning with version 1 for the present
version of the protocol.
The transactions in a message are treated independently. There is no order implied.
I. Transaction
Commands between the Media Gateway Controller and the Media Gateway are
grouped into Transactions, each of which is identified by a TransactionID.
Transactions consist of one or more Actions. An Action consists of a series of
Commands that are limited to operating within a single Context.
A Transaction begins with a Transaction Header (TransHdr), in which TransactionID is

contained. TransactionID is assigned by the sender of the Transaction, and it is
unique within the scope of the sender.
TransHdr is followed by the Actions of the Transaction. The Actions must be executed
in order. At the first failing command in an Action, processing of the remaining
commands in that Transaction stops except Optional Command. Transactions
guarantee ordered commands processing, which is one significant function to
introduce Transactions.
Commands may be marked as “Optional” which can override this behavior. If a

command marked as Optional results in an error, subsequent commands in the
Transaction will be executed.
Transactions include requests and responses, and responses are divided into two
types: TransactionReply and TransactionPending.
 TransactionRequest
8
Each TransactionRequest requests to activate one Transaction. One Transaction

contains one or more Actions and each Action includes one or more commands
related to one single Context.
The structure of TransactionRequest is as follows:
TransactionRequest(TransactionId {
ContextID {Command ... Command},
...
ContextID {Command ... Command } })
 TransactionReply
TransactionReply is a response of the Transaction receiver to the

TransactionRequest, indicating that the receiver completes the executing of the
TransactionRequest command. Every transaction should have its Reply. The
following cases indicate the completion of the executing of a TransactionRequest:
1) All the commands in the TransactionRequest are successfully executed;

2) A non-optional command in the TransactionRequest fails to be executed.
The structure of TransactionReply is as follows:
TransactionReply(TransactionID {
ContextID { Response ...Response },
...
ContextID { Response ...Response } })
 TransactionPending
The receiver invokes the TransactionPending. A TransactionPending indicates that

the Transaction is actively being processed, but has not been completed. It is used to
prevent the sender from assuming the TransactionRequest was lost where the
transaction will take some time to complete.
The structure of TransactionPending is as follows:
TransactionPending (TransactionID { } )
Transactions are presented as TransactionRequests. Corresponding response to a

TransactionRequest is received in a single reply, possibly preceded by a number of
TransactionPending messages.
9
The H.248 protocol supports the transactions as shown in 2:
Table 5.1H.248 transactions
Transaction Description
MGW Message reported by MGW after resumption of MGC-MGW

Communication Up communication.
MGW Out Of Reported to MGC when MGW becomes faulty, to indicate

Service MGW to get out of service.
MGW Restoration Restoration message reported by MGW after its recovery

from fault.
MGW Register This function actively sends the Register message to the
MGC to request for registration when the whole system is
powered up. Only after successful registration of MGW can
the MGC use the resources on the MGW.
MGW Re-Register In some cases, such as MGC handover, MGC may request
the MGW to register again.
(G)MSC Server (G)MSC SERVER requests the MGW to register again, and
Ordered Re- the MGW initiates the transaction after it receives the
Register command.
(G)MSC Server After recovery of (G)MSC SERVER from fault, (G)MSC

Restoration SERVER sends this message to the MGW.
Termination Out Of After a Termination fails, the MGW sends this message to
Service the MGC so that the MGC will no longer use this resource.
Termination When the Termination recovers from failure, the MGW sends
Restoration this message to notify the MGC to update the resource
status.
Audit Value To audit the current values of the various attributes

requesting for Termination resources.
Audit Capability To audit the capability set of the various attributes requesting
for Termination resources.
MGW Capability In case of change of MGW due to fault or OMC

Change configuration, the MGW uses this transaction to notify the
MGC, so that the MGC will update the capability status of
the MGW.
(G)MSC Server Out To notify MGW when (G)MSC SERVER becomes faulty.
Of Service
Change Through To change the MODE attribute of Termination. This operation

Connection can be used to control the directions of media flows,
including forward, backward, bi-directional, isolated.
Change Flow To control the direction of the media flow between

Direction Terminations by modifying the topology parameter between
Terminations.
10
Isolate Bearer To isolate one Termination from its media flow relation with
Termination other Terminations, so that it has no media flow relation with
any Termination.
Join Bearer To add a Termination in an existing CONTEXT.

Termination
Establish Bearer To establish bearer between MGWs. This operation includes

applying for a Termination resource and establishing the
bearer to the destination MGW.
Prepare Bearer To apply for Termination resource from MGW. This is an

operation prior to bearer. It may result in the generation of a
new CONTEXT.
Activate To activate the IWF on an MGW.

Interworking
Function
Release Bearer To release bearer between MGWs. This operation does not
release the Termination resource.
Release To release Termination resource.

Termination
Bearer Released Bearer release completion event reported by MGW. This

event is requested by the MGC.
Bearer Established Bearer establishment completion event reported by MGW.

This event is requested by the MGC.
Send Tone Send-tone operation. During a call, the MGC can request the
Termination to send a certain tone to a certain direction,
such as ring-back tone, busy tone, and so on.
Play To play announcement in intelligent or supplementary

Announcement services, and so on.
Send DTMF To send DTMF tone.
Detect DTMF To request MGW to detect DTMF tones.
Report DTMF MGW reports to the MGC about the completion of DTMF
tone detection.
Announcement Announcement playing completion message reported by

Completed MGW.
Activate Voice To activate the voice processing function, including EC,

Processing Reserve Circuit.
Function
Tunnel Information MGW reports IPBCP frame to MGC, and the MGC sends it
Up to the peer MGW by means of tunnel.
Tunnel Information MGC sends the IPBCP message from another MGC to
Down MGW.
Tone Completed Tone playing completion event reported by MGW.
11
Stop MGC requests MGW to stop sending ANNOUNCEMENT.

Announcement
Stop Tone MGC requests MGW to stop sending Tone.
Stop DTMF MGC requests MGW to stop sending DTMF tone.
Stop DTMF MGC requests MGW to stop DTMF detection.

Detection
Confirm Char MGC requests MGW to confirm the reserved resources.
Modify Char MGC modifies resources previously reserved on MGW.
Reserve Char MGC reserves resources on MGW.
Bearer Modified Bearer modification completion event.
Bearer Modification Bearer modification failure event.

Failed
TFO Activation MGC activates the TFO function of MGW.
Optimal Codec and MGW reports Codec List of Codec negotiation during TFO.
Distant List Notify
Codec Modify MGW reports Codec modification result.
Distant Codec List MGW reports remote Codec negotiation result.
Command When MGW detects an illegal or inexecutable command

Rejected from the MGC, it returns Command Rejected.
Modify Bearer MGC requests to modify bearer resource.

Characteristics
II. Action
Actions are related to Contexts. An action consists of a series of commands that are
limited to operate within one Context. Actions are identified by a ContextID. In an
action, commands should be processed in order.
An action begins with the Context header (CtxHdr) in which ContextID is contained for
identifying the Context this action corresponds to. ContextID is assigned by the MG
and is unique within the scope of the MG. The MGC shall use the ContextID in all
subsequent transactions relating that Context.
CtxHdr is followed by several commands, and these commands are related to the
Context identified by the ContextID.
12
III. Command (CMD)
Commands are the major contents in an H.248 message. They control the Context
and Termination attributes including to specify the event reported by the Termination
what signals and actions can be imposed on the Termination, as well as specifying
the topology structure of the Context. A command is composed of the command
header (CMDHdr) and command parameters. In H.248 protocol, command
parameters are grouped into “Descriptors”.
 H.248 protocol defines eight commands, all of which are sent to MG by MGC
except the command “Notify”, which is sent to MGC by MG. The command
“ServiceChange” can be sent by either the MG or the MGC. The meanings of
H.248 commands are as follows:
Table 5.2H.248 commands
Command Sending Meaning

direction
Add MGC?MG The Add command adds a Termination to a

Context. The Add command on the first
Termination in a Context is used to create a
Context.
Modify MGC?MG The Modify command modifies the properties,

events and signals of a Termination.
Subtract MGC?MG The Subtract command disconnects a

Termination from its Context and returns
statistics on the Termination’s participation in
the Context. The Subtract command on the
last Termination in a Context deletes the
Context.
Move MGC?MG The Move command atomically moves a

Termination to another Context.
AuditValue MGC?MG The AuditValue command returns the current

state of properties, events, signals and
statistics of Terminations.
AuditCapabilities MGC?MG The AuditCapabilities command returns all the

possible values for Termination properties,
events and signals allowed by the media
gateway.
Notify MG?MGC The Notify command allows the MG to inform

the MGC of the occurrence of events in the
MG.
13
Command Sending Meaning

direction
ServiceChange MGC?MG The ServiceChange command allows the MG

to notify the MGC that a Termination or group
of Terminations is about to be taken out of
service or has just been returned to service.
ServiceChange is also used by the MG to
announce its availability to an MGC
(registration), and to notify the MGC of
impending or completed restart of the MG.
The MGC may announce a handover to the
MG by sending it a ServiceChange command.
IV. Descriptor
The parameters to a command are termed Descriptors. A descriptor consists of a

name and a list of items. Some items may have values. Many commands share
common descriptors. In general, the text format of descriptors is as follows:
DescriptorName=<someID>
{ parm = value, parm = value ...... }
H.248 protocol defines 18 types of descriptors, as shown in IV.
Table 5.3Descriptors
Descriptor Description
Name
Modem Identifies modem type and properties.
Mux Describes multiplex type for multimedia Terminations (for

example, H.221, H.223, H.225.0) and Terminations forming the
input mux.
Media A list of media stream specifications.
TerminationStat Properties of a Termination (which can be defined in packages)

e that are not stream specific.
Stream A list of remote/local/localcontrol descriptors for a single stream.
Local Contains properties that specify the media flows that the MG
receives from the remote entity.
Remote Contains properties that specify the media flows that the MG
sends to the remote entity.
14
Descriptor Description
Name
Localcontrol Contains properties that are of interest between the MGC and
the MG.
Events A list of events that the MG is requested to detect and report.
EventBuffer A list of events, with their parameters if any, that the MG is

requested to detect and buffer when EventBufferControl equals
LockStep.
Signals Describes signals and/or actions to be applied (for example,

ringback tone) to the Terminations.
Audit Specifies what information is to be audited.
ServiceChange In ServiceChange, what, why service change occurred, and so

on.
DigitMap A dialing plan resident in the MG used for detecting and

reporting digit events received on a Termination.
Statistics In Subtract and Audit, Report of Statistics kept on a Termination.
Packages A AuditValue, returns a list of packages realized by Termination.
ObservedEvent In Notify or AuditValue, report of events observed.

s
Topology Specifies flow directions between Terminations in a Context, and

applies to a Context instead of a Termination.
1.3 Signaling Procedures
The following part uses an example to illustrate a typical implementation of the H.248
protocol. The diagrams of the call procedure abstractly display the interaction
between a media gateway and the media gateway controller instead of taking issues
like time graduation into account.
The example is about a call set up between two residential gateways. User A and
User B are respectively connected to two residential gateways RGW1 and RGW2,
and the gateways are under the control of the same media gateway controller. The
example only describes a successful call, and it is assumed that the gateways have
registered on the media gateway controller.
The procedure is divided into two processes, namely call setup process and call
backout process.
15
I. Call Setup Process
H.248 call setup process is shown in I.
16
USER RGW RGW USER

MGC
A 1 2 B
Modify to check offhook
Modify to check offhook
Modify Resp Modify Resp

UserA
offhook
Notify offhook
Nodify Resp
Modify SG:dialtone
ED:al/on,dd/ce{Dmap1}
DM:Dmap1 = 2XXX
Dial Tone
Modify Resp
UserA dials
digits
Notify digits
Nodify Resp
Add TermA SD:ringbacktone

Add $, Local SDP Info -underspecified
RingBack
Tone
Add Resp TermA
Add Resp EphA Local SDP (Specified)
Add TermB SD:Ring ED:offhook

Add $ Local(Underspecified)
Remote SDP (Specified)
UserB Phone
Ringing
Add Resp TermB
Add Resp EphB Local SDP
(Specified)
UserB Goes
Offhook
Notify offhook
Nodify Resp
Modify TermA SendRecv
Modify EphA Remote(Specified) SendRecv
Modify Resp
Modify TermB SendRecv
Modify EphB SendRecv
Modify Resp
RTP MEDIA
17
Figure 1.6Call setup process
1) MGC sends a Modify message to both gateways to detect the offhook event on
the terminations.
2) It is assumed that User A hooks off first. After RGW1 detects the event, it sends
to MGC a Notify message in which the corresponding event information and
detected timestamp are contained. MGC returns a response message.
3) MGC sends a Modify command to RGW1, indicating to RGW1 to send dial tone
to User A. RGW sends dial tone to the user and meanwhile returns a response
message.
4) User A hears the dial tone and begins to dial.
5) MGC receives the Notify message from RGW1 and begins to analyze the digits.
It is assumed that the called party is connected to RGW2 which is managed by
the same MGC. MGC creates a new context for RGW1 and adds a physical
termination TermA in it. If User B is idle, ringback tone is sent to User A. At the
same time, an ephemeral termination is created and then added in the preceding
context. The connection domain IP address and the media domain port number
of the ephemeral termination are not specified. RGW1 creates a context whose
ID is 1. The physical termination TermA is added in the context. Meanwhile, an
ephemeral termination EphA is created and its IP address and port number are
assigned. Then, RGW1 returns a corresponding response in which the IP
address and the port number used are indicated.
6) MGC sends a similar transaction to RGW2. RGW2 creates a context whose ID is
2, then it adds the physical termination TermB in the context; meanwhile, RGW2
creates an ephemeral termination EphB and returns a response message.
7) User B hooks off. RGW2 uses a Notify command requesting to report this event
to MGC. MGC also returns a Notify response.
8) MGC sends to RGW1 a message to stop sending ringback tone to User A, and
sets the remote SDP information of EphA. The mode of both terminations is
modified to SendRecv (previously both created as RecvOnly mode). RGW1
returns a response message indicating the success of the operation.
9) MGC sends a transaction to RGW2, indicating to stop ringing tone on TermB.
After the completion of the processing, RGW2 returns a response.
10) The users can have a conversation. Once the call is terminated by either party,
the other party will hear busy tone.
II. Call Backout Process
Call backout process is shown in II.
18
USER RGW RGW USER

MGC
A 1 2 B
UserA Goes
OnHook
Notify OnHook
Nodify Resp
Modify TermB SD:BusyTone
BusyTone To
UserB
Modify Resp
Subtract TermA
Subtract EphA
Subtract Resp TermA

Subtract Resp EphA Statistics
UserB Goes
Onhook
Notify OnHook
Nodify Resp
Subtract TermB
Subtract EphB
Subtract Resp TermB

Subtract Resp EphB Statistics
Figure 1.7Call backout process
1) It is assumed that the calling party User A will terminate the call. RGW1 sends a
Notify message to MGC to report this event. MGC returns a response message
of the Notify command.
2) MGC generates a Modify command, indicating to RGW2 to play busy tone to
User B. The mode of both terminations is set to RecvOnly. RGW2 returns a
response indicating the success of the operation.
3) MGC directs RGW1 to remove both terminations from the context 1 and return
the statistics information of the ephemeral termination as the response.
4) User B hears busy tone and then hooks on. RGW2 reports a Notify message to
19
MGC. MGC returns a corresponding response message.

5) The gateway sends a Subtract command to delete TermB and EphB from the
context 2. RGW2 also deletes the terminations from the context 2 and then
returns a response in which the statistics information of the ephemeral
termination is contained. Here, a call procedure ends. The terminations return to
the initial status and await a new call.
20

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Technical Manual – Signaling & Protocols Table of Contents

Chapter 1 H.248.................................................................................................. ..........................1

H.248 is a media gateway control protocol. In a decomposed gateway model, the

1.1.1 Definition and Functions of the Mc Interface

I. Definition of the Mc Interface

Protocol messages through the Mc interface may be encoded in a binary format or in

II. Functions Provided by the Mc Interface

1.1.2 H.248 Implementation in CSCN

MSC Server GMSC Server

Figure 1.1H.248 protocol implementation in CSCN

1.1.3 Structure of the Protocol Stack

As shown in 1.1.3, the H.248 protocol is applied to the Mc interface. Protocol

a) IP based b) ATM based

Figure 1.2Structure of H.248 protocol

1.2 Introduction of H.248 Protocol

II. Connection Model

Context Null Context

Figure 1.3Example of H.248/MEGACO connection model

A Context is an association between a number of Terminations. The Context

The maximum number of Terminations in a Context is a MG property.

The attributes of Contexts are:

 ContextID: Context identifier, which is 32-bit and uniquely identifies a Context

Some special contextIDs are coded as shown in 1:

Table 3.1Codes of special Contexts

Context Binary code Text code

NULL Context 0 ‘-’

CHOOSE 0xFFFFFFFE ‘$’

ALL Context 0xFFFFFFFF ‘*’

A Termination is a logical entity on a MG that sources and/or sinks media and/or

1.2.2 Message Structure

A message is an information unit sent by the H.248 protocol. A message may be

Header Transaction Transaction .... Transaction

Trans Hdr ....

Trans Hdr Descriptor .... Descriptor

Figure 1.4H.248 message structure

Figure 1.5Message mechanism

The transactions in a message are treated independently. There is no order implied.

A Transaction begins with a Transaction Header (TransHdr), in which TransactionID is

Commands may be marked as “Optional” which can override this behavior. If a

Each TransactionRequest requests to activate one Transaction. One Transaction

The structure of TransactionRequest is as follows:

TransactionReply is a response of the Transaction receiver to the

1) All the commands in the TransactionRequest are successfully executed;

The structure of TransactionReply is as follows:

The receiver invokes the TransactionPending. A TransactionPending indicates that

The structure of TransactionPending is as follows:

Transactions are presented as TransactionRequests. Corresponding response to a

The H.248 protocol supports the transactions as shown in 2:

Table 5.1H.248 transactions

MGW Message reported by MGW after resumption of MGC-MGW

MGW Out Of Reported to MGC when MGW becomes faulty, to indicate

MGW Restoration Restoration message reported by MGW after its recovery

(G)MSC Server After recovery of (G)MSC SERVER from fault, (G)MSC

Audit Value To audit the current values of the various attributes

MGW Capability In case of change of MGW due to fault or OMC

Change Through To change the MODE attribute of Termination. This operation

Change Flow To control the direction of the media flow between

Join Bearer To add a Termination in an existing CONTEXT.

Establish Bearer To establish bearer between MGWs. This operation includes

Prepare Bearer To apply for Termination resource from MGW. This is an

Activate To activate the IWF on an MGW.

Release To release Termination resource.

Bearer Released Bearer release completion event reported by MGW. This