Radio over IP (RoIP)

THE PROBLEM
If radios need to be connected over large geographical separations or you need to
improve the economy, reliability and interoperability of your existing radio networks, it
is best practice to choose Radio over IP.
Radio over IP gives you a means of interconnection just like Voice over IP (VoIP), whilst
retaining your existing radio equipment, but with extras such as the signalling needed
to control push-to-talk radios.
To implement RoIP you will need units that can interface your radios to the
IP network, but RoIP is not standard, so which units will deliver you the best RoIP
implementation?
 
VOCALITY SOLUTION
All Vocality four wire devices support RoIP, which means you could choose any Vocality
Professional range voice cards, the BASICS Radio Relay, BASICS Four Wire and
BASICS Hybrid. Your choice of unit would depend on factors such as the number of
connections needed and other capabilities the unit would provide alongside RoIP.
Simple to complex radio networks can be interconnected over any intermediate IP or
serial network.  At the same time bandwidth can be reduced and the quality of
interconnects increased.
 
FEATURE SUMMARY
Vocality supports Radio Over IP (RoIP) in a multitude of ways, from simple point to point for extending radio networks over
intermediate links such as satellite or Internet, to complex networks using a central media server.  Devices can also be used
as standalone media gateways converting audio radio signals to IP SIP. 
 

Connecting radios with other network elements via a SIP

Radio networks efficiently combined over satellite
server

Connect radios to a network controlled by a WAVE Media

Extending a radio network around a local site
Server
 
Enhancements coming soon:
 

Multicast is supported on all of the Vocality four Direct headset connection is supported
wire devices using VOS8 software. by the new BASICS Hybrid units.

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RoIP FEATURES IN VOCALITY PRODUCTS
Silence Suppression: To reduce the amount of bandwidth used, silence suppression can be enabled on the devices.
Voice Activation Detection (VAD): Voice Activation Detection (VAD) can be used to detect active audio packets on both
the radio connection and also the SIP connection in order to activate the Push to Talk (PTT) on the radio for it to transmit. 
 
Manual Activation: As well as VAD, manual activation can be used to key the remote radios.  This enables the units to be
used with push-to-talk (PTT) headsets or operations center systems.
 
PTT Timers: Adjustable timers are available on the Vocality system to prevent bouncing of the PTT to the radio and also
from the radios falsely keying each other due to the squelch feedback experienced on some radios.
 
Switchable Full Duplex / Simplex Operation: A feature is available to force the network into a simplex operation by having
the ability to kill all receive audio whilst the PTT is active.
 
Bandwidth Optimization: The Vocality devices can be used as standalone media converters to interconnect with a larger
network or they can be used as a pair, or hub and spoke, in order to reduce bandwidth and increase the quality of the link
by removing jitter.
 
Powered/amplified audio circuits: If you are using radio sets which do not have line level inputs and outputs, you should
choose the BASICS Hybrid, which can directly accept microphone inputs and drive microphone output levels. The
additional gain is in the analogue domain, so as to avoid degrading signal to noise ratios, and it is switchable and
adjustable, to allow the port to be used with normal line level inputs too.
 
RTP unicast streaming support: If you need to minimize delay and avoid loss of audio when devices start transmitting, this
will allow transmission of audio without the need for SIP signalling, via media servers and devices which also support
RTP unicast.
 
RTP multicast streaming support: If you need to minimize bandwidth usage. In a network with one media server and
several devices, each device would normally need to be sent audio independently, even when the content is the same. If
your media server supports this protocol you are able to send only once and have each device receive the same audio.
 
Direct headset connection: Either a microphone or radio set can be directly connected to the BASICS Hybrid. A DC bias
can be provided for microphone only operation, controllable from software. Most popular headsets can be used, though
they will need to be wired appropriately to match our ports.
 
Compatible Media Conferencing Systems
BASICS Radio Relay has been tested successfully with the following media servers:
 l Twisted Pair WAVE
The following SIP Gateways have been successfully used to connect radio networks to phone subscribers by using the
BASICS Radio Relay:
 l Cisco Call Manager
 l Cisco Call Manager Express
 l Asterisk
 l 3CX
Compatible Radios
Whilst all radios should be compatible, Vocality BASICS Radio Relay has been successfully tested with Harris, Thales,
Motorola and Icom models.

Vocality Inc. Vocality International Ltd

560 Herndon Parkway, Suite 110 Lydling Barn, Lydling Farm, Puttenham Lane
Herndon, VA 20170-5246 United States Shackleford, Surrey GU8 6AP United Kingdom
Tel (703) 787 9133 Fax (703) 787 9136 Tel +44 1483 813 130 Fax +44 1483 813 131
E-mail sales-usa@vocality.com E-mail sales@vocality.com
For the latest news and updates, Web www.vocality.com
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