Introduction to Voice Technologies

----Traditional telephony networks

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 Traditional Telephony
Signal channel
• Traditional telephony

public switched
telephone network
(PSTN)

Voice channel

Resources are reserved end-to-end on a per-call

basis and are not released until the call is
terminated.

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 Overview of VoIP
Control signal
R1 R2

V IP network V
Voice-enabled router
Voice stream
• VoIP protocol suite
– control signal protocols (e.g., H.323, Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP) and Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) )
• Responsible for call setup, admission control, call routing, call
teardown
– Voice streaming protocol (Real-time Transport Protocol
(RTP)/Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) )
• Responsible for transmitting real-time voice streams 3
 Fundamentals

• Migrate from traditional telephony network to

converged voice and data network
• Design converged network
– Understand the traditional telephony network
– Choose right components and technologies for VoIP
network

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 Basic components of telephony network

Phone A Phone B

Edge devices Inter-office trunks

Local loops
CO switch
PBX
Trunks
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 Basic components of telephony network
• Edge devices
– Analog telephones
• Local loops
– The interface to the telephone company network
• CO switch
– Terminate the local loop and handle signalling, digit collection,
call routing, and call teardown
• PBX (Private Branch eXchange )
– Privately owned switch located at customer site, provide
additional service (e.g., voice mail)
• Trunks
– Tie trunk: connect PBXs directly
– CO trunk: connect a PBX and a local CO
– Interoffice trunk: connect two COs

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CO switch and switching systems

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 CO switch and switching systems
• Call routing: forward the call to
– 1) the end-user, if it is connected to the same CO
– 2) or the CO of the end-user
– 3) or a tandem (intermediary) CO
• CO makes the telephone work with the following components
– Battery
– Current detector
• On cradle (on hook) open circuit, no current
• Off cradle (off hook) closed circuit, current exists
– Dial-tone generator
• Produces dial tone to acknowledge the request for service
– Dial register
• The digit register receives the dial digits
– Ring generator
• Alert the called party

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 Privately owned switches

• A PBX (private branch exchange) has three major components:

• Terminal interface
• Connection between terminals and PBX
• Switch network
• Two telephones within an office communicate over the switch
network
• Control complex
• Call setup, call supervision, and call disconnection

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 Call signalling
• Three call-
signalling types
– Supervisory
signalling
– Address signalling CO CO
– Informational
signalling

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 Call signalling
• Supervisory signalling
– On hook
– Off hook
– ringing

Local loop

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 Call signalling

• Address signalling
– Rotary-dial telephone
Digital phone: Analog phone:
– Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) Voice digitized Voice digitized
telephone by phone by CO

Pulse dialling 12
DTMF
 Call signalling
• Informational signalling
– Notify users of call status

Tone Frequency (Hz) On Time (sec) Off Time (sec)

Dial 350 + 440 Continuous Continuous
Busy 480 + 620 0.5 0.5
Ringback, line 440 + 480 2 4
Ringback, PBX 440 + 480 1 3
Congestion (toll) 480 + 620 0.2 0.3
Reorder (local) 480 + 620 0.3 0.2
Receiver off hook 1400 + 2060 + 2450 + 2600 0.1 0.1
No such number 200 to 400 Continuous Continuous

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 Multiplexing
• Time-division Multiplexing (TDM):

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 Benefits of packet telephony
• Benefits of packet telephony over circuit-switched
telephony
– More efficient use of bandwidth and equipment
– Lower costs for telephony network transmission
– Consolidated voice and data network expenses
– Increased revenues from new services
– Greater innovation in services
– Access to new communication devices
– Flexible new pricing structures

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Packet telephony components

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 Packet telephony components
• IP phones
• Gatekeeper
– Provide Call Admission Control (CAC), bandwidth control and
management, address translation, and call routing
• Gateway
– Provides translation between VoIP and non-VoIP networks, provides
physical access for local analog voice devoice (e.g., telephone)
• Multipoint control unit (MCU)
– Provides real-time connectivity for participants in multiple locations to
attend the same meeting
• Call agent
– Provides call control for IP phones, CAC, bandwidth control and
management, and address translation, also serves as repository for call
routing information
• Application server
– E.g., voice mail, call center support,
• Videoconference station
– Contains camera and microphone, end-user participation in
videoconferencing
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 Call control

Call control
• Call setup
• Check call-routing configuration to determine the destination of a call
• CAC determines if sufficient bandwidth is available for the call
• If available, call setup sends a setup message to destination
• If not available, call setup notifies the initiator by presenting a busy signal
• Call maintenance
• Track packet count, packet loss, jitter, and/or delay
• If connection quality is too bad, drop the call
• Call teardown
• Free the resources when either side terminates a call 18
 Distributed call control

Example: H.323, or
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
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 Centralized call control

Survivable Remote Site

Telephony (SRST):
provide redundancy in the
event of a WAN outage by
having the voice-enabled
router at the remote site
perform basic call
processing functions.

Example: Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP)

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 Real-time vs. best-effort traffic

• Voice: real-time traffic

• Data: best-effort traffic
• Traditional telephony networks
– Resources are reserved end-to-end on per-call basis
• Traditional data networks
– No guarantee of delivery, delay, or jitter
– TCP trades delay for reliability
• Converged voice and data network
– Requires QoS supports for voice traffic

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 Review Questions
1. Which type of trunk connects two local telephone company COs?
A. tie trunk
B. CO trunk
C. interoffice trunk
D. OPX trunk

2. When discussing call control, what function does call setup use to
ensure that there is enough bandwidth to place a call?
A. call routing
B. call maintenance
C. call supervision
D. Call Admission Control

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 Review Questions (cont.)
3. Which two protocols are examples of distributed call control?
A. MGCP
B. H.323
C. SIP
D. Megaco

4. What is the function of the SRST component of a centralized voice

enterprise network?
A. Connects IP phones on remote sites to Cisco Unified CallManager
B. Provides local call-processing capabilities in case of a WAN outage
C. Configures routing plans for the gateways
D. Serves as the primary voice path between sites

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