H.

323 Protocol Suite

Guoyou He
Helsinki University of Technology
[email protected]

H.320 specifies the standards for ISDN

Abstract videoconferencing; H.310, H.321, and H.322 specify the
visual terminal for networks that guarantee quality of
Multimedia communication has affected various areas of service (QoS); H.324 specifies videoconferencing over
people’s life. Correspondingly numerous standards, POTS modem connections; and T.120 standards provide
communication technology and networks of multimedia the specifications for real-time data and audiographics
from different vendors are evolving rapidly. The H.323 conferencing [2]. Following the H.323 protocol suite for
protocol suite specified by ITU is a main technology for audiovisual communication will be discussed in detail.
real-time communication of audio, video, and data over
packet switched networks. It also specifies the
interoperability between the packet switched networks 2 What is H.323 suite
and circuit switched networks. In this paper, the history H.323 is a standard developed by the ITU. It specifies
H.323 protocol suite and the architecture of H.323 packet-based multimedia communications systems
system are reviewed first. Then the signaling and across networks, which might not provide any Qos
connection procedures of H.323 systems are presented. guarantees. H.323 suite is family of standards that
Finally it is discussed that the new features in H.323 includes many other ITU standards as shown in Table 1
version 4 and features that are under developing or to be [11].
specified for the future release of H.323.
Table 1: H.323 standards
1 Introduction Network Non-guaranteed bandwidth
packet-switched networks (e.g. IP)
At the present time, numerous multimedia applications
Video H.261, H.263
and services are available. These applications and
Audio G.711, G.722, G.728, G.723, G. 729
services include video and audio, synthesized video,
Call Signalling H.225.0
audio and text, as well as interactivity. This multimedia
and media
information can be used for videoconferencing,
telephony, video games, home shopping, video on packetisation
demand, audio on demand and the like. However, this Call Control H.245
rapidly advancing multimedia technology is Multipoint H.323
continuously spawning new product and applications, Data T.120
and their emergence has significant impact on a large
number of people from all walks of life. This important The H.323 standard is a principal technology for the
and constantly evolving area comprises a number of transmission of real-time audio, video, and data
technologies, which include multimedia computers, communication over packet-based networks. It provides
compression and multimedia networks as well as the both multipoint and point-to-point sessions. H.323
transport mechanisms for these networks. The standards defines the components, protocols, and procedures
and technology for multimedia and multimedia providing multimedia communication over packet-based
communication are evolving at a prodigious pace. networks, which include Inter-Networks (including the
Videoconferencing provides for audiovisual Internet), Local Area Networks, Enterprise Area
communication as well as document sharing, including Networks, Metropolitan Area Networks, and Intra-
text, table and images. The video and audio information Networks [12]. Packet based networks also include
must be compressed prior to entering a communication point-to-point connections or dial up connections over
network and decompressed when leaving it. Hardware or the GSTN or ISDN which can use an underlying packet
software codec can be used for compression and based transport. H.323 can be used in a variety of
decompression of video and audio information. The mechanisms, which include audio and video (video
multimedia communication can be established with telephony); audio only (IP telephony); audio, video and
different equipment in the way of point-to-point data; video and data; multipoint-multimedia
communication or multipoint communication. communications.
To provide interoperability for equipment from multiple The H.323 standard is part of the H.32X family of
vendors, standards have been established for POTS, recommendations specified by ITU-T. The other
ISDN, PSTN, and computer networks. For example, recommendations of the family define multimedia
communication service over different networks are November 17, 2000. It contains enhancements in a
shown in Table 2 [11]. number of important areas, including reliability,
scalability, and flexibility. New features help facilitate
Table 2: H.32X recommendations more scalable Gateway and MCU solutions to meet the
ITU standard Network growing market requirements [7][10].
H.320 ISDNs
H.321, H.310 B-ISDNs 4 H.323 Architecture
H.324 SCNs
The H.323 standard specifies the elements, protocols,
H.323 Non-guaranteed bandwidth packet and procedures providing multimedia communication
switched networks over packet-based networks (see Figure 1 [10])
H.322 LANs that provide guaranteed Qos

Interoperability with other multimedia networks is one

of the primary goals in the development of the H.323
standard.

3 H.323 Version Suites

Since the first version of H.323 was approved in 1996, it
has had 4 versions till the approval of H.323 Version 4
on November 17, 2000 [7].

3.1 H.323 Version 1

“Visual telephone systems and equipment for local area
networks which provide a non-guaranteed quality of
service”, was published in 1996 [4] and was designed for
local area networks. The first thing what companies tried Figure 1: H.323 architecture
to do was use H.323 in WAN, large private VoIP
networks, and the Internet. It worked very well. An H.323 system provides point-to-point or multipoint
Recognizing the fact that H.323 was much more than a multimedia communication services. It has four main
LAN protocol, the name was changed to H.323 Version2 elements including terminals, gateways, multipoint
in 1998 [10]. control units (MCUs), and gatekeeper [12]. Terminals,
gateways, and MCUs are also called endpoints.
3.2 H.323 Version 2
H.323 “Packet-based multimedia communications 4.1 Terminals
systems” was approved in January of 1998. It brought in Terminals include Video I/O equipment, Audio I/O
H.235 Security (Authentication of participant, Integrity equipment, User Data Applications, and System Control
of data, Encryption, and digital signature), Fast Connect, User Interfaces. Terminals can be used for real-time
Supplementary Services (H.450.1 Signaling protocol, bidirectional multimedia communications. An H.323
H.450.2 Call Transfer, and H.450.3 Call Diversion), terminal can either be a personal PC or a stand-alone
Integration of data conferencing with T.120, and device, running an H.323 and multimedia applications. It
Scalability features (Alternate Gatekeepers, Time to supports audio, video and data communications. An
Live, and Pre-granted ARQs) [9][10]. H.323 terminal plays a key role in IP-telephony due to is
its basic service of audio communications. Interworking
3.3 H.323 Version 3 with other multimedia network is the primary goal of
H.323. The H.323 terminals are also compatible with the
H.323 version 3 was approved on September 30, 1999. It
terminals on the networks given in Table 2 [4][13].
introduced a few modest improvements, mostly geared
for better PSTN integration and scalability. However,
H.323 has progressed substantially, mostly in the form of 4.2 Gateways
new Annexes to H.323 and H.225.0 that add Gateways connect H.323 networks to other networks,
considerable value to the overall H.323 system including the PSTN, ISDN, H.320 systems, etc. The
architecture [8]. connectivity of dissimilar networks is achieved by
translating protocols for call setup and release,
3.4 H.323 Version 4 converting media format between different networks
[4][12]. An example of Gateway, which connects H.323
Many new enhancements have been introduced into the
system to PSTN, is given in Figure 2 [3].
protocol H.323 Version 4, which was approved
Figure 2: H.323/PSTN Gateway

Figure 4: Hybrid multipoint conference

4.3 MCUs
MCUs are responsible for managing multipoint
conferences of three or more H.323 terminals. A two-
4.4 Gatekeepers
terminal point-to-point conference can be expanded to a Gatekeepers are used for admission control and address
multipoint conference. The MCU consists of a resolution. A gatekeeper may allow calls to be placed
mandatory multipoint controller (MC) and optional directly between endpoints or it may route the call
multipoint processor (MP). The MC supports the signaling through itself. A gatekeeper is also responsible
negotiation of capabilities with all terminals in order to for the services of band control, accounting, and billing.
insure a common level of communications. It can also A single gatekeeper manages a collection of Terminals,
control the resources in the multicast operation. The MP Gateways, and MCUs forming a zone. A zone is logical
is the central processor of the voice, video, and data association of these components and may span multiple
streams for a multipoint conference [13]. LANs [4] (Figure 5 [3]).
The MCU may (or may not) control three types of
multipoint conference (Figure 3 [4]):
• Centralized multipoint conference
All participating terminals communicate with the MCU
point-to-point. The MC manages the conference, and the
MP receives, processes, and sends the voice, video, or
data streams to and from the participating terminals. Figure 5: H.323 zone
• Decentralized multipoint conference
The MCU is not involved in this operation. Rather the
terminals communicate directly with each other through 5 The H.323 Protocol Stack
their own MCs. If necessary, the terminals assume the
The H.323 suite consists of a set of standards. H.323
terminals take the responsibility for summing the
cites the use of the others shown in Figure 6 [13].
received audio streams and selecting the received video
For audio applications, the minimum requirement is the
signals for display.
support of recommendation G.711 (64 kbps channel).
Other voice codec standards cited by H.323 are G.722
(48, 56, and 64 kbps channels), G.723 (5.3 and 6.3 kbps
channels), G.728 (16 kbps channel), G.729 (8 kbps
channel) [4].
The H.245, control protocol for multimedia
communication, is used during an initial handshake
between the machines to determine the audio encoding
algorithm, terminal capabilities, and media channels.
The terminals should be capable of sending and
receiving different audio streams. After H.245 has
completed the agreements on the terminals’ capabilities
and media channels, the H.225, call signaling and setup
Figure 3: Multipoint conference protocol, is used to format the audio stream.
H.261 is video coding standard. It was designed for
data-rates which are multiples of 64kpbs. H.261 supports
• Hybrid multipoint conference two resolutions, QCIF (Quarter CIF) and CIF (Common
This conference is a mix of the centralized and Intermediate format). If video is supported, the H.323
decentralized modes. The MCU keeps the operations terminals must code and decode the video streams in
transparent to the terminals (see Figure 4 [4]). accordance with H.261 QCIF. Options are available, but
they must use the H.261 or H.263 specifications. The
coding algorithm of H.263 is similar to that used by
H.261, however with some improvements and changes 6.2 Registration, Admission and Status
to improve performance and error recovery. H.263 (RAS)
supports five resolutions, QCIF, CIF, SQCIF (Sub-
QCIF), 4CIF, and 16CIF. The RAS channel is used between H.323 endpoints and
Data support is through T.120, and the various control, gatekeepers for gatekeeper discovery, endpoint
signaling, and maintenance operations which are registration, endpoint location, and admission control.
provided by H.245, Q.931, and the Gatekeeper The RAS messages are carried on a RAS channel that is
specification. unreliable. Hence, RAS message exchange may be
The audio and video packets must be encapsulated into associated with timeouts and retry counts.
the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) and carried on a • Gatekeeper discovery
UDP socket pair between the sender and the receiver. Gatekeeper discovery is the process an endpoint uses to
The Real-Time Control Protocol (RTCP) is used to determine which Gatekeeper to register with. The
assess the quality of the sessions and connections as well gatekeeper discovery can be done statically or
as to provide feedback information among the dynamically. In static discovery, the endpoint knows the
communication parties. The data and support packets can transport address of its gatekeeper a priori. In the
operate over TCP or UDP [4][13]. dynamic method of gatekeeper discovery, the endpoint
multicast GRQ message on the gatekeeper’s discovery
Aud io Video D ata Sy stem C o ntrol multicast address. One or more gatekeepers may respond
I/O I/O A pp. U ser Interfa ce with GCF message [4].

Au d io E n dp oint G a te k e e p e r
C o dec Video D ata Sy stem Co ntrol
G .7 1 1 C odec Interfa ce GRQ
G .7 2 2 C AL L R AS H .24 5
G .7 2 3 H .2 61 T .12 0 C ontrol C ontrol C ontrol
G .7 2 8 H .2 63 H .2 25 H .2 25 G C F /G R J
G .7 2 9
R T P/R T CP
UD P UD P or T CP
IP Figure 7: H.323 - Gatekeeper discovery
L_ 2 Varies
L_ 1 Varies • Endpoint registration
Endpoint registration is the process by which an
Figure 6: H.323 protocol stack endpoint joins a Zone, and informs the Gatekeeper of its
Transport Address and alias address. All endpoints
6 Call Signaling register with a gatekeeper as part of their configuration
process. Registration occurs before any calls are
Call signaling is the messages and procedures used to
establish a call, request changes in bandwidth of the call,
E n dp oint G a tek e e p e r
get status of the endpoints in the call, and disconnect the
RRQ
call [4].
R C F /R R J
6.1 Addresses
In H.323 system, each entity has at least one Network
Address (e.g. IP address). This address uniquely URQ
identifies the H.323 entity on the network. Some entities E n d p o i n t i n itia t e d
may share a Network address (i.e. a terminal and a co- U C F /U R J U n r eg i st e r R e q u e st

located MC). For each Network address, each H.323

entity may have several Transport layer Service Access
Point (TSAP) identifiers. These TSAP Identifiers allow URQ

multiplexing of several channels sharing the same G a tek e e p e r i n i tia t e d

U n r eg i st e r R e q u e st
UCF
Network address. An endpoint may also have one or
more alias addresses associated with it. An alias address
may represent the endpoint or it may represent attempted and occurs periodically as necessary [4] (see
conferences that the endpoint is hosting. The alias Figure 8).
addresses provide an alternate method of addressing the
endpoint [4]. Figure 8: H.323 Endpoint registration

• Endpoint location
Endpoint location is a process by which the transport Gatekeeper cloud
address of an endpoint is determined and given its alias
name or E.164 address [4]. 1 2 4 5
• Other Controls 1 ARQ
2 ACF/ARJ
The RAS channel is also used for other controls, such as 3 Setup 3
4 ARQ Endpoint 1 6 Endpoint 2
admission control, to restrict the entry of an endpoint 5 ACF/ARJ
6 Connect
into a zone; bandwidth change, to modify the call Call Signalling Channel Messages
bandwidth during a call; and disengagement control, to RAS Channel Messages
disassociate an endpoint from a gatekeeper and its zone
[4]. Figure 10: H.323-Direct endpoint call signaling

6.3 H.225 Call Signaling and H.245 • H.245 Control Signaling

Control Signaling When Gatekeeper routed call signaling is used, there are
two methods to route the H.245 channel. In the first
• H.225 Call signaling method, the H.245 control channel is established directly
The H.225 call signaling is used to set up connections between the endpoints (see figure 11). In the second
between H.323 endpoints, over which the real-time data method, the H.245 control channel is routed between the
can be transported. The call signaling channel is a endpoints through the Gatekeeper (see Figure 12). This
reliable channel, which is used to carry H.225 (adopted a method allows the Gatekeeper to redirect the endpoints
subset of Q.931 messages and elements) call control through the Gatekeeper. This method allows the
messages. For example, H.225 protocol messages are Gatekeeper to redirect the H.245 Control channel to an
carried over TCP in an IP based H.323 network [4]. MC when an ad hoc multipoint conference switches
In networks that do not contain a Gatekeeper, call from a point-to-point conference to a multipoint
signaling messages are passed directly between the conference. This choice is made by the Gatekeeper.
calling and called endpoints. It is called direct call When direct endpoint call signaling is used, the H.245
signaling. In networks that do contain a Gatekeeper, the control channel can only be connected directly between
H.225 messages are exchanged either directly between the endpoints [4].
the endpoints or between the endpoints after being
routed through the gatekeeper. It is called gatekeeper-
routed signaling. The method chosen is decided by the Gatekeeper cloud

1 ARQ
gatekeeper during RAS-admission message exchange. 2 ACF/ARJ
3 Setup 1 2 3 8 4 5 6 7
4 Setup
Gatekeeper-Routed Call Signaling 5
6
ARQ
ACF/ARJ
The admission messages are exchanged between 7
8
Connect
Connect Endpoint 1
9
Endpoint 2
endpoints and the gatekeeper on RAS channels. The 9 H.245 Channel

gatekeeper receives the call-signaling messages on the H.245 Control Channel Messages
T1521300-96

call-signaling channel from one endpoint and routes Call Signalling Channel Messages
RAS Channel Messages
them to the other endpoint on the call-signaling channel
of the other endpoint (see Figure 9)[4].
Figure 11: H.323 – H.245 control channel connection
between endpoints

Gatekeeper cloud
1 ARQ
2 ACF/ARJ
3 Setup Gatekeeper cloud
4 Setup 2 3 8 4 5 6 7 1 ARQ
1
2 ACF/ARJ
5 ARQ
3 Setup
6 ACF/ARJ
4 Setup 1 2 3 8 9 4 5 6 7 10
7 Connect
5 ARQ
8 Connect
Endpoint 1 Endpoint 2 6 ACF/ARJ
7 Connect
8 Connect
9 H.245 Channel Endpoint 1 Endpoint 2
Call Signalling Channel Messages
10 H.245 Channel
RAS Channel Messages
H.245 Control Channel Messages T1521310-96

Call Signalling Channel Messages

Figure 9: H.323-Gatekeeper routed call signaling RAS Channel Messages

Direct Call Signaling Figure 12: H.323 – Gatekeeper routed H.245 control
During the admission confirmation, the gatekeeper
indicates that the endpoints can exchange call-signaling
messages directly. The endpoints exchange the call
7 Connection Procedures
signaling on the call-signaling channel (see Figure 10) The connection procedures of the H.323 systems
[4]. communication are made in the steps of Call setup,
Initial communication and capability exchange,
Endpoint 1 Gatekeeper Endpoint 2
Establishment of audiovisual communication, Call
services, and Call termination. This section uses an TerminalCapabilitySet(9)
example network, which contains two endpoints TerminalCapabilitySetAck(10)
connecting to a gatekeeper to illustrate the whole
connection steps. TerminalCapabilitySet(11)

TerminalCapabilitySetAck(12)
7.1 Step A: Call setup
OpenLogicalChannel(13)
Call setup can be in all following cases:
• all combinations of Direct Routed Call signaling OpenLogicalChannelAck(14)

(DRC)/Gatekeeper Routed Call signaling (GRC), OpenLogicalChannel(15)

same or different Gatekeepers;
• Fast connect procedures;
OpenLogicalChannelAck(16)
• call forwarding using facility (restarts the
procedure);
H.245 Message
• and setting up conferences [6].
Figure 13 illustrates the call setup process with the
example of both endpoints registered to the same Figure 14: H.323 Control Signaling Flows
Gatekeeper. It assumes direct call signaling [12].
7.3 Step C: Establishment of audiovisual
Endpoi nt 1 Gate keeper Endpoi nt 2
ARQ (1)
communication
ACF/ARJ (2) Following the exchange of capabilities, master-slave
Setup (3)
determination, and opening of the logical channels for
the various information streams, the audio and video
Call proceeding (4) streams, which are transmitted in the logical channels
ARQ (5)
setup in H.245, are transported over dynamic Transport
ACF/ARJ (6)
layer Service Access Point (TSAP) Identifiers using an
unreliable protocol. Data communications, which are
Alerting (7)
transmitted in the logical channels setup in H.245, are
Connec t (8)
transported using a reliable protocol. Figure 15 is an
example of illustrating the H.323 media stream and
T152 7160-97 media control flows [4][11].
RAS Messages

Call Signalling Messa ges

Endpoint 1 Gatekeeper Endpoint 2
Figure 13: Call Setup RTP Media Stream(17)

RTP Media Stream(18)

7.2 Step B: Initial communication and
capability exchange RTCP Messages(19)
This step includes the procedures of Capability
exchange, Master/Slave determination, and H.245 RTCP Messages(20)
tunneling [4].
Once both sides have exchanged call setup messages
from step A, the endpoints shall establish the H.245 RTP media stream and RTCP Messages
Control Channel. The procedures of H.245 are used over
the H.245 Control Channel for the capability exchange Figure 15: Media Stream and Media Control Flows
and to open the media channels.
The H.245 Master-slave determination procedures are
used to resolve conflicts between two endpoints which 7.4 Step D: Call services
can both be the MC for a conference, or between two Call services include Bandwidth change, Status
endpoints which are attempting to open a bidirectional Information request for management, Conference
channel. Figure 14 is an example H.323 control signaling expansion, multicast cascading, and H.450
flows. Supplementary Services [4].
• Bandwidth changes
Call bandwidth is initially established and approved by
the Gatekeeper during the admission exchange. At any
time during a conference, the endpoints or Gatekeeper • Multicast cascading
may request an increase or decrease in the call Multicast cascading is the case when a call is established
bandwidth. An example of Bandwidth changes is given between the entities containing the MCs, and the H.245
in Figure 16. Control Channel is opened, the active MC (Master/Slave
procedure) may active the MC in a connected entity.
Endpoint 1 Gatekeeper Endpoint 2 Once the cascade conference is established, either the
BRQ(21) master or slave MCs may invite other endpoints into the
conference. There is only one master MC in a
BCF/BRJ(22)
conference. A slave MC can only be cascaded to a
CloseLogicalChannel(23) master MC.
• H.450 Supplementary services
OpenLogicalChannel(24) The H.450 supplementary services are optional to H.323
BRQ(25) systems. These services include call forward, call hold,
call waiting, message waiting indication, and name
BCF/BRJ(26)
identification etc.

OpenLogicalChAck(27) 7.5 Step E: Call termination

Call termination can be made by any endpoint when
RAS messages H.245 messages video, audio, or data transmissions are at end.
Correspondingly all logical channels for video, audio, or
Figure 16: H.323 – Bandwidth Change data are closed. Terminating a call may not terminate a
conference. It can be done by MC that the terminating of
• Status a conference. Figure 19 [12] illustrates the call release
Status is procedures of gatekeeper determining the work procedure.
status, on/off or failure, of the endpoints. The
Gatekeeper may use the H.225 Information Request Endpoint 1 Gatekeeper Endpoint 2
(IRQ) /Information Request Response (IRR) messages
End Session Command(28)
to poll the endpoints periodically.
• Conference expansion End Sesion Command(29)
Conference expansion is the procedure for expanding a
point-to-point conference involving an MC to a Release Complete (30)
multipoint conference. First, a point-to-point conference
is created between two endpoints. At least one endpoint DRQ(31) DRQ(32)
or the gatekeeper must contain an MC. Once the
conference has been created, the conference may be DCF(33) DCF(34)
expanded to multipoint conference by any endpoint in
the conference inviting another endpoint into the H.225 Signaling Messages
conference through the MC, or an endpoint joins an RAS Message
existing conference by calling an endpoint in the H.245 Message
conference. Figure 17, 18 [4] illustrate the H.245 Control
Channel topology for the Direct Call Signaling model,
and the Gatekeeper routed Call Signaling model. Figure 19: H.323 Call Release

Endpoint 1
MC
Endpoint 3
8 New Feature of H.323 Version 4
Endpoint 2
H.323. Version 4 was approved on November 17, 2000.
T1524120-96
It contains enhancements in a number of important areas
Figure 17: Direct Call Signaling model including scalability, reliability, flexibility, services,
must have features, and generic extensibility framework
[7][10][1].
MC
Endpoint 1 Endpoint 3
Gatekeeper
T1524130-96
8.1 Scalability, Reliability, and Flexibility
The H.323 Version 4 enhances the scalability of H.323
Endpoint 2
systems in the areas including Gateway Decomposition
with H.248, Additive Registrations, Alternate
Figure 18: Gatekeeper routed Call Signaling model Gatekeepers, and Endpoint Capacity Reporting.
• Gateway Decomposition
Traditional Gateways were designed that both media and H.323 endpoints report capacity to Gatekeepers. By
call control were handled in the same box. Recognizing utilize endpoint capacity reporting, Gatekeepers may
the need to build larger, more scalable gateway solutions select an endpoint that is best capable of handling the
for carrier solutions, the ITU-T worked jointly with the call. It is very useful for large scale deployments of
IETF produced the Recommendation H.248, which Gateways, and extremely increases the availability (see
describes the protocol between the Media Gateway Figure 22 [11]).
Controller (MGC) and the Media Gateway (MG). H.323
version 4 supports the decomposition of Gateway into
Media Gateway Controller (MGC) and Media Gateway
(MG).
The decomposed Gateway separates the MGC function
and the MG function. Multiple MGs may exist to allow
the decomposed Gateway to scale to support much more
capacity than a composite Gateway. The communication
between the MGC and MGs is done through H.248 (see
Figure 20 [11]).

* GK selects the GW with the most capacity.

* H.323 terminals report capacity in absolute terms, not in
percentages.

Figure 22: Endpoint Dispatcher

8.2 Services
One of the most important features of a VoIP protocol is
its ability to provide services to the service provider and
end users. H.323 has a rich set of mechanisms to provide
supplementary services. Version 4 introduces a few more
supplementary services to strengthen the protocol in this
regard. These services mainly include HTTP-based
Service Control, Stimulus-based Control, and Call
Figure 20: Decomposition Gateway completion [1][10][7].
• HTTP-based Service Control
• Alternate Gatekeepers H.323 version 4 specifies a means of providing HTTP-
The architecture of alternate Gatekeepers is shown in based control for H.323 devices. With HTTP-based
Figure 21 [11]. By using Alternate Gatekeepers, control, service providers have the ability to display web
endpoints can continue functioning when the pages to the user with meaningful content that ties into
communication between the endpoints and one or more the H.323 systems. In essence, it is a third party call
Gatekeepers. It increases the reliability and never loses control mechanism that utilizes a separate HTTP
calls. connection for control.
• Stimulus-based Control
H.323 version4 provides a new "stimulus-based" control
mechanism. With this mechanism, an H.323 device may
communicate with a feature server to provide the user
with various services. The H.323 endpoint may possess
some intelligence, but some intelligence may reside only
in the feature server or multiple feature servers. The
features may be numerous. Any new features may be
added to the feature servers without the delay by
standard procedure.
• Call completion
This is a new H.450 supplementary service, which
Figure 21: Alternate Gatekeepers provides a standard means of allowing calls to complete
when the user is either busy or there is no answer.
• Endpoint Capacity reporting
8.3 “Must Have” Features enhanced to utilize TCP for carrying fax data.
Previously, UDP was the only real option for carrying
The features included are listed below [7][10][5]:
fax data.
• Usage Information Reporting
• Tunneling other protocols
To help providing accurate billing information, the
H.323 is often used to inter-work between two circuit
Gatekeeper can request the endpoint to provide usage
networks. To provide better inter-working, Version 4
information reporting to the Gatekeeper at various times
provides a mechanism whereby QSIG (Signaling
during the call, including at the beginning of the call,
between the Q reference points) and ISUP may be
during the call, and at the end of the call.
tunneled without translation essentially. H.323 may act
• Caller Identification
as a transparent tunnel for those non-H.323 signaling
H.323 Version 4 contains complete information for
protocols (see Figure 23 [5]).
providing caller identification services with H.323.
• Tones and Announcements
H.323 version 4 details the procedure for indicating the Composite MGC
presence of in-band tones and announcements. Such QSIG Gateway
tones and announcements are often heard when the Signalling
X
destination number is incorrect or unreachable.
In addition to in-band tones and announcements, the
Gatekeeper may signal an endpoint to play specific
C A
announcements at various times: pre-call, mid-call, or Media
end-call. Flow MG
• Alias Mapping QSIG
When routing calls, a telephone number in the IP-world Signalling
may not be sufficient for proper routing into the SCN. In
addition, it might be that a service provider would like to
Figure 23: H.323 – QSIG tunneling example
use the same Gateways to provide Virtual Voice Private
Networks, but need some intelligence in a device to
• H.323 specific URL
perform proper mapping. With Version 4, a Gateway, for
Version 4 introduced URL scheme "h323". The H.323
example, can indicate that it can perform alias mapping
URL allows entities to access users and services in a
at either the ingress or egress side of a call. This will
consistent manner. The form of the H.323 URL is
reduce the number of malformed numbers, as well as
"h323:user@host", where "user" is a user or service and
provide a means for providing Voice Virtual Private
"host" might be the Gatekeeper that can translate the
Network (VVPN) services.
URL into a call signaling address.
• Better Bandwidth Management (multicast)
• Call Credit-related capabilities
Prior to H.323 Version 4, and endpoint could request
H.323 v4 provides the means of communicating
much more bandwidth than it actually needs, and thus,
available funds or for the Gateway to control early call
cause wasting network resources. With Version 4, it is
termination based on available funds for the prepaid IP
mandatory that an endpoint made bandwidth requests
telephony. H.323 v4 adds these features to the RAS
with a lower value if, indeed, the endpoint is using less
protocol.
bandwidth than it had initially indicated in the ARQ.
In addition, managing bandwidth for multicast sessions • Multiplexing audio and video
has been nearly impossible since, unless the Gatekeeper One weakness with the current usage of RTP is difficulty
routed the H.245 signaling and carefully monitored the in synchronizing the separate audio and video streams.
media channels that were opened, it could not determine Version 4 now includes an optional procedure, which
whether two endpoints that request bandwidth are allows both video and audio to be multiplexed in a single
actually requesting bandwidth for a multicast session or stream. This will assist endpoints in synchronizing video
unicast session. This becomes a much bigger issue when and audio.
many people are participating in a multipoint multicast • DTMF Relay via RTP
conference. With Version 4, specific details about the H.323 version 4 allows an endpoint to utilize RFC 2833
media channels are conveyed to the Gatekeeper in “RTP Payload for DTMF Digits, Telephony Tones and
(Information Request Response) IRR messages (if the Telephony Signals” to send and receive DTMF digits.
Gatekeeper requests them), so that the Gatekeeper can
better control bandwidth utilization. 8.4 Further Features are under developing
• Fax Enhancements on H.323
Version 4 of H.323 allows an endpoint to be able to ITU-T is working or is going to work on some of further
initiate a voice call and then switch to fax at some point. enhanced features of H.323, which include Generic
It allows an IP-based fax device to operate in a similar Extensibility Framework, Protocol Inter-working,
manner as today's PSTN fax devices. Version 4 also Mobility, and Robustness [1][10].
• Generic Extensibility Framework For small scale systems, the architecture requires each
The Generic Extensibility Framework (GEF) introduces element responsible to detect failure of the others. If one
new means by which H.323 may be further enhanced or element is fail in the system, the others can go to the
extended with optional features, which does not require backup element. Some state information of the failure
changes to the current ASN.1 syntax element is then need to be provided. For large scale
• Inter-working or integrating with other protocols. system, the architecture is very complex and need to be
The inter-working or integrating with newly developed specified.
protocols may need to be developed. These protocols
include SIP, H.248/Megco, and Bearer Independent Call 9 Comments on H.323
Control (BICC).
SIP is gaining in popularity as a VoIP protocol. H.323 is a very complex system with all of kinds of
H.248/Megaco may find its way into many “media features for multimedia communications, but not every
gateway” devices, ranging from residential gateways to part of H.323 has to be implemented when building a
large-scale service provider gateways. The Bearer powerful and useful system. Multimedia over IP, in
Independent Call Control (BICC) protocol will compete itself, has a certain amount of complexity associated
with both H.323 and SIP for a place in the service with it. It results in that the system for implementing the
provider network. Making H.323 work with is also inter-working between different multimedia systems
important. with various features and services is inevitably complex.
What the complexity does exist in H.323 system for a
• Mobility
reason, the reason may become even more evident as
Mobility includes terminal mobility, user mobility, and
video, audio, and data conferencing become more
service mobility. To implement the mobility of H.323,
prevalent [10].
the functions of mobility management need to be
H.323 allows the use of multiple codecs. In the systems,
defined, which include Home Location Function (HLF),
there is a good reason for using each of the codecs.
Visitor Location Function (VLF), Authentication
Gatekeepers are optional in H.323 system. They provide
Function (AuF), and Inter-working Function (IWF) (see
consistent means for H.323 endpoints to perform address
Figure 24 [1])
resolution, and may perform inter-working between
simple H.323 (set devices) and more protocol-complete
H.323 entities. Gatekeepers can act as a platform from
which powerful new IP-based services can be built and
provided.
H.323 is scalable. Service providers can deploy H.323
networks in small scale or large scale depending on the
expected features and services.
H.323 is a proven technology used in large networks. It
has excellent integration with PSTN.
Multimedia conferencing shows the real potential for
H.323 used in multimedia communication
Many equipment manufacturers, software vendors, and
service providers have built products and services
supporting H.323. It greatly supports the success of
H.323.
With the constantly coming of new technologies, for
example BICC, H.323 has big pressure on keeping its
place in the service provider network.

10 Conclusions
As just presented, H.323 is organized around four major
facilities: (a) terminals, (b) Gateways (which can
Figure 24: H.323 - Mobility perform protocol conversion), (c) Gatekeeper
(bandwidth manager), and (d) multipoint control units
(MCUs), responsible for multicasting. The H.323
• Robustness standard is a principal technology for the transmission of
Robustness is under developing, it requires refining the real-time audio, video, and data communication over
architecture for recovery from crashes. Currently two packet-based networks. It provides both multipoint and
architectures are proposed: small scale systems and large point-to-point sessions. One of the primary goals of
scale systems. developing H.323 standards is to provide the
interoperability between packet switched networks and
other multimedia networks. H.323 is a rich and complex PSN – Packet Switched Network
specification. Especially the version 4 is a powerful PSTN – Public Switching Telephone Network
system for multimedia communication. It contains QCIF – Quarter Common Intermediate Format
enhancements in a number of important areas, including, QoS – Quality of Service
scalability, reliability, flexibility, supplementary QSIG - Signaling between the Q reference points
services, and new features. Future release will be more RAS – Registration/Admission Status
powerful. Especially the inter-working or integrating RCF/RRJ – Registration Confirm/Reject
with other newly developed protocols will strengthen its RRQ – Registration Request
position in the multimedia communication area. Mobility RTCP – Real Time Control Protocol
will greatly increase flexibility for using H.323 system in RTP – Real-time Transport Protocol
the fields of terminal mobility, user mobility, and service SCN – Switched Circuit Network
mobility. Of course, mobility will also greatly increase SIP – Session Initiation Protocol
the complexity of the H.323 system. SQCIF – Sub Quarter Common Intermediate Format
Even though H.323 is powerful system for multimedia TCP – Transmission Control Protocol
communication, if has faced great compression from TSAP – Transport Service Access Point
some newly developed protocols, such as SIP, UCF/URJ – Unregistration Confirm/Reject
H.248/Megco, and BICC. Reducing the complexity of UDP – User Datagram Protocol
H.323, and simplifying its usage will evidently improve URQ – Unregistration Request
its leading position in fast changing multimedia VLF – Visitor Location Function
communication world. VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol
VVPN – Voice Virtual Private Network
11 Acronyms
ACF/ARJ – Admission Confirm/Reject References
ARQ – Admission Request [1] Boaz Michaely: H.323 Overview, November 2000.
AuF – Authentication Function http://www.packetizer.com/iptel/h323/papers/
BCF/BRJ – Bandwidth Confirm/Reject [2] Chan-Hwa Wu ja J. David Irvin: Emerging
BICC – Bearer Independent Call Control Multimedia Computer Communication
B-ISDN – Broadband ISDN Technologies, Prentice Hall, 1998, ISBN 0-13-
BRQ – Bandwidth Request 079967-X.
CIF – Common Intermediate Format [3] Databeam Corporation: A Primer on the H.323
DCF/DRJ – Disengage Confirm/Reject Series Standard, 1999.
DRC – Direct Routed Call signaling http://www.packetizer.com/iptel/h323/primer/
DRQ – Disengage Request [4] ITU-T: Recommendation H.323, 1998.
DTMF – Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency [5] ITU-T: Recommendation H.323, 2000.
GCF/GRJ – Gatekeeper Confirm/Reject [6] Olivier Hersent, David Gurle & Jean-Pierre Petid:
GEF – Generic Extensibility Framework IP Telephony Packet-based multimedia
GK – Gatekeeper communications systems, Pearson Education
GQOS – Guaranteed Quality of Service Limited 2000, ISBN 0-201-61910-5.
GRQ – Gatekeeper Request [7] Packetizer: H.323 Version 4 – Overview, 2001.
GSTN – General Switched Telephone Network http://www.packetizer.com/iptel/h323/whatsnew_v4
GRC – Gatekeeper Routed Call signaling .html
GRQ – Gatekeeper Request [8] Packetizer: H.323 Version 3 – Overview, 2001.
HLF – Home Location Function http://www.packetizer.com/iptel/h323/whatsnew_v3
IRR – Information Request Response .html
IRQ – Information Request [9] Packetizer: H.323 Version 2 – Overview, 2001.
ISDN – Integrated Services Digital Network http://www.packetizer.com/iptel/h323/whatsnew_v2
ISUP – ISDN User Part .html
ITU – International Telecommunication Union [10] Paul E. Jones: H.323 Past, Present and Future,
IWF – Inter-working Function January 2001.
MC – Multi-point Controller http://www.packetizer.com/iptel/h323/papers/
MCU – Multi-point Control Unit [11] Phillips Omnicom Training: Voice Over IP Training
MG – Media Gateway Material, 2000.
MGC – Media Gateway Controller [12] Trillium: H.323, 2000.
MP – Multi-point Processor http://www.iec.org/tutorials/h323/
N-ISDN – Narrow-band ISDN [13] Uyless D. Black: Voice Over IP, Prentice Hall PTR
PISN – Private Integrated Services Network 2000, ISBN 0-13-022463-4.
POTS – Plain Old Telephone Service