Analog Signal over IP

Chapter 3
Chapter 3 Analog Signal over IP

The purpose of this chapter is explaining analog signal over internet protocol (IP),
and how does it work, what distinguishes the different systems, and provide some
technical background with some important definitions.

Signal over IP is similar to voice over IP (in our case). It is a technology that allows
analog signal (voice, ECG, or other analog signals) to be conducted over the Internet
(hence IP, for Internet Protocol) instead of other wireless transmission such as radio
signals (RF). Before continue with ECG signal over IP, we have to define some
important keywords and historical background with voice over IP.

3.1Historical Background
Voice over Internet Protocol has been a subject of interest almost since the first
computer network. By 1973, voice was being transmitted over the early Internet. The
technology for transmitting voice conversations over the internet has been available to
end users since at least the 1990's. In 1996, a shrink-wrapped software product called
Vocaltec Internet Phone Release 4 provided VoIP, along with extra features such as voice
mail and caller id. However, it did not offer a gateway to the analog POTS, so it was only
possible to speak to other Vocaltec Internet Phone users. In 1997, Level 3 began
development of its first softswitch (a term they invented in 1998); softswitches were
designed to replace a traditional hardware switchboards by serving as the gateway
between two telephone networks.

3.2Packet Switching
Packet switching is a communications paradigm in which packets (discrete blocks of
data) are routed between nodes over data links shared with other traffic. In each network
node, packets are queued or buffered, resulting in variable delay. This contrasts with the
other principal paradigm, circuit switching, which sets up a limited number of constant
bit rate and constant delay connections between the nodes for their exclusive use for the
duration of the communication.

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Packet switching is used to optimize the use of the channel capacity available in a
network, to minimize the transmission latency (i.e. the time it takes for data to pass
across the network), and to increase robustness of communication.

The most well-known use of packet switching is the Internet and local area networks.
The Internet uses the Internet protocol suite over a variety of data link layer protocols.
For example, Ethernet and Frame relay are very common. Newer mobile phone
technologies (e.g., GPRS, I-mode) also use packet switching.

3.3Protocol
In computing, a protocol is a convention or standard that controls or enables the
connection, communication, and data transfer between two computing endpoints. In its
simplest form, a protocol can be defined as the rules governing the syntax, semantics, and
synchronization of communication. Protocols may be implemented by hardware,
software, or a combination of the two. At the lowest level, a protocol defines the behavior
of a hardware connection.

3.3.1 Common Protocols

 IP (Internet Protocol)

 UDP (User Datagram Protocol)

 TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)

 DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)

 HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

 FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

 Telnet (Telnet Remote Protocol)

 SSH (Secure Shell Remote Protocol)

 POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3)

 SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

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 IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)

3.4Voice over IP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a protocol optimized for the transmission of
voice (analog signal) through the Internet or other packet switched networks. VoIP is
often used abstractly to refer to the actual transmission of voice (rather than the protocol
implementing it). VoIP is also known as IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband
telephony.

3.5How Does Voice over IP Work

The basic principle of VoIP is very simple. It's the same technology you have
probably used already to listen to music over the Internet. Voice sounds are picked up by
a microphone and digitized by the sound card. The sounds are then converted to a
compressed form, compact enough to be sent in real time over the Internet, using a
software driver called a codec. The term codec is short for "encoder/decoder". The
sounds are encoded at the sending end, sent over the Internet and then decoded at the
receiving end, where they are played back over the speakers. The only requirements are a
connection between the two computers of an adequate speed, and matching codecs at
each end.

Figure 1: A simple IP replacement example

To be usable, a VoIP system also needs a method for establishing and managing a
connection, for example, calling the other computer, finding out if they accept the call,

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and closing the connection when a user hangs up. Because VoIP allows two way
communication, and even conference calls, it's a lot more complicated than simple audio
streaming. How calls are managed is the area in which VoIP systems fundamentally
differ, and two VoIP users must be using the same system (or compatible ones) in order
to be able to call each other.

3.5.1 Codecs
Codecs are software drivers that are used to encode the speech in a compact enough
form that they can be sent in real time across the Internet using the bandwidth available.
Codecs are not something that VoIP users normally need to worry about, as the VoIP
clients at each end of the connection negotiate between them which one to use. VoIP
software or hardware may give you the option to specify the codecs you prefer to use.

Figure 2: Codec Block Diagram

3.6ECG over IP
ECG over IP is an interesting method based on voice over IP
technology, that allows many possibilities for the technically inclined. It is
a good way to get a cheap monitoring system for medical cases (patient
wireless monitoring system) for doctors during office hours, or evening
times. VoIP technology offers significant savings compared to the cost of
other real time wireless transmission systems.

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