VoIP (Voice Over IP) - Definition

Voice over Internet Protocol, also called VoIP, IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband
telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband is the routing of voice conversations
over the Internet or via any other IP-based network.

VoIP DSPs are application specific DSPs, designed to convert analog voice to digital voice over
IP. VoIP DSPs support the necessary protocols and features required for VoIP streaming
including the implementation of different VoIP CODECs (Coders – Decoders) such as: G.711,
G.723, GSM etc., the implementation of Real Time Protocol (RTP) and an IP stack.

Many packet-based voice technologies like VoIP gateways, voice-capable cable modems, IP
phones, and PBXs. All of these new applications rely on DSP technology for multimedia
processing.

Shifting voice traffic from traditional telephone networks to well-managed IP-based data
networks is a growing trend that provides advantages such as system efficiency and lower calling
costs.

A DSP-based VoIP system or gateway makes a shift to data networks possible, serving as the
bridge between the public switched telephone networks (PSTN) and the packet network. VoIP
gateways allow users to speak on regular phones or send information over regular fax machines
as they bypass PSTN toll charges with no perceivable loss of quality.

DSP advancements in processing horsepower, smaller footprint and reductions in power

dissipation have expanded the number of channels carried on VoIP gateways and embedded in
network backbones. These advancements are transforming a technology, once used primarily to
obtain free phone calls through a PC and the public Internet.
The VoIP engine's scalable design handles a full T1 trunk (24 channels) of compressed video
or fax signals over an IP network.

VoIP systems carry the voice and signaling information that's required to interface telephony equipment to
a packet network. Full-duplex real-time voice or fax communications are compressed by the VoIP DSP
engine and encoded by a microprocessor into network-ready frames. UDP/IP headers are added to the
compressed packets and then sent to the IP network. Packets received from the network are decoded by
and fed into the VoIP DSP engine and decompressed. A dynamic jitter buffer automatically compensates
for network delay variation to enable smooth real-time voice communication. Voice processing includes
echo cancellation, voice compression, voice-activity detection, and voice packetization.

The processor implements the industry-standard RTP/RTCP packet-streaming protocol, adaptive jitter-
buffer management, and fax-relay support. It also executes the media gateway control protocol (MGCP)
or any other IP call control stack.