Cisco Unified Communications

Manager (CUCM)
Video #2: Region

Topics
What is CUCM Region?
Brief introduction to Codecs
Common Codecs G.711, G.729 and
iLBC
Region Configuration Steps

CUCM Region
Defines the maximum bit rate between
group of IP Phones.
Codecs that have higher bit rate than the
value set in Region will not be used
between IP Phones.
Region is used to for bandwidth sizing.
Codecs will determine how many calls are
possible for a given bandwidth.

Codecs
The word CODEC is taken from the words COder and
DECoder.
Codecs are used for compression and decompression of
audio signals.
Not all audio codecs can be used for telephony.
IP Phones need to have the same Codec to play the audio
stream both ways. If IP Phones dont have the same type of
codec a Transcoder is required.
Traditional Transcoding: G.711 <-> Other
Universal Transcoding : Other <-> Other

Some codecs are not free to use.

Most common codecs for telephony are already available in
the Cisco IP Phones.

Common Codecs
Codec Information
Code
c
Codec
Codec & Samp
Sample
Bit Rate le
Interval
(Kbps)
Size
(ms)
(Byte
s)
G.711 (64 80
10 ms
Kbps)
Bytes
G.729 (8 10
10 ms
Kbps)
Bytes
G.723.1
24
30 ms
(6.3 Kbps) Bytes
G.723.1
20
30 ms
(5.3 Kbps) Bytes
G.726 (32 20
5 ms
Kbps)
Bytes
G.726 (24 15
5 ms
Kbps)
Bytes
G.728 (16 10
5 ms
Kbps)
Bytes
G722_64k 80
10 ms
(64 Kbps) Bytes
ilbc_mode
38
_20(15.2K
20 ms
Bytes
bps)
ilbc_mode
50
_30(13.33
30 ms
Bytes

Bandwidth Calculations
Mean
Opinion
Score
(MOS)

Voice
Payload
Size
(Bytes)

Packets
Voice
Per
Payload
Second
Size (ms)
(PPS)

Bandwidth
MP or
FRF.12
(Kbps)

Bandwidth
w/cRTP MP
or FRF.12
(Kbps)

Bandwidt
h
Ethernet
(Kbps)

4.1

160 Bytes 20 ms

50

82.8 Kbps

67.6 Kbps

87.2 Kbps

3.92

20 Bytes

20 ms

50

26.8 Kbps

11.6 Kbps

31.2 Kbps

3.9

24 Bytes

30 ms

33.3

18.9 Kbps

8.8 Kbps

21.9 Kbps

3.8

20 Bytes

30 ms

33.3

17.9 Kbps

7.7 Kbps

20.8 Kbps

3.85

80 Bytes

20 ms

50

50.8 Kbps

35.6 Kbps

55.2 Kbps

60 Bytes

20 ms

50

42.8 Kbps

27.6 Kbps

47.2 Kbps

3.61

60 Bytes

30 ms

33.3

28.5 Kbps

18.4 Kbps

31.5 Kbps

4.13

160 Bytes 20 ms

50

82.8 Kbps

67.6Kbps

87.2 Kbps

NA

38 Bytes

20 ms

50

34.0Kbps

18.8 Kbps

38.4Kbps

NA

50 Bytes

30 ms

33.3

25.867 Kbps 15.73Kbps

28.8 Kbps

G.711
ITU-T standard. Used in the PSTN (Public
Switched Telephony Network and most IP
PBX implementations.
Comes in two variants u-law and a-law.
U-law is commonly used in the United
States, North America and Japan. A-law is
used anywhere else.
Medium complexity codec uses less
computational resources.

G.729
Mostly used in VOIP applications due to low
bandwidth requirements.
Commonly used for calls outside the IP LAN
environment.
Good for Latin Based language but not fit for
music on hold.
Has several two main variants of the original
G.729a and G.729b.
G.729a, medium complexity
G.729b, added VAD (Voice Activity Detection).

iLBC
Internet Low Bitrate Codec released in
2004.
Was used in Yahoo Messenger, Gtalk and
older versions of Skype.
Royalty free no need to pay to use.

Region Configuration
Specify Region Name.
Modify Relationship to Other Regions.
Set Max Audio Bit Rate
Set Max Video Call Bit Rate
Set Link Loss Type

Use System Default will follow the values

set in Service Parameter Configuration ->
Cisco Call Manager.