Network Working Group                                          S. Ahmadi
Request for Comments: 4424                                 February 2006
Updates: 4348
Category: Standards Track


      Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) Payload Format for the
   Variable-Rate Multimode Wideband (VMR-WB) Extension Audio Codec

Status of This Memo

  This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
  Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
  improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
  Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
  and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

  Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

Abstract

  This document is an addendum to RFC 4348, which specifies the RTP
  payload format for the Variable-Rate Multimode Wideband (VMR-WB)
  speech codec.  This document specifies some updates in RFC 4348 to
  enable support for the new operating mode of VMR-WB standard (i.e.,
  VMR-WB mode 4).  These updates do not affect the existing modes of
  VMR-WB already specified in RFC 4348.

  The payload formats and their associated parameters, as well as all
  provisions, restrictions, use cases, features, etc., that are
  specified in RFC 4348 are applicable to the new operating mode with
  no exception.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction ....................................................2
  2. Conventions and Acronyms ........................................2
  3. The Variable-Rate Multimode Wideband (VMR-WB) Extension .........2
  4. The Necessary Updates in RFC 4348 ...............................4
  5. Security Considerations .........................................6
  6. Public Specification ............................................6
  7. IANA Considerations .............................................7
  8. References ......................................................7
     8.1. Normative References .......................................7
     8.2. Informative References .....................................7




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1.  Introduction

  This document is an addendum to RFC 4348 [2] and contains the
  necessary updates for the support of the new operating mode of 3GPP2
  VMR-WB standard [1].  The new mode of VMR-WB standard (VMR-WB mode
  4), although operating at a lower data rate, has similar
  characteristics and functionalities compared to the existing modes of
  VMR-WB already included in RFC 4348 (e.g., variable bit rate,
  narrowband/wideband input/output speech/audio processing capability,
  continuous and discontinuous transmission, etc.).  Therefore, all
  provisions and restrictions specified in RFC 4348 are applicable to
  all modes of the VMR-WB standard including the new mode, which is
  specified in this document.  As a result, no new media type
  registration is required.

  The VMR-WB file format for transport of VMR-WB speech data in storage
  mode applications is specified in [1,4] and includes support for the
  new mode of operation.

  The following sections provide the necessary updates to RFC 4348 to
  enable support of VMR-WB mode 4.

2.  Conventions and Acronyms

  The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
  "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
  document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [3].

  The following acronyms are used in this document:

     3GPP2  - Third Generation Partnership Project 2
     CDMA   - Code Division Multiple Access
     VMR-WB - Variable-Rate Multimode Wideband
     CMR    - Codec Mode Request
     DTX    - Discontinuous Transmission
     RTP    - Real-Time Transport Protocol
     MIME   - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions

3.  The Variable-Rate Multimode Wideband (VMR-WB) Extension

  VMR-WB is the wideband speech-coding standard developed by the Third
  Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) for encoding/decoding
  wideband/narrowband speech content in multimedia services in 3G CDMA
  cellular systems [1].  VMR-WB is a source-controlled variable-rate
  multimode wideband speech codec.  It has a number of operating modes,
  where each mode is a trade-off between voice quality and average data
  rate.  The operating mode in VMR-WB (as shown in Table 2) is chosen
  based on the traffic condition of the network and the desired quality



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  of service.  The desired average data rate (ADR) in each mode is
  obtained by encoding speech frames at permissible rates (as shown in
  Tables 1 and 3) compliant with CDMA2000 system depending on the
  instantaneous characteristics of input speech and the maximum and
  minimum rate constraints imposed by the network operator.

  The capabilities of the VMR-WB codec were extended through the
  addition of a new mode operating at lower average data rates,
  resulting in improved system capacity in IP and non-IP networks [1].

  As a result of this extension, certain reserved table entries in RFC
  4348 are used to include support for the new operating mode.  VMR-WB
  mode 4 is compliant with all applicable provisions and restrictions
  specified in RFC 4348 [2].  Note that the existing table entries of
  RFC 4348 remain unchanged (e.g., frame types) and the original modes
  of VMR-WB are not affected by these updates.

  The existing flexibility in RFC 4348 for future extensions allows the
  addition of the new mode without any impact on the interoperability
  with earlier implementations of RFC 4348.

  The following sections provide the necessary updates that are
  required to be made in RFC 4348.

  The provisions and considerations for implementation, congestion
  control, and security remain identical to those specified in RFC
  4348.
























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4.  The Necessary Updates in RFC 4348

  Table 1 of RFC 4348 is updated as follows:

  +---------------------------+-----------------+---------------+
  |        Frame Type         | Bits per Packet | Encoding Rate |
  |                           |   (Frame Size)  |     (kbps)    |
  +---------------------------+-----------------+---------------+
  | Full-Rate                 |      266        |     13.3      |
  | Full-Rate                 |      171        |     8.55      |
  | Half-Rate                 |      124        |      7.2      |
  | Half-Rate                 |       80        |      4.0      |
  | Quarter-Rate              |       54        |      2.7      |
  | Quarter-Rate              |       40        |      2.0      |
  | Eighth-Rate               |       20        |      1.0      |
  | Eighth-Rate               |       16        |      0.8      |
  | Blank                     |        0        |       -       |
  | Erasure                   |        0        |       -       |
  | Full-Rate with Bit Errors |      171        |     8.55      |
  +---------------------------+-----------------+---------------+

  Table 1: CDMA2000 system permissible frame types and their
           associated encoding rates

  Note that the new permissible rates correspond to CDMA2000 rate-set I
  and have been added to the table.

  Table 2 of RFC 4348 is updated as follows to include VMR-WB mode 4
  and VMR-WB mode 4 with maximum half-rate similar to that described in
  Section 2.4 of the revised VMR-WB specification [1].





















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  +-------+----------------------------------------------------------+
  | CMR   |                 VMR-WB Operating Modes                   |
  +-------+----------------------------------------------------------+
  |   0   | VMR-WB mode 3 (AMR-WB interoperable mode at 6.60 kbps)   |
  |   1   | VMR-WB mode 3 (AMR-WB interoperable mode at 8.85 kbps)   |
  |   2   | VMR-WB mode 3 (AMR-WB interoperable mode at 12.65 kbps)  |
  |   3   | VMR-WB mode 2                                            |
  |   4   | VMR-WB mode 1                                            |
  |   5   | VMR-WB mode 0                                            |
  |   6   | VMR-WB mode 2 with maximum half-rate encoding            |
  |   7   | VMR-WB mode 4                                            |
  |   8   | VMR-WB mode 4 with maximum half-rate encoding            |
  | 9-14  | (reserved)                                               |
  |  15   | No Preference (no mode request is present)               |
  +-------+----------------------------------------------------------+

  Table 2: List of valid CMR values and their associated VMR-WB
           operating modes

  Note that CMR values 7 and 8 replace the reserved values in Table 2
  of RFC 4348.

  Table 3 of RFC 4348 is updated as follows to include new frame types
  (FTs) associated with VMR-WB mode 4.

  Note that the sizes of the frames are unique and different, allowing
  for the use of header-free payload format for all modes of operations
  [2].























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  +----+--------------------------------------------+-----------------+
  | FT |                Encoding Rate               |Frame Size (Bits)|
  +----+--------------------------------------------+-----------------+
  | 0  | Interoperable Full-Rate (AMR-WB 6.60 kbps) |      132        |
  | 1  | Interoperable Full-Rate (AMR-WB 8.85 kbps) |      177        |
  | 2  | Interoperable Full-Rate (AMR-WB 12.65 kbps)|      253        |
  | 3  | Full-Rate 13.3 kbps                        |      266        |
  | 4  | Half-Rate 6.2 kbps                         |      124        |
  | 5  | Quarter-Rate 2.7 kbps                      |       54        |
  | 6  | Eighth-Rate 1.0 kbps                       |       20        |
  | 7  | Full-Rate 8.55 kbps                        |      171        |
  | 8  | Half-Rate 4.0 kbps                         |       80        |
  | 9  | CNG (AMR-WB SID)                           |       35        |
  | 10 | Eighth-Rate 0.8 kbps                       |       16        |
  | 11 | (reserved)                                 |        -        |
  | 12 | (reserved)                                 |        -        |
  | 13 | (reserved)                                 |        -        |
  | 14 | Erasure (AMR-WB SPEECH_LOST)               |        0        |
  | 15 | Blank (AMR-WB NO_DATA)                     |        0        |
  +----+--------------------------------------------+-----------------+

       Table 3: VMR-WB payload frame types for real-time transport

  Note that the new FT types associated with VMR-WB mode 4 replace the
  reserved entries 7, 8, and 10 in Table 3 of RFC 4348 and there are no
  changes in the existing entries of Table 3 of RFC 4348.

  The 'mode-set' MIME parameter value 4 is defined to indicate that
  VMR-WB mode 4 is supported and used.  Note that the active modes of
  operation are negotiated and agreed by the IP terminals through the
  offer/answer model provided in Section 9.3 of RFC 4348 [2].

5.  Security Considerations

  Same as RFC 4348.

6.  Public Specification

  The VMR-WB speech codec including the new mode is specified in
  following 3GPP2 specification C.S0052-A version 1.0.  Transfer
  methods are specified in RFC 4348.










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7.  IANA Considerations

  This document updates the media type registered in [2].  IANA has
  added this document as reference to that media type registration and
  has modified the optional parameter mode-set in the registration.
  Section 9.1 of RFC 4348 [2] reads:

                                    Currently, this list
           includes modes 0, 1, 2, and 3 [1], but MAY be
           extended in the future.  If such mode-set is
           specified during session initiation, the encoder
           MUST NOT use modes outside of the subset.  If not
           present, all operating modes in the set 0 to 3 are
           allowed for the session.

  IANA will change "modes 0, 1, 2 and 3 [1]" to "modes 0, 1, 2, 3, and
  4 [1] [2]", and change "modes in the set 0 to 3" to "modes in the set
  0 to 4".  [1] will be the IANA's reference to the original VMR-WB
  document (3GPP2 C.S0052-A v1.0) and [2] will be IANA's reference to
  this document (RFC 4424).

8.  References

8.1.  Normative References

  [1]  3GPP2 C.S0052-A v1.0 "Source-Controlled Variable-Rate Multimode
       Wideband Speech Codec (VMR-WB) Service Options 62 and 63 for
       Spread Spectrum Systems", 3GPP2 Technical Specification, April
       2005, http://www.3gpp2.org/.

  [2]  Ahmadi, S., "Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) Payload Format
       for the Variable-Rate Multimode Wideband (VMR-WB) Audio Codec",
       RFC 4348, January 2006.

  [3]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
       Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

8.2.  Informative References

  [4]  3GPP2 C.S0050-A v1.0 "3GPP2 File Formats for Multimedia
       Services", 3GPP2 Technical Specification, October 2005,
       http://www.3gpp2.org/.

Author's Address

  Dr. Sassan Ahmadi

  EMail: [email protected]



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