Introducing VoIP Signaling Protocols

Today I will introduce you to the VoIP Signaling Protocols. I will also take this opportunity to
present the most important commands of each VoIP Signaling protocol.

By the time you finish reading this article you will realize that you have amazingly acquired a
useful reference-leaflet to carry with you on-the-job. You will be surprised at how often you will
find yourself searching for this little piece of information; trust me, I speak from experience.

VoIP signaling protocols are divided into two categories:

• Session Control Protocols

• Media Control Protocols

Session Control Protocols are responsible for the establishment, preservation and tearing down of
call sessions. They are also responsible for the negotiation of session parameters such as codecs,
tones, bandwidth capabilities, etc.

The main Session Control Protocols in the IP network are H.323 and SIP. I’ve covered both of
the protocols in detail in my previous articles, so if you’re interested in learning more about them
you can check them out here:

• Get to Know the H.323 VoIP Protocol Suite

• Session Initiation Protocol: the Right Choice for VoIP

Media Control Protocols are responsible for the creation and tearing down of media connections.
They are used to open and close media pin-holes on VoIP gateways and to process notifications
coming from those gateways. The Media Gateways are the VoIP components that transport media
between the IP and PSTN networks. They are controlled by an entity that is called Media
Gateway Controller. The latter uses a Media Control Protocol to control Media flows on the
Gateway. The two main Media Control Protocols are MGCP and Megaco (H.248).

Let’s examine these protocols one-by-one by presenting the main commands/characteristics of

each one. The following diagram presents a layered representation of both Session and Media
Control Protocols.
Session Control Protocols
• H.323

The H.323 protocol consists of the following important commands/messages:

H.225 – Registration Admission Status:

• RegistrationRequest(RRQ), RegistrationConfirm (RCF), RegistrationReject(RRJ)

• AdmissionRequest (ARQ), AdmissionConfirm (ACF), AdmissionReject (ARJ)
• Status InfoRequest (IRQ), status InfoReject (IRJ), InfoACK (IACK), Info (INAK)
• BandwidthRequest (BRQ), BandwidthConfirm (BCF), BandwidthReject (BRJ)

H.225 – Call Control:

• Setup signal
• Alerting Called user
• Connect
• Release Complete sent by terminal

H.245 – Procedure:

• Exchange Terminal Capability set regarding multimedia streams

• Master-Slave Determination between terminals
• Open, Close Logical Channel for audio video between endpoints
• End Session Command

• SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)

The Session Initiation Protocol consists of the following main entities:

• User Agent Client (UAC): Caller application that initiates and sends SIP
requests.
• User Agent Server (UAS): Receives and responds to SIP requests: accepts,
redirects, or refuses calls.
• Proxy Server: Contacts one or more clients or next-hop servers and passes the
call requests further. It contains UAC and UAS.
• Redirect Server: Does not initiate SIP requests or accept calls. Accepts SIP
requests, maps the address into new addresses and returns those addresses to the
client.

The main message Methods of SIP are:

• INVITE: User or service is invited to participate in a session.

 • ACK: Client has received a final response to an INVITE request.
• OPTIONS: Server being queried about capabilities.
• REGISTER: Client registers address with a SIP server.
• BYE: User Agent Client indicates to server to release the call.

Media Control Protocols

• MGCP (Media Gateway Control Protocol)

The Media Gateway Control Protocol consists of the following major commands. The
direction of the flow is also indicated by the arrows:

• CRCX: MGC —-> MG: Create Connection between endpoints. Uses SDP for
defining capabilities.
• MDCX: MGC —-> MG: Modify Connection characteristics when needed.
• DLCX: MGC <----> MG: Delete Connection message can be originated from
gateway if line is dropped.
• EPCF: MGC —-> MG: Endpoint Configuration such as A-Law or u-Law
encoding at the DS0 side.
• RQNT: MGC —-> MG: Request Notification to notify occurrence of specific
events.
• NTFY: MGC <---- MG: Notify Informs the Media Gateway Controller when
observed events occur such as Fax or Modem Tones.
• AUCX: MGC —-> MG: Audit Endpoint command to determine the status of the
endpoint.
• AUCX: MGC —-> MG: Audit Connection command retrieves parameters
related to a connection.
• RSIP: MGC <---- MG: Restart In Progress command signals that an endpoint is
taken out of service.

• MEGACO (H.248)

The MEdia GAteway COntrol protocol uses context Id’s to distinguish termination
points. It consists of the following important commands along with the flow direction:

• Add: MGC —-> MG: The add command adds a termination point to a context.
• Subtract: MGC —-> MG: The subtract command is used to remove a
termination from a context.
• Modify: MGC —-> MG: The modify command is used to change the property
values, issue signals, or report specific events to termination points.
• Move: MGC —-> MG: The move command is used to move a terminating from
one context to another.
• AuditValue: MGC —-> MG: The AuditValue command is used to obtain
current values for properties, events and signals associated with terminations.
• AuditCapabilities: MGC —-> MG: The AuditCapabilities command is used to
obtain all possible values for properties, events and signals associated with
terminations.
• Notify: MGC <---- MG: The Notify command is used to inform the MGC about
events that occurred within the MG.
• ServiceChange: MGC <---- MG: The ServiceChange command is used to
inform the MGC that a group of terminations are taken out of service.
• ServiceChange: MGC —-> MG: When the group of terminations previously
taken out of service, return back into service, the MGC sends this command to
inform the MG to resume services.