An Extension to the Session Description Protocol (SDP) and Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) for Media Loopback
RFC 6849
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) H. Kaplan, Ed.
Request for Comments: 6849 Acme Packet
Category: Standards Track K. Hedayat
ISSN: 2070-1721 EXFO
N. Venna
Saperix
P. Jones
Cisco Systems, Inc.
N. Stratton
BlinkMind, Inc.
February 2013
An Extension to the Session Description Protocol (SDP)
and Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) for Media Loopback
Abstract
The wide deployment of Voice over IP (VoIP), real-time text, and
Video over IP services has introduced new challenges in managing and
maintaining real-time voice/text/video quality, reliability, and
overall performance. In particular, media delivery is an area that
needs attention. One method of meeting these challenges is
monitoring the media delivery performance by looping media back to
the transmitter. This is typically referred to as "active
monitoring" of services. Media loopback is especially popular in
ensuring the quality of transport to the edge of a given VoIP, real-
time text, or Video over IP service. Today, in networks that deliver
real-time media, short of running 'ping' and 'traceroute' to the
edge, administrators are left without the necessary tools to actively
monitor, manage, and diagnose quality issues with their service. The
extension defined herein adds new Session Description Protocol (SDP)
media types and attributes that enable establishment of media
sessions where the media is looped back to the transmitter. Such
media sessions will serve as monitoring and troubleshooting tools by
providing the means for measurement of more advanced VoIP, real-time
text, and Video over IP performance metrics.
Kaplan, et al. Standards Track [Page 1]
RFC 6849 SDP Media Loopback February 2013
Status of This Memo
This is an Internet Standards Track document.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for publication by the
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on
Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6849.
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Kaplan, et al. Standards Track [Page 2]
RFC 6849 SDP Media Loopback February 2013
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................3
1.1. Use Cases Supported ........................................4
2. Terminology .....................................................6
3. Overview of Operation ...........................................6
3.1. SDP Offerer Behavior .......................................6
3.2. SDP Answerer Behavior ......................................7
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