AASTRA 480i User Manual

Page of 504
Advanced Network Settings
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41-001129-00 Rev 09, Release 1.4.1  
IP Phone Administrator Guide
Configuring the IP Phones
Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) Settings
Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) is used as the bearer path for voice packets 
sent over the IP network. Information in the RTP header tells the receiver how to 
reconstruct the data and describes how the bit streams are packetized (i.e. which 
codec is in use). Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) allows endpoints 
to monitor packet delivery, detect and compensate for any packet loss in the 
network. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and H.323 both use RTP and RTCP for 
the media stream, with User Datagram Protocol (UDP) as the transport layer 
encapsulation protocol.
RTP Port
RTP is described in RFC1889. The UDP port used for RTP streams is traditionally 
an even-numbered port, and the RTCP control is on the next port up. A phone call 
therefore uses one pair of ports for each media stream.
On the Aastra IP phone, the initial port used as the starting point for RTP/RTCP 
port allocation can be configured using "RTP Port Base". The default RTP base 
port on the IP phones is 3000. 
For example, if the RTP base port value is 5000, the first voice patch sends RTP 
on port 5000 and RTCP on port 5001. Additional calls would then use ports 5002, 
5003, etc.
You can configure the RTP port on a global-basis only, using the configuration 
files, the IP Phone UI, or the Aastra Web UI.
Basic Codecs
CODEC is an acronym for COmpress-DECompress. It consists of a set of 
instructions that together implement one or more algorithms. In the case of IP 
telephony, these algorithms are used to compress the sampled speech data, to 
decrease the content's file size and bit-rate (the amount of network bandwidth in 
kilobits per second) required to transfer the audio. With smaller file sizes and 
lower bit rates, the network equipment can store and stream digital media content 
over a network more easily.
Note: 
If RFC2833 relay of DTMF tones is configured, it is sent on the 
same port as the RTP voice packets.