[Iaxclient-devel] Re: [Asterisk-Users] IAX2 protocol

[Steve Kann]

On Sun, Mar 02, 2003 at 05:04:44PM -0600, Mark Spencer wrote:
> > 	Currently, we're using most of libiax right now, and would
> > probably want to pick up these changes at some point.  If you updated
> > libiax to iax2, that would work, but what might be more interesting
> > would be if there was a common codebase with parts of the IAX2
> > implementation that would be useful both from within asterisk itself,
> > as well as from other clients.
> 
> The idea is to port libiax to iax2 and preserve the same function calls
> (we might add some additional ones to support the new iax2 features).

That sounds great. 

> > 	Any ideas on whether it makes sense to share any protocol
> > implementation from inside and outside of asterisk, and/or if you plan
> > on incorporating your changes into libiax?
> 
> It's not really practical to share the protocol implementation between
> libiax and asterisk (because especially with IAX it's so tightly coupled
> with Asterisk).  However, it is the plan to update libiax.  The reason
> we're addressing the IAX2 changes at this time is because SNOM is planning
> on visiting in April to add IAX support to the SNOM phone and we want to
> be sure we have the best protocol for them to integrate.

That sounds good also; indeed the changes you've outlines sound really
good -- my plan for iaxclient is first to address the architectural
things that are necessary to make the code portable and functional, and
then we would re-investigate quality and performance issues.  In that
area, voice quality of course will be paramount, and that's a key focus
of your proposal (re-working jitter buffer and retransmissions, etc).

> Although I like the libiax interface, the implementation needs a lot of
> work (especially on the number of malloc() calls).  I'd like to encourage
> you to work with us to make sure that when we rework libiax that it fits
> with your needs as well, and also to be sure that any features you need in
> IAX2 get implemented now during the design phase.

I think Shawn is working with the code now, and I haven't seen what he's
done so far.  Our goals, from a high-level, are pretty well defined on
the website;  Initially, our goals are focused on portability, and
robust operation.  On the features side, we don't have initial needs
other than to be able to work like an AT&T 2500 telephone set; just make
a single, reliable voice call into an * system.

I think I've CC'ed you (Mark) on any design notes we've e-mailed back
and forth, and I encourage anyone to join the iaxclient-devel mailing
list to participate.  (although this will become more useful for people
once we get a first, working code release).

-SteveK


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