A multimedia communication terminal for telephone channels based on H.324

This paper identifies issues involved in designing a narrowband multimedia terminal over telephone lines. The terminal allows real-time video, audio, and data exchanges at bit rates of 33.6 kbps or less. It is based on an ITU-T recommendation H.324. The video quality is typically less than 15 frames/sec with near-toll quality audio (8 kbps or less). The paper shows that implementation of such a terminal requires a great deal of sophisticated real-time software to address quality of service (QoS) over a data network, interoperability, and manageability. The use of new, low cost, high performance processors, combined with a system-on-a-chip integration is required to deliver the software in a cost effective solution.