Voice and Video Infrastructure – Integrated Video Systems Considerations

Video traffic has the same requirements and design consideration as voice traffic does. Voice and video applications can be grouped in the multimedia traffic category, and in many cases, they should be treated similarly by network devices. This involves ensuring the necessary bandwidth and providing low delay, jitter, and packet loss.

Media applications underwent a significant development process regarding IP networks, resulting in many different combinations of audio, video, and data media. Video streams can range from low-definition webcams to high-definition enterprise-level videoconferencing systems. As demand for quality video increases, network infrastructure requirements must also increase.

Companies might have another source of media streams on their network, in the form of unmanaged (not business critical) applications. These applications are aimed mainly at consumers and corporate employees and might be denied by certain corporate policies. This category includes video streaming sites such as YouTube, which can be useful to employees for documentation and training purposes.

In response to the explosion of media content and applications, network designers must revise their media application provisioning strategy. Without a properly selected strategy, the network infrastructure might not support all the multimedia traffic that is demanded by users, and the network could easily become congested.

Common high-resolution video formats include 720i, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. The numerical value of the format represents the number of rows in the frame. High-definition video uses a 16:9 aspect ratio, which results in 1,920 columns. The most common video formats and typical bandwidth usages are summarized below:

Another factor that impacts the network load is the video encoder used. H.264 encoders provide high flexibility when used in video streams. It uses higher video compression rates than other protocols and, at the same time, improves video resolution quality.