Helius codecs

G.729 Codec
Voice Compression

http://www.digium.com/en/products/voice/g729codec.php

The G.729 codec is an industry standard which allows for placing more calls in limited bandwidth to utilize IP voice in more cost effective ways. A typical call consumes 64Kbps of voice bandwidth. G.729 reduces the call to 8Kbps (normal IP overhead adds to this number). Many people are using Asterisk with G.729 to replace expensive gateways. Asterisk currently supports G.729 Annex A only.

Concerning performance, the G.729 codec translations are performed in software, and the overhead should be considered when sizing the server for an Asterisk system. Internal testing with dual Intel® Xeon 1.8GHz processors allowed 60 concurrent G.729 calls. Dual Xeon 2.8GHz processors allowed 80 concurrent G.729 calls.

The G.729 codec works with all Digium hardware cards and on any processor.

We recommend that you read Digium's policy for the G.729 codec before purchasing.


README.txt

Asterisk/Digium G.729
----------------------------
[Download Procedure]

The G.729 codec binary and register utility may be downloaded from the following site:


http://downloads.digium.com/pub/telephony/codec_g729/
http://downloads.digium.com/pub/register

There are different versions of the codec for Asterisk 1.4 and all prior releases; the codec module for Asterisk 1.4 will NOT load into older versions, and vice-versa. Please be sure that you download the correct version of the codec for your Asterisk version.

There are also various optimized versions of the codec binary available for different

commonly available CPU types, in both x86-32 and x86-64 architectures. You are welcome to try any or all of the various versions to see which provides the best performance on your Asterisk server; the 'show translation recalc 60' command in the Asterisk CLI can be used

to gauge the performance of the codec binary you have installed.

In addition, there are frequently updated builds of the codec binary posted, and each build has a 'build version number'. This version number is part of the filename, and is also included

in the copyright/license message that is displayed when the module is loaded into Asterisk.
In this document build number 'v30' has been used as an example, but when you read this document the current build number may be different (higher).


* Command Line Example for the Pentium 4M and Asterisk 1.2 *
# Log in as the user "root".
cd /root
wget
http://downloads.digium.com/pub/telephony/codec_g729/asterisk-1.2/x86-32/codec_g729a_v30_pentium4m.tar.gz
tar xzvf codec_g729a_v30_pentium4m.tar.gz
wget
http://downloads.digium.com/pub/register/x86-32/register

Notes:

- Directories corresponding with x86-32 and x86-64 G.729 codec binaries are located in
the Asterisk directories. Choose whether your system is x86-32 or x86-64. Inside those

directories you will see codec TAR files containing the codec binary for each type
of processor supported. Choose the correct processor type which matches your system.

- Additional registration utilities and
G.729 codec binaries for additional processor types
and operating systems may be found in the unsupported directory.

[Installation Procedure]

Refer to the General Notes section if you have any problems regarding G.729.

1) Refer to the Download Procedure section in order to obtain the correct G.729 codec
binary and register utility for your system. These step-by-step instructions are
assuming that both the G.729
codec binary and the register utility have been
downloaded to the root home directory of your Asterisk server.

2) Copy the codec_g729a.so file to the /usr/lib/asterisk/modules directory.

* Command Line Example *

cp /root/codec_g729a_v30_pentium4m/codec_g729a.so /usr/lib/asterisk/modules

3) Change the permissions of the /root/register file to r-x------. Change the user
and group ownership of the /root/register file to "root".


* Command Line Example *
chmod 500 /root/register
chown root.root /root/register

4) Internet access is required from your Asterisk server in order to register your
G.729 key for licensed use. Outgoing network traffic on TCP port 443 (SSL) must be

allowed in order for the register utility to successfully communicate with Digium's
license server and complete the registration process. The name of the first
Ethernet device on your Asterisk server must be eth0 in order for the
G.729
registration process to complete successfully. The G.729 registration process will
not be successful if the first Ethernet device is eth1, eth2, etc.
The registration utility will prompt you for your
G.729 license key.

* Command Line Example *
/root/register

5) Asterisk must be restarted in order to load your new G.729 licensed channels.

* Command Line Example *
asterisk -rx "restart now"


6) Verify that the number of G.729 licensed channels available to Asterisk matches the
number of G.729 licensed channels that you purchased. This can be verified by
issuing "show g729" in the Asterisk CLI. Take into consideration any previous

G.729 licensed channels that you may have already had registered to your Asterisk
server before verifying this number.

* Command Line Example *
asterisk -rvvv
*CLI> show g729
0/0 encoders/decoders of 2 licensed channels are currently in use


7) Follow the instructions provided in the Backup Procedure section.

[Backup Procedure]

*** It is extremely important that you backup all of the files located in the ***
*** /var/lib/asterisk/licenses directory. This directory contains the Host-ID ***

*** specific license files for your system. These license files are tied to the ***
*** MAC address of all the ethernet devices installed in your system. Creating a ***
*** backup of this directory will allow you to restore your
G.729 license file in ***
*** case you need to reinstall your operating system. This will help prevent you ***
*** from needing to contact Digium to request authorization to increment your ***
*** G.729 key and from needing to purchase a new
G.729 key if you exceed the ***
*** maximum number of G.729 key increments allowed. ***

[General Notes]

- Multiple G.729 keys may be registered to the same Asterisk server. This will allow

you to increase the total number of available G.729 licensed channels on your
Asterisk server. New G.729 keys may be registered to your Asterisk server using the
same instructions provided in the Installation Procedure section. There will be an

additional G.729 license file generated in the /var/lib/asterisk/licenses directory
for each G.729 key that is successfully registered to your Asterisk server. It is
extremely important that you follow the instructions provided in Backup Procedure

section whenever a new G.729 key is successfully registered to your Asterisk server.

- A G.729 key must be re-registered if any of the Ethernet devices in your Asterisk
server are changed, added, or removed. The unique
G.729 license file which is
located in your /var/lib/asterisk/licenses directory is tied to the MAC address of
all the Ethernet devices installed in your system. A G.729 key can only be
re-registered once without authorization from Digium. Digium must be contacted by

phone in order to request authorization to have your G.729 key incremented. Digium
reserves the right to deny authorization for having a G.729 key incremented.

- The silence suppression feature is not available using the codec_g729a.so file.

Asterisk will generate output similar to "Dropping extra frame of G.729 since we
already have a VAD frame at the end" if the remote end is attempting to use silence
suppression with G.729. Consult with the remote end to ensure that silence

suppression is not being used. You may have problems using G.729 if the remote end
attempts to use silence suppression.

- It is not required or suggested to specify a load line in the
/etc/asterisk/modules.conf for the codec_g729a.so file. Asterisk will automatically

load it using the autoload option. The autoload option is set on by default.

----------------------------

Contact the Digium Technical Support Department by phone, either toll free at 1-877-LINUX-ME (1-877-546-8963) or locally at 1-256-428-6000, if you have any questions

or concerns. You may also contact us by email at support@digium.com