Required Network Quality of Service
Instant Connect is a real-time audio communications solution that relies on an IP network to transport audio between users of the system. As with all networked, real-time communication systems, the underlying network's quality of service (QoS) is critical to the overall performance of the communication system. The table below describes the QoS required by all network segments on which ICE is operating.
Each network parameter has an "ideal", "acceptable" and 'unacceptable" range of operation. The definition of these ranges is as follows:
Ideal: Uninterrupted voice communication with very little or no perceptible delays, echos, drop-out, or lost talk bursts.
Acceptable: Perceptible degradation in quality, which most users are likely to find acceptable (especially if network is "ideal' most of the time and enters this range only intermittently).
Unacceptable: Most users will find the system inoperable or difficult to use.
Parameter | Ideal | Acceptable | Unacceptable | Notes |
Bandwidth | Varies based on usage and configuration; described in detail in the following section. For planning, assume 64kbps per user. | |||
Latency (single-direction) | <40ms | <250ms | >250ms | When talkers are in close proximity to one another, sub-40ms latency is important to prevent a "stadium effect" in which the same audio from different sources sounds as though its echoing from multiple directions. Latency above 250ms introduces perceptible delay and begins to impair normal human speech patterns. |
Jitter | <5ms | <30ms | >30ms | Jitter increases effective latency in the communication path between talker and listener. High jitter values combined with high latency produce noticeable delay in the audio path and will begin to impact speech patterns. Further, jitter measurements above 30ms may result in degraded or lost audio. |
Packet Loss | 0% | <2% | >2% | Even small amounts of packet loss produce noticeable degradation and artifacts, especially when using Rallypoints. |