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| Communication protocol | |
| Purpose | Voice over IP |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Bellcore,Cisco,Level 3,IETF |
| Introduction | 1998; 28 years ago (1998) |
| OSI layer | Application layer (7) |
| RFC(s) | 3435 |
| Internet protocol suite |
|---|
| Application layer |
| Transport layer |
| Internet layer |
| Link layer |
TheMedia Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) is atelecommunication protocol for signaling and call control in hybridvoice over IP (VoIP) and traditionaltelecommunication systems. It implements themedia gateway control protocol architecture for controllingmedia gateways connected to thepublic switched telephone network (PSTN).[1] The media gateways provide conversion of traditional electronic media to theInternet Protocol (IP) network. The protocol is a successor to theSimple Gateway Control Protocol (SGCP), which was developed byBellcore andCisco, and theInternet Protocol Device Control (IPDC).[2]
The methodology of MGCP reflects the structure of the PSTN with the control over the network residing in a call control centersoftswitch, which is analogous to the central office in the telephone network. The endpoints are low-intelligence devices, mostly executing control commands from a media gateway controller, also calledcall agent, in the softswitch and providing result indications in response. The protocol represents a decomposition of other VoIP models, such asH.323 and theSession Initiation Protocol (SIP), in which the endpoint devices of a call have higher levels of signaling intelligence.
MGCP is a text-based protocol consisting of commands and responses. It uses theSession Description Protocol (SDP) for specifying and negotiating the media streams to be transmitted in a call session and theReal-time Transport Protocol (RTP) for framing the media streams.
Themedia gateway control protocol architecture and its methodologies and programming interfaces are described in RFC 2805.[1]
MGCP is a master-slave protocol in whichmedia gateways (MGs) are controlled by a call control agent or softswitch. This controller is called amedia gateway controller (MGC) or call agent (CA). With the network protocol it can control each specific port on a media gateway. This facilitates centralized gateway administration and provides scalable IP telephony solutions. The distributed system is composed of at least one call agent and one or usually, multiple media gateways, which performs the conversion of media signals between circuit-switched and packet-switched networks, and at least onesignaling gateway (SG) when connected to thePSTN.
MGCP presents a call control architecture with limited intelligence at the edge (endpoints, media gateways) and intelligence at the core controllers. The MGCP model assumes that call agents synchronize with each other to send coherent commands and responses to the gateways under their control.
The call agent uses MGCP to request event notifications, reports, status, and configuration data from the media gateway, as well as to specify connection parameters and activation of signals toward the PSTN telephony interface.
A softswitch is typically used in conjunction with signaling gateways, for access toSignalling System No. 7 (SS7) functionality, for example. The call agent does not use MGCP to control a signaling gateway; rather, SIGTRAN protocols are used tobackhaul signaling between a signaling gateway and the call agents.
Typically, a media gateway may be configured with a list of call agents from which it may accept control commands.
In principle, event notifications may be sent to different call agents for each endpoint on the gateway, according to the instructions received from the call agents by setting the NotifiedEntity parameter. In practice, however, it is usually desirable that all endpoints of a gateway are controlled by the same call agent; other call agents are available to provide redundancy in the event that the primary call agent fails, or loses contact with the media gateway. In the event of such a failure it is the backup call agent's responsibility to reconfigure the media gateway so that it reports to the backup call agent. The gateway may be audited to determine the controlling call agent, a query that may be used to resolve any conflicts.
In case of multiple call agents, MGCP assumes that they maintain knowledge of device state among themselves. Such failover features take into account both planned and unplanned outages.
MGCP recognizes three essential elements of communication, themedia gateway controller (call agent), the media gatewayendpoint, andconnections between these entities. A media gateway may host multiple endpoints and each endpoint should be able to engage in multiple connections. Multiple connections on the endpoints support calling features such ascall waiting andthree-way calling.
MGCP is a text-based protocol using a command and response model. Commands and responses are encoded in messages that are structured and formatted with the whitespace charactersspace,horizontal tab,carriage return,linefeed,colon, andfull stop. Messages are transmitted using theUser Datagram Protocol (UDP). Media gateways use theport number 2427, and call agents use 2727 by default.
The message sequence of command (or request) and its response is known as a transaction, which is identified by the numerical Transaction Identifier exchanged in each transaction. The protocol specification defines nine standard commands that are distinguished by a four-letter command verb: AUEP, AUCX, CRCX, DLCX, EPCF, MDCX, NTFY, RQNT, and RSIP. Responses begin with a three-digit numerical response code that identifies the outcome or result of the transaction.
Two verbs are used by a call agent to query the state of an endpoint and its associated connections.
Three verbs are used by a call agent to manage the connection to a media gateway endpoint.
One verb is used by a call agent to request notification of events occurring at the endpoint, and to apply signals to the connected PSTN network link, or to a connected telephony endpoint, e.g., a telephone.
One verb is used by an endpoint to indicate to the call agent that it has detected an event for which the call agent had previously requested notification with the RQNT command:
One verb is used by a call agent to modify coding characteristics expected by the line side of the endpoint:
One verb is used by an endpoint to indicate to the call agent that it is in the process of restarting:
Another implementation of themedia gateway control protocol architecture is theH.248/Megaco protocol, a collaboration of theInternet Engineering Task Force (RFC 3525) and theInternational Telecommunication Union (Recommendation H.248.1). Both protocols follow the guidelines of the overlying media gateway control protocol architecture, as described in RFC 2805. However, the protocols are incompatible due to differences in protocol syntax and underlying connection model.