H.324M aids mobile multimedia

Last time, we talked about H.324, a standard designed for wireline low-bit-rate multimedia. Today, we’ll discuss how H.324 has evolved to benefit mobile multimedia users.

H.324M is an adaptation of H.324 for mobile services. (OK, so adding an “M” is or is not brilliant marketing on the part of the standards bodies – you decide.) With the increasing acceptance of wireless, the need to evolve the 324 standard to mobile/cellular services and satellite services becomes important. One of the most significant features of this evolution was the integration of MPEG-4, bringing high-quality, low-bit-rate video into the equation. The evolution also kept some elements of adaptation generally found in 56K bit/sec modems, like Audio Modem Riser and the ITU-T standard V.8bis.

Moving beyond the low-bit-rate constraints, a newer set of standards called 3G-324M has emerged to add capability for 3G wireless environments that support broadband. (And yes, the marketeers in charge of acronyms are also happy because they got to add another acronym-based prefix.)

Like H.323, the grandfather of broadband multimedia architectural standards, 3G-324M also includes standards for interoperability for the basic components of terminal, gateway, and multipoint conference unit. And drawing from the heritage of 323, the call control and audio standards are an exact twin or a near-clone.