The Dialogic IPLink card provides VoIP support for the H.323 and SIP protocols. This topic details installation and configuration, and introduces a new way of allocating voice resources to digital interfaces in VBVoice.
Write down the model and MAC Address that appear on labels on the card.
|
EXAMPLE |
Model: DM/IP481 2T1 Mac address: 00A0E6 00279B |
Install the card in a free slot. You need two network cables connected to the LAN. The first one should be plugged into the PC's NIC card. The second cable should be plugged into the IPLink's on-board NIC card.
Use the plug on the bottom of the IPLink card. Do not confuse the similar looking T1 connector(s), which has three LEDs beside them, while the NIC connector has only one.
Choose Custom Install
Select theses options: Global Call and DM3
On the DM3 options page, select IPLink.
Start the Dialogic Config Manager (DCM). The DCM should auto-detect the card. It shows you which PCD file it wants to use, with a description at the bottom of the Dialogic box that lists the model of card.
|
EXAMPLE |
PCD: ipt_2cas_311.pcd Description: DM/IP481 2T1 -- IPLink with Nic card + 48 channels |
There may be several PCD files for your card model . For VBVoice you will need the file containing _evr_, such as ipt_evr_2cas_311.pcd for the Dm/IP4812T1. T
The _evr_ file has support for the R4 API and GlobalCall, which are used by VBVoice. There is a similar file without _evr_ that supports the native DM3 API and can be used for troubleshooting using the Dialogic sample program IPTMail.
In the DCM, press the green circle button to start the card. The card should start with the factory default settings. You will not be able to ping it, and the green LED above the NIC connector will not come on. However, the DCM should successfully reach Running state.
Ask your LAN administrator to set up a static IP address. Give him/her the MAC address you wrote down and he/she can create a static IP address.
Write this IP address down.
Open a DOS window and type ipconfig. This lists the IP address of the PC (which is different than the IPLink card's address).
Write down the IP Address and SubMask value.
In the DOS window, type ping localhost. It will display the IP address and the name of the computer.
Write the name of the computer down.
In the DCM, stop the card (if it is running).
Select Configure Card.
On the Network tab, enter the following values:
|
Field |
Value |
Sample Value |
|
IPAddress |
IP address of IPLink's NIC card. |
205.207.240.197 |
|
Subnet Mask |
Set to PC's subnet (as reported by IPConfig). Formatted in hex, so 255.255.255.0 should be written as ffffff00 (six letter f's). |
ffffff00 |
|
Host IP Address |
IP address of the PC's NIC card (as reported by IPConfig). |
205.207.240.164 |
|
Host |
Name of the computer (as reported by ping localhost). |
Test12 |
|
User name |
Not needed. |
Abc |
|
Gateway Address |
Must be 0.0.0.0 |
0.0.0.0 |
Press OK to save the configurations. You are now ready to start the card.
In the DCM, press the green circle button to start the card. It should take about one minute. If successful, the DCM will show Running state.
Once the card is started, you can ping it. In a DOS window type ping <iplink card's address> and it should show packets being received, for example:
ping 205.207.240.197
This step is not required by VBVoice, but Pronexus recommends that the first time you set up an IPLink card that you follow all the steps.
The sample program IPTMail provided by Dialogic is useful for validating the card. The IPTMail demo program is found in the Dialogic directory under Dialogic\Samples\DM3\...
Be sure to change the CFG file in the DEBUG\ subdirectory. Change the Destination field only to be TA: followed by the IP Address of the IPLink card.
IPTMail.CFG
Channel = 1 - 24
{
Source = NAME:Dialogic Corp.
Destination = TA:205.207.191.68
RemotePhoneNumber = 1
LocalPhoneNumber = 28
Coder0
{
Type = g711MuLaw
FramesPerPkt = 1
FrameSize = 30
Rate =
0
VAD = 0
}
}
In a DOS window, go to the IPTMain\Debug directory and type IPTMail.As IPTMail starts up, you should see this message:
Start NetMeeting (Start menu/Programs/Accessories/Communications)
You can run NetMeeting on the same machine or on a different machine. If it is the first time you have run NetMeeting, a wizard starts and prompts you for information.
Say No to using a directory server.
Fill in joe as the name and use any e-mail address.
Choose connect by LAN.
When NetMeeting starts, enter the IP Address of the IPLink card.
It should connect to IPTMail and show joe connected and then you should hear the prompts of IPTMail being played.
Success! You've made your first VoIP call on the IPLink card.
This step is not required by VBVoice, but we recommend that the first time you set up an IPLink card that you follow all the steps.
To validate the card using the GlobalCall and R4 APIs, there is an additional sample IPTMail_r4.
Stop the DCM
Replace the FCD and PCD files with their _evr_ versions.
Once changed you can not run the original IPTMail sample until you change the FCD and PCD files back.
Example files for a DM/IP481 2T1 are:
|
ip_2cas_311.fcd ip_2cas_311.pcd |
Dialogic Sample Program IPTMail |
|
ip_evr_2cas_311.fcd ip_evr_2cas_311.pcd |
IPTMail_r4 and VBVoice |
The IPTMail-r4 demo program is found under Dialogic\Samples\DM3\...
You need to change the CFG file to:
Channel = 1-24
{
ipProtocolName = H323_NTSC Capability
{
Type = g711Mulaw
FramesPerPkt = 10
VAD = 0
}
}
Then run the EXE and connect from NetMeeting as before.
No special options need to be selected for IPLink support. Ensure that the IPLink card is still using the _evr_ FCD and PCD files for R4 support.
If there are only IPLink cards in the system, then no configuration of VBVoice.ini is required. VBVoice detects IPLink cards and starts the GlobalCall API. The protocol H323_NTSC is used.
If additional digital cards (such as a D/240 card) are present, then use the Boardn setting, such as (for T1 Robbed Bit):
board1=T1COMPATIBLE,T1COMPATIBLE
in the [Dialogic] section of VBVoice.ini.
To use the digital interfaces on the IPLink card (and optionally on additional digital cards), ISDN must be used, and configured as:
board1=ISDN,ISDN
board2=ISDN,ISDN
board3=ISDN,ISDN
etc.
A board is a span (e.g. 24 T1 channels). This means a DM/IP481 2T1 IPLink card, which has 48 digital channels, has two boards and you must configure them as two Boardi entries in VBVoice .ini.
Note: In your application's LineGroup control, set the Line Type to Digital.
There is no manual setting for VoIP capabilities as they are dependent on the IPLink card. In VBVoice 5.1, four capabilities are supported:
G.711 audio, μ-law, 64k
GSM 06.10 Full-rate speech transcoding
G.729AnnexA audio at 8 kbit/s
G.723.1 at 6.3 kbit/s
These capabilities were tested with the following endpoints and were found to be working:
NetMeeting 3.01
OpenPhone 1.6.0
IPBlue 1.1
Typically there are less voice resources than there are digital interfaces on the IPLink board. For example, on a DM/IP481-2T1 board, there are 96 digital interfaces (48 for IP and 48 for T1 or ISDN) but only 48 voice resources.
When VBVoice starts, it ties the first voice resource to the first digital channel, the second voice resource to the second digital channel, and so on. Consequently, on a DM/IP481-2T1 board, for example, all voice resources are tied to the first 48 digital interfaces (IP) and the T1 portion of the card has no resources available. As a result, VBVoice cannot perform any voice processing on the T1 channels.
VBVoice 5.1 offers two ways of allocating resources: dynamic resource allocation and fixed offset.
In dynamic resource allocation, all available resource are pooled in a group and shared across all channels. This method applies only to configurations using the ISDN protocol, as ISDN does not require a resource to answer a call.
The call flow leaves the LineGroup without a resource and the application itself must allocate and release a resource, using the dynamic resource allocation controls. On a DM/IP481-2T1 card, for example, all 96 channels (48 IP and 48 ISDN) can answer calls and play prompts.
Read about GetResource, ReleaseResource, and ResourceGroup for more information.
When using T1 Robbed Bit, dynamic resource allocation is not possible because the Robbed Bit protocol requires voice resources before a call can be answered. Consequently, use a fixed offset to modify the default 1-to-1 mapping by shifting a block of available resources by a given number of channels. Control the fixed offset by the following two settings in the VBVoice.INI file:
[VoIP]
UseDynamicResource=0
DigitalVoiceOffset=24
For example, on DM/IP481-2T1 cards, these INI settings assign the first 24 voice resources to the IP channels (starting at VBVoice channel 25) and the remaining 24 voice resources to the first 24 channels of the T1 section (VBVoice channels 49 to 72). At the same time, channels 1-24 (IP) and 73-96 (ISDN) do not have any resources available.
Set the number to dial to be S plus the destination IP address (e.g. S205.207.240.168). No checkboxes on dial tone or transfer.
Note that the IP address must be x.x.x.x. Names do not work.
An IPLink card can place outbound calls to itself. Use a VBVoice application with two LineGroup controls, one for inbound and one for outbound. Assign half the channels to the inbound LineGroup and the other half to the outbound LineGroup.
It is not even necessary to have the IPLink card connected to the LAN to do loopback tests. However you will not be able to ping the card if it is not connected to the LAN.