Polycom DOC2238A - Manual (Page 103)

MGC+ Hardware and Installation Manual
4-23
IP+ Network Interface Module
The IP+ Network Interface Modules support participant connections using
H.323 communication standards. The IP+ Network Interface Module also
supports SIP participants.
H.323 is a standard for audio, video and data communications across IP based
(LAN) networks, including the Internet. H.323 allows endpoints to use
multimedia applications without changing the network infrastructure. H.323
also allows device independent communications between different endpoints.
Conference participants therefore do not have to worry about devices and
compatibility.
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an application layer protocol designed to
work over IP networks. SIP can establish, modify, and terminate multimedia
sessions (conferences).
The IP+ modules provide bandwidth management, that ensures that corporate
networks will not be clogged and critical data cannot be disrupted. Network
managers can limit the number of simultaneous IP connections within their
network or the amount of bandwidth available to IP applications.
The IP+ Network Interface modules combine two very different functions in
one board. This interface module is primarily an IP+ network card, using
H.323 standards for video conferencing, with an added MUX+ capability that
uses H.320 standards. The IP+ module design includes an Ethernet network
interface and a heavy processing core to handle data.
An MCU with IP only configuration requires the IP+ Network interface
module and Audio+/Video+/Data cards for conferencing. In that case, the IP+
module performs the MUX+ functionality.
A more powerful MCU configuration combines the two network interface
cards to form a gateway. In this configuration, an IP endpoint can participate
in the same conference as an H.320 endpoint.
The IP+ modules contains an embedded software module that interfaces
between the MCU and the external Gatekeeper.
The IP+ cards are available in IP+12, IP+24 and IP+48 port sub-assemblies.
The following table lists the type of IP+ card, its version number, its
compatibility with SIP, VoIP and Encrypted conferences and its capacity.
IP+ cards are available with version 4.23 and higher.