The MPLS/Frame Relay Alliance announced today that its membership has approved the I.366.2 Voice Trunking Format over MPLS Implementation Agreement (IA). The new agreement enables the transfer of compressed voice over a converged MPLS backbone using existing ATM Adaptation Layer 2 (AAL2) technology. The agreement contributes to the design of carrier or Provider Edge (PE) routers, multi-service edge switches and dedicated gateway equipment.

The I.366.2 Voice Trunking Format over MPLS Implementation Agreement defines MPLS transport of AAL2 Common Part Sublayer Packets (CPS-Packets). The AAL2 CPS packet handling described in ITU-T I.366.2 provides the required frame formats and procedures for carrying encoded voice, dialed digits, fax, signaling information and data. The I.336.2 mechanisms are currently used in ATM, VoDSL, and wireless telephony networks. These AAL2 mechanisms permit the suppression of transport of inactive voice channels, and additionally may use voice activity detection to take advantage of the statistical nature of voice. The use of these AAL2 mechanisms also permits the multiplexing of multiple low bit-rate channels over MPLS LSPs.

"This agreement provides an efficient means of transporting voice and related traffic from integrated access devices and wireless telephony networks over MPLS infrastructure networks," said David Sinicrope, System Manager at Ericsson, and the Alliance Applications and Deployment working group chairman. "Drawing on an established bandwidth-efficient voice transport mechanism, this new IA exploits existing AAL2 technology, simplifying the migration path from ATM to MPLS."

"This new implementation agreement complements the Alliance's existing TDM-over-MPLS work that enables transparent transport of TDM traffic," said Ron Insler, R&D manager at RAD Data Communications and editor of the MPLS/FR Alliance IA.

The MPLS/Frame Relay Alliance is an international industry organization that is advancing the recognition and acceptance of MPLS and Frame Relay technologies in the global telecom industry.