Performance Measurement Of VoIP Softphones

Abstract

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a rapidly growing technology that enables transport of voice over data networks. The growth of this technology is due to the integration of voice and data traffic (telecommunication convergence) over the existing networking infrastructure. The advantages of VoIP include low cost and improved network management. This study investigates the performance of VoIP quality over different IEEE802.11 Wireless LAN specifically b/g/n standard. In this study, the measurements of one-to-one real time communication VoIP call are taken for analysis. Measurements are focused on the three major VoIP parameters: delay, jitter and packet loss. The measuring score for voice quality that are use is Mean Opinion Score (MOS) and Rating Factor (R-Factor). The qualities of voice are analyzed and summarize into a graph between different Wireless LAN standards. The measurement results indicate that VoIP impairments such as delay, jitter and packet loss can significantly affect VoIP performance. Aside from that, the environment factors such as the distance between Access Point (AP), interference and other obstacles are also affecting VoIP performance. The analysis and result could illustrate the benefits of the Wireless LAN standard that is to be used and implement in the future.