Bandwidth Requirements

General Requirement: 

Bria Mobile:        Wi-Fi or a 3G/4G wireless connection.

Bria Desktop:       IP network connection (broadband, LAN, wireless); Constant Internet connection

Specifics:

Since Bria is using VoIP technology, the internet requirement or bandwidth required by Bria for VoIP communications varies hugely depending on several key factors:  the compression technology (i.e. which codec), packet overheads, the network protocol used (Ethernet for example). The main thing that Bria has an impact on is around the type of compression used, i.e. which codec and what the bitrate is for that codec. See below some commonly used codecs, their bitrate and estimated bandwidth usage:

When more bandwidth is available, quality and usage will increase to deliver the best experience. Below is a table detailing the type of Streams, minimum and recommended download/upload speeds for best user experience:

Notes:

• Audio Stream: Audio codecs used are G711, OPUS or SILK which are Variable Bit Rate Codecs and  G729 codec
• G711 is one of the most mature and widely used audio codecs for VoIP. G711 is a good choice for networks where traditional telephony quality is acceptable and there is enough bandwidth in the internal network infrastructure to support the expected number of 64 Kb/s voice conversations.
• Opus supports both constant and variable/dynamically adjustable bitrates between 6 Kbps to 510 Kbps (according to opus-codec.org) It can be configured with ultra-low bitrates for networks with the most limited bandwidths, and also includes HD Audio.
• G729 codec uses an algorithm for extreme compression, works well with low bandwidth.

• VoIP audio/video stream is full-duplex, meaning that both ends can send/receive traffic at the same time so:
  • Actual bandwidth would be x 2
  • Multiply by 3 for a 3 party conference call,
  • Upload speeds are obviously as important as download speeds(there’s usually and different rates depending on the Internet Service Provider)
• Incoming/outgoing media streams may be encoded with different codecs and hence calculating actual bandwidth is not as simple as x 2 multiplication
• There are various factors that will affect the bandwidth that a Video Call on Bria consumes, including Resolution and Frame Rate, and most importantly the Video Codec used.  For H.264 codec, a fairly accurate table is available on Wikipedia under the “Levels” section.  Bria supports up to 1080P resolution which allows offering up to Level 3.1 profiles for a Video Call.

Supported Bria Video Image Resolutions:

VGA = 640 x 480 pixels

HD-480p = 848 x 480 pixels

HD-720p = 1280 x 720 pixels

HD-1080p = 1920 x 1080 pixels

In summary, to estimate the network bandwidth required to support Bria Softphones optimally:

• Choose or know the CODEC on Bria you plan to deploy in your network.
• Multiply each CODEC's bandwidth requirements by the number of simultaneous calls the network must support.
  • For example, if you are using a G.729 CODEC for audio calling, and you need to support 100 simultaneous calls, then multiply 40 Kbits per second by 100 calls to calculate that you need 4 Mbps of symmetrical transmit-and-receive bandwidth to support the estimated call volume. If you are using G711 a/u codec, multiply 87.2 Kbits per second by 100 calls – the result is 8.72 ~ 9 Mbps of symmetrical transmit-and-receive bandwidth to support the estimated call volume. Please refer to the table above for the minimum and recommended download & upload speeds.
• When calculating the total network load, add the bandwidth required to support Bria traffic (including Multiparty Conferencing requirements and or Video calling if enabled) to the bandwidth required to support your existing network traffic.