Media gateway control protocol architecture

The media gateway control protocol architecture is a methodology of providing telecommunication services using decomposed multimedia gateways for transmitting telephone calls between an Internet Protocol network and traditional analog facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Depending on the size and purpose of the gateway, it may allow IP-originated calls to terminate to the PSTN or vice versa, or may simply provide a means to connect a telephone to a telecommunication system via an IP network.

With this functional split, a new interface existed between the MGC and the MG, requiring a framework for communication between the elements, resulting in the media gateway control protocol architecture.

The architectural difference between SIP and H.323, and the media gateway control protocols is that the relationships between entities in SIP and H.323 are peer-to-peer, while the relationships between entities in media gateway control protocols use the master/slave (technology) model.

SIP and H.323 handle call setup, connection, management, and tear-down of calls between like interfaces, whereas media gateway control protocols define the mechanisms of setup of media paths and streams between IP and other networks.

A media gateway is a device that converts media streams in the form of digital data or analog signals in telecommunication for services such as voice, video, and fax applications between two, usually dissimilar, interfaces using different technologies.

7 (SS7), for interconnection with the traditional telephone system, H.323, and the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

This group started early with Level 3 Communications (through its acquisition of Xcom) and Telcordia (BellCore).

[8] Meanwhile, in mid-1998, Level 3 created a Technical Advisory Council (TAC), composed of a dozen leading communications equipment manufacturers.

Further standardization of MGCP effort was pursued in the IETF, in the MEGACO working group, and also in the ITU-T/SG16, under the code name H.GCP.

The IETF published it as Gateway Control Protocol Version 1 in informational RFC 3525.