I n t e r n a t i o n a l T e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n U n i o n

ITU-T G.1028.1
TELECOMMUNICATION (02/2019)
STANDARDIZATION SECTOR
OF ITU

SERIES G: TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS AND MEDIA,

DIGITAL SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS
Multimedia Quality of Service and performance – Generic
and user-related aspects

End-to-end quality of service for video

telephony over 4G mobile networks

Recommendation ITU-T G.1028.1

 ITU-T G-SERIES RECOMMENDATIONS
TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS AND MEDIA, DIGITAL SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS

INTERNATIONAL TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS AND CIRCUITS G.100–G.199

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS COMMON TO ALL ANALOGUE CARRIER- G.200–G.299
TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS
INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERNATIONAL CARRIER TELEPHONE G.300–G.399
SYSTEMS ON METALLIC LINES
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERNATIONAL CARRIER TELEPHONE SYSTEMS G.400–G.449
ON RADIO-RELAY OR SATELLITE LINKS AND INTERCONNECTION WITH METALLIC
LINES
COORDINATION OF RADIOTELEPHONY AND LINE TELEPHONY G.450–G.499
TRANSMISSION MEDIA AND OPTICAL SYSTEMS CHARACTERISTICS G.600–G.699
DIGITAL TERMINAL EQUIPMENTS G.700–G.799
DIGITAL NETWORKS G.800–G.899
DIGITAL SECTIONS AND DIGITAL LINE SYSTEM G.900–G.999
MULTIMEDIA QUALITY OF SERVICE AND PERFORMANCE – GENERIC AND G.1000–G.1999
USER-RELATED ASPECTS
TRANSMISSION MEDIA CHARACTERISTICS G.6000–G.6999
DATA OVER TRANSPORT – GENERIC ASPECTS G.7000–G.7999
PACKET OVER TRANSPORT ASPECTS G.8000–G.8999
ACCESS NETWORKS G.9000–G.9999

For further details, please refer to the list of ITU-T Recommendations.

 Recommendation ITU-T G.1028.1

End-to-end quality of service for video telephony over 4G mobile networks

Summary
Recommendation ITU-T G.1028.1 provides guidelines concerning key aspects impacting end-to-end
performance of carrier-grade (in opposition to over-the-top (OTT) approaches, which are outside of
the scope of this Recommendation) conversational video services over long-term evolution (LTE)
networks, also known as video-telephony over LTE (ViLTE), as defined by Global System for Mobile
communications Association (GSMA). It identifies the preconditions for an optimally operating
ViLTE network and provides remedial measures that operators can leverage to address the associated
impact of quality of service (QoS) degradations in the LTE network.

History
Edition Recommendation Approval Study Group Unique ID*
1.0 ITU-T G.1028.1 2019-02-06 12 11.1002/1000/13831

Keywords
LTE, QoS, quality of service, video, video telephony, ViLTE, 4G.

* To access the Recommendation, type the URL http://handle.itu.int/ in the address field of your web
browser, followed by the Recommendation's unique ID. For example, http://handle.itu.int/11.1002/1000/11
830-en.

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) i

 FOREWORD
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency in the field of
telecommunications, information and communication technologies (ICTs). The ITU Telecommunication
Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is a permanent organ of ITU. ITU-T is responsible for studying technical,
operating and tariff questions and issuing Recommendations on them with a view to standardizing
telecommunications on a worldwide basis.
The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA), which meets every four years, establishes
the topics for study by the ITU-T study groups which, in turn, produce Recommendations on these topics.
The approval of ITU-T Recommendations is covered by the procedure laid down in WTSA Resolution 1.
In some areas of information technology which fall within ITU-T's purview, the necessary standards are
prepared on a collaborative basis with ISO and IEC.

NOTE
In this Recommendation, the expression "Administration" is used for conciseness to indicate both a
telecommunication administration and a recognized operating agency.
Compliance with this Recommendation is voluntary. However, the Recommendation may contain certain
mandatory provisions (to ensure, e.g., interoperability or applicability) and compliance with the
Recommendation is achieved when all of these mandatory provisions are met. The words "shall" or some other
obligatory language such as "must" and the negative equivalents are used to express requirements. The use of
such words does not suggest that compliance with the Recommendation is required of any party.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

ITU draws attention to the possibility that the practice or implementation of this Recommendation may involve
the use of a claimed Intellectual Property Right. ITU takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or
applicability of claimed Intellectual Property Rights, whether asserted by ITU members or others outside of
the Recommendation development process.
As of the date of approval of this Recommendation, ITU had not received notice of intellectual property,
protected by patents, which may be required to implement this Recommendation. However, implementers are
cautioned that this may not represent the latest information and are therefore strongly urged to consult the TSB
patent database at http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/ipr/.

 ITU 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the prior
written permission of ITU.

ii Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

 Table of Contents
Page
1 Scope............................................................................................................................. 1
2 References..................................................................................................................... 1
3 Definitions .................................................................................................................... 3
3.1 Terms defined elsewhere ................................................................................ 3
3.2 Terms defined in this Recommendation ......................................................... 3
4 Abbreviations and acronyms ........................................................................................ 3
5 Conventions .................................................................................................................. 6
6 Brief introduction on video-telephony over LTE and assumptions.............................. 6
7 ViLTE network architecture ......................................................................................... 7
8 QoS requirements for ViLTE – Segmented approach .................................................. 8
8.1 Overview of QoS issues experienced by end-users ........................................ 8
8.2 User equipment (codec design and implementation) ..................................... 9
8.3 E-UTRAN (Radio resource management) ..................................................... 10
8.4 Evolved packet core (QCI allocation and mobility management
procedures) ..................................................................................................... 11
8.5 IMS and IP transit core (call control and signalling) ..................................... 11
9 Budget estimation and QoS parameterization .............................................................. 11
9.1 Relevant indicators ......................................................................................... 11
9.2 Impact assessment of relevant operating conditions on QoS parameters....... 13
9.3 Quality targets ................................................................................................ 15
10 Diagnostic strategy for QoS degradations .................................................................... 16
10.1 QoS problem source-linked to availability of service .................................... 17
10.2 QoS problem source-linked to network performance .................................... 17
10.3 Tools and models for measurement and prediction of video quality ............. 19
Bibliography............................................................................................................................. 21

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) iii

Introduction
Mobile broadband operators, facing a competitive broadband market, are obliged to redefine their
business models to enhance revenue-generating streams. This has necessitated a deployment shift to
converged IP-based technology platforms and high-throughput access network technologies that
deliver high-quality triple-play services (telephony, internet and video streaming) to consumers
whose expectation for improved user experience continues to remain insatiable. In this perspective,
video-telephony services over 4G networks (i.e., long-term evolution (LTE)) present an opportunity
for operators to offer new value-added services to their customers and convince them to remain
faithful. There still exists ongoing research work by academics, systems developers and standards
organizations; all attempting to help fill the knowledge gap for successful commercial video-
telephony over LTE (ViLTE) deployment worldwide.

iv Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

Recommendation ITU-T G.1028.1

End-to-end quality of service for video telephony over 4G mobile networks

1 Scope
This Recommendation covers end-to-end quality of service (QoS) requirements for video-telephony
over long-term evolution (LTE) (ViLTE) network segments (see [b-GSMA IR.94]), budget allocation
considerations for different service architecture scenarios, QoS parameterization for regulatory
compliance, impact assessment of some relevant operating conditions on identified service
parameters as well as a diagnostic strategy for QoS degradations in ViLTE. The intention of this
Recommendation is to serve as a reference guide for LTE operators and regulators.
This Recommendation is a complement to [ITU-T G.1028]. All voice-related aspects of ViLTE are
exactly similar to those for voice over LTE (VoLTE), and therefore covered by [ITU-T G.1028], and
thus, they are not repeated in this Recommendation.

2 References
The following ITU-T Recommendations and other references contain provisions which, through
reference in this text, constitute provisions of this Recommendation. At the time of publication, the
editions indicated were valid. All Recommendations and other references are subject to revision;
users of this Recommendation are therefore encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the
most recent edition of the Recommendations and other references listed below. A list of the currently
valid ITU-T Recommendations is regularly published. The reference to a document within this
Recommendation does not give it, as a stand-alone document, the status of a Recommendation.
[ITU-T G.1011] Recommendation ITU-T G.1011 (2016), Reference guide to quality of
experience assessment methodologies.
[ITU-T G.1028] Recommendation ITU-T G.1028 (2016), End-to-end quality of service for
voice over 4G mobile networks.
[ITU-T G.1070] Recommendation ITU-T G.1070 (2018), Opinion model for video-telephony
applications.
[ITU-T G.1071] Recommendation ITU-T G.1071 (2016), Opinion model for network planning
of video and audio streaming applications.
[ITU-T H.264] Recommendation ITU-T H.264 (2017), Advanced video coding for generic
audiovisual services.
[ITU-T H.265] Recommendation ITU-T H.265 (2018), High efficiency video coding.
[ITU-T J.144] Recommendation ITU-T J.144 (2004), Objective perceptual video quality
measurement techniques for digital cable television in the presence of a full
reference.
[ITU-T J.246] Recommendation ITU-T J.246 (2008), Perceptual visual quality measurement
techniques for multimedia services over digital cable television networks in the
presence of a reduced bandwidth reference.
[ITU-T J.247] Recommendation ITU-T J.247 (2008), Objective perceptual multimedia video
quality measurement in the presence of a full reference.
[ITU-T J.249] Recommendation ITU-T J.249 (2010), Perceptual video quality measurement
techniques for digital cable television in the presence of a reduced reference.

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 1

[ITU-T J.341] Recommendation ITU-T J.341 (2016), Objective perceptual multimedia video
quality measurement of HDTV for digital cable television in the presence of a
full reference.
[ITU-T J.342] Recommendation ITU-T J.342 (2011), Objective multimedia video quality
measurement of HDTV for digital cable television in the presence of a reduced
reference signal.
[ITU-T J.343.1] Recommendation ITU-T J.343.1 (2014), Hybrid-NRe objective perceptual
video quality measurement for HDTV and multimedia IP-based video services
in the presence of encrypted bitstream data.
[ITU-T J.343.2] Recommendation ITU-T J.343.2 (2014), Hybrid-NR objective perceptual video
quality measurement for HDTV and multimedia IP-based video services in the
presence of non-encrypted bitstream data.
[ITU-T J.343.3] Recommendation ITU-T J.343.3 (2014), Hybrid-RRe objective perceptual
video quality measurement for HDTV and multimedia IP-based video services
in the presence of a reduced reference signal and encrypted bitstream data.
[ITU-T J.343.4] Recommendation ITU-T J.343.4 (2014), Hybrid-RR objective perceptual video
quality measurement for HDTV and multimedia IP-based video services in the
presence of a reduced reference signal and non-encrypted bitstream data.
[ITU-T J.343.5] Recommendation ITU-T J.343.5 (2014), Hybrid-FRe objective perceptual
video quality measurement for HDTV and multimedia IP-based video services
in the presence of a full reference signal and encrypted bitstream data.
[ITU-T J.343.6] Recommendation ITU-T J.343.6 (2014), Hybrid-FR objective perceptual video
quality measurement for HDTV and multimedia IP-based video services in the
presence of a full reference signal and non-encrypted bitstream data.
[ITU-T P.863] Recommendation ITU-T P.863 (2018), Perceptual objective listening quality
prediction.
[ITU-T P.1201] Recommendation ITU-T P.1201 (2012), Parametric non-intrusive assessment
of audiovisual media streaming quality.
[ITU-T P.1201.1] Recommendation ITU-T P.1201.1 (2012), Parametric non-intrusive
assessment of audiovisual media streaming quality – Lower resolution
application area.
[ITU-T P.1201.2] Recommendation ITU-T P.1201.2 (2012), Parametric non-intrusive
assessment of audiovisual media streaming quality – Higher resolution
application area.
[ITU-T P.1202.1] Recommendation ITU-T P.1202.1 (2012), Parametric non-intrusive bitstream
assessment of video media streaming quality – Lower resolution application
area.
[ITU-T P.1202.2] Recommendation ITU-T P.1202.2 (2013), Parametric non-intrusive bitstream
assessment of video media streaming quality – Higher resolution application
area.
[ETSI TS 122 105] ETSI TS 122 105 v15.0.0 (2018-07), Digital cellular telecommunications
system (Phase 2+) (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
(UMTS); LTE; Services and service capabilities (3GPP TS 22.105 version
15.0.0 Release 15).
[ETSI TS 123 203] ETSI TS 123 203 v15.4.0 (2018-09), Digital cellular telecommunications
system (Phase 2+) (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

2 Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

 (UMTS); LTE; Policy and charging control architecture (3GPP TS 23.203
version 15.4.0 Release 15).
[ETSI TS 126 114] ETSI TS 126 114 v15.4.0 (2018-10), Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System (UMTS); LTE; IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS); Multimedia telephony;
Media handling and interaction (3GPP TS 26.114 version 15.4.0 Release 15.

3 Definitions

3.1 Terms defined elsewhere

None.

3.2 Terms defined in this Recommendation

None.

4 Abbreviations and acronyms

This Recommendation uses the following abbreviations and acronyms:
3G Third Generation of radio access network
4G Fourth Generation of radio access network
AEC Acoustic Echo Control
AGC Automatic Gain Control
AMR-WB Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband
AS Application Server
ATCF Access Transfer Control Function
ATGW Access Transfer Gateway
BE Best Effort
BGCF Border Gateway Control Function
BSC Base Station Controller
BTS Base Transceiver Station
CIF Common Intermediate Format
CS Circuit Switched
CSFB Circuit Switched Fallback
DL Downlink
DRB Data Radio Bearer
DRX Discontinuous Reception
DSCP Differentiated Services Code Point
DTMF Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency
EF Expedited Forwarding
eMSC Enhanced MSC
e-NodeB Enhanced Node B
EPC Evolved Packet Core

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 3

E-UTRAN Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
GBR Guaranteed Bit Rate
GERAN GSM/Edge Radio Access Network
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
GSMA GSM Association
GTP GPRS Tunnelling Protocol
GW Gateway
HARQ Hybrid Automatic-Repeat-Request
HD High Definition
HSS Home Subscriber Server
HVGA Half Video Graphics Array
IBCF Interconnection Border Control Function
I-CSCF Interrogating Call Session Control Function
IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem
LTE Long-Term Evolution
MBR Maximum Bit Rate
MGCF Media Gateway Controller Function
MGW Media Gateway
M-LWDF Modified Largest Weighted Delay First
MME Mobility Management Entity
MOS Mean Opinion Score
MOS-LQ Mean Opinion Score – Listening Quality
MRFC Multimedia Resource Function Controller
MRFP Multimedia Resource Function Processor
MSC Mobile Switching Centre
MSCS MSC Server
MTSI Multimedia Telephony Service for IMS
NB Narrowband
NGN Next Generation Network
NR Noise Reduction
OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access
OT Third Operator
OTT Over-The-Top
PCC Policy and Charging Control
PCEF Policy and Charging Enforcement Function
PCRF Policy and Charging Rule Function

4 Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

P-CSCF Proxy Call Session Control Function
PDA Personal Digital Assistant
PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol
PDD Post Dialling Delay
PF Proportionality Fair
P-GW Packet Data Network Gateway
PLF Packet Loss Fair
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
QCI QoS Class Identifier
QCIF Quarter Common Intermediate Format
QoS Quality of Service
QVGA Quarter Video Graphics Array
RACH Random Access Channel
RLC Radio Link Control
RNC Radio Network Controller
RoHC Robust Header Compression
RRC Radio Resource Control
RSRP Reference Signal Received Power
RTCP Real-time Transport Control Protocol
RTP Real-time Transport Protocol
S-CSCF Serving Call Session Control Function
SD Standard Definition
SDP Session Description Protocol
S-GW Serving Gateway
SIP Session Initiation Protocol
SRB Signalling Radio Bearer
SRVCC Single Radio Voice Call Continuity
TAS Telephony Application Server
TrGW Trunking Gateway
TTI Transmission Time Interval
UDP User Datagram Protocol
UE User Equipment
UL Uplink
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
ViLTE Video-telephony over LTE
VGA Video Graphics Array

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 5

VoLTE Voice over LTE
VT Video Telephony
WB Wideband

5 Conventions
None.

6 Brief introduction on video-telephony over LTE and assumptions

This Recommendation considers some key assumptions in respect of the IP multimedia subsystem
(IMS) profile for video as defined by the Global System for Mobile communications Association
(GSMA) in [b-GSMA IR.94] and the multimedia telephony service for IMS (MTSI) media handling
procedures (video part only) defined by 3GPP in [ETSI TS 126 114].
– To deploy ViLTE, VoLTE is required as a prerequisite. Voice aspects and network service
architecture of ViLTE are adequately addressed in [ITU-T G.1028];
– To support a video call, the user equipment (UE) transmits its video capability to the LTE
network. The video call request encapsulates the video media with real-time transport
protocol (RTP) on user datagram protocol (UDP) (RTP/UDP);
– RTP is the media protocol for the transmission of realtime audio or video streams. Different
than VoLTE, packet data network gateway (P-GW) and serving gateway (S-GW) establish
two bearers for a video call: one for voice and one for video;
– ViLTE uses the mandatory ITU-T H.264 codecs or preferably the optional (ITU-T H.265
Main tier level 3.1 codecs) to encode and decode the video stream with trade-off
consideration for the optimization of both the bit rate and video signal quality;
– The ITU-T H.264/ITU-T H.265 codec delivers superior quality as compared to the low bit
ITU-T H.263 codec that is used in third generation (3G) conversational video calls;
– Video resolution and coding rate is likely to adapt, during a call, to network conditions such
as a reduction in downlink bandwidth. The real-time transport control protocol (RTCP) is
used for the communication of capacities between the UE and the IMS entities inside the
network during a call, thus triggering adaptation;
– ViLTE uses the same control plane protocol as VoLTE, namely session initiation protocol
(SIP);
– The IMS core network along with the applicable application server (AS) performs the call
control;
– ViLTE video calls are allocated appropriate quality of service (QoS) to differentiate and
prioritize such delay and jitter sensitive conversational traffic from other streaming video
traffic that is not as delay or jitter sensitive;
– The mechanism used is called QoS class identifier (QCI). The ViLTE bearer traffic is
typically allocated QCI-2, and the SIP-based IMS signalling QCI-5;
– During ViLTE sessions, video capable devices often ensure lip-synchronization across audio
and video components, a phenomenon that is characterized by the sending of timing
information to each other;
– Call handling in ViLTE provides communicating devices with options to turn off video at
any time during the call and continue with voice only;
– Conversational video calling services may be carried out in either simplex or duplex mode;

6 Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

– Video streams can be changed from one mode to another by the sending of a re-INVITE
request with a session description protocol (SDP) offer using appropriate media descriptors
(e.g., sendrecv, sendonly, recvonly).

Table 1 – Standardized QCI characteristics for use in ViLTE [ETSI TS 123 203]
QCI Resource type Priority Packet delay Packet error Service type
level budget rate
1 2 100 ms 1/100 Conversational voice
Guaranteed bit rate
2 (GBR) 4 150 ms 1/1000 Conversational video
(live streaming)
5 Non-GBR 1 100 ms 1/1000000 IMS signalling

7 ViLTE network architecture

The network architecture for ViLTE is similar to the one for VoLTE (see [ITU-T G.1028]).
Figure 1 (taken from [ITU-T G.1028]) shows the overall network architecture for ViLTE services.

Figure 1 – Overall network architecture for ViLTE services

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 7

8 QoS requirements for ViLTE – Segmented approach

8.1 Overview of QoS issues experienced by end-users

ViLTE is a relatively new service, and not enough data is available yet to understand global QoS
perceived by customers and how big the weight of the different dimensions of QoS is. However, An
analogy can be made with existing services for which consolidated data are available.
The main families of QoS parameters for conversational services are known from telephony. These
are service accessibility, audio/video quality (part of service integrity including audio quality, video
quality, and relations between simultaneous audio/video signals such as lip synchronization) and
service continuity. A detailed list of the most relevant metrics pertaining to each QoS family is
provided in clause 9.1.
Furthermore, ViLTE shares several characteristics with other services available over the same access
technology, such as VoLTE [ITU-T G.1028] and video streaming over LTE (for video aspects).
Concerning this last point:
– The intrinsic quality of video rendering, highly correlated with video coding technology and
bit rate, video size, resolution (and their adequation with screen size) and video frame rate;
– The occurrence of network (core or access) congestion, resulting in several visible artefacts
(depending on decoding and buffering strategies at receiving side) like image freezing
(similarly to re-buffering events in video streaming), pixelation, blocks, ghosting, etc.;
– A combination of the two last elements, bandwidth limitation or jitter buffer, that can be
compensated by video coding bitrate adaptation, yielding potential visible quality
degradations.
However, ViLTE is also characterized by the differences of media handling applied to voice and
video, since the service profile for ViLTE, as defined in [b-GSMA IR.94], is based on QCI (see
Table 1).
Thus, in case of network congestion or in the event a ViLTE terminal is at the edge of radio coverage,
voice will be given a priority over video. A mechanism like transmission time interval (TTI) bundling,
allowing retransmission of voice packets to ensure they are not lost, and thus limiting the bandwidth
for other packets, amplifies this priority. TTI bundling actually defines the final threshold for ViLTE
coverage beyond which only 64 kbit/s video can run with non-acceptable quality using ITU-T H.264
"Baseline". By reducing the video bit rate, coverage is improved but by only 4 dB gain with half the
bit rate, as illustrated in Figure 2 below. In the most severe situations, depending on the strategy
defined by service provider, end users will face either a communication reduced to its voice
component or a call drop.

8 Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

 Figure 2 – Video bit rate versus. coverage

Another element of consideration is how different overall ViLTE service quality, as experienced by
users, can be when issues are related to audio only or to video only. It is known from user tests that
customers are more sensitive to voice impairments than to video impairments during audio-video
conversations. This generally results in better overall judgments when impairments affect video signal
and to a lesser degree voice signal.

8.2 User equipment (codec design and implementation)

ITU-T H.264 constrained high profile level 1.2, as specified in clause 5.2.2 of [ETSI TS 126 114], is
mandatory in UE. However, for backward compatibility, it is required that UE also supports
constrained baseline profile level 3.1 of the same release. Support for ITU-T H.265 Main profile,
Main tier, level 3.1 is also recommended.
Also, as part of procedures, in clause 2.2.2 of [b-GSMA IR.94], the UE and the network must be able
to establish a video call directly during session establishment or by adding video to a voice session
by sending SIP (re-) INVITE request with an SDP offer that contains both voice and video media
descriptors. To ensure optimum QoS delivery it is imperative to adjust the maximum bit rate (MBR)
of the video signal to levels far below the configuration settings of level 3.1 of [ITU-T H.264] and
fine-tuned to the transmission capabilities of the network.
It is recommended to align codec implementations for ViLTE so that codecs can be used in use cases
taken as assumptions for the development of relevant parametric models proposed in [ITU-T G.1070]
and [ITU-T P.1202.1]. Suffice to indicate that ITU-T H.264/ITU-T H.265 codec resolution, frame
rate and encoding bit rate constitute key dependencies as far as maximum user perceived quality of
the ViLTE service is concerned. Manufacturers of terminal devices (mobile phones and personal
digital assistants (PDAs)) that support video telephony over the LTE network can find interesting
guidance in the Table 2 assumptions, whereas codec design requirements should consider the
coefficient derivation functions cited in Appendix I of [ITU-T G.1070].

Table 2 – Assumptions about monitor characteristics

Monitor specifications Nominal values
Diagonal length (Note) 2-10 inches
Dot pitch < 0.30
Colour temperature 6500 K
Bit depth 8 bits/colour

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 9

 Table 2 – Assumptions about monitor characteristics
Monitor specifications Nominal values
Refresh rate ≥ 60 Hz
Brightness 100-300 cd/m2
NOTE – Diagonal length means the image size of monitor.
The end-to-end delay that a ViLTE video packet experiences may fluctuate from packet to packet.
This variation in end-to-end delay is referred to as delay jitter. Delay jitter is a crucial problem for
ViLTE because the receiving terminal (UE) must receive/decode/display frames in realtime and at a
constant rate, any late frames resulting from the delay jitter can produce annoying artefacts in the
reconstructed video e.g., jerks in the video.
This problem is typically addressed by including a playout buffer at the receiver. While the playout
buffer can compensate for the delay jitter, it can potentially introduce additional delay. Video jitter
buffer management for guaranteed QoS in video channels requires placing a cap on the jitter buffer
latency (delay threshold), probing the jitter buffer state and doing away with excess video packets
from the jitter buffer. In the case of an overflow a latency exceeded message is sent to notify the
application that there may be enough delay in the jitter buffer to affect media synchronization and
this is addressed by purging the jitter buffer.

8.3 E-UTRAN (Radio resource management)

Within the evolved-UMTS terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) segment of the ViLTE
architecture model, it is the responsibility of the enhanced Node B (e-NodeB) to ensure the
provisioning of the necessary QoS conditions for a dedicated (video) bearer over the radio interface,
taking into consideration such key determinants as the QCI and the priority levels.
One very key requirement in QoS provisioning at the radio-interface level is the type of scheduling
strategy that must be administered on the e-NodeB as part of the radio resource management functions
for a multi-user orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA)-based mobile system. A
good and efficient scheduling algorithm is required to demonstrate the desired performance levels in
accordance with tolerable limits specified in [ETSI TS 123 203] for video telephony traffic. The
priority and packet delay budget, and to some extent the acceptable packet loss rate from the QCI
label, is required to determine the radio link control (RLC) mode configuration and how the scheduler
in the medium access control (MAC) handles packets sent over the bearer.
It is thus recommended to RAN equipment vendors and systems operators a scheduling strategy that
overcomes some of the limits of traditional benchmark scheduling algorithms (e.g., packet loss fair
(PLF), modified largest weighted delay first (M-LWDF) or proportionality fair (PF)) in terms of
throughput, packet loss and fairness among others. An LTE network operating a radio cell coverage,
reference signal received power (RSRP) level, of less than -105 dBm is required to guarantee basic
rule of thumb on admission controls based on the appropriate QCI from the user equipment.
An IMS session request for a video call (originating or terminating) in E-UTRAN requires that one
dedicated bearer resource for voice and another dedicated bearer resource for video as specified in
[b-GSMA IR.94] is created by authorizing the flows utilizing dynamic policy and charging control
(PCC). The network must initiate the creation of dedicated bearer resources to transport the voice and
video media. The dedicated bearer for conversational video stream may be a GBR or a non-GBR
bearer. If a GBR bearer is used it must utilize the standardized QCI value of two (2) and have the
associated characteristics as provided in [ETSI TS 123 203]. In the case of IMS termination of a
session using conversational media, dedicated bearer resources must be deleted by withdrawing the
authorization of the flows. The network must initiate the deletion of the bearer resources.

10 Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

8.4 Evolved packet core (QCI allocation and mobility management procedures)
Evolved packet core (EPC) provides support to the QoS classification (between the policy and
charging enforcement function (PCEF) and the ViLTE client), as defined in clause 5 of [ETSI TS 122
105] and clause 6.1.7 of [ETSI TS 123 203]. The mobility management entity (MME) provides
tracking area updates to mobile UEs.
When a UE attaches with the network, a mutual authentication of the UE and the network is performed
between the UE and the MME/home subscriber server (HSS). This authentication function also
establishes security keys that are used for encryption of the bearers. Signalling overhead due to
excessive tracking area (TA) updates must be managed in such a way as to guarantee reduced delays
during the video calling session setup.
The S-GW supports transport level QoS through marking IP packets with appropriate Diffserv code
points based on the parameters associated with the corresponding bearer. The P-GW is the point of
interconnect to external IP networks through the SGi interface. It also has a key role in supporting
QoS for end-user IP services.
A good hierarchical design is required to provide for seamless coordination of control-plane
signalling during mobility with the two (2) major QoS preconditions being minimization of
interruption in QoS during handover as well as improved support for interoperability among mobility
protocols (IP/IPv6).

8.5 IMS and IP transit core (call control and signalling)

The IMS core supports ViLTE client registration and authentication. Video over IP (VoIP) session
setup and release is enabled by the IMS and requires SIP signalling operating at an assigned QCI-5
as well as a realtime transfer of voice and video RTP flow as at QCI-1 and QCI-2, respectively (see
Table 1).
To fulfil these requirements, and in the context of a capacity-constrained network, the Diffserv
(differentiated services code point (DSCP)) approach may be used to ensure efficient bandwidth
allocation and scheduling among several traffic applications including video telephony.
An LTE operator providing triple-play service offerings (voice, video, data) can adapt to the varying
traffic requirements on their network by creating a traffic class group for each of the service types.

9 Budget estimation and QoS parameterization

9.1 Relevant indicators

There are two categories of indicators to consider when assessing the quality of ViLTE services:
1) Session setup and continuity;
2) Integrity of the content.
In the first category, the target is to assess which level of quality a user can access and use the service
over an entire ViLTE session. The recommended metrics are given in Table 3 below.

Table 3 – QoS parameters for session setup and continuity

Name Definition
Video telephony (VT) End-to-end service availability in terms of capacity to establish a call, as well as
service availability its audio and video components, from, and to, a ViLTE customer.
An attempted ViLTE call resulting in a voice-only session is considered as
failed.

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 11

 Table 3 – QoS parameters for session setup and continuity
Name Definition
Video component The availability of the video component if it is requested to be added to an
availability existing VoLTE call.
VT setup time (post Time interval (in seconds) between the end of dialling by a caller and the
dialling delay (PDD)) reception back of the appropriate ringing tone, in case of a successful ViLTE
call.
Components setup time Time interval (in seconds) between the reception of a ringing tone and the
beginning of the corresponding audio and video sessions, in case of a successful
ViLTE call, or the time it takes to add the video component after request from a
VoLTE call.
Narrowband (NB): this metric does not consider whether or not the relevant
QCI has been assigned to each flow (QCI-1 for voice, QCI-2 for video).
VT service interruption Time interval (in seconds) during which the session is paused (at least one
time medium, audio or video, is missing) before the session starts again.

VT cut-off ratio The possibility to use the service and/or its audio and video components until
the user requests to release the call.
A ViLTE call with an undesired release of the video component, but the audio
component still working, is considered as dropped.
The second category concerns video quality (audio quality is considered in [ITU-T G.1028]), with
two complementary points of view: global quality (expressed in terms of mean opinion score (MOS))
and detection and characterization of artefacts. The recommended metrics are given in Table 4 below.

Table 4 – QoS parameters video quality measurements

Name Definition
Video quality Provides an objective view on the quality of the video signal as perceived by the
(MOS) VT customer
Detection of freezing • number and rate of detections
• cumulative duration of all detected events
Detection of blurriness • number and rate of detections
• cumulative duration of all detected events
Detection of • number and rate of detections
pixelization • cumulative duration of all detected events
Guidance is given in clause 10.3 on video quality measurement methods.
– Freezing: for reliable transmission freezing is the only distortion caused by transmission
problems, in ViLTE it is just one in between others (and a minor one). In principle, it happens
only if the (short) buffer runs empty. Based on current knowledge, the player decodes and
plays-out what it gets, regardless of how destroyed the packets are. But it is a question of
time that players apply other strategies as error concealment or freezing until the next I-frame
is received for full synchronization.
– Blurriness: caused by low resolution along with compression. Depending on the markets,
the native image resolution is usually limited at 240p or 360p (quite blurry on a high
definition (HD) phone display). Even if standards allow higher resolutions and also adaptive
bit rates. Detection of 'blocks' in case of a 240p I-frame is considered as blurriness.

12 Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

– Pixelization: what can be seen in case of transmission errors is the full set of image
distortions caused by wrong updates (erroneous intra-frames). These are false-colour
macro-blocks appearing and moving around, wrongly moved macro-blocks in general,
freezing part of the image, luminance information that does not fit to the chrominance and
more. The effect of 'error propagation' also needs to be considered: one erroneous intra-frame
destroys an image, so that, even if all following intra-frames are received without error, the
update information is applied to a destroyed image.

9.2 Impact assessment of relevant operating conditions on QoS parameters

Below are feedbacks provided from laboratory or field tests concerning the influence of operating
conditions on the various dimensions of QoS for ViLTE. This clause is to be completed in further
revisions.
– Codec resolution vs. video quality

Figure 3 – Codec resolution versus video quality

Results from subjective tests show that video graphics array (VGA) (320×240) at 15 fps can only
provide a medium quality user experience (MOS ≈ 3.0). A good quality (MOS ≈ 4) requires a
minimum resolution of (640×360) at 15 fps. VGA (640×480) is however, the widely-supported
resolution for achieving this quality level.
– Encoding bitrate vs. video quality

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 13

 Figure 4 – Bit rate versus video quality

It can be inferred from subjective test results that the optimal operating range for good video MOS
using ITU-T H.264 baseline level 3.1 is a VGA resolution with frame rate of 15 fps to 30 fps and a
bit rate of 384 kbit/s to 768 kbit/s. Thus, 384 kbit/s is the minimum bit rate to ensure a quite good
quality experience (approx. 3.5 MOS) whereas a very good video quality (≥ 4.0 MOS) requires a bit
rate up to 768 kbit/s. A better codec will, however, not solve all capacity/coverage issues – rate
adaptation is needed. Devices must be capable to detect transmission conditions (at receiver and
sender side) and adapt bit rate/frame rate and resolution accordingly.
– Video bit rate vs. capacity
Dedicated bearer for ViLTE (with QCI-2) provides a GBR. The radio scheduler gives more radio
resources to this bearer to ensure the GBR at cell edge. With a GBR at 768 kbit/s, a single ViLTE
call consumes 20% of the radio resources in uplink (UL) (10 MHz bandwidth); thus, the overall data
performance in the cell is impacted.

Table 5 – Video bit rate versus capacity

%rRadio resource allocation per Cell-centre Mid cell ViLTE cell edge
ViLTE terminal
10 MHz 384 kbit/s 2.0% 8.0% 12%
768 kbit/s 3.2% 2.0% 20.6%
20 MHz 384 kbit/s 1.0% 4.0% 6.0%
768 kbit/s 1.6% 5.5% 10.3%

14 Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

To ensure ViLTE quality of experience (QoE) without affecting other user's throughput, practical
best-fit measures would have to be taken. The use of GBR = MBR is actually not suitable for
operation with rate adaptation. The possible options for maximum video quality are:
– Use of QCI-2 with GBR < MBR; or
– Use of a non-GBR QCI (6 or 7) with scheduling priority + cell based min bit rate + ViWifi
whenever possible.
In summary, to ensure a more optimal ViLTE performance there is the need for efficient codecs to
reduce the video bit rate, adapt the video bit rate to transmission condition with rate adaptation and
possibly consider other QCI options than 2.
– Jitter buffer performance vs. video quality;
– RTP packet loss vs. setup time (PDD);
– Tracking area update vs. setup time;
– Coverage/interference vs. service availability and call cut-off ratio;
– Handover vs. service interruption time.

9.3 Quality targets

This clause is for further study. Table 6 below will be completed once feedback from field
deployments are available.

Table 6 – Quality budget allocation

Network segment LTE-LTE LTE-LTE LTE-LTE
(intra) (with interconnection) (with roaming)

Indicator A Indicator B Indicator A Indicator B Indicator A Indicator B

UE
E-UTRAN
EPC
IMS/AS
Total budget

Indicator C Indicator D Indicator C Indicator D Indicator C Indicator D

UE
E-UTRAN
EPC
IMS/AS
Total budget

Indicator E Indicator F Indicator E Indicator F Indicator E Indicator F

UE
E-UTRAN
EPC

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 15

 Table 6 – Quality budget allocation
Network segment LTE-LTE LTE-LTE LTE-LTE
(intra) (with interconnection) (with roaming)
IMS/AS
Total budget

Indicator G Indicator H Indicator G Indicator H Indicator G Indicator H

UE
E-UTRAN
EPC
IMS/AS
Total budget

10 Diagnostic strategy for QoS degradations

This clause explains the various video-centric degradations that can be encountered on a mobile LTE
network. Main elements of the mobile network are depicted to show the signalling and media
elements as well as the connections with public switched telephone network (PSTN) or mobile
platforms.

Figure 5 – Sources of potential audiovisual impairments in ViLTE

In order to have a point of comparison in terms of QoS delivered, a reference call is taken whose ideal
characteristics are:

16 Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

– Fourth generation (4G)-4G call with end-to-end codecs (adaptive multi-rate wideband
(AMR-WB) for audio, ITU-T H.264/ITU-T H.265 for video) and associated video features
(frame rate, ITU-T H.264/ITU-T H.265 profile, video orientation) correctly negotiated;
– No degradation on EPC (no IP loss, no load, etc.);
– No degradation on E-UTRAN (no radio degradation, no congestion, etc.);
– Wideband audio compliant devices, both on 4G, with excellent acoustic, voice quality
enhancement algorithms (noise reduction (NR), acoustic echo control (AEC) and automatic
gain control (AGC)), electronic;
– Quiet environment on both ends;
– All services are available (e.g., call transfer, dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF)).
Below are the main possible technical reasons, which generate the encountered degradations.
Separation is done according to the impact assessment due to the customer.

10.1 QoS problem source-linked to availability of service

Table 7 – Degradations related to availability of the service and their potential causes
Kind of degradation Possible reasons Location
UE identification • problem with MME, HSS or policy and charging rule
EPC
failure function (PCRF)
• error in scheduling
• radio resource control (RRC) connection setup failure
(reception of RRC connection reject, or expiry of timer EUTRAN
T300, no RRC connection setup complete sent after
reception of RRC connection setup)
Unavailability of • not available due to load (S-GW or P-GW)
basic call • failed negotiation (e.g., allocation of QCI, codec)
• reception of several SIP error codes (e.g., 401 =
Unauthorized, 405 = Method Not Allowed) EPC
• reception of SIP CANCEL from IMS
• TD internal timer expired, causing a
''SessionSetupFailureTimeout''
Unavailability of
• failed negotiation (e.g., allocation of QCI, codec, resolution) EPC/Terminal
video component
• load
PDD • interworking between systems All
• circuit switched (CS) fallback at call setup
• bad negotiation between two pieces of equipment of the EUTRAN/
Link failure
network during call establishment (bad codec management) EPC
• terminal is not able to code or decode speech while the
White call Terminal
signalling is OK for the communication

10.2 QoS problem source-linked to network performance

In this sub-section, QoS degradations, which are linked to network performance, are depicted.
In concrete terms, these degradations, specific to network mainly lead to video degradation from the
customer's perspective.

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 17

 Table 8 – Degradations related to network performance and their potential causes
Kind of degradation Possible reasons Location

Frozen image • no reception of video frame All

• network congestion (several causes: traffic load, distance
from cell center causing activation of TTI bundling, for
instance)
• jitter buffers not adapted to actual jitter amount
Blurriness • no reception of infra video frame All
• recovery strategy of decoder in terminal
Blockiness / Pixelization • no reception of infra video frame All
• recovery strategy of decoder in terminal
Encoding/Decoding Terminal/
issues eUTRAN
• network load
• media handling (packet construction, jitter buffer
management)
• speech processing in terminals
• random access channel (RACH) upon receiving handover
E2E delay (latency) command All
• RACH/contention procedure
• additional RACH attempts
• dynamic scheduling, link adaptation
• radio link failure/re-establishment during handover
(possibly different cell)
Bad (lip) synchronization • network congestion associated with differentiated QoS All
between voice and video (QCI)
• different jitter buffer size and behavior
• decoding time
• network congestion (several causes: traffic load, distance
from cell center causing activation of TTI bundling, for
instance) EPC /
RTCP/IP packet loss
• jitter buffers not adapted to actual jitter amount or packet Terminal
size (can depend on use of robust header compression
(RoHC) or not)
RTP/IP desequencing • new route after a problem such as congestion EPC
Network delay variation • network congestion. EPC /
(Jitter) • jitter buffers not adapted Terminal
• limit of the cell coverage
• interference
• area not well covered (e.g., obstacle)
• bad radio optimization.
Radio degradations • radio loss profile eUTRAN
• bad radio scheduling
• no or bad use of hybrid automatic-repeat-request (HARQ)
• mechanisms
etc.

18 Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

 Table 8 – Degradations related to network performance and their potential causes
Kind of degradation Possible reasons Location

• latency due to new route after handover or single radio EPC / CS

Handover latency
voice call continuity (SRVCC) network
• terminal bug, bad covered area, handover/SRVCC failures
due to cells neighborhood problem, etc.
RRC connection drop (at reception of RRC connection Terminal/
Re-establishment reject, or expiry of timer T301 or in case eUTRAN
RRC connection release is received before new RRC
connection setup attempt)
Call drop • link failure: system failure, bad re-negotiation between two
equipments of the network during call
• reception of SIP status code 500 (server internal rrror)
• no RTP packet received during a period longer than EPC
''SessionDropTimeout'' TD internal timer
• no SIP 200 OK on BYE is received within the time
measured by ''SessionHangupTimeout'' TD internal timer
• network congestion (several causes: traffic load, distance
Back to voice-only from cell center causing activation of TTI bundling)
communication
• strategy of service provided and/or device maker

10.3 Tools and models for measurement and prediction of video quality
This clause is a complement for video to clause 10.3.2 of [ITU-T G.1028] where an overview of tools
and models for voice quality is provided.
A global view of all standard quality assessment methods is given in Table 10.3 of [ITU-T G.1011]
and shows a detailed application scope of each model in terms of supported resolutions and codecs.
Following the taxonomy provided there, the potential methods are:
– Media layer models: all models for video media streaming quality assessment:
• full reference: [ITU-T J.144] (standard definition (SD)), [ITU-T J.247] (quarter common
intermediate format (QCIF), common intermediate format (CIF), VGA), [ITU-T J.341]
(HD);
• reduced reference: [ITU-T J.249] (SD), [ITU-T J.246] (QCIF, CIF, VGA), [ITU-T J.342]
(HD);
• no reference: none.
– Packet layer models:
• models for planning purposes: [ITU-T G.1070] (dedicated tool for video telephony,
including also an audio quality module), [ITU-T G.1071] (for video streaming, SD, HD);
• models for monitoring purposes (no reference) on UDP for video media streaming
quality assessment: [ITU-T P.1201.1] (QCIF, quarter video graphics array (QVGA), half
video graphics array (HVGA))), [ITU-T P.1201.2] (SD, HD), [ITU-T P.1201] Amd. 2,
App. III (HVGA, HD (1080i50, 1080p24, 1080i60, 1080p30)).
– Bitstream layer models (no reference) on UDP for audiovisual media streaming quality
assessment:
• [ITU-T P.1202.1] (QCIF, QVGA, HVGA), [ITU-T P.1202.2] (SD, HD).
– Hybrid models: all models for video media streaming quality assessment:

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 19

 • full reference: [ITU-T J.343.5] (HD, encrypted bitstream), [ITU-T J.343.6]
(HD, not encrypted bitstream);
• reduced reference: [ITU-T J.343.3] (HD, encrypted bitstream), [ITU-T J.343.4] (HD, not
encrypted bitstream);
• no reference: [ITU-T J.343.1] (HD, encrypted bitstream), [ITU-T J.343.2]
(HD, not encrypted bitstream).
With the exception of [ITU-T G.1070], all these methods have been developed for an application on
video or audiovisual streaming services, not for video telephony. Because of the relatively good
similarity between contents of both types of services, their application for the evaluation of quality
of video telephony services may be envisaged, though it need to be understood that it would require
some hard validation work.
Indeed, implementation of these methods raises some important concerns:
– Rating the impairments of video quality based on (encrypted) bitstreams is rather
complicated. A bitstream method can give some metrics, how it would look like in a general
statistical view under assumption of medium players and encoding strategies, but the
accuracy and the relevance of the measurement results must be considered with highest
caution;
– Full reference methods require the possibility to inject a reference video or audiovisual
content at the applicative level inside UEs instead of the content provided by the camera.
This feature is currently not supported on almost all models of mobile devices;
– The video player strategy of mobile devices to deal with errors and to minimize their visibility
is varying between devices. Models must be calibrated before they can be applied on a given
model of device.

20 Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019)

 Bibliography

[b-GSMA IR.94] GSMA IR.94 v 11.0 (2016), IMS Profile for Conversational Video Service.

Rec. ITU-T G.1028.1 (02/2019) 21

 SERIES OF ITU-T RECOMMENDATIONS

Series A Organization of the work of ITU-T

Series D Tariff and accounting principles and international telecommunication/ICT economic and
policy issues

Series E Overall network operation, telephone service, service operation and human factors
Series F Non-telephone telecommunication services

Series G Transmission systems and media, digital systems and networks

Series H Audiovisual and multimedia systems
Series I Integrated services digital network
Series J Cable networks and transmission of television, sound programme and other multimedia
signals
Series K Protection against interference
Series L Environment and ICTs, climate change, e-waste, energy efficiency; construction, installation
and protection of cables and other elements of outside plant
Series M Telecommunication management, including TMN and network maintenance

Series N Maintenance: international sound programme and television transmission circuits

Series O Specifications of measuring equipment
Series P Telephone transmission quality, telephone installations, local line networks
Series Q Switching and signalling, and associated measurements and tests

Series R Telegraph transmission

Series S Telegraph services terminal equipment

Series T Terminals for telematic services

Series U Telegraph switching
Series V Data communication over the telephone network

Series X Data networks, open system communications and security

Series Y Global information infrastructure, Internet protocol aspects, next-generation networks,
Internet of Things and smart cities

Series Z Languages and general software aspects for telecommunication systems

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Geneva, 2019