Communicating control information within a real-time stream
Providing control information is disclosed. A real-time streaming communication channel is established with a communication party using a real-time streaming protocol. It is determined that control information is to be provided to the communication party. The control information is encapsulated using the real-time streaming protocol. The encapsulated control information is marked as including control information content. Streaming content is provided to the communication party via the real-time streaming communication channel using the real-time streaming protocol. The marked encapsulated control information is provided via the real-time streaming communication channel.
1. A system for providing control information, comprising:
a processor configured to:
establish a real-time streaming communication channel with a communication party using a real-time streaming protocol;
determine that control information is to be provided to the communication party;
encapsulate the control information using the real-time streaming protocol,
wherein the control information includes real-time voice or video communications control signaling information; and
mark the encapsulated control information as including control information content; and
a communication interface coupled with the processor and configured to:
provide to the communication party, streaming content via the real-time streaming communication channel using the real-time streaming protocol; and
provide the marked encapsulated control information via the real-time streaming communication channel.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the real-time streaming protocol is Real-time Transport Protocol.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the real-time streaming communication channel is a part of a real-time streaming connection that does not include a separate channel for communicating the control information.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the control information is encoded using RTP Control Protocol.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein encapsulating the control information using the real-time streaming protocol includes including the control information in a packet formatted using the real-time streaming protocol.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein marking the encapsulated control information includes including an identifier in a packet header of the encapsulated control information.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein marking the encapsulated control information includes including a payload type identifier in a Real-time Transport Protocol packet header.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the payload type identifier is not defined in a Real-time Transport Protocol standard.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the streaming content includes audio data.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control information includes an instruction to change a redundancy level of the real-time streaming communication channel.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control information includes an instruction to lock a redundancy level of the real-time streaming communication channel.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control information includes a request for diagnostic information.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control information includes a synchronization timestamp.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control information includes a request to resend data.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control information includes a request to modify an encoding parameter of the real-time streaming communication channel.
16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control information includes a request to add or remove a communication channel to a connection of the real-time streaming communication channel.
17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control information includes an indication that facsimile data will be provided via the real-time streaming communication channel.
18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control information includes a network performance statistic of the real-time streaming communication channel.
19. A method for providing control information, comprising:
establishing a real-time streaming communication channel with a communication party using a real-time streaming protocol;
determining that control information is to be provided to the communication party;
using a processor to encapsulate the control information using the real-time streaming protocol, wherein the control information includes real-time voice or video communications control signaling information;
marking the encapsulated control information as including control information content;
providing to the communication party, streaming content via the real-time streaming communication channel using the real-time streaming protocol; and
providing the marked encapsulated control information via the real-time streaming communication channel.
20. A computer program product for providing control information, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
establishing a real-time streaming communication channel with a communication party using a real-time streaming protocol;
determining that control information is to be provided to the communication party;
encapsulating the control information using the real-time streaming protocol, wherein the control information includes real-time voice or video communications control signaling information;
marking the encapsulated control information as including control information content;
providing to the communication party, streaming content via the real-time streaming communication channel using the real-time streaming protocol; and
providing the marked encapsulated control information via the real-time streaming communication channel.