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Long Distance Public Network Communication

RVON - RTS Voice Over Network

RVON (RTS Voice Over Network) encodes audio to allow it to be sent across long distances over the Internet.

RVON is a solution for establishing communications over long distance and across different subnets. One of four user-selectable voice encoders– codecs – is used to compress digital audio to a low bitrate suitable for transmission over internet. The high compression audio codec is intended for long-distance satellite transmissions, whereas the low compression codec is commonly used when higher bandwidth is available. With RVON, a matrix can communicate with another RVON-enabled matrix or keypanel anywhere in the world.

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RVON RTS Voice Over Network

Figure 1. RVON in its simplest form
Figure 1. RVON in its simplest form

RVON encodes the audio to allow it to be sent over the Internet. To use RVON, a matrix card is required, as well as a device on the other end, capable of sending and receiving RVON audio. This is shown in Figure 1.

With the exception of one single keypanel, the KP-3016A, all keypanels in the KP-Series family are capable of running RVON. The firmware for RVON may be downloaded for free from the RTS website.

Using the RVON-I/O

Figure 2. Using the RVON-I/O box for remoting analog devices
Figure 2. Using the RVON-I/O box for remoting analog devices

For analog products that need to be connected remotely, there is a converter called RVON-I/O. Using the RVON-I/O, it is possible to connect analog products as well as legacy products, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 shows RVON being used to connect an IFB, a KP-Series keypanel connected via AIO, a legacy keypanel (KP-96/7) and a Zeus III with an analog keypanel. Note the ODIN, Cronus, ADAM, and ADAM-M all have the ability to use RVON, whereas Zeus III does not.

RVON in Trunking Application

Figure 3. RVON used in Trunking
Figure 3. RVON used in Trunking

One of the most commonly used applications for RVON is Trunking. An example is shown in Figure 3. Three intercoms are interconnected over RVON. The Trunkmaster issues commands to the controllers in each of the matrices to close crosspoints, meaning set up paths for audio. It is very important to understand the Trunkmaster does not actually switch any audio.

RVON for Reduced Bitrate

RVON is not one single codec, it is three. The RVON hardware from RTS supports three codecs, G.711, G.729, and G.723 – all with different technical characteristics and levels of compression, as summarized in Table 1.

Codec Bit Rate Coding Delay Playout Delay Bandwidth Sample Rate
Codec
G.711
Bit Rate
64 kbit/s
Coding Delay
0.125 ms
Playout Delay
20-60 ms
Bandwidth
160-224 kbit/s
Sample Rate
8k
Codec
G.729
Bit Rate
8 kbit/s
Coding Delay
10 ms
Playout Delay
20-120 ms
Bandwidth
32-112 kbit/s
Sample Rate
8k
Codec
G.723
Bit Rate
5.3/6.3 kbit/s
Coding Delay
30 ms
Playout Delay
60-120 ms
Bandwidth
29-45 kbit/s
Sample Rate
8k
Table 1. RVON has three user-selectable codecs
Figure 4. Codec can be selected in IP-Edit
Figure 4. Codec can be selected in IP-Edit

The codec can be configured in IP-Edit. An example is shown in Figure 4.

G722 Codec

RVON Diagrams

KP-Series keypanels with RTS Voice Over Network (RVON) now offer G.722, an ITU T standard 7 kHz wideband audio codec operating within 64 kbit/s.

Key features:

  • High quality audio update for RVON on keypanels via software license upgrade
  • Available for purchase in a downloadable license package

A couple of technical points

  • RVON requires fixed IP-addresses to work. The network cannot support Network Address Translation (NAT). In networks that do support NAT, there are still solutions for making RVON work, but they may require additional hardware devices (to create VPN tunnels).
  • The RVON firmware for KP-Series keypanels may be downloaded for free. To install it, an RTS supplied software program called Firmware Upload Tool (FWUT) must be used. FWUT is included with the OMNEO Suite, which may also be downloaded from the RTS website.

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