--- title: "VoIP RTP Packetization Interval: Maybe it's time for a smaller - ECG" description: When a one vendor's VoIP media/trunking gateway is talking to another of the same type, it uses 5 ms packetization (ptime) by default. 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I.e., each RTP packet has only 5 ms of audio recorded in it. At first this sounds crazy. The efficiency is awful! The bandwidth across Ethernet for G.711 goes to 188 kbps per call per direction! It also means that a single call imposes 400 packets per second (PPS) on a router along the path. 20 ms packetization is "normal". But consider one bane of VoIP providers: echo. The greater the delay between when I talk and when I hear myself, the more annoying the echo is. The ptime contributes to the delay. In the best case, total echo delay due to VoIP will be 2\*ptime+rtt, where rtt is the round-trip time across the IP and TDM networks from one VoIP endpoint to the other. A typical jitter buffer size is 3\*ptime, as well. Since there are two jitter buffers, that adds 2\*3\*ptime to the echo delay. All added together, the echo tail duration could be 8\*ptime+rtt. With the standard 20 ms ptime, and an engineered network with 30 ms network RTT, my echo tail length could be 190 ms. Imagine talking in an room with hard walls, floors, and ceilings, 106 feet across. You'd hear yourself echo back. If we drop this to 5 ms ptime, we drop the talker-echo delay to 70 ms. Now the echoey room size has dropped to 39 feet across, and you probably don't really notice that echo. But we significantly increased the requirements of the network -- four-fold increase in PPS, and 200 kbps increase in bandwidth per call.  Now let's throw in a brand-new Foundry MLX network with 10-Gigabit- Ethernet pipes and 2-Billion PPS capacity. Now what do you think about 188 kbps / call? ![](https://www.ecg.co/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/missing-image-Mar-25-2024-07-07-22-4234-AM.png?width=1&height=1&name=missing-image-Mar-25-2024-07-07-22-4234-AM.png) ## Similar posts [![Capturing Every Last Packet - On Linux](https://www.ecg.co/hubfs/ecg-site/blog-listing-placeholder.jpg)](https://www.ecg.co/blog/128-capturing-every-last-packet-on-linux) ### [Capturing Every Last Packet - On Linux](https://www.ecg.co/blog/128-capturing-every-last-packet-on-linux) [![What's Driving SBC Growth?](https://www.ecg.co/hubfs/ecg-site/blog-listing-placeholder.jpg)](https://www.ecg.co/blog/92-what-s-driving-sbc-growth) ### [What's Driving SBC Growth?](https://www.ecg.co/blog/92-what-s-driving-sbc-growth) [![High Performance SIP Trunking / Termination Service using Metaswitch](https://www.ecg.co/hubfs/ecg-site/blog-listing-placeholder.jpg)](https://www.ecg.co/blog/106-high-performance-sip-trunking-termination-service-using-metaswitch-and-oracle-acme-packet) ### [High Performance SIP Trunking / Termination Service using Metaswitch](https://www.ecg.co/blog/106-high-performance-sip-trunking-termination-service-using-metaswitch-and-oracle-acme-packet) ## Need Help With Your Network or AI Project? 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