Dear Colin,
I am getting frustrated with the situation regarding the VMR-WB I-D.
When this I-D was about to be accepted for the WGLC, a comment on the
relationship between the sampling rate and RTP clock rate has put this
I-D in an ambiguous status.
In the one hand, based on the distinctive capability of VMR-WB, there
are people who want to use a fixed RTP clock rate of 16000 Hz to
enable processing/injection of the 8000 Hz sampled media. Note that
8000 and 16000 Hz sampled media have identical VMR-WB output frames. I
believe there is technically nothing wrong and revision -04 of the I-D
appropriately addresses this concern.
On the other hand, you persist on your opinion that RTP clock rate
must be identical to the input media sampling rate regardless of the
codec capabilities.
The following excerpt from Section 4.1 of RFC 3551 (line 434)
"...
The RTP clock rate used for generating the RTP timestamp is
independent of the number of channels and the encoding; it usually
equals the number of sampling periods per second. For N-channel
encodings, each sampling period (say, 1/8,000 of a second) generates
N samples. (This terminology is standard, but somewhat confusing,
as
the total number of samples generated per second is then the
sampling
rate times the channel count.)
..."
indicates that (there is no normative language here) the RTP clock
rate "usually" equals the input media sampling rate and that it is
independent of the encoding.
Also the following excerpt from Section 6.4.4 of RFC 3550 (line 2391)
"...
Since that timestamp is
independent of the clock rate for the data encoding, it is possible
to implement encoding- and profile-independent quality monitors.
..."
Therefore, you have no technical ground to assert that RTP clock rate
MUST be equal to input media sampling frequency.
Please think of VMR-WB as a dual-rate system where both 8000 and 16000
Hz sampled media are supported and that decoding can proceed without
knowing the input media sampling frequency.
Please remember that initially I resisted this idea; however, after
considering all aspects of the requested change, I came to realize
that it is technically sound.
I do want a resolution for this matter. This is definitely
jeopardizing and delaying the deployment of VMR-WB codec and its
prospective applications. Please do not expect that the other parties
to back off from their position. We must resolve this issue.
Your understanding and consideration are appreciated in advance.
Regards
-Sassan Ahmadi