(Continuation of Questions from Study Group 8)

Type of Question

The aim of this Question is to study the facsimile terminal characteristics and facsimile transmission over networks including the GSTN, ISDN, networks using the Internet Protocol and other packet networks.

Task-oriented Question mainly aimed at amending existing Recommendations related to facsimile terminals in response to the market needs.

Reason for the Question

This Question contains those aspects of 1/8, 2/8, 3/8, 4/8 and 5/2 from the 1997-2000 study period which require further study. It is necessary that the existing Recommendations are amended to reflect emerging market requirements and where appropriate new Recommendations produced. Changes in networks supporting facsimile communication will also need to be reviewed with regard to the quality of service and, if necessary, reflected in the appropriate Recommendations. The basic Recommendations defining facsimile transmission over the Internet that were completed in the 1997-2000 study period were T.37 and T.38. Further study is needed to extend their capabilities to enable all features of Group 3 and Group 4 to be supported on the Internet. The Question also proposes to cover facsimile over other packet networks such as X.25 and ATM in order to have a single point of leadership for facsimile.

Text of the Question

The work on facsimile terminals is divided into two broad areas, i.e. extension of existing facsimile capabilities and the quality of service aspects.

Facsimile terminal capabilities and operation on GSTN and ISDN

The work in this area will define new or amended capabilities and their implementation for Group 3 and/or Group 4 terminals. The work will consider a number of capabilities including, but not limited to, those listed below:

• definition of service and new usage of facsimile;
• new modulation schemes;
• new coding schemes;
• colour facsimile;
• facsimile centered computer interfaces;
• enhancements of the binary file transfer capability, to cope with further requirements (e.g. interactivity) related to the use of Recommendation T.434;
• test images and documents;
• input of items related to facsimile terminal capabilities and operations associated with network support (mainly 3^rd Generation Mobile Networks).

Operation on networks other than GSTN and ISDN

For store and forward facsimile transmission using Internet mail capabilities, the following extensions should be studied:

• Support for Full Mode enhancements;
• Support for new image compression capabilities;
• Support for non image transmission capabilities;
• Support for Group 4;
• Operation over mobile packet networks;
• Terminals for direct connection to the Internet;
• Gateway functionality.

For real time internet fax over IP networks, the following extensions should be studied:

• Use of V.34 access;
• Use of V.92 access;
• Revisions to transport layer;
• Revisions to H.323 call control;
• Alternate internet call control methods (SIP/SDP and H.248);
• Operation over mobile packet networks;
• Gateway functionality.

Quality of service aspects

The work in this area will consider the effect on the facsimile quality of service of the changes being made to those networks that support facsimile communication. It will also identify causes for failures of poor quality facsimile calls and where appropriate proposing corrective measures. Initially, the work will consider the following list of items but additional ones will be considered as and when they arise:

• terminal-network interaction;
• interworking between facsimile terminals connected to different networks (mainly 3^rd Generation Mobile Networks);
• improvement of performance over long-delay or poor quality networks.

New Recommendation

None

Relationship

Directly related Recommendations

Indirectly related Recommendations

Other Study Groups

Study Groups 12, 13 and 15

Other standardization Organizations

• ISOC/IETF;
• ETSI;
• Others as and when required.