Guidelines for Development of an Audio Codec within the IETF
RFC 6569

• Status
• IESG evaluation record
• IESG writeups
• Email expansions
• History

• Versions
• 08

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                         JM. Valin
Request for Comments: 6569                                       Mozilla
Category: Informational                                       S. Borilin
ISSN: 2070-1721                                               SPIRIT DSP
                                                                  K. Vos

                                                           C. Montgomery
                                                     Xiph.Org Foundation
                                                                 R. Chen
                                                    Broadcom Corporation
                                                              March 2012

      Guidelines for Development of an Audio Codec within the IETF

Abstract

   This document provides general guidelines for work on developing and
   specifying an interactive audio codec within the IETF.  These
   guidelines cover the development process, evaluation, requirements
   conformance, and intellectual property issues.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
   approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6569.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect

Valin, et al.                 Informational                     [Page 1]
RFC 6569                    Codec Guidelines                  March 2012

   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
   2. Development Process .............................................2
   3. Evaluation, Testing, and Characterization .......................5
   4. Specifying the Codec ............................................6
   5. Intellectual Property ...........................................8
   6. Relationship with Other SDOs ...................................10
   7. Security Considerations ........................................12
   8. Acknowledgments ................................................12
   9. References .....................................................12
      9.1. Normative References ......................................12
      9.2. Informative References ....................................12

1.  Introduction

   This document describes a process for work in the IETF codec WG on
   standardization of an audio codec that is optimized for use in
   interactive Internet applications and that can be widely implemented
   and easily distributed among application developers, service
   operators, and end users.

2.  Development Process

   The process outlined here is intended to make the work on a codec
   within the IETF transparent, predictable, and well organized, in a
   way that is consistent with [PROCESS].  Such work might involve
   development of a completely new codec, adaptation of an existing
   codec to meet the requirements of the working group, or integration
   of two or more existing codecs that results in an improved codec
   combining the best aspects of each.  To enable such procedural
   transparency, the contributor of an existing codec must be willing to
   cede change control to the IETF and should have sufficient knowledge
   of the codec to assist in the work of adapting it or applying some of
   its technology to the development or improvement of other codecs.
   Furthermore, contributors need to be aware that any codec that
   results from work within the IETF is likely to be different from any
   existing codec that was contributed to the Internet Standards
   Process.

Valin, et al.                 Informational                     [Page 2]
RFC 6569                    Codec Guidelines                  March 2012

   Work on developing an interactive audio codec is expected to proceed
   as follows: