PD ISO/TR 16056-2:2004

Foreword
Introduction
1 Scope
2 Normative References
3 Terms and definitions
4 Abbreviations
5 Multimedia Conferencing Standards
   5.1 General
   5.2 H.320 recommendations
   5.3 H.321 and H.310 Recommendations
   5.4 H.323 Recommendations
        5.4.1 H.323 Terminals
        5.4.2 Gateways
        5.4.3 Gatekeeper
        5.4.4 Multipoint control unit
   5.5 H.324 Recommendations
   5.6 T.120 Recommendations
        5.6.1 T120 Overview
        5.6.2 T.120 Layer composition
        5.6.3 T.120 Interoperability
6 Telehealth applications
   6.1 General
   6.2 Telelearning
   6.3 Teleconsultation
7 Interoperability issues
   7.1 General
   7.2 Standard-related sources of interoperability issues
        7.2.1 Loose adaptation of previous protocols
        7.2.2 Loosely defined encoding and decoding methods
        7.2.3 Inconsistent definition of mandatory/optional
               requirements
        7.2.4 Gaps in the recommendations
        7.2.5 No specifications for data encoding in the
               H.320/H.323 Recommendations
        7.2.6 Evolving T.120 Recommendations
        7.2.7 Loosely defined specifications for an MCU
        7.2.8 Evolving/undefined specifications for Gateways
               and Gatekeepers
        7.2.9 Loosely defined bandwidth management
        7.2.10 Poor standardization of media conferencing
   7.3 Product-related Sources of Interoperability Issues
        7.3.1 Time delay between the standards
               (ever-evolving) and products
        7.3.2 Implementation of a different subset of the
               standards
        7.3.3 Proprietary solutions
   7.4 Implementation-related sources of interoperability
        issues
        7.4.1 Undefined specifications for Gatekeeper
               Communication
        7.4.2 Gateway to Gatekeeper Communication
        7.4.3 A decentralized multipoint conference
8 Interoperability requirements
   8.1 General
   8.2 Call Setup
   8.3 Acquisition, processing, and transmission of
        multimedia data
   8.4 Controlling near- and far-end devices
   8.5 Call termination
9 Interoperability in heterogeneous telehealth networks
   9.1 General
   9.2 Interoperability of H.320 systems over frame relay
        network
   9.3 Interoperability of h.3xx-compliant systems over
        heterogeneous networks
        9.3.1 Gatekeeper functions
        9.3.2 MCU functions
        9.3.3 Design requirements - Telehealth solutions
10 Framework for interoperable architectures
   10.1 General
   10.2 Telehealth component boundaries
        10.2.1 User interface
        10.2.2 Medical Devices
        10.2.3 Data manager
        10.2.4 Processing Manager
        10.2.5 Communications Manager
        10.2.6 Resource Manager
        10.2.7 Integration Manager
Bibliography

Addresses four main areas: 1) Standards for real-time telehealth systems; 2) Interoperability issues in telehealth applications; 3) Requirements for interoperable telehealth systems and networks; 4) Framework for interoperable architectures.

This Technical Report entitled Interoperability of telehealth systems and networks - Part 2: Real-time systems builds on the introduction to telehealth described in ISO/IEC TR 16056-1 Health informatics - Interoperability of telehealth systems and networks - Part 1: Introduction and definitions and focuses on the technical standards related to real-time applications, (including video, audio, and data conferencing) and interoperability aspects of telehealth systems and networks. Specifically, this document addresses four main areas: Standards for real-time telehealth systems. This Technical Report describes the technical standards related to real-time telehealth applications, including audio, video, and data conferencing capabilities. It also identifies gaps, overlaps and inconsistencies in the standards, and provides some guidance about how they need to evolve. Interoperability issues in telehealth applications. This Technical Report examines interoperability aspects of real-time multimedia conferencing standards and telehealth products, and identifies areas of concerns from the interoperability perspective that need to be resolved. Requirements for interoperable telehealth systems and networks. This Technical Report defines interoperability requirements at different levels of interaction between telehealth systems and provides some guidelines on how interoperability can be achieved. Framework for interoperable architectures. This Technical Report identifies interoperable building blocks for telehealth solutions and interactions between these building blocks, and explores the possibility of standardization of these building blocks. The scope of the Technical Report does not include conformity and interoperability tests or functional specifications for telehealth systems and networks.