Jitter Buffer Overview

This topic describes what is and when to use jitter buffer, and introduces two jitter buffer types supported on Yeastar P-Series Software Edition.

What is jitter buffer

Jitter is a variation between the time that voice packets are sent and received. For example, two packets may arrive at the same time, or out of order due to network congestion, which can cause the problem of audio quality. In this case, jitter buffer can be used to arrange packets according to their expected timing values.

Jitter buffer types

Yeastar P-Series Software Edition supports two types of jitter buffer:

Fixed jitter buffer: The fixed jitter buffer has a fixed size and the packets leaving the jitter buffer have a constant delay.
Adaptive jitter buffer: Adapting to network's delay, the adaptive jitter buffer has a variable size and the packets leaving the jitter buffer have a variable delay.

When to use jitter buffer

If you have networking issues like packet loss or packets arriving out of order, you can enable jitter buffer to improve call quality.

Packets loss: If the packets are partially lost, the jitter buffer inserts the lost frame and passes them on in an evenly spaced continuous stream.
Packets arriving out of order: If the arriving packets are out of order, the jitter buffer inserts the packets into the buffer in the correct order, and passes them on in the expected order.

For more information of jitter buffer configuration, see Configure Jitter Buffer.