This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. | Network Working Group M. Handley Request for Comments 2543 ACIRI Category Standards Track H. Schulzrinne Columbia U. E. Schooler Cal Tech J. Rosenberg Bell Labs March 1999 SIP Session Initiation Protocol Status of this Memo This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the quot Internet Official Protocol Standards quot STD 1 for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright C The Internet Society 1999 . All Rights Reserved. IESG Note The IESG intends to charter in the near future one or more working groups to produce standards for quot name lookup quot where such names would include electronic mail addresses and telephone numbers and the result of such a lookup would be a list of attributes and characteristics of the user or terminal associated with the name. Groups which are in need of a quot name lookup quot protocol should follow the development of these new working groups rather than using SIP for this function. In addition it is anticipated that SIP will migrate towards using such protocols and SIP implementors are advised to monitor these efforts. Abstract The Session Initiation Protocol SIP is an application-layer control signaling protocol for creating modifying and terminating sessions with one or more participants. These sessions include Internet multimedia conferences Internet telephone calls and multimedia distribution. Members in a session can communicate via multicast or via a mesh of unicast relations or a combination of these. Handley et al. Standards Track Page 1 RFC 2543 SIP Session Initiation Protocol March 1999 SIP invitations used to create sessions carry session descriptions which allow participants to agree on a set of compatible media types. SIP supports user mobility by proxying and redirecting requests to the user s current .
