RFC 2586 (rfc2586) - Page 2 of 5
The Audio/L16 MIME content type
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 2586 The Audio/L16 MIME content type May 1999
Please note that there are many other Audio types described in RFC
1890 [1] which IANA may wish to formally register; this one, of all
of them, seems to be most immediately needed. This document may also
serve as a template for further registrations of these audio types.
3. The definition of Audio/L16
Audio/L16 is based on the well know audio format "L16" described in
RFC 1890 section 4.4.8 for use with RTP transport. L16 denotes
uncompressed audio data, using 16-bit signed representation in twos-
complement notation and network byte order. (From section 4.4.8 of
RFC 1890)
It may be parametrized by varying the sample rate and the number of
channels; the parameters are given on the MIME type header.
In order to promote interoperability, only a few rate values are
standardized here. Other values may NOT be used except by bilateral
agreement.
If multiple audio channels are used, channels are numbered left-to-
right, starting at one. Samples are put into the data stream from
each channel in succession; information from lower-numbered channels
precedes that from higher-numbered channels.
For more than two channels, the convention followed by the AIFF-C
audio interchange format should be followed [1], using the following
notation:
l left
r right
c center
S surround
F front
R rear
channels description channel
1 2 3 4 5 6
___________________________________________________________
2 stereo l r
3 l r c
4 quadrophonic Fl Fr Rl Rr
4 l c r S
5 Fl Fr Fc Sl Sr
6 l lc c r rc S
(From RFC 1890 section 4.1)
Salsman Informational
