SYSTEM Cited by 3 sources
Meta RTC platform¶
Meta RTC is Meta's internal real-time communication infrastructure powering video and audio calling across Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Meta Quest (VR casting / cloud gaming). It spans 50+ use cases across billions of devices.
Architecture axes (disclosed across multiple sources)¶
| Axis | Component | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Video codec (modern) | systems/av1-codec with low-complexity encoder + systems/dav1d decoder | sources/2026-06-22-meta-adopting-av1-for-real-time-communication-rtc-at-scale |
| Video codec (legacy/fallback) | H.264/AVC | same |
| Audio codec | systems/mlow-codec (CELP, 6 kbps, 2× POLQA over Opus) | sources/2024-06-13-meta-mlow-metas-low-bitrate-audio-codec |
| Transport substrate | systems/libwebrtc via dual-stack shim | sources/2026-04-09-meta-escaping-the-fork-webrtc-modernization |
| Device eligibility | ML-based framework (concepts/device-eligibility-ml) | sources/2026-06-22-meta-adopting-av1-for-real-time-communication-rtc-at-scale |
| Rate control | VBV-based CBR + RPR for resolution changes | same |
| Error resilience | Temporal layers + Long-Term Reference frames | same |
| Codec adaptation | Three-layer complexity adaptation + asymmetric codec | same |
Scale signals¶
- AV1 enabled on the majority of mobile devices across Messenger and WhatsApp.
- RTC video bitrates: 10–400 kbps in real-world networks, especially emerging markets.
- Target end-to-end latency: <300 ms.
- MLow audio codec shipped on Instagram + Messenger + (rolling) WhatsApp.
- WebRTC shim covers 50+ RTC use cases.
Seen in¶
- sources/2026-06-22-meta-adopting-av1-for-real-time-communication-rtc-at-scale — AV1 video codec deployment for RTC
- sources/2024-06-13-meta-mlow-metas-low-bitrate-audio-codec — MLow audio codec for RTC
- sources/2026-04-09-meta-escaping-the-fork-webrtc-modernization — WebRTC transport modernization