RFC 3452 (rfc3452) - Page 2 of 16

Forward Error Correction (FEC) Building Block

RFC 3452                   FEC Building Block              December 2002


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Rationale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Functionality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.1 FEC Encoding ID and FEC Instance ID. . . . . . . . . . .   5
     3.2 FEC Payload ID and FEC Object Transmission Information .   6
   4.  Applicability Statement . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   5.  Packet Header Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     5.1 Small Block, Large Block and Expandable FEC Codes. . . .   8
     5.2 Small Block Systematic FEC Codes . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   6.  Requirements from other building blocks. . . . . . . . . .  11
   7.  Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   8.  IANA Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     8.1 Explicit IANA Assignment Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . .  12
   9.  Intellectual Property Disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
   10. Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   11. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   12. Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   13. Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16

1.  Introduction

   This document describes how to use Forward Error Correction (FEC)
   codes to provide support for reliable delivery of content using IP
   multicast.  This document should be read in conjunction with and uses
   the terminology of the companion document [4], which describes the
   use of FEC codes within the context of reliable IP multicast
   transport and provides an introduction to some commonly used FEC
   codes.

   This document describes a building block as defined in RFC 3048 [9].
   This document is a product of the IETF RMT WG and follows the general
   guidelines provided in RFC 3269 [3].

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [2].

   Statement of Intent

      This memo contains part of the definitions necessary to fully
      specify a Reliable Multicast Transport protocol in accordance with
      RFC 2357. As per RFC 2357, the use of any reliable multicast
      protocol in the Internet requires an adequate congestion control
      scheme.





Luby, et. al.                 Experimental