RFC 3550 (rfc3550) - Page 1 of 104

RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications

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Network Working Group                                     H. Schulzrinne
Request for Comments: 3550                           Columbia University
Obsoletes: 1889                                               S.  Casner
Category: Standards Track                                  Packet Design
                                                            R. Frederick
                                                  Blue Coat Systems Inc.
                                                             V. Jacobson
                                                           Packet Design
                                                               July 2003


          RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications

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 "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This memorandum describes RTP, the real-time transport protocol.  RTP
   provides end-to-end network transport functions suitable for
   applications transmitting real-time data, such as audio, video or
   simulation data, over multicast or unicast network services.  RTP
   does not address resource reservation and does not guarantee
   quality-of-service for real-time services.  The data transport is
   augmented by a control protocol (RTCP) to allow monitoring of the
   data delivery in a manner scalable to large multicast networks, and
   to provide minimal control and identification functionality.  RTP and
   RTCP are designed to be independent of the underlying transport and
   network layers.  The protocol supports the use of RTP-level
   translators and mixers.

   Most of the text in this memorandum is identical to RFC 1889 which it
   obsoletes.  There are no changes in the packet formats on the wire,
   only changes to the rules and algorithms governing how the protocol
   is used.  The biggest change is an enhancement to the scalable timer
   algorithm for calculating when to send RTCP packets in order to
   minimize transmission in excess of the intended rate when many
   participants join a session simultaneously.




Schulzrinne, et al.         Standards Track
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