Network Working Group M. Luby Request for Comments: 3453 Digital Fountain Category: Informational L. Vicisano Cisco J. Gemmell Microsoft L. Rizzo Univ. Pisa M. Handley ICIR J. Crowcroft Cambridge Univ. December 2002 The Use of Forward Error Correction (FEC) in Reliable Multicast Status of this Memo This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002). All Rights Reserved. Abstract This memo describes the use of Forward Error Correction (FEC) codes to efficiently provide and/or augment reliability for one-to-many reliable data transport using IP multicast. One of the key properties of FEC codes in this context is the ability to use the same packets containing FEC data to simultaneously repair different packet loss patterns at multiple receivers. Different classes of FEC codes and some of their basic properties are described and terminology relevant to implementing FEC in a reliable multicast protocol is introduced. Examples are provided of possible abstract formats for packets carrying FEC. Luby, et. al. Informational