UDP Multicast Packet Loss Detection via Header Identifiers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current multicast technologies using less reliable transmission protocols like UDP without RTP struggle to detect and recover from packet loss, leading to integrity issues in content delivery, especially when using connectionless communication protocols.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an optional field in the packet header to carry identifiers for data packets, allowing receivers to detect packet loss and request missing packets from a buffer server, optimizing network traffic by forecasting and sending batches of missing packets, and using recurrent identifiers to reduce overhead.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If UDP protocol is used for multicast transmission, then network overhead and bandwidth usage are reduced, but packet loss detection and recovery capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the identification function by introducing sequence numbers in packet headers and maintaining separate buffer servers. Receivers can identify lost packets through sequence number gaps without requiring complex acknowledgment protocols, thus reducing overhead while enabling reliable loss detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces buffer servers as intermediaries between the multicast source and receivers. These buffer servers store backup packets and provide unicast retransmission when packet loss is detected, mediating between the unreliable UDP transmission and the receiver's need for complete data.
2Reliability
If RTP protocol is used for multicast transmission, then packet loss detection capability is improved, but network overhead and bandwidth usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential packet loss detection function from the complex RTP protocol framework. By using simple sequence numbers in UDP packet headers and gap detection at the receiver, the patent achieves reliable loss detection without adopting RTP's comprehensive but overhead-intensive structure.
3Reliability
If unicast requests are sent for each missing packet, then content integrity is maintained, but network traffic and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple unicast retransmission requests into batch operations. When a receiver detects multiple missing packets through sequence number gaps, it requests them in a single batch operation, reducing the number of individual request-response cycles and improving network efficiency while maintaining complete packet recovery.
Data Source
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AI summary
Content information is multicast via a data network to a plurality of receivers, using data packets in a transport stream. The content information (206) is encapsulated according to a container format standard (202) that allows an optional field (208) in a packet header (204). Each data packet forms a payload of a datagram (200) in a connectionless communication protocol. The optional field in each data packet is used to carry an identifier (210) for identifying the data packet in a predetermined sequence of the data packets. The use of the optional field enables packet loss detection at the receiver.