23/5/2018 ShareTechnote

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RTP / RTCP

RTP stands for Real Time Protocol and RTCP stands for Real Time Control Protocol. Simply put, RTP is a protocol to
carry various real time data (e.g, audio, video) and RTCP is a kind of control mechanism for RTP. Some of the import
functions of RTP and RTCP are listed below. I think the best way to get the detailed understanding of RTP and RTCP is
to go through header structure of these protocol and see what kind of parameter (information) are included in the
header and understand the role (meaning) of each of the parameters.

RTP provides a thin protocol to support for various real time application (e.g, audio, video). This protocol provides
the means to reconstruct timing, to detact loss and to perform security and to carry the content identification.
RTP is designed to follow the architectural principle known as Application Level Framing.
RTP provides a flexible mechanism by which new applications can be developed without repeatedly revsing RTP
itself.
RTCP provides the means to control RTP. It offser the QoS feedback from the recievers and it support for the
synchronization of different media streams. It also carries information about participants in a group session.

RTP Structure

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V (Version) : Fixed to '2' as of now (Dec 2017)

P (Padding) : Indicates whether the packet contains the padding octets at the end, or not.
0 - No Padding in the packet
1 - Padding in the packet. The last ocet of the padding contains a count of how many padding octetns
should be ignored. NOTE : Why we need this kind of padding ? It is for the cases where the packet should
be filled up a block of certain size as required by an encryption algorithm.
X (Extension) : Indicates the existance of the extension header
0 - No extension header
1 - Exactly one extension header follows the fixed header
CC (CSRC Count) : Indicates the number of CSRC identifiers that follows the fixed header.
M (Marker) : This is the field intended for marking a special events (e.g, frame broundary). The exact meaning of
this marker varies with a profile.
PT (Payload Type) : Indicates the format of the RTP payload and determines its interpretation by the application.

 
< RFC 3551 : Table 4: Payload types (PT) for audio encodings >
 
               PT   encoding    media type  clock rate   channels
                    name                    (Hz)
               ___________________________________________________
               0    PCMU        A            8,000       1
               1    reserved    A
               2    reserved    A
               3    GSM         A            8,000       1
               4    G723        A            8,000       1
               5    DVI4        A            8,000       1
               6    DVI4        A           16,000       1
               7    LPC         A            8,000       1
               8    PCMA        A            8,000       1
               9    G722        A            8,000       1
               10   L16         A           44,100       2
               11   L16         A           44,100       1
               12   QCELP       A            8,000       1
               13   CN          A            8,000       1
               14   MPA         A           90,000       (see text)
               15   G728        A            8,000       1
               16   DVI4        A           11,025       1
               17   DVI4        A           22,050       1
               18   G729        A            8,000       1
               19   reserved    A
               20   unassigned  A
               21   unassigned  A
               22   unassigned  A
               23   unassigned  A
               dyn  G726-40     A            8,000       1
               dyn  G726-32     A            8,000       1
               dyn  G726-24     A            8,000       1
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               dyn  G726-16     A            8,000       1
               dyn  G729D       A            8,000       1
               dyn  G729E       A            8,000       1
               dyn  GSM-EFR     A            8,000       1
               dyn  L8          A            var.        var.
               dyn  RED         A                        (see text)
               dyn  VDVI        A            var.        1
 

< RFC 3551 : Table 5: Payload types (PT) for video and combined encodings >
 
               PT      encoding    media type  clock rate
                       name                    (Hz)
               _____________________________________________
               24      unassigned  V
               25      CelB        V           90,000
               26      JPEG        V           90,000
               27      unassigned  V
               28      nv          V           90,000
               29      unassigned  V
               30      unassigned  V
               31      H261        V           90,000
               32      MPV         V           90,000
               33      MP2T        AV          90,000
               34      H263        V           90,000
               35-71   unassigned  ?
               72-76   reserved    N/A         N/A
               77-95   unassigned  ?
               96-127  dynamic     ?
               dyn     H263-1998   V           90,000
 

Example 01 >

Real-Time Transport Protocol

    [Stream setup by SDP (frame 9)]
        [Setup frame: 9]
        [Setup Method: SDP]
    10.. .... = Version: RFC 1889 Version (2)
    ..0. .... = Padding: False
    ...0 .... = Extension: False
    .... 0000 = Contributing source identifiers count: 0
    1... .... = Marker: True
    Payload type: DynamicRTP-Type-97 (97)
    Sequence number: 21770
    [Extended sequence number: 87306]
    Timestamp: 483390931
    Synchronization Source identifier: 0x113db031 (289255473)
    Payload: f03c70696cc8e17b8588e8e60ff623270580007e56418a28...

RTCP Structure

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RTCP - SR (Sender Report)

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RTCP - SDES (Source Description)

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Example 01 >

Real-time Transport Control Protocol (Sender Report)

    [Stream setup by SDP (frame 2)]
        [Setup frame: 2]
        [Setup Method: SDP]
    10.. .... = Version: RFC 1889 Version (2)
    ..0. .... = Padding: False
    ...0 0001 = Reception report count: 1
    Packet type: Sender Report (200)
    Length: 12 (52 bytes)
    Sender SSRC: 0x113db030 (289255472)
    Timestamp, MSW: 300 (0x0000012c)
    Timestamp, LSW: 1786706395 (0x6a7ef9db)
    [MSW and LSW as NTP timestamp: Feb  7, 2036 06:33:16.415999999 UTC]
    RTP timestamp: 483391347
    Sender's packet count: 4
    Sender's octet count: 132
    Source 1
        Identifier: 0x113db031 (289255473)
        SSRC contents
            Fraction lost: 0 / 256
            Cumulative number of packets lost: 1
        Extended highest sequence number received: 0
            Sequence number cycles count: 0
            Highest sequence number received: 0
        Interarrival jitter: 0
        Last SR timestamp: 0 (0x00000000)
        Delay since last SR timestamp: 0 (0 milliseconds)
Real-time Transport Control Protocol (Source description)
    [Stream setup by SDP (frame 2)]
        [Setup frame: 2]
        [Setup Method: SDP]
    10.. .... = Version: RFC 1889 Version (2)
    ..0. .... = Padding: False
    ...0 0001 = Source count: 1
    Packet type: Source description (202)
    Length: 4 (20 bytes)
    Chunk 1, SSRC/CSRC 0x113DB030
        Identifier: 0x113db030 (289255472)
        SDES items
            Type: CNAME (user and domain) (1)
            Length: 7
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            Text: unknown
            Type: END (0)
[RTCP frame length check: OK - 72 bytes]

Example 02 >

Real-time Transport Control Protocol (Sender Report)

    [Stream setup by SDP (frame 112)]
        [Setup frame: 112]
        [Setup Method: SDP]
    10.. .... = Version: RFC 1889 Version (2)
    ..0. .... = Padding: False
    ...0 0001 = Reception report count: 1
    Packet type: Sender Report (200)
    Length: 12 (52 bytes)
    Sender SSRC: 0x3f8ead04 (1066315012)
    Timestamp, MSW: 3721497922 (0xddd18d42)
    Timestamp, LSW: 1046146659 (0x3e5aee63)
    [MSW and LSW as NTP timestamp: Dec  5, 2017 21:25:22.243574999 UTC]
    RTP timestamp: 1313316619
    Sender's packet count: 72
    Sender's octet count: 60905
    Source 1
        Identifier: 0x3f8ead03 (1066315011)
        SSRC contents
            Fraction lost: 0 / 256
            Cumulative number of packets lost: 0
        Extended highest sequence number received: 6346
            Sequence number cycles count: 0
            Highest sequence number received: 6346
        Interarrival jitter: 2363
        Last SR timestamp: 2369797437 (0x8d403d3d)
        Delay since last SR timestamp: 130277 (1987 milliseconds)

Example 03 >

Real-time Transport Control Protocol (Sender Report)

    [Stream setup by SDP (frame 125)]
        [Setup frame: 125]
        [Setup Method: SDP]
    10.. .... = Version: RFC 1889 Version (2)
    ..0. .... = Padding: False
    ...0 0001 = Reception report count: 1
    Packet type: Sender Report (200)
    Length: 12 (52 bytes)
    Sender SSRC: 0x00819e3b (8494651)
    Timestamp, MSW: 8496 (0x00002130)
    Timestamp, LSW: 2924872728 (0xae560418)
    [MSW and LSW as NTP timestamp: Feb  7, 2036 08:49:52.680999999 UTC]
    RTP timestamp: 32000
    Sender's packet count: 53
    Sender's octet count: 2223
    Source 1
        Identifier: 0x00819e3c (8494652)
        SSRC contents
            Fraction lost: 4 / 256
            Cumulative number of packets lost: 1
        Extended highest sequence number received: 52
            Sequence number cycles count: 0
            Highest sequence number received: 52
        Interarrival jitter: 3
        Last SR timestamp: 0 (0x00000000)
        Delay since last SR timestamp: 0 (0 milliseconds)
Real-time Transport Control Protocol (Source description)
    [Stream setup by SDP (frame 125)]
        [Setup frame: 125]
        [Setup Method: SDP]
    10.. .... = Version: RFC 1889 Version (2)
    ..0. .... = Padding: False
    ...0 0001 = Source count: 1
    Packet type: Source description (202)
    Length: 6 (28 bytes)
    Chunk 1, SSRC/CSRC 0x819E3B
        Identifier: 0x00819e3b (8494651)
        SDES items
            Type: CNAME (user and domain) (1)
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            Length: 14
            Text: 2001:0:0:1::11
            Type: END (0)

Example 04 >

Real-time Transport Control Protocol (Goodbye)

    [Stream setup by SDP (frame 125)]
        [Setup frame: 125]
        [Setup Method: SDP]
    10.. .... = Version: RFC 1889 Version (2)
    ..0. .... = Padding: False
    ...0 0001 = Source count: 1
    Packet type: Goodbye (203)
    Length: 2 (12 bytes)
    Identifier: 0x3f8ead03 (1066315011)
    Length: 0
    Text:

Example 05 >

Real-time Transport Control Protocol (Sender Report)

    [Stream setup by SDP (frame 125)]
        [Setup frame: 125]
        [Setup Method: SDP]
    10.. .... = Version: RFC 1889 Version (2)
    ..0. .... = Padding: False
    ...0 0001 = Reception report count: 1
    Packet type: Sender Report (200)
    Length: 12 (52 bytes)
    Sender SSRC: 0x00819e3b (8494651)
    Timestamp, MSW: 8530 (0x00002152)
    Timestamp, LSW: 2744484102 (0xa3958106)
    [MSW and LSW as NTP timestamp: Feb  7, 2036 08:50:26.638999999 UTC]
    RTP timestamp: 575328
    Sender's packet count: 789
    Sender's octet count: 30996
    Source 1
        Identifier: 0x00819e3c (8494652)
        SSRC contents
            Fraction lost: 0 / 256
            Cumulative number of packets lost: 1
        Extended highest sequence number received: 788
            Sequence number cycles count: 0
            Highest sequence number received: 788
        Interarrival jitter: 3
        Last SR timestamp: 558933082 (0x2150a45a)
        Delay since last SR timestamp: 129369 (1974 milliseconds)
Real-time Transport Control Protocol (Source description)
    [Stream setup by SDP (frame 125)]
        [Setup frame: 125]
        [Setup Method: SDP]
    10.. .... = Version: RFC 1889 Version (2)
    ..0. .... = Padding: False
    ...0 0001 = Source count: 1
    Packet type: Source description (202)
    Length: 6 (28 bytes)
    Chunk 1, SSRC/CSRC 0x819E3B
        Identifier: 0x00819e3b (8494651)
        SDES items
            Type: CNAME (user and domain) (1)
            Length: 14
            Text: 2001:0:0:1::11
            Type: END (0)
Real-time Transport Control Protocol (Goodbye)
    [Stream setup by SDP (frame 125)]
        [Setup frame: 125]
        [Setup Method: SDP]
    10.. .... = Version: RFC 1889 Version (2)
    ..0. .... = Padding: False
    ...0 0001 = Source count: 1
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    Packet type: Goodbye (203)
    Length: 7 (32 bytes)
    Identifier: 0x00819e3b (8494651)
    Length: 22
    Text: Disconnect IMS Session

Reference :

[1] RTP: Multimedia Streaming over IP

[2] RTP, RTCP and RTSP - Internet Protocols for Real-Time Multimedia Communication
[3] 6.3.1 SR: Sender report RTCP packet

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