User Datagram Protocol

In computer networking, the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is one of the core members of the Internet protocol suite. With UDP, computer applications can
send messages, in this case referred to as datagrams, to other hosts on an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Prior communications are not required in order to set up
communication channels or data paths.

UDP uses a simple connectionless communication model with a minimum of protocol mechanisms. UDP provides checksums for data integrity, and port numbers
for addressing different functions at the source and destination of the datagram. It has no handshaking dialogues, and thus exposes the user's program to any
unreliability of the underlying network; there is no guarantee of delivery, ordering, or duplicate protection. If error-correction facilities are needed at the network
interface level, an application may instead use Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) which are designed for this
purpose.

UDP is suitable for purposes where error checking and correction are either not necessary or are performed in the application; UDP avoids the overhead of such
processing in the protocol stack. Time-sensitive applications often use UDP because dropping packets is preferable to waiting for packets delayed due to
retransmission, which may not be an option in a real-time system.[1]

The protocol was designed by David P. Reed in 1980 and formally defined in RFC 768 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc768).

Contents
Attributes
Ports
UDP datagram structure
Checksum computation
IPv4 pseudo header
IPv6 pseudo header
Reliability and congestion control
Applications
Comparison of UDP and TCP
Standards
See also
References
External links

Attributes
UDP is a simple message-oriented transport layer protocol that is documented in RFC 768 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc768). Although UDP provides
integrity verification (via checksum) of the header and payload,[2] it provides no guarantees to the upper layer protocol for message delivery and the UDP layer
retains no state of UDP messages once sent. For this reason, UDP sometimes is referred to as Unreliable Datagram Protocol.[3] If transmission reliability is
desired, it must be implemented in the user's application.

A number of UDP's attributes make it especially suited for certain applications.

It is transaction-oriented, suitable for simple query-response protocols such as the Domain Name System or the Network Time Protocol.
It provides datagrams, suitable for modeling other protocols such as IP tunneling or remote procedure call and the Network File System.
It is simple, suitable for bootstrapping or other purposes without a full protocol stack, such as the DHCP and Trivial File Transfer Protocol.
It is stateless, suitable for very large numbers of clients, such as in streaming media applications such as IPTV.
The lack of retransmission delays makes it suitable for real-time applications such as Voice over IP, online games, and many protocols using
Real Time Streaming Protocol.
Because it supports multicast, it is suitable for broadcast information such as in many kinds of service discovery and shared information such
as Precision Time Protocol and Routing Information Protocol.

Ports
Applications can use datagram sockets to establish host-to-host communications. An application binds a socket to its endpoint of data transmission, which is a
combination of an IP address and a port. In this way, UDP provides application multiplexing. A port is a software structure that is identified by the port number, a
16-bit integer value, allowing for port numbers between 0 and 65535. Port 0 is reserved but is a permissible source port value if the sending process does not
expect messages in response.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has divided port numbers into three ranges.[4] Port numbers 0 through 1023 are used for common, well-known
services. On Unix-like operating systems, using one of these ports requires superuser operating permission. Port numbers 1024 through 49151 are the registered
ports used for IANA-registered services. Ports 49152 through 65535 are dynamic ports that are not officially designated for any specific service, and may be used
for any purpose. These may also be used as ephemeral ports, which software running on the host may use to dynamically create communications endpoints as
needed.[4]

UDP datagram structure

 UDP datagram header
Offsets Octet 0 1 2 3
Octet Bit  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

0  0 Source port Destination port

4 32 Length Checksum

A UDP datagram consists of a datagram header and a data section. The UDP datagram header consists of 4 fields, each of which is 2 bytes (16 bits).[1] The data
section follows the header and is the payload data carried for the application.

The use of the checksum and source port fields is optional in IPv4 (pink background in table). In IPv6 only the source port field is optional.

Source port number

This field identifies the sender's port, when used, and should be assumed to be the port to reply to if needed. If not used, it should be zero. If
the source host is the client, the port number is likely to be an ephemeral port number. If the source host is the server, the port number is
likely to be a well-known port number.[4]
Destination port number
This field identifies the receiver's port and is required. Similar to source port number, if the client is the destination host then the port number
will likely be an ephemeral port number and if the destination host is the server then the port number will likely be a well-known port
number.[4]
Length
This field specifies the length in bytes of the UDP header and UDP data. The minimum length is 8 bytes, the length of the header. The field
size sets a theoretical limit of 65,535 bytes (8-byte header + 65,527 bytes of data) for a UDP datagram. However the actual limit for the data
length, which is imposed by the underlying IPv4 protocol, is 65,507 bytes (65,535 bytes − 8-byte UDP header − 20-byte IP header).[5]
Using IPv6 jumbograms it is possible to have UDP datagrams of size greater than 65,535 bytes.[6] RFC 2675 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/do
c/html/rfc2675) specifies that the length field is set to zero if the length of the UDP header plus UDP data is greater than 65,535.
Checksum
The checksum field may be used for error-checking of the header and data. This field is optional in IPv4, and mandatory in IPv6.[7] The field
carries all-zeros if unused.[8]

Checksum computation
The method used to compute the checksum is defined in RFC 768 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc768), and efficient calculation is discussed in RFC 1071
(https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1071):

Checksum is the 16-bit one's complement of the one's complement sum of a pseudo header of information from the IP header, the UDP header, and
the data, padded with zero octets at the end (if necessary) to make a multiple of two octets.[8]

In other words, all 16-bit words are summed using one's complement arithmetic. Add the 16-bit values up. On each addition, if a carry-out (17th bit) is produced,
swing that 17th carry bit around and add it to the least significant bit of the running total.[9] Finally, the sum is then one's complemented to yield the value of the
UDP checksum field.

If the checksum calculation results in the value zero (all 16 bits 0) it should be sent as the one's complement (all 1s) as a zero-value checksum indicates no
checksum has been calculated.[8] In this case, any specific processing is not required at the receiver, because all 0s and all 1s are equal to zero in 1's complement
arithmetic.

The differences between IPv4 and IPv6 are in the pseudo header used to compute the checksum, and that the checksum is not optional in IPv6.[10]

IPv4 pseudo header

When UDP runs over IPv4, the checksum is computed using a "pseudo header" that contains some of the same information from the real IPv4 header.[8]: 2   The
pseudo header is not the real IPv4 header used to send an IP packet, it is used only for the checksum calculation.

IPv4 pseudo header format

Offsets Octet 0 1 2 3
Octet Bit 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
0 0 Source IPv4 Address
4 32 Destination IPv4 Address
8 64 Zeroes Protocol UDP Length
12 96 Source Port Destination Port
16 128 UDP Length Checksum
20 160+ Data

The source and destination addresses are those in the IPv4 header. The protocol is that for UDP (see List of IP protocol numbers): 17 (0x11). The UDP length field
is the length of the UDP header and data. The field data stands for the transmitted data.

UDP checksum computation is optional for IPv4. If a checksum is not used it should be set to the value zero.

IPv6 pseudo header

When UDP runs over IPv6, the checksum is mandatory. The method used to compute it is changed as documented in RFC 2460 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/ht
ml/rfc2460):

Any transport or other upper-layer protocol that includes the addresses from the IP header in its checksum computation must be modified for use over
IPv6 to include the 128-bit IPv6 addresses.[7]

When computing the checksum, again a pseudo header is used that mimics the real IPv6 header:

IPv6 pseudo header format

Offsets Octet 0 1 2 3
Octet Bit 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
0 0
4 32
Source IPv6 Address
8 64
12 96
16 128
20 160
Destination IPv6 Address
24 192
28 224
32 256 UDP Length

36 288 Zeroes Next Header = Protocol[11]

40 320 Source Port Destination Port
44 352 Length Checksum
48 384+ Data

The source address is the one in the IPv6 header. The destination address is the final destination; if the IPv6 packet does not contain a Routing header, that will be
the destination address in the IPv6 header; otherwise, at the originating node, it will be the address in the last element of the Routing header, and, at the receiving
node, it will be the destination address in the IPv6 header. The value of the Next Header field is the protocol value for UDP: 17. The UDP length field is the length
of the UDP header and data.

Reliability and congestion control

Lacking reliability, UDP applications may encounter some packet loss, reordering, errors or duplication. If using UDP, the end-user applications must provide any
necessary handshaking such as real-time confirmation that the message has been received. Applications, such as TFTP, may add rudimentary reliability
mechanisms into the application layer as needed.[4] If an application requires a high degree of reliability, a protocol such as the Transmission Control Protocol may
be used instead.

Most often, UDP applications do not employ reliability mechanisms and may even be hindered by them. Streaming media, real-time multiplayer games and voice
over IP (VoIP) are examples of applications that often use UDP. In these particular applications, loss of packets is not usually a fatal problem. In VoIP, for example,
latency and jitter are the primary concerns. The use of TCP would cause jitter if any packets were lost as TCP does not provide subsequent data to the application
while it is requesting re-sending of the missing data.

Applications
Numerous key Internet applications use UDP, including: the Domain Name System (DNS), the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the Routing
Information Protocol (RIP)[1] and the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).

Voice and video traffic is generally transmitted using UDP. Real-time video and audio streaming protocols are designed to handle occasional lost packets, so only
slight degradation in quality occurs, rather than large delays if lost packets were retransmitted. Because both TCP and UDP run over the same network, in the mid-
2000s a few businesses found that an increasing UDP traffic from these real-time applications slightly hindered the performance of applications using TCP such as
point of sale, accounting, and database systems (when TCP detects packet loss, it will throttle back its data rate usage).[12]

Some VPN systems such as OpenVPN may use UDP and perform error checking at the application level while implementing reliable connections.

QUIC is a transport protocol built on top of UDP. QUIC provides a reliable and secure connection. HTTP/3 uses QUIC as opposed to earlier versions of HTTPS
which use a combination of TCP and TLS to ensure reliability and security respectively. This means that HTTP/3 uses a single handshake to set up a connection,
rather than having two separate handshakes for TCP and TLS, meaning the overall time to establish a connection is reduced.[13]

Comparison of UDP and TCP

Transmission Control Protocol is a connection-oriented protocol and requires handshaking to set up end-to-end communications. Once a connection is set up, user
data may be sent bi-directionally over the connection.

Reliable – TCP manages message acknowledgment, retransmission and timeouts. Multiple attempts to deliver the message are made. If data
gets lost along the way, data will be re-sent. In TCP, there's either no missing data, or, in case of multiple timeouts, the connection is dropped.
Ordered – If two messages are sent over a connection in sequence, the first message will reach the receiving application first. When data
segments arrive in the wrong order, TCP buffers the out-of-order data until all data can be properly re-ordered and delivered to the application.
Heavyweight – TCP requires three packets to set up a socket connection before any user data can be sent. TCP handles reliability and
congestion control.
 Streaming – Data is read as a byte stream, no distinguishing indications are transmitted to signal message (segment) boundaries.

User Datagram Protocol is a simpler message-based connectionless protocol. Connectionless protocols do not set up a dedicated end-to-end connection.
Communication is achieved by transmitting information in one direction from source to destination without verifying the readiness or state of the receiver.

Unreliable – When a UDP message is sent, it cannot be known if it will reach its destination; it could get lost along the way. There is no
concept of acknowledgment, retransmission, or timeout.
Not ordered – If two messages are sent to the same recipient, the order in which they arrive cannot be guaranteed.
Lightweight – There is no ordering of messages, no tracking connections, etc. It is a very simple transport layer designed on top of IP.
Datagrams – Packets are sent individually and are checked for integrity on arrival. Packets have definite boundaries which are honored upon
receipt; a read operation at the receiver socket will yield an entire message as it was originally sent.
No congestion control – UDP itself does not avoid congestion. Congestion control measures must be implemented at the application level or
in the network.
Broadcasts – being connectionless, UDP can broadcast - sent packets can be addressed to be receivable by all devices on the subnet.
Multicast – a multicast mode of operation is supported whereby a single datagram packet can be automatically routed without duplication to a
group of subscribers.

Standards
RFC 768 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc768) – User Datagram Protocol
RFC 2460 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2460) – Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification
RFC 2675 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2675) – IPv6 Jumbograms
RFC 4113 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4113) – Management Information Base for the UDP
RFC 8085 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8085) – UDP Usage Guidelines

See also
Comparison of transport layer protocols Reliable User Datagram Protocol (RUDP)
Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) UDP-based Data Transfer Protocol
List of TCP and UDP port numbers UDP flood attack
Micro Transport Protocol (μTP) UDP Helper Address
Reliable Data Protocol (RDP) UDP-Lite – a variant that delivers packets even if they are
malformed

References
1. Kurose, J. F.; Ross, K. W. (2010). Computer Networking: A Top- 9. "Compute 16-bit One's Complement Sum" (https://web.archive.org/
Down Approach (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education. web/20201117162031/http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/543
ISBN 978-0-13-136548-3. 79.html). mathforum.org. John. 20 March 2002. Archived from the
2. Clark, M.P. (2003). Data Networks IP and the Internet, 1st ed. West original (http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/54379.html)
Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. (email) on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
3. [email protected] (15 August 2006). "UDP Protocol Overview" (htt 10. Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification (https://datatracker.i
p://ipv6.com/articles/general/User-Datagram-Protocol.htm). etf.org/doc/html/rfc8200#page-27-28). p. 27-28.
Ipv6.com. Retrieved 17 August 2011. doi:10.17487/RFC8200 (https://doi.org/10.17487%2FRFC8200).
RFC 8200 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8200).
4. Forouzan, B.A. (2000). TCP/IP: Protocol Suite, 1st ed. New Delhi,
India: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited. 11. The value of the Next Header field is the protocol value for UDP
5. Stevens, W. Richard (1994). TCP/IP Illustrated: The protocols. 12. "The impact of UDP on Data Applications" (https://archive.today/20
Vol. 1 (2 ed.). Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0-20-163346-7. 070731124008/http://www.networkperformancedaily.com/2007/08/
6. RFC 2675 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2675) whiteboard_series_nice_guys_fi.html).
Networkperformancedaily.com. Archived from the original (http://ww
7. Deering S. & Hinden R. (December 1998). "Internet Protocol, w.networkperformancedaily.com/2007/08/whiteboard_series_nice_
Version 6 (IPv6) Specification" (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2460). guys_fi.html) on 31 July 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
Internet Engineering Task Force. RFC 2460 (https://tools.ietf.org/ht
ml/rfc2460). 13. "QUIC, a multiplexed stream transport over UDP" (https://www.chro
mium.org/quic). chromium.org. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
8. Postel, J. (August 1980). User Datagram Protocol (https://datatracke
r.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc768). Internet Engineering Task Force.
doi:10.17487/RFC0768 (https://doi.org/10.17487%2FRFC0768).
RFC 768 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc768).

External links
IANA Port Assignments (https://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers)
The Trouble with UDP Scanning (PDF) (http://condor.depaul.edu/~jkristof/papers/udpscanning.pdf)
Breakdown of UDP frame (http://www.networksorcery.com/enp/protocol/udp.htm)
UDP on MSDN Magazine Sockets and WCF (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163648.aspx)
UDP connections (http://www.faqs.org/docs/iptables/udpconnections.html)

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