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Network packet
In computer networking, a packet is a formatted unit of data carried by a packet mode computer network. Computer
communications links that do not support packets, such as traditional point-to-point telecommunications links,
simply transmit data as a series of bytes, characters, or bits alone. When data is formatted into packets, the bitrate of
the communication medium can be better shared among users than if the network were circuit switched.
Packet framing
A packet consists of two kinds of data: control information and user data (also known as payload). The control
information provides data the network needs to deliver the user data, for example: source and destination addresses,
error detection codes like checksums, and sequencing information. Typically, control information is found in packet
headers and trailers, with payload data in between.
Different communications protocols use different conventions for distinguishing between the elements and for
formatting the data. In Binary Synchronous Transmission, the packet is formatted in 8-bit bytes, and special
characters are used to delimit the different elements. Other protocols, like Ethernet, establish the start of the header
and data elements by their location relative to the start of the packet. Some protocols format the information at a bit
level instead of a byte level.
A good analogy is to consider a packet to be like a letter: the header is like the envelope, and the data area is
whatever the person puts inside the envelope. A difference, however, is that some networks can break a larger packet
into smaller packets when necessary (note that these smaller data elements are still formatted as packets).
A network design can achieve two major results by using packets: error detection and multiple host addressing.
Error detection
It is more efficient and reliable to calculate a checksum or cyclic redundancy check over the contents of a packet
than to check errors using character-by-character parity bit checking.
The packet trailer often contains error checking data to detect errors that occur during transmission.
Host addressing
Modern networks usually connect three or more host computers together; in such cases the packet header generally
contains addressing information so that the packet is received by the correct host computer. In complex networks
constructed of multiple routing and switching nodes, like the ARPANET and the modern Internet, a series of packets
sent from one host computer to another may follow different routes to reach the same destination. This technology is
called packet switching.
Terminology
In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, 'packet' strictly refers to a data unit at layer 3, the Network
Layer. The correct term for a data unit at the Data Link Layer—Layer 2 of the seven-layer OSI model—is a frame,
and at Layer 4, the Transport Layer, the correct term is a segment or datagram. Hence, e.g., a TCP segment is carried
in one or more IP Layer packets, which are each carried in one or more Ethernet frames—though the mapping of
TCP, IP, and Ethernet, to the layers of the OSI model is not exact.
In general, the term packet applies to any message formatted as a packet, while the term datagram is reserved for
packets of an "unreliable" service.[1] A "reliable" service is one that notifies the user if delivery fails, while an
"unreliable" one does not notify the user if delivery fails. For example, IP provides an unreliable service. Together,
TCP and IP provide a reliable service, whereas UDP and IP provide an unreliable one. All these protocols use
Network packet 2
Example: IP packets
IP packets are composed of a header and payload. The IPv4 packet header consists of:
1. 4 bits that contain the version, that specifies if it's an IPv4 or IPv6 packet,
2. 4 bits that contain the Internet Header Length, which is the length of the header in multiples of 4 bytes (e.g., 5
means 20 bytes).
3. 8 bits that contain the Type of Service, also referred to as Quality of Service (QoS), which describes what priority
the packet should have,
4. 16 bits that contain the length of the packet in bytes,
5. 16 bits that contain an identification tag to help reconstruct the packet from several fragments,
6. 3 bits. The first contains a zero, followed by a flag that says whether the packet is allowed to be fragmented or
not (DF: Don't fragment), and a flag to state whether more fragments of a packet follow (MF: More Fragments)
7. 13 bits that contain the fragment offset, a field to identify position of fragment within original packet
8. 8 bits that contain the Time to live (TTL), which is the number of hops (router, computer or device along a
network) the packet is allowed to pass before it dies (for example, a packet with a TTL of 16 will be allowed to go
across 16 routers to get to its destination before it is discarded),
9. 8 bits that contain the protocol (TCP, UDP, ICMP, etc.)
10. 16 bits that contain the Header Checksum, a number used in error detection,
11. 32 bits that contain the source IP address,
12. 32 bits that contain the destination address.
After those 160 bits, optional flags can be added of varied length, which can change based on the protocol used, then
the data that packet carries is added. An IP packet has no trailer. However, an IP packet is often carried as the
payload inside an Ethernet frame, which has its own header and trailer.
Network packet 3
PES Packet length 2 bytes Can be zero as in not specified for video streams in MPEG transport streams
Data See elementary stream. In the case of private streams the first byte of the payload is the sub-stream
number.
Priority 1
Data alignment indicator 1 1 indicates that the PES packet header is immediately followed by the video start code or audio
syncword
ESCR flag 1
Network packet 5
ES rate flag 1
CRC flag 1
extension flag 1
PES header length 8 gives the length of the remainder of the PES header
NICAM
In order to provide mono "compatibility", the NICAM signal is transmitted on a subcarrier alongside the sound
carrier. This means that the FM or AM regular mono sound carrier is left alone for reception by monaural receivers.
A NICAM-based stereo-TV infrastructure can transmit a stereo TV programme as well as the mono "compatibility"
sound at the same time, or can transmit two or three entirely different sound streams. This latter mode could be used
to transmit audio in different languages, in a similar manner to that used for in-flight movies on international flights.
In this mode, the user can select which soundtrack to listen to when watching the content by operating a
"sound-select" control on the receiver.
NICAM offers the following possibilities. The mode is auto-selected by the inclusion of a 3-bit type field in the
data-stream
• One digital stereo sound channel.
• Two completely different digital mono sound channels.
• One digital mono sound channel and a 352 kbit/s data channel.
• One 704 kbit/s data channel.
The four other options could be implemented at a later date. Only the first two of the ones listed are known to be in
general use however.
NICAM packet transmission
The NICAM packet (except for the header) is scrambled with a nine-bit pseudo-random bit-generator before
transmission.
• The topology of this pseudo-random generator yields a bitstream with a repetition period of 511 bits.
• The pseudo-random generator's polynomial is: x^9 + x^4 + 1.
• The pseudo-random generator is initialized with: 111111111.
Making the NICAM bitstream look more like white noise is important because this reduces signal patterning on
adjacent TV channels.
• The NICAM header is not subject to scrambling. This is necessary so as to aid in locking on to the NICAM data
stream and resynchronisation of the data stream at the receiver.
• At the start of each NICAM packet the pseudo-random bit generator's shift-register is reset to all-ones.
Network packet 6
References
[1] Kurose, James F. & Ross, Keith W. (2007), "Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach" ISBN 0-321-49770-8
[2] http:/ / www. dvb. org/ technology/ standards/ a001r7. tm1214r30. dTS101154. v1. 8. 1. pdf
[3] Method and apparatus for changing codec to reproduce video and/or audio data streams encoded by different codecs within a channel - Patent
EP1827030 (http:/ / www. freepatentsonline. com/ EP1827030. html)
[4] European publication server (http:/ / www. epo. org/ patents/ patent-information/ european-patent-documents/ publication-server.
html?iAction=3& cc=EP& pn=1827030& ki=A2)
[5] https:/ / publications. european-patent-office. org/ PublicationServer/ document. jsp?PN=EP1827030%20EP%201827030&
iDocId=6296342& iFormat=0
Article Sources and Contributors 7
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