Internet Draft
   draft-ietf-avt-rtp-retransmission-                 Jose Rey/Matsushita
   04.txt                                                David Leon/Nokia
                                              Akihiro Miyazaki/Matsushita
                                                       Viktor Varsa/Nokia
                                                Rolf Hakenberg/Matsushita



   Expires: May 2003                                        December 2002


                     RTP retransmission payload format

   Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance
   with all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.


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   [Note to RFC Editor:  This paragraph is to be deleted when this
   draft is published as an RFC.  References in this draft to RFC XXXX
   should be replaced with the RFC number assigned to this document.
   References in this draft to RFC YYYY should be replaced with the RFC
   number assigned the draft-ietf-mmusic-fid when published as RFC.
   References in this draft to RFC ZZZZ should be replaced with the RFC
   number assigned the draft-ietf-avt-rtcp-bw when published as RFC.
     References in this draft to RFC UUUU should be replaced with the
   RFC number assigned the draft-ietf-avt-srtp when published as RFC.
   References in this draft to RFC VVVV should be replaced with the RFC
   number assigned the draft-ietf-avt-rtcp-feedback when published as
   RFC.  References in this draft to RFC WWWW should be replaced with
   the RFC number of the revision of RFC 1889 being drafted as draft-
   ietf-avt-rtp-new. Main changes since draft-ietf-avt-rtp-
   retransmission-02.txt: this document is the result of the merging of
   draft-ietf-avt-selret-05.txt and draft-ietf-avt-rtp-retransmission-
   02.txt. Main changes since draft-ietf-avt-rtp-retransmission-03.txt:
   RTSP section new drafted.]

                    IETF draft - Expires May 2003                   1
   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   Abstract

   RTP retransmission is an effective packet loss recovery technique
   for real-time applications with relaxed delay bounds. This document
   describes an RTP payload format for performing retransmissions.
   Retransmitted RTP packets are sent in a separate stream from the
   original RTP stream. It is assumed that feedback from receivers to
   senders is available. In particular, it is assumed that RTCP
   feedback as defined in the extended RTP profile for RTCP-based
   feedback [1] ( denoted AVPF ), is available in this memo.


Table of Contents

   1. Introduction....................................................3
   2. Terminology.....................................................3
   3. Requirements and design rationale for a retransmission scheme...4
   4. Retransmission payload format...................................6
   5. Association of a retransmission stream with its original stream.7
   6. Use with the extended RTP profile for RTCP-based feedback.......8
   7. Congestion control.............................................10
   8. SDP usage......................................................11
   9. RTSP considerations............................................14
   10. Implementation examples.......................................15
   11. IANA considerations...........................................18
   12. Security considerations.......................................22
   13. Acknowledgements..............................................22
   14. References....................................................22
   Author's Addresses................................................23






















   Rey/Leon/Miyazaki/Varsa/Hakenberg                                 2
   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


1. Introduction

   Packet losses between an RTP sender and receiver may significantly
   degrade the quality of the received media. Several techniques, such
   as forward error correction (FEC), retransmissions or interleaving
   may be considered to increase packet loss resiliency. RFC 2354 [9]
   discusses the different options.

   When choosing a repair technique for a particular application, the
   tolerable latency of the application has to be taken into account.
   In the case of multimedia conferencing, the end-to-end delay has to
   be at most a few hundred milliseconds in order to guarantee
   interactivity, which usually excludes the use of retransmission.

   However, in the case of multimedia streaming, the user can tolerate
   an initial latency as part of the session set-up and thus an end-to-
   end delay of several seconds may be acceptable. Retransmission may
   thus be considered for such applications.

   This document specifies a retransmission method for RTP applicable
   to unicast and (small) multicast groups: it defines a payload format
   for retransmitted RTP packets and provides protocol rules for the
   sender and the receiver involved in retransmissions.

   Furthermore, this retransmission payload format was designed for use
   with the extended RTP profile for RTCP-based feedback, AVPF [1]. It
   may also be used with other RTP profiles defined in the future.

   The AVPF profile allows for more frequent feedback and for early
   feedback. It defines a small number of general-purpose feedback
   messages, e.g. ACKs and NACKs, as well as codec and application-
   specific feedback messages. See [1] for details.


2. Terminology

   The following terms are used in this document:

   Original packet: refers to an RTP packet which carries user data
   sent for the first time by an RTP sender.

   Original stream: refers to the RTP stream of original packets.

   Retransmission packet: refers to an RTP packet whose payload
   includes the payload of an already sent original packet. Such a
   retransmission packet is said to be associated with the original RTP
   packet.

   Retransmission request: a means by which an RTP receiver is able to
   request that the RTP sender should send a retransmission packet for
   a given original packet. Usually, an RTCP NACK message as specified
   in [1] is used as retransmission request for lost packets.


   Rey/Leon/Miyazaki/Varsa/Hakenberg                                 3
   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   Retransmission stream: the stream of retransmission packets
   associated with an original stream.

   Session-multiplexing: scheme by which the original stream and the
   associated retransmission stream are sent into two different RTP
   sessions.

   SSRC-multiplexing: scheme by which the original stream and the
   retransmission stream are sent in the same RTP session with
   different SSRC values.


   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [2].


3. Requirements and design rationale for a retransmission scheme

   The retransmission scheme is designed to fulfil the following set of
   requirements:

   1. It must not break general RTP and RTCP mechanisms
   2. It must be suitable for unicast and small multicast groups.
   3. It must work with mixers and translators.
   4. It must work with all known payload types.
   5. It must not prevent the use multiple payload types in a session.
   6. In order to support the largest variety of payload formats the
      RTP receiver must be able to indicate how many and which RTP
      packets were lost. This requirement is referred to as sequence
      number preservation. Without such a requirement, it would be
      impossible to use retransmission with payload formats, such as
      conversational text [10] or most audio/video streaming
      applications, that use the RTP sequence number to detect lost
      packets.

   When designing a solution for RTP retransmission, several approaches
   may be considered for the multiplexing of the original RTP packets
   and the retransmitted RTP packets.

   One approach may be to retransmit the RTP packet with its original
   sequence number and send original and retransmission packets in the
   same stream. The retransmission packet would then be identical to
   the original RTP packet, i.e. the same header (and thus same
   sequence number) and the same payload. However, such an approach is
   not acceptable because it would corrupt the RTCP statistics. As a
   consequence, requirement 1 would not be met. Correct RTCP statistics
   require that for every RTP packet within the RTP stream, the
   sequence number be increased by one.

   Another approach may be to multiplex original RTP packets and
   retransmission packets in the same stream using the payload type
   field. With such an approach the original stream and the

   Rey/Leon/Miyazaki/Varsa/Hakenberg                                 4
   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   retransmission stream would share the same sequence number space. As
   a result, the RTP receiver would not be able to infer how many and
   which original packets (i.e. with which sequence number) were lost.

   In other words, this feature does not satisfy the sequence number
   preservation requirement (requirement 6). This in turn implies that
   requirement 4 would not be met. Interoperability with mixers and
   translators would also be more difficult if they do not understand
   this new payload type in a sender RTP stream. For these reasons, a
   solution based on payload type multiplexing of original packets and
   retransmission packets in the same RTP stream is excluded.

   Finally, the original and retransmission packets may be sent in two
   separate streams. These two streams may be multiplexed either by
   sending them in two different sessions , i.e. session-multiplexing,
   or in the same session using different SSRCs, i.e. SSRC-multi-
   plexing. Since original and retransmission packets carry media of
   the same type, the objections in Section 5.2 of RTP, RFC WWWW [3] to
   RTP multiplexing do not apply.

   Using two separate streams satisfies all the requirements listed in
   this section. Mixers and translators may process the original stream
   and simply discard the retransmission stream if they are unable to
   utilise it.

3.1 Multiplexing scheme choice

   Session-multiplexing and SSRC-multiplexing have different pros and
   cons:

   Session-multiplexing is based on sending the retransmission stream
   in a different RTP session (as defined in RTP [3]) from that of the
   original stream, i.e. the original and retransmission streams are
   sent to different network addresses and/or port numbers. Having a
   separate session allows more flexibility. In multicast, using two
   sessions for retransmission allows a receiver to choose whether to
   subscribe or not to the RTP session carrying the retransmission
   stream. It is also possible for the original session to be single-
   source multicast and have separate unicast sessions to convey
   retransmissions to each of the receivers, which will then receive
   only the retransmission packets they requested.

   The use of separate sessions also allows differential treatment by
   the network and may simplify processing in mixers, translators and
   packet caches.

   With SSRC-multiplexing, a single session is needed for the original
   and the retransmission stream. This allows streaming servers and
   middleware which are involved in a high number of concurrent
   sessions to minimise their port usage.

   This retransmission payload format allows both session-multiplexing
   and SSRC-multiplexing. From an implementation point of view, there

   Rey/Leon/Miyazaki/Varsa/Hakenberg                                 5
   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   is little difference between the two approaches. Hence, in order to
   maximise interoperability, both multiplexing approaches SHOULD be
   supported.


4. Retransmission payload format

   The format of a retransmission packet is shown below:


   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         RTP Header                            |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |            OSN                |                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               |
   |                  Original RTP Packet Payload                  |
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+


   The RTP header usage is as follows:

   If the original and the retransmission streams are sent in separate
   RTP sessions, the same SSRC value MUST be used for the original
   stream and the retransmission stream. In case of an SSRC collision,
   an RTCP BYE packet MUST be sent for the original RTP session. After
   a new SSRC identifier is obtained, the SSRC of the retransmission
   session MUST be set to this value.

   If the original stream and the retransmission stream are sent in the
   same RTP session, two different SSRC values MUST be used for the
   original stream and the retransmission stream as required by RTP.

   For either multiplexing scheme, the sequence number has the standard
   definition, i.e. it MUST be one higher than the sequence number of
   the preceding packet sent in the retransmission stream.

   The retransmission packet timestamp is set to the original
   timestamp, i.e. to the timestamp of the original packet. As a
   consequence, the initial RTP timestamp for the first packet of the
   retransmission stream is not random but equal to the original
   timestamp of the first packet requested for retransmission. See the
   security considerations section in this document for security
   implications.

   Implementers have to be aware that the RTCP jitter value for the
   retransmission stream does not reflect the actual network jitter
   since there could be little correlation between the time a packet is
   retransmitted and its original timestamp.

   The payload type is dynamic. Each payload type of the original
   stream MUST map to a different payload type value in the
   retransmission stream. Therefore, when multiple payload types are

   Rey/Leon/Miyazaki/Varsa/Hakenberg                                 6
   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   used in the original stream, multiple dynamic payload types will be
   mapped to this retransmission payload format. See Section 8 for the
   specification of how the mapping between original and retransmission
   payload types is done.

   As the retransmission packet timestamp carries the original media
   timestamp, the timestamp clockrate used by the retransmission
   payload type is the same as the one used by the associated original
   payload type. It is thus possible to retransmit RTP packets whose
   payload types have different timestamp clockrates in the same
   retransmission stream if the original payload types have different
   clock rates, but this is usually not the case.

   If the original RTP header carried any profile-specific payload
   header, the retransmission packet MUST include this payload header.

   If the original RTP header carried an RTP header extension, the
   retransmission packet SHOULD carry the same header extension.

   The retransmission payload carries a payload header followed by the
   original RTP packet payload. The length of payload header is 2
   octets. The payload header contains only one field, OSN, which MUST
   be set to the sequence number of the associated original RTP packet.

   If the original RTP packet contained RTP padding, that padding must
   be removed before constructing the retransmission packet. If padding
   of the retransmission packet is needed, padding is performed as with
   any RTP packets and the padding bit is set.

   All other fields of the RTP header MUST have the same value as in
   the associated original RTP packet


5. Association of a retransmission stream with its original stream

5.1 Retransmission session sharing

   In the case of session-multiplexing, a retransmission session MUST
   map to exactly one original session, i.e. the same retransmission
   session cannot be used for different original sessions.

   If retransmission session sharing were allowed, a receiver joining
   the retransmission session would also receive the retransmissions
   belonging to all other original sessions which the receiver may have
   not joined. For example, a receiver wishing to receive only audio
   would receive retransmitted video packets if an audio and video
   session would share the same retransmission session.

5.2 CNAME use

   A sender MUST use the same CNAME for an original stream and its
   associated retransmission stream.


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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


5.3 Association at the receiver

   A receiver receiving multiple original and retransmission streams
   needs to associate each retransmission stream with its original
   stream. The association is done differently depending on whether
   session-multiplexing or SSRC-multiplexing is used.

   If session-multiplexing is used, the receiver associates the two
   streams having the same SSRC in the two sessions. Note that the
   payload type field cannot be used to do this coupling as several
   media streams may have the same payload type value. The two sessions
   are themselves associated out-of-band. See the SDP section to see
   how the grouping of the two sessions is done with SDP.

   If SSRC-multiplexing is used, the receiver should first of all look
   for two streams that have the same CNAME in the session. In some
   cases, the CNAME may not be enough to determine the association as
   multiple original streams in the same session may share the same
   CNAME. For example, there can be in the same video session multiple
   video streams mapping to different SSRCs and still using the same
   CNAME and possibly the same PT values. Each (or some of) these
   streams may have an associated retransmission stream.

   In order to find out the association between original and
   retransmission streams having the same CNAME, the receiver SHOULD
   behave as follows.

   The association can generally be resolved when the receiver receives
   a retransmission packet matching a retransmission request which had
   been sent earlier. Upon reception of a retransmission whose original
   sequence number had been previously requested, the receiver can
   derive that the SSRC of the retransmission packet is associated to
   the sender SSRC from which the packet was requested. In order to
   avoid ambiguity, the receiver MUST NOT have two outstanding requests
   for the same packet sequence number in two different original
   streams before the association is resolved. Note that since the
   initial packet timestamps are random, the probability of having two
   outstanding requests for the same packet sequence number would be
   very small.

   If the receiver discovers that two senders are using the same SSRC
   or if it receives an RTCP BYE packet, it MUST stop requesting
   retransmissions for that SSRC. Upon reception of original RTP
   packets with a new SSRC, the receiver MUST perform the SSRC
   association again as described in this section.


6. Use with the extended RTP profile for RTCP-based feedback

   This section gives general hints for the usage of this payload
   format with the extended RTP profile for RTCP-based feedback [1],
   denoted AVPF.


   Rey/Leon/Miyazaki/Varsa/Hakenberg                                 8
   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


6.1 RTCP Receiver reports

   If the original RTP stream and the retransmission stream are sent to
   separate RTP sessions, the receiver will then send report blocks for
   the original stream and the retransmission stream in separate RTCP
   receiver reports (RR) packets belonging to separate RTP sessions.
   RTCP packets reporting on the original stream are sent in the
   original RTP session while RTCP packets reporting on the
   retransmission stream are sent in the retransmission session. The
   RTCP bandwidth for these two sessions may be chosen independently
   (for example through RTCP bandwidth modifiers RFC ZZZZ [4]).

   If the original RTP stream and the retransmission stream are sent in
   the same session (SSRC multiplexing), the receiver sends report
   blocks for the original and the retransmission streams in the same
   RTCP RR packet.

6.2 Retransmission requests

   The NACK message format defined in the AVPF profile SHOULD be used
   by receivers to send retransmission requests.
   Whether a receiver chooses to request a packet or not is an
   implementation issue. An actual receiver implementation should take
   into account such factors as the tolerable application delay, the
   network environment and the media type.

   The receiver should generally assess whether the retransmitted
   packet would still be useful at the time it is received. The
   timestamp of the missing packet can be estimated from the timestamps
   of packets preceding and/or following the sequence number gap caused
   by the missing packet in the original stream. In most cases, some
   form of linear estimate of the timestamp is good enough.

   Furthermore, a receiver should compute an estimate of the round-trip
   time (RTT) to the sender. This can be done, for example, by
   measuring the retransmission delay to receive a retransmission
   packet after a NACK message has been sent for that packet. This
   estimate may also be obtained from past observations, RTCP report
   round-trip time if available or any other means.

   The receiver should not send a retransmission request as soon as it
   detects a missing sequence number but should add some extra delay to
   compensate for packet reordering. This extra delay may, for example,
   be based on past observations of the experienced packet reordering.

   To increase the robustness to the loss of a NACK message or of a
   retransmission packet, a receiver may send a new NACK message. This
   is referred to as multiple retransmissions. Before sending a new
   NACK message for a missing packet, the receiver should rely on a
   timer to be reasonably sure that the previous retransmission attempt
   has failed in order not to cause unnecessary retransmissions.



   Rey/Leon/Miyazaki/Varsa/Hakenberg                                 9
   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   NACK packets MUST be sent only for the original RTP stream. If a
   receiver wanted to perform multiple-retransmissions by sending a
   NACK in the retransmission stream, it would not be able to know the
   original sequence number and a timestamp estimation of the packet it
   requests.

6.3 Timing rules

   The RTCP NACK packet may be sent in a regular full compound RTCP
   packet or in an early RTCP packet, as per AVPF [1]. Sending a NACK
   in an early packet allows to react more quickly to a given packet
   loss. However, in that case if a new packet loss occurs right after
   the early RTCP packet was sent, the receiver will then have to wait
   for the next regular RTCP compound packet after the early packet.
   Sending NACK packets only in regular RTCP compound decreases the
   maximum delay between detecting an original packet loss and being
   able to send a NACK message for that packet. Implementers should
   consider the possible implications of this fact for the application
   being used.

   Furthermore, receivers may make use of the minimum interval between
   regular RTCP compound packets. This can be used, for example, to
   keep reception reporting down to a given minimum, while still
   allowing receivers to react to periods requiring more frequent
   feedback, e.g. times of higher packet loss rate. In this way,
   receivers will try to keep the amount of sent RTCP packets as low as
   specified by the minimum interval, but are still able to report
   packet losses quickly enough. Note that although RTCP packets may be
   suppressed because they do not contain NACK packets, the reserved
   RTCP bandwidth is the same as if they were sent. See AVPF [1] for
   details.


7. Congestion control

   RTP retransmission poses a risk of increasing network congestion. In
   a best-effort environment, packet loss is caused by congestion.
   Reacting to loss by retransmission of older data without decreasing
   the rate of the original stream would thus further increase
   congestion. Implementations SHOULD follow the recommendations below
   in order to use retransmission.

   The RTP profile under which the retransmission scheme is used
   defines an appropriate congestion control mechanism in different
   environments. Following the rules under the profile, an RTP
   application can determine its acceptable bitrate and packet rate in
   order to be fair to other TCP or RTP flows.

   If an RTP application uses retransmission, the acceptable packet
   rate and bitrate includes both the original and retransmitted data.
   This guarantees that an application using retransmission achieves
   the same fairness as one that does not. Such a rule would translate
   in practice into the following actions:

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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002



   If enhanced service is used, it should be made sure that the total
   bitrate and packet rate do not exceed that of the requested service.
   It should be further monitored that the requested services are
   actually delivered. In a best-effort environment, the sender SHOULD
   NOT send retransmission packets without reducing the packet rate and
   bitrate of the original stream (for example by encoding the data at
   a lower rate).

   In addition, the sender MAY selectively retransmit only the packets
   that it deems important and ignore NACK messages for other packets
   in order to limit the bitrate.

   These congestion control mechanisms should keep the packet loss rate
   within acceptable parameters. Packet loss is considered acceptable
   if a TCP flow across the same network path and experiencing the same
   network conditions would achieve an average throughput, measured on
   a reasonable timescale, that is not less than the RTP flow is
   achieving. If the packet loss rate exceed acceptable parameters,
   this would mean that congestion is not kept under control and
   retransmission should then not be used.  It may further be necessary
   to adapt the transmission rate (or the number of layers subscribed
   for a layered multicast session), or to arrange for the receiver to
   leave the session if the loss rate is unacceptably high.


8. SDP usage

8.1 Introduction

   This section specifies how to describe the use of retransmission
   with the Session Description Protocol (SDP), RFC 2327 [5]. As
   specified in this document, the retransmission stream may be
   conveyed in a separate RTP session, i.e. through session-
   multiplexing, or in the same RTP session as the original stream
   through SSRC-multiplexing.

   The following attributes and parameters are introduced in this
   document: "rtx", "rtx-time" and "apt".

   The binding used for the retransmission stream to the payload type
   number is indicated by an rtpmap attribute. The MIME subtype name
   used in the binding is "rtx", as specified in Section 11.

   An OPTIONAL payload format-specific parameter indicates the maximum
   time a server will try to retransmit a packet.
   The syntax is as follows:

        a=fmtp <number>: rtx-time=<rtx-time-val>
   where,
        <number> indicates the dynamic payload type number assigned to
        the retransmission payload format in an rtpmap attribute.


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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


        <rtx-time-val> indicates the time in milliseconds, measured
        from the time a packet was first sent until the time the server
        will stop trying to retransmit the packet. The absence of the
        rtx-time parameter for a retransmission stream means that the
        maximum retransmission time is not defined, but MAY be
        negotiated by other means.

   Additionally, a new SDP payload-format-specific parameter "apt" MUST
   be used to map the RTX payload type to the associated original
   stream payload type as seen in the SDP description examples below.
   If multiple payload types are used in the original stream, then
   multiple "apt" parameters MUST be included to map each original
   stream payload type to a different RTX payload type. The syntax of
   this parameter is as follows:

        a=fmtp <number>: apt=<apt-value>
   where,
        <number> indicates the dynamic payload type number assigned to
        the retransmission payload format.
        <apt-value> indicates the original stream payload type to which
        this retransmission stream payload type is associated.

   Some SDP description examples are presented in the following
   subsections.

8.2 Mapping MIME Parameters into SDP

   The information carried in the MIME media type specification has a
   specific mapping to fields in SDP [5], which is commonly used to
   describe RTP sessions. When SDP is used to specify retransmissions
   for an RTP  stream, the mapping is done as follows:

   -  The MIME types ("video"), ("audio") and ("text") go in the SDP
   "m=" as the media name.

   -  The MIME subtype ("rtx") goes in SDP "a=rtpmap" as the encoding
   name. The RTP clock rate in "a=rtpmap" MUST be that of the
   retransmission payload type. See Section 4 for details on this.

   -  The AVPF profile-specific parameters "ack" and "nack" go in SDP
   "a=rtcp-fb". Several SDP "a=rtcp-fb" are used for several types of
   feedback. See the AVPF profile [1] for details.

   -  The retransmission payload format-specific parameters "apt" and
   "rtx-time" go in the SDP "a=fmtp" as a semicolon separated list of
   parameter=value pairs.

   -  Any remaining parameters go in the SDP "a=fmtp" attribute by
   copying them directly from the MIME media type string as a semicolon
   separated list of parameter=value pairs.




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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   In the following sections some example SDP descriptions are
   presented.

8.3 SDP description with session-multiplexing

   In the case of session-multiplexing, the SDP description contains
   one media specification "m" line per RTP session. The SDP MUST
   provide the grouping of the original and associated retransmission
   sessions' "m" lines, using the Flow Identification (FID) semantics
   defined in RFC YYYY [6].

   The following example specifies two original, AMR and MPEG-4,
   streams on ports 49170 and 49174 and their corresponding
   retransmission streams on ports 49172 and 49176, respectively:

   v=0
   o=mascha 2980675221 2980675778 IN IP4 at.home.ru
   c=IN IP4 125.25.5.1
   a=group:FID 1 2
   a=group:FID 3 4
   m=audio 49170 RTP/AVPF 96
   a=rtpmap:96 AMR/8000
   a=fmtp:96 octet-align=1
   a=rtcp-fb:96 nack
   a=mid:1
   m=audio 49172 RTP/AVPF 97
   a=rtpmap:97 rtx/8000
   a=fmtp:97 apt=96;rtx-time=3000
   a=mid:2
   m=video 49174 RTP/AVPF 98
   a=rtpmap:98 MP4V-ES/90000
   a=rtcp-fb:98 nack
   a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=8;config=01010000012000884006682C2090A21F
   a=mid:3
   m=video 49176 RTP/AVPF 99
   a=rtpmap:99 rtx/90000
   a=fmtp:99 apt=98;rtx-time=3000
   a=mid:4


   A special case of the SDP description is a description that contains
   only one original session "m" line and one retransmission session
   "m" line, the grouping is then obvious and FID semantics MAY be
   omitted in this special case only.

   This is illustrated in the following example, which is an SDP
   description for a single original MPEG-4 stream and its
   corresponding retransmission session:

   v=0
   o=mascha 2980675221 2980675778 IN IP4 at.home.ru
   c=IN IP4 125.25.5.1
   m=video 49170 RTP/AVPF 96

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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   a=rtpmap:96 MP4V-ES/90000
   a=rtcp-fb:96 nack
   a=fmtp:96 profile-level-id=8;config=01010000012000884006682C2090A21F
   m=video 49172 RTP/AVPF 97
   a=rtpmap:97 rtx/90000
   a=fmtp:97 apt=96;rtx-time=3000

8.4 SDP description with SSRC-multiplexing

   The following is an example of an SDP description for an RTP video
   session using SSRC-multiplexing with similar parameters as in the
   single-session example above:

   v=0
   o=mascha 2980675221 2980675778 IN IP4 at.home.ru
   c=IN IP4 125.25.5.1
   m=video 49170 RTP/AVPF 96 97
   a=rtpmap:96 MP4V-ES/90000
   a=rtcp-fb:96 nack
   a=fmtp:96 profile-level-id=8;config=01010000012000884006682C2090A21F
   a=rtpmap:97 rtx/90000
   a=fmtp:97 apt=96;rtx-time=3000


9. RTSP considerations

   The Real-time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), RFC 2326 [7] is an
   application-level protocol for control over the delivery of data
   with real-time properties. This section looks at the issues involved
   in controlling RTP sessions that use retransmissions.

9.1 RTSP control with SSRC-multiplexing

   In the case of SSRC-multiplexing, the "m" line includes both
   original and retransmission payload types and has a single RTSP
   "control" attribute. The receiver uses the "m" line to request SETUP
   and TEARDOWN of the whole media session. The RTP profile contained
   in the transport header MUST be the AVPF profile or another suitable
   profile allowing extended feedback.

   In order to control the sending of the session original media
   stream, the receiver sends as usual PLAY and PAUSE requests to the
   sender for the session. The RTP-info header that is used to set RTP-
   specific parameters in the PLAY response MUST be set according to
   the RTP information of the original stream.

   When the receiver starts receiving the original stream, it can then
   request retransmission through RTCP NACKs without additional RTSP
   signalling.

9.2 RTSP control with session-multiplexing



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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   In the case of session-multiplexing, each SDP "m" line has an RTSP
   "control" attribute. Hence, when retransmission is used, both the
   original session and the retransmission have their own "control"
   attributes. The receiver can associate the original session and the
   retransmission session through the FID semantics as specified in
   Section 8.

   The original and the retransmission streams are set up and torn down
   separately through their respective media "control" attribute. The
   RTP profile contained in the transport header MUST be the AVPF
   profile or another suitable profile allowing extended feedback for
   both the original and the retransmission session.

   The RTSP presentation SHOULD support aggregate control and SHOULD
   contain a session level RTSP URL. The receiver SHOULD use aggregate
   control for an original session and its associated retransmission
   session. Otherwise, there would need to be two different 'session-
   id' values, i.e. different values for the original and
   retransmission sessions, and the sender would not know how to
   associate them.

   The session-level "control" attribute is then used as usual to
   control the playing of the original stream. When the receiver starts
   receiving the original stream, it can then request retransmissions
   through RTCP without additional RTSP signalling.

9.3 Retransmission in pause state

   Because of the nature of retransmissions, the sending of
   retransmission packets SHOULD NOT be controlled through RTSP PLAY
   and PAUSE requests. The PLAY and PAUSE requests should not affect
   the retransmission stream. Retransmission packets are sent upon
   receiver requests in the original RTCP stream, regardless of the
   state.

9.4 Cache control

   Retransmission streams SHOULD NOT be cached.

   In the case of session-multiplexing, the "Cache-Control" header
   SHOULD be set to "no-cache" for the retransmission stream.

   In the case of SSRC-multiplexing, RTSP cannot specify independent
   caching for the retransmission stream, because there is a single "m"
   line in SDP. Therefore, the implementer should take this fact into
   account when deciding whether to cache an SSRC-multiplexed session
   or not.


10. Implementation examples

   This document mandates only the sender and receiver behaviours that
   are necessary for interoperability. In addition, certain algorithms,

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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   such as rate control or buffer management when targeted at specific
   environments, may enhance the retransmission efficiency.

   This section gives an overview of different implementation options
   allowed within this specification.

   The first example is a server-driven retransmission implementation.
   With this implementation, it is possible to retransmit lost RTP
   packets, detect efficiently the loss of retransmissions and perform
   multiple retransmissions, if needed. Most of the necessary processing
   is done at the server.

   The second example shows a receiver-driven implementation. It
   illustrates how a receiver may increase the retransmission
   efficiency. This implementation also increases the sender scalability
   by reducing the load required at the sender.

   The third example shows how retransmissions may be used in (small)
   multicast groups in conjunction with layered encoding. It illustrates
   that retransmissions and layered encoding may be complementary
   techniques.

10.1  A sender-driven retransmission example

   This section gives an implementation example of multiple
   retransmissions. The sender transmits the original data in RTP
   packets using the MPEG-4 video RTP payload format.
   It is assumed that Generic NACK feedback messages are used, as per
   [1]. An SDP description example with SSRC-multiplexing is given
   below:

   v=0
   o=mascha 2980675221 2980675778 IN IP4 at.home.ru
   c=IN IP4 125.25.5.1
   m=video 49170 RTP/AVPF 96 97
   a=rtpmap:96 MP4V-ES/90000
   a=rtcp-fb:96 nack
   a=rtpmap:97 rtx/90000
   a=fmtp:97 apt=96;rtx-time=3000

   The format-specific parameter "rtx-time" would indicate that the
   server will buffer the sent packets in a retransmission
   buffer for 3.0 seconds, after which the packets are deleted from
   the retransmission buffer and will never be sent again.

   In this implementation example, the required RTP receiver processing
   to handle retransmission is very limited. The receiver detects packet
   loss from the gaps observed in the received sequence numbers. It
   signals lost packets to the sender through RTCP NACK messages as
   defined in the AVPF profile [1]. The receiver should take into
   account the signalled sender retransmission buffer length in order to
   dimension its own reception buffer. It should also derive from the


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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   buffer length the maximum number of times retransmission of a packet
   can be requested.

   The sender should retransmit the packets selectively, i.e. it should
   choose whether to retransmit a requested packet depending on the
   packet importance, the observed QoS and congestion state of the
   network connection to the receiver. Obviously, the sender processing
   increases with the number of receivers as state information and
   processing load must be allocated to each receiver.

10.2 A receiver-driven retransmission example

   The receiver may have more accurate information than the sender about
   the current network QoS such as available bandwidth, packet loss
   rate,  delay  and  jitter.  In  addition,  other  receiver-specific
   parameters like buffer level, estimated importance of the lost packet
   and application level QoS may be used by the receiver to make a more
   efficient use of RTP retransmission through selective requests.

   Furthermore, a receiver may acknowledge the received packets. This
   can be done by sending ACK messages, as per [1]. Upon receiving an
   ACK, the sender may delete all the acknowledged packets from its
   retransmission buffer. Note that this would also require only limited
   increase in the required RTCP bandwidth as long as ACK packets are
   sent  seldom  enough.  With  the  receiver-driven  retransmission
   implementation, processing load and buffer requirements at the sender
   are decreased, allowing greater sender scalability.

   Note that choosing between the sender-driven implementation and the
   receiver-driven implementation does not imply any changes in the SDP
   description, except for the need to signal the use of ACK RTCP
   packets, by means of an additional SDP "a=rtcp-fb" line, as follows:

   v=0
   o=mascha 2980675221 2980675778 IN IP4 at.home.ru
   c=IN IP4 125.25.5.1
   m=video 49170 RTP/AVPF 96 97
   a=rtpmap:96 MP4V-ES/90000
   a=rtcp-fb:96 nack
   a=rtcp-fb:96 ack
   a=rtpmap:97 rtx/90000
   a=fmtp:97 apt=96;rtx-time=3000

10.3 Retransmissions with Layered Transmissions

   This section shows how to combine retransmissions with layered
   encoding. Note that the retransmission framework is not intended as a
   complete solution to reliable multicast. Refer to RFC 2887 [11], for
   an overview of the problems related with reliable multicast
   transmission.

   Packets of different importance are sent in different RTP sessions.
   The retransmission streams corresponding to the different layers can

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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   themselves be seen as different retransmission layers. The relative
   importance of the different retransmission streams should reflect the
   relative importance of the different original streams.

   A retransmission stream may be sent in the same RTP session as its
   corresponding original layer through SSRC multiplexing or in a
   different RTP session through session multiplexing.

   An SDP description example for SSRC-multiplexing is given below:

   c=IN IP4 224.2.1.1/127/3
   m=video 8000 RTP/AVPF 98 99
   a=rtpmap:98 MP4V-ES/90000
   a=rtcp-fb:98 nack
   a=rtpmap:99 rtx/90000
   a=fmtp:99 apt=98;rtx-time=3000

   The server and the receiver may implement the retransmission methods
   illustrated in the previous examples. In addition, they may choose to
   request and retransmit a lost packet depending on the layer it
   belongs to.


11. IANA considerations

11.1 Registration of audio/rtx

   MIME type: audio

   MIME subtype: rtx

   Required parameters:

        rate: the RTP timestamp clockrate is equal to the RTP timestamp
        clockrate of the media that is retransmitted.

        apt: associated payload type. The value of this parameter is
        the payload type of the associated original stream.

   Optional parameters:

        rtx-time: indicates the time in milliseconds, measured from the
        time a packet was first sent until the time the server will
        stop trying to retransmit the packet


   Encoding considerations: this type is only defined for transfer via
   RTP.

   Security considerations: see Section 12 of RFC XXXX

   Interoperability considerations: none


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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   Published specification: RFC XXXX

   Applications which use this media type: multimedia streaming
   applications

   Additional information: none

   Person & email address to contact for further information:
   rey@panasonic.de
   david.leon@nokia.com
   avt@ietf.org

   Intended usage: COMMON

   Author/Change controller:
   Jose Rey
   David Leon
   IETF AVT WG

11.2 Registration of video/rtx

   MIME type: video

   MIME subtype: rtx

   Required parameters:

        rate: the RTP timestamp clockrate is equal to the RTP timestamp
        clockrate  of the media that is retransmitted.

        apt: associated payload type. The value of this parameter is
        the payload type of the associated original stream.

   Optional parameters:

        rtx-time: indicates the time in milliseconds, measured from the
        time a packet was first sent until the time the server will
        stop trying to retransmit the packet

   Encoding considerations: this type is only defined for transfer via
   RTP.

   Security considerations: see Section 12 of RFC XXXX

   Interoperability considerations: none

   Published specification: RFC XXXX

   Applications which use this media type: multimedia streaming
   applications

   Additional information: none


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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   Person & email address to contact for further information:
   rey@panasonic.de
   david.leon@nokia.com
   avt@ietf.org

   Intended usage: COMMON

   Author/Change controller:
   Jose Rey
   David Leon
   IETF AVT WG

11.3 Registration of text/rtx

   MIME type: text

   MIME subtype: rtx

   Required parameters:

        rate: the RTP timestamp clockrate is equal to the RTP timestamp
        clockrate  of the media that is retransmitted.

        apt: associated payload type. The value of this parameter is
        the payload type of the associated original stream.

   Optional parameters:

        rtx-time: indicates the time in milliseconds, measured from the
        time a packet was first sent until the time the server will
        stop trying to retransmit the packet


   Encoding considerations: this type is only defined for transfer via
   RTP.

   Security considerations: see Section 12 of RFC XXXX

   Interoperability considerations: none

   Published specification: RFC XXXX

   Applications which use this media type: multimedia streaming
   applications

   Additional information: none

   Person & email address to contact for further information:
   rey@panasonic.de
   david.leon@nokia.com
   avt@ietf.org

   Intended usage: COMMON

   Rey/Leon/Miyazaki/Varsa/Hakenberg                                20
   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002



   Author/Change controller:
   Jose Rey
   David Leon
   IETF AVT WG

11.4 Registration of application/rtx

   MIME type: application

   MIME subtype: rtx

   Required parameters:

        rate: the RTP timestamp clockrate is equal to the RTP timestamp
        clockrate  of the media that is retransmitted.

        apt: associated payload type. The value of this parameter is
        the payload type of the associated original stream.

   Optional parameters:

        rtx-time: indicates the time in milliseconds, measured from the
        time a packet was first sent until the time the server will
        stop trying to retransmit the packet

   Encoding considerations: this type is only defined for transfer via
   RTP.

   Security considerations: see Section 12 of RFC XXXX

   Interoperability considerations: none

   Published specification: RFC XXXX

   Applications which use this media type: multimedia streaming
   applications

   Additional information: none

   Person & email address to contact for further information:
   rey@panasonic.de
   david.leon@nokia.com
   avt@ietf.org

   Intended usage: COMMON

   Author/Change controller:
   Jose Rey
   David Leon
   IETF AVT WG



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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


12. Security considerations

   Applications utilising encryption SHOULD encrypt both the original
   and the retransmission stream. Old keys will likely need to be
   cached so that when the keys change for the original stream, the old
   key is used until it is determined that the key has changed on the
   retransmission packets as well.

   The use of the same key for the retransmitted stream and the
   original stream may lead to security problems, e.g. two-time pads.
   This sharing has to be evaluated towards the chosen security
   protocol and security algorithms, e.g. the Secure Real-Time
   Transport Protocol (SRTP) RFC UUUU [8] establishes requirements for
   avoiding the two-time pad.

   RTP recommends that the initial RTP timestamp SHOULD be random to
   secure the stream against known plain text attacks. This payload
   format does not follow this recommendation as the initial timestamp
   will be the media timestamp of the first retransmitted packet.

   However, since the initial timestamp of the original stream is
   itself random, if the original stream is encrypted, the first
   retransmitted packet timestamp would also be random to an attacker.
   Therefore, security would not be compromised.

   Congestion control considerations with the use of retransmission are
   dealt with in Section 7 of this document.

   Any other security considerations of the profile under which the
   retransmission scheme is used should be applied.


13. Acknowledgements

   We would like to express our gratitude to Carsten Burmeister for his
   participation in the development of this document. Our thanks also
   go to Koichi Hata, Colin Perkins, Stephen Casner, Magnus Westerlund,
   Go Hori and Rahul Agarwal for their helpful comments.


14. References

14.1 Normative References

   1 J. Ott, S. Wenger, N. Sato, C. Burmeister, J. Rey, "Extended RTP
     profile for RTCP-based feedback", RFC VVVV, September 2002.

   2 S. Bradner, "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
     Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997

   3 H. Schulzrinne, S. Casner, R. Frederick and V. Jacobson, "RTP: A
     Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications", RFC WWWW, May
     2002.

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   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002



   4 S. Casner, "SDP bandwidth modifiers for RTCP bandwidth", RFC ZZZZ,
     May 2002.

   5 M. Handley, V. Jacobson, "SDP: Session Description Protocol", RFC
     2327, April 1998.

   6 G. Camarillo,J. Holler, G. AP. Eriksson, "Grouping of media lines
     in SDP", RFC YYYY, February 2002.

   7 H. Schulzrinne, A. Rao, R. Lanphier, "Real Time Streaming Protocol
     (RTSP)", RFC 2326, April 1998.

   8 M. Baugher, D. A. McGrew, D. Oran, R. Blom, E. Carrara, M.
     Naslund, K. Norrman, "The Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol",
     RFC UUUU, June 2002.

14.2 Non-normative References

   9 C. Perkins, O. Hodson, "Options for Repair of Streaming Media",
     RFC 2354, June 1998.

   10 J. Hellstrom, "RTP for conversational text", RFC 2793, May 2000

   11 M. Handley, et al., "The Reliable Multicast Design Space for Bulk
     Data Transfer", RFC 2887, August 2000.


Author's Addresses

   Jose Rey                                     rey@panasonic.de
   Panasonic European Laboratories GmbH
   Monzastr. 4c
   D-63225 Langen, Germany
   Phone: +49-6103-766-134
   Fax:   +49-6103-766-166

   David Leon                                   david.leon@nokia.com
   Nokia Research Center
   6000 Connection Drive
   Irving, TX. USA
   Phone:  1-972-374-1860

   Akihiro Miyazaki                             akihiro@isl.mei.co.jp
   Core Software Development Center
   Corporate Software Development Division
   Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
   1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka 571-8501, Japan
   Phone: +81-6-6900-9192
   Fax:   +81-6-6900-9193

   Viktor Varsa                                 viktor.varsa@nokia.com
   Nokia Research Center

   Rey/Leon/Miyazaki/Varsa/Hakenberg                                23
   Internet Draft    RTP Retransmission Payload Format   December 2002


   6000 Connection Drive
   Irving, TX. USA
   Phone:  1-972-374-1861

   Rolf Hakenberg                               hakenberg@panasonic.de
   Panasonic European Laboratories GmbH
   Monzastr. 4c
   D-63225 Langen, Germany
   Phone: +49-6103-766-162
   Fax:   +49-6103-766-166












































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