Network Working Group J. Snell
Internet-Draft
Intended status: Informational June 09, 2013
Expires: December 11, 2013
HTTP/2.0 Discussion: Stored Header Encoding
draft-snell-httpbis-bohe-10
Abstract
This memo describes a proposed alternative encoding for headers that
combines the best concepts from the proposed Delta and HeaderDiff
options with the typed value codecs introduced by previous versions
of this draft.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on December 11, 2013.
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Table of Contents
1. Stored Header Encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. State Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Header Serialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1. Header Group Prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2. Index Header Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3. Index Range Header Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.4. Cloned Index Header Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.5. Literal Header Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4. Header Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.1. UTF-8 Text Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.2. Numeric Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.3. Timestamp Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.4. Raw Binary Octet Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.5. Unsigned Variable Length Integer Syntax . . . . . . . . . 11
4.6. Huffman Coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5. Implementation Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7.2. Informational References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Appendix A. Huffman Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Appendix B. Static Storage Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Appendix C. Updated Standard Header Definitions . . . . . . . . 24
Appendix D. Alternative Timestamp encodings . . . . . . . . . . 26
Appendix E. Alternative uvarint encodings . . . . . . . . . . . 27
E.1. Option 1: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
E.2. Option 2: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1. Stored Header Encoding
The Stored Header Encoding is an alternative "binary header encoding"
for HTTP/2.0 that combines the best elements from three other
proposed encodings, including:
o The "Header Delta Compression" scheme proposed by Roberto Peon in
http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-rpeon-httpbis-header-
compression-03
o The "Header Diff" encoding proposed by Herve Reullan, Jun
Fujisawa, Romain Bellessort, and Youenn Fablet in http://
tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ruellan-headerdiff-00
o The "Binary Optimized Header Encoding" proposed by James Snell
(me) in http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-snell-httpbis-bohe-03
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The Stored Header Encoding seeks to find an elegant, efficient and
simple marriage of the best concepts from each of these separate
proposals.
2. State Model
The compressor and decompressor each maintain a cache of header value
pairs. There is a static cache, prepopulated by the specification,
and a dynamic cache, populated through the compression and
decompression process. Each cache contains a maximum of 128
individual key+value pairs.
Each item in the index is referenced by an 8-bit identifier. The
most significant bit identifies whether an item from the static or
dynamic cache is being referenced. Note: the Nil byte (0x00) is a
valid identifier for the dynamic cache.
0xxxxxxx: Dynamic Cache
1xxxxxxx: Static Cache
The dynamic cache is managed in a "least recently written" style,
that is, as the cache fills to capacity in both number of entries and
maximum stored byte size, the least recently written items are
dropped and those index positions are reused.
Index positions from the dynamic cache are assigned in "encounter
order", beginning from 0x00 and increasing monotonically to 0x7F.
That is to say, the positions are assigned in precisely the same
order that they are serialized, and thereby encountered by the
decompressor upon reading and processing the block.
Every item in the store consists of a Header Name and a Value. The
Name is a lower-case ASCII character sequence. The Value is either a
UTF-8 string, a number, a Timestamp or an arbitrary sequence of
binary octets.
The available size of the stored compression state can be capped by
the decompressor. Each stored value contributes to the accumulated
size of the storage state. As new key+value pairs are assigned
positions in the dynamic cache, the least-recently assigned items
must be removed if necessary to free up the required space.
The size of string values is measured by the number of UTF-8 bytes
required for the character sequence.
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The size for number and timestamp values is measured by the number of
unsigned variable length integer (uvarint) encoded bytes it takes to
represent the value (see the section of value types below).
The size of raw binary values is measured by the number of octets.
Duplicate header values MUST be counted individually.
Header names also count towards the stored state size but are only
counted once. That is, for instance, the header name "foo" would
contribute three bytes to the stored state size regardless of how
many distinct instances of the "foo" header appear within the stored
state.
Header names MUST NOT exceed 255 octets in length.
3. Header Serialization
Headers are serialized into four typed header groups, each
represented by a two-bit identifier. These groups are serialized
sequentially. A serialized header block can contain, at most 256
header groups. The first byte of the serialized block is an
unsigned, 0-based counter indicating the number of groups.
Header Group Prefix Codes:
00 -- Index Header Group
01 -- Index Range Header Group
10 -- Cloned Index Header Group
11 -- Literal Header Group
The Cloned Index (10) and Literal (11) header group types have an
additional "ephemeral" flag indicating whether the group modifies the
compression state.
Each header group contains a single 8-bit prefix and up to 32
distinct header instances.
If a particular serialization block contains more than 32 intances of
a given type, then multiple instances of the Header Group Type can be
included in the serialized block. For instance, if a given message
contains 33 index references, the serialized block may contain two
separate Index Header Groups.
Wire Format
header-block = count *(index-header-group /
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index-range-header-group /
cloned-index-header-group /
literal-header-group)
count = OCTET
; Header Group Prefix = 8 bits ...
; First two bits = header-group-type
; Third bit = ephemeral flag
; Final five bits = instance counter
;
index-header-group-type = 00
index-range-group-type = 01
cloned-index-group-type = 10
literal-group-type = 11
count = 5bit
index-header-prefix = index-header-group-type
unset count ; 000xxxxx
index-range-header-prefix = index-header-group-type
unset count ; 010xxxxx
cloned-index-header-prefix = cloned-index-group-type
bit count ; 10?xxxxx
literal-header-prefix = literal-group-type
bit count ; 11?xxxxx
; Cache Index Identifier = 8 bits ...
; 0xxxxxxx = Dynamic Cache Identifier
; 1xxxxxxx = Static Cache Identifier
cache-index = %x00-FF
; Index Header Group
index-header-group = index-header-prefix
1*32cache-index
; Index-Range Header Group
; Contains a pair of cache-index values, second MUST
; be strictly higher in value than the first...
index-range-header-group = index-range-header-prefix
1*32(cache-index cache-index)
; Cloned-Index Header Group
cloned-index-header-group = cloned-index-header-prefix
1*32(cache-index value)
; Literal Header Group
literal-header-group = literal-header-prefix
1*32(name value)
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value = text-value /
number-value /
timestamp-value /
binary-value
text-value-type = 000 ; three bits
number-value-type = 001
timestamp-value-type = 010
binary-value-type = 011
text-value-prefix = text-value-type count
number-value-prefix = number-value-type count
timestamp-value-prefix = timestamp-value-type count
binary-value-prefix = binary-value-type count
text-value = text-value-prefix 1*32string
number-value = number-value-type 1*32uvarint
timestamp-value = timestamp-value-prefix 1*32uvarint
binary-value = binary-value-prefix uvarint *OCTET
uvarint = *uvarint-continuation uvarint-final
uvarint-continuation = %x80-FF
uvarint-final = %x00-7F
name = OCTET 1*namechar
namechar = ":" / "!" / "#" / "$" / "%" / "&" /
"'" / "*" / "+" / "-" / "." / "^" /
"_" / "`" / "|" / "~" / DIGIT / %x61-7A
string = uvarint *(HUFFMAN-ENCODED-CHAR)
HUFFMAN-EOF
padding-to-nearest-byte;
padding-to-nearest-byte = *7unset
bit = set / unset
unset = 0
set = 1
3.1. Header Group Prefix
The Header Group Prefix is a single octet that provides three
distinct pieces of information:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
+------+---+---------------+
| TYPE |EPH| COUNTER |
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+------+---+---------------+
TYPE:
The two most significant bits identify the group type.
EPH:
The next bit is the "ephemeral flag" and is used only for Cloned
and Literal group types. This bit indicates whether or not the
group alters the stored compression state.
COUNTER:
The remaining five bits specify the number of header instances in
the group, with 00000 indicating that the group contains 1
instance and 11111 contains 32. A header group MUST contain at
least one instance.
The remaining serialization of the header group depends entirely on
the group type.
3.2. Index Header Group
The serialization of the Index Header Group consists of the Header
Group Prefix and up to 32 additional octets, each referencing a
single 8-bit storage index identifier for items in either the Static
or Dynamic Cache.
For instance
00000000 00000000 = References item #0 from
the dynamic cache
00000001 00000000 10000000 = References item #0 from the
dynamic cache and item #0
from the static cache
Index Header Groups do not affect the stored compression state. If
an Index Header Group references a header index that has not yet been
allocated, the deserialization MUST terminate with an error. This
likely means that the compression state has become out of sync and
needs to be reestablished.
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3.3. Index Range Header Group
The serialization of the Index Range Header Group consists of the
Header Group Prefix and up to 32 additional 2-octet (16 bits) pairs
of 8-bit storage index identifiers. Each pair specifies a sequential
range of adjacent ranges.
For instance:
01000000 00000000 00000100 = References items #0-#4 from
the dynamic cache.
(five distinct items total)
A range MAY span dynamic and static index values. Index values are
treated as unsigned byte values, so indices from the static cache are
numerically greater than dynamic cache values.. e.g.
01000000 01111111 10000001 = References item #127 from the
dynamic cache, and items #0
and #1 from the static cache.
Index Range Header Groups do not affect the stored compression state.
If a range references a header index that has not yet been allocated,
the deserialization MUST terminate with an error. This likely means
that the compression state has become out of sync and needs to be
reestablished.
3.4. Cloned Index Header Group
The serialization of the Cloned Index Header Group consists of the
Header Group Prefix and up to 32 Index+Value pairs. Each Index+Value
pair consists of a leading 8-bit storage index of an existing stored
header followed by a new serialized value. The serialization of the
value depends on the value type (see discussion of Value
serialization below).
The Cloned Header Group affects the stored compression state if, and
only if, the "ephemeral" flag in the Header Group Prefix is NOT set.
If the header group is not marked as being ephemeral, then the
specified value is stored in the next available storage index using
the key name from the referenced storage index.
For instance, assume the dynamic cache currently contains an item at
index #1 with key name "foo" and value "bar", the following causes a
new item to be added to the storage with key name "foo" and value
"baz":
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10000000 00000001 00000000 00000100
10111000 01001111 10110101 00100000
An explanation of the value syntax is given a bit later.
If a Cloned Header Group references a header index that has not yet
been allocated, the deserialization MUST terminate with an error.
This likely means that the compression state has become out of sync
and needs to be reestablished.
3.5. Literal Header Group
The serialization of the Literal Header Group consists of the Header
Group Prefix and up to 32 Name+Value pairs. Each Name+Value pair
consists of a length-prefixed sequence of ASCII bytes specifying the
Header Name followed by the serialized value. The header name length
prefix is encoded as a single unsigned 8-bit integer. The
serialization of the value depends on the value type. The value
length prefix is encoded as an unsigned variable length integer
(uvarint). The length prefix SHOULD NOT be longer than five octets
and SHOULD NOT specify a value larger than 0xFFFF.
The Literal Header Group affects the stored compression state if, and
only if, the "ephemeral" flag in the Header Group Prefix is NOT set.
If the header group is not marked as being ephemeral, then the
specified key name and value are stored in the next available storage
index.
For instance:
11000000 00000011 01100110 01101111
01101111 00000000 00000010 10111000
01000100 11010010
4. Header Values
Header Values can be one of four types, each identified by a three-
bit identifier:
o 000 -- UTF-8 Text
o 001 -- Numeric
o 010 -- Timetamp
o 011 -- Raw Binary Octets
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A single value can contain up to 32 discreet "value instances".
Each serialized value is preceded by an 8-bit Value Prefix.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... n
+---------+---------------+-----------+
| TYPE | COUNTER | VALUE(S) |
+---------+---------------+-----------+
TYPE:
The three most significant bits specify the value type.
COUNTER:
The remaining bits specify the number of discreet instances in the
value. 00000 indicates that one instance is included, 11111
indicates that 32 instances are included. The value MUST contain
at least one instance.
The remaining serialization depends entirely on the type.
4.1. UTF-8 Text Values
UTF-8 Text is encoded as a length-prefixed sequence of Huffman-
encoded UTF-8 octets. The length prefix is encoded as an unsigned
variable-length integer (Section 4.5) specifying the number of octets
after applying the Huffman-encoding.
One text value "foo":
00000000 00000011 10000100 11100111 10100100
Two text values "foo" and "bar":
00000001 00000011 10000100 11100111 10100100
00000011 10111000 01000100 11010010
4.2. Numeric Values
Numeric values are encoded as unsigned variable-length integers
(uvarint) (Section 4.5) of up to a maximum of 10-octets. Negative
values cannot be represented using this syntax.
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One numeric value "100"
00100000 01100100
One numeric value "1234"
00100000 11010010 00001001
Two numeric values "100" and "1234"
00100001 01100100 11010010 00001001
4.3. Timestamp Values
Timestamp values are encoded as unsigned variable-length integers
(Section 4.5) specifying the number of milliseconds that have passed
since the standard Epoch (1970-01-01T00:00:00 GMT). The syntax is
identical that used for Numeric Values. Dates prior to the epoch
cannot be represented using this syntax.
Representing timestamps in this manner ensures that timestamps will
always encode using six bytes up and until 2109-05-15T07:35:00 GMT,
then as seven bytes up to and until 19809-03-05T11:03:41 GMT.
A single timestamp value (1370729066123 milliseconds since the
epoch):
01000000 10001011 11011101 11000110 10101110 11110010 00100111
4.4. Raw Binary Octet Values
Binary values are encoded as a length prefixed sequence of arbitrary
octets. The length prefix is encoded as an unsigned variable length
integer.
A single binary value (0x55AA0F):
01100000 00000011 01010101 10101010 00001111
4.5. Unsigned Variable Length Integer Syntax
Unsigned variable length integers are serialized with the least-
significant bytes first in batches of 7-bits, with the most
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significant bit per byte reserved as a continuation bit. Values less
than or equal to 127 are serialized using at most one byte; values
less than or equal to 16383 are serialized using at most two bytes;
values less than or equal to 2097151 are serialized using at most
three bytes; and so on.
UVarInt Psuedocode:
def uvarint(num):
return [] if num = 0
ret = []
while(num != 0):
m = num >>> 7 ; unsigned shift left 7 bits
ret.push (byte)((num & ~0x80) | ( m > 0 ? 0x80 : 0x00 ));
num = m;
return ret;
The variable length encoding of the value 217 is:
11011001 00000001
The variable length encoding of the value 1386210052 is:
10000100 11000110 11111111 10010100 00000101
4.6. Huffman Coding
All UTF-8 text values are compressed using a modified static Huffman
code. "Modified" because the encoded version may contain compact-
representations of raw, arbitrary UTF-8 bytes that are not covered by
the static Huffman code table.
There are two Huffman tables in use, one for HTTP Requests and
another for HTTP Responses, each covers UTF-8 codepoints strictly
less than 128 as well the fifty possible UTF-8 leading octets.
The encoded result MUST end with a specific terminal sequence of bits
called the "HUFFMAN_EOF". Currently, the HUFFMAN_EOF is the same for
both the Request and Response tables, but that could change if the
tables are regenerated. Currently, the HUFFMAN_EOF sequence is
101001.
Codepoints >= 128 are handled by first taking the leading octet of
the UTF-8 representation and serializing its associated Huffman code
from the table to the output stream, then, depending on the octets
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value, serializing the six least significant bits from each of the
remaining trailing octets.
For instance, the UTF-8 character U+00D4 (LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH
CIRCUMFLEX), with UTF-8 representation of C394 (hex) is encoded as:
11000100 01010010 10010000
The first 8-bits represents the Huffman-table prefix, the six most
significant bytes of the second octet are taken directly from the six
least significant bits of the second UTF-8 byte (0x94). Following
those six bits are the six bits of the HUFFMAN_EOF 101001, followed
by four unset padding bits.
The number of raw UTF-8 bits to write depends on the value of the
leading octet. If the value is between 0xC2 and 0xDF (inclusive),
six bits from the second continuation byte is encoded. If the value
is between 0xE0 and 0xEF (inclusive), six bits from the second and
third continuation bytes are encoded. If the value is between 0xF0
and 0xF4 (inclusive), six bits from the second, third and fourth
continuation bytes are encoded. UTF-8 codepoints that require
greater than four bytes to encode cannot be represented.
5. Implementation Considerations
When implementing the Stored Header Encoding, it is important to note
that the compression state is managed in encounter order. This means
that the compressor must delay storing items in the compression state
until the order in which frames are to be serialized out to the
network has been determined. This is a potential performance
bottleneck that needs to be fully tested out to determine its impact.
6. Security Considerations
TBD
7. References
7.1. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
7.2. Informational References
[RFC6265] Barth, A., "HTTP State Management Mechanism", RFC 6265,
April 2011.
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Appendix A. Huffman Tables
Request Table
( 0) |11111111|11111111|11111111|0 [25] 1fffffe [25]
( 1) |11111111|11111111|11111111|1 [25] 1ffffff [25]
( 2) |11111111|11111111|11100000 [24] ffffe0 [24]
( 3) |11111111|11111111|11100001 [24] ffffe1 [24]
( 4) |11111111|11111111|11100010 [24] ffffe2 [24]
( 5) |11111111|11111111|11100011 [24] ffffe3 [24]
( 6) |11111111|11111111|11100100 [24] ffffe4 [24]
( 7) |11111111|11111111|11100101 [24] ffffe5 [24]
( 8) |11111111|11111111|11100110 [24] ffffe6 [24]
( 9) |11111111|11111111|11100111 [24] ffffe7 [24]
( 10) |11111111|11111111|11101000 [24] ffffe8 [24]
( 11) |11111111|11111111|11101001 [24] ffffe9 [24]
( 12) |11111111|11111111|11101010 [24] ffffea [24]
( 13) |11111111|11111111|11101011 [24] ffffeb [24]
( 14) |11111111|11111111|11101100 [24] ffffec [24]
( 15) |11111111|11111111|11101101 [24] ffffed [24]
( 16) |11111111|11111111|11101110 [24] ffffee [24]
( 17) |11111111|11111111|11101111 [24] ffffef [24]
( 18) |11111111|11111111|11110000 [24] fffff0 [24]
( 19) |11111111|11111111|11110001 [24] fffff1 [24]
( 20) |11111111|11111111|11110010 [24] fffff2 [24]
( 21) |11111111|11111111|11110011 [24] fffff3 [24]
( 22) |11111111|11111111|11110100 [24] fffff4 [24]
( 23) |11111111|11111111|11110101 [24] fffff5 [24]
( 24) |11111111|11111111|11110110 [24] fffff6 [24]
( 25) |11111111|11111111|11110111 [24] fffff7 [24]
( 26) |11111111|11111111|11111000 [24] fffff8 [24]
( 27) |11111111|11111111|11111001 [24] fffff9 [24]
( 28) |11111111|11111111|11111010 [24] fffffa [24]
( 29) |11111111|11111111|11111011 [24] fffffb [24]
( 30) |11111111|11111111|11111100 [24] fffffc [24]
( 31) |11111111|11111111|11111101 [24] fffffd [24]
' ' ( 32) |11111111|0110 [12] ff6 [12]
'!' ( 33) |11111111|0111 [12] ff7 [12]
'"' ( 34) |11111111|111010 [14] 3ffa [14]
'#' ( 35) |11111111|1111100 [15] 7ffc [15]
'$' ( 36) |11111111|1111101 [15] 7ffd [15]
'%' ( 37) |011000 [6] 18 [6]
'&' ( 38) |1010100 [7] 54 [7]
''' ( 39) |11111111|1111110 [15] 7ffe [15]
'(' ( 40) |11111111|1000 [12] ff8 [12]
')' ( 41) |11111111|1001 [12] ff9 [12]
'*' ( 42) |11111111|1010 [12] ffa [12]
'+' ( 43) |11111111|1011 [12] ffb [12]
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',' ( 44) |11111011|10 [10] 3ee [10]
'-' ( 45) |011001 [6] 19 [6]
'.' ( 46) |00010 [5] 2 [5]
'/' ( 47) |00011 [5] 3 [5]
'0' ( 48) |011010 [6] 1a [6]
'1' ( 49) |011011 [6] 1b [6]
'2' ( 50) |011100 [6] 1c [6]
'3' ( 51) |011101 [6] 1d [6]
'4' ( 52) |1010101 [7] 55 [7]
'5' ( 53) |1010110 [7] 56 [7]
'6' ( 54) |1010111 [7] 57 [7]
'7' ( 55) |1011000 [7] 58 [7]
'8' ( 56) |1011001 [7] 59 [7]
'9' ( 57) |1011010 [7] 5a [7]
':' ( 58) |011110 [6] 1e [6]
';' ( 59) |11111011|11 [10] 3ef [10]
'<' ( 60) |11111111|11111111|10 [18] 3fffe [18]
'=' ( 61) |011111 [6] 1f [6]
'>' ( 62) |11111111|11111110|0 [17] 1fffc [17]
'?' ( 63) |11110110|0 [9] 1ec [9]
'@' ( 64) |11111111|11100 [13] 1ffc [13]
'A' ( 65) |10111010 [8] ba [8]
'B' ( 66) |11110110|1 [9] 1ed [9]
'C' ( 67) |10111011 [8] bb [8]
'D' ( 68) |10111100 [8] bc [8]
'E' ( 69) |11110111|0 [9] 1ee [9]
'F' ( 70) |10111101 [8] bd [8]
'G' ( 71) |11111100|00 [10] 3f0 [10]
'H' ( 72) |11111100|01 [10] 3f1 [10]
'I' ( 73) |11110111|1 [9] 1ef [9]
'J' ( 74) |11111100|10 [10] 3f2 [10]
'K' ( 75) |11111111|010 [11] 7fa [11]
'L' ( 76) |11111100|11 [10] 3f3 [10]
'M' ( 77) |11111000|0 [9] 1f0 [9]
'N' ( 78) |11111101|00 [10] 3f4 [10]
'O' ( 79) |11111101|01 [10] 3f5 [10]
'P' ( 80) |11111000|1 [9] 1f1 [9]
'Q' ( 81) |11111101|10 [10] 3f6 [10]
'R' ( 82) |11111001|0 [9] 1f2 [9]
'S' ( 83) |11111001|1 [9] 1f3 [9]
'T' ( 84) |11111010|0 [9] 1f4 [9]
'U' ( 85) |11111101|11 [10] 3f7 [10]
'V' ( 86) |11111110|00 [10] 3f8 [10]
'W' ( 87) |11111110|01 [10] 3f9 [10]
'X' ( 88) |11111110|10 [10] 3fa [10]
'Y' ( 89) |11111110|11 [10] 3fb [10]
'Z' ( 90) |11111111|00 [10] 3fc [10]
'[' ( 91) |11111111|111011 [14] 3ffb [14]
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'\' ( 92) |11111111|11111111|11111110 [24] fffffe [24]
']' ( 93) |11111111|111100 [14] 3ffc [14]
'^' ( 94) |11111111|111101 [14] 3ffd [14]
'_' ( 95) |1011011 [7] 5b [7]
'`' ( 96) |11111111|11111111|110 [19] 7fffe [19]
'a' ( 97) |00100 [5] 4 [5]
'b' ( 98) |1011100 [7] 5c [7]
'c' ( 99) |00101 [5] 5 [5]
'd' (100) |100000 [6] 20 [6]
'e' (101) |0000 [4] 0 [4]
'f' (102) |100001 [6] 21 [6]
'g' (103) |100010 [6] 22 [6]
'h' (104) |100011 [6] 23 [6]
'i' (105) |00110 [5] 6 [5]
'j' (106) |10111110 [8] be [8]
'k' (107) |10111111 [8] bf [8]
'l' (108) |100100 [6] 24 [6]
'm' (109) |100101 [6] 25 [6]
'n' (110) |100110 [6] 26 [6]
'o' (111) |00111 [5] 7 [5]
'p' (112) |01000 [5] 8 [5]
'q' (113) |11111010|1 [9] 1f5 [9]
'r' (114) |01001 [5] 9 [5]
's' (115) |01010 [5] a [5]
't' (116) |01011 [5] b [5]
'u' (117) |100111 [6] 27 [6]
'v' (118) |11000000 [8] c0 [8]
'w' (119) |101000 [6] 28 [6]
'x' (120) |11000001 [8] c1 [8]
'y' (121) |11000010 [8] c2 [8]
'z' (122) |11111011|0 [9] 1f6 [9]
'{' (123) |11111111|11111110|1 [17] 1fffd [17]
'|' (124) |11111111|1100 [12] ffc [12]
'}' (125) |11111111|11111111|0 [17] 1fffe [17]
'~' (126) |11111111|1101 [12] ffd [12]
(127) |101001 [6] 29 [6]
(0xC2) |11000011 [8] c3 [8]
(0xC3) |11000100 [8] c4 [8]
(0xC4) |11000101 [8] c5 [8]
(0xC5) |11000110 [8] c6 [8]
(0xC6) |11000111 [8] c7 [8]
(0xC7) |11001000 [8] c8 [8]
(0xC8) |11001001 [8] c9 [8]
(0xC9) |11001010 [8] ca [8]
(0xCA) |11001011 [8] cb [8]
(0xCB) |11001100 [8] cc [8]
(0xCC) |11001101 [8] cd [8]
(0xCD) |11001110 [8] ce [8]
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(0xCE) |11001111 [8] cf [8]
(0xCF) |11010000 [8] d0 [8]
(0xD0) |11010001 [8] d1 [8]
(0xD1) |11010010 [8] d2 [8]
(0xD2) |11010011 [8] d3 [8]
(0xD3) |11010100 [8] d4 [8]
(0xD4) |11010101 [8] d5 [8]
(0xD5) |11010110 [8] d6 [8]
(0xD6) |11010111 [8] d7 [8]
(0xD7) |11011000 [8] d8 [8]
(0xD8) |11011001 [8] d9 [8]
(0xD9) |11011010 [8] da [8]
(0xDA) |11011011 [8] db [8]
(0xDB) |11011100 [8] dc [8]
(0xDC) |11011101 [8] dd [8]
(0xDD) |11011110 [8] de [8]
(0xDE) |11011111 [8] df [8]
(0xDF) |11100000 [8] e0 [8]
(0xE0) |11100001 [8] e1 [8]
(0xE1) |11100010 [8] e2 [8]
(0xE2) |11100011 [8] e3 [8]
(0xE3) |11100100 [8] e4 [8]
(0xE4) |11100101 [8] e5 [8]
(0xE5) |11100110 [8] e6 [8]
(0xE6) |11100111 [8] e7 [8]
(0xE7) |11101000 [8] e8 [8]
(0xE8) |11101001 [8] e9 [8]
(0xE9) |11101010 [8] ea [8]
(0xEA) |11101011 [8] eb [8]
(0xEB) |11101100 [8] ec [8]
(0xEC) |11101101 [8] ed [8]
(0xED) |11101110 [8] ee [8]
(0xEE) |11101111 [8] ef [8]
(0xEF) |11110000 [8] f0 [8]
(0xF0) |11110001 [8] f1 [8]
(0xF1) |11110010 [8] f2 [8]
(0xF2) |11110011 [8] f3 [8]
(0xF3) |11110100 [8] f4 [8]
(0xF4) |11110101 [8] f5 [8]
Response Table:
( 0) |11111111|11111111|11111111|0 [25] 1fffffe [25]
( 1) |11111111|11111111|11111111|1 [25] 1ffffff [25]
( 2) |11111111|11111111|11100000 [24] ffffe0 [24]
( 3) |11111111|11111111|11100001 [24] ffffe1 [24]
( 4) |11111111|11111111|11100010 [24] ffffe2 [24]
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( 5) |11111111|11111111|11100011 [24] ffffe3 [24]
( 6) |11111111|11111111|11100100 [24] ffffe4 [24]
( 7) |11111111|11111111|11100101 [24] ffffe5 [24]
( 8) |11111111|11111111|11100110 [24] ffffe6 [24]
( 9) |11111111|11111111|11100111 [24] ffffe7 [24]
( 10) |11111111|11111111|11101000 [24] ffffe8 [24]
( 11) |11111111|11111111|11101001 [24] ffffe9 [24]
( 12) |11111111|11111111|11101010 [24] ffffea [24]
( 13) |11111111|11111111|11101011 [24] ffffeb [24]
( 14) |11111111|11111111|11101100 [24] ffffec [24]
( 15) |11111111|11111111|11101101 [24] ffffed [24]
( 16) |11111111|11111111|11101110 [24] ffffee [24]
( 17) |11111111|11111111|11101111 [24] ffffef [24]
( 18) |11111111|11111111|11110000 [24] fffff0 [24]
( 19) |11111111|11111111|11110001 [24] fffff1 [24]
( 20) |11111111|11111111|11110010 [24] fffff2 [24]
( 21) |11111111|11111111|11110011 [24] fffff3 [24]
( 22) |11111111|11111111|11110100 [24] fffff4 [24]
( 23) |11111111|11111111|11110101 [24] fffff5 [24]
( 24) |11111111|11111111|11110110 [24] fffff6 [24]
( 25) |11111111|11111111|11110111 [24] fffff7 [24]
( 26) |11111111|11111111|11111000 [24] fffff8 [24]
( 27) |11111111|11111111|11111001 [24] fffff9 [24]
( 28) |11111111|11111111|11111010 [24] fffffa [24]
( 29) |11111111|11111111|11111011 [24] fffffb [24]
( 30) |11111111|11111111|11111100 [24] fffffc [24]
( 31) |11111111|11111111|11111101 [24] fffffd [24]
' ' ( 32) |11111111|0110 [12] ff6 [12]
'!' ( 33) |11111111|0111 [12] ff7 [12]
'"' ( 34) |11111111|111010 [14] 3ffa [14]
'#' ( 35) |11111111|1111100 [15] 7ffc [15]
'$' ( 36) |11111111|1111101 [15] 7ffd [15]
'%' ( 37) |011000 [6] 18 [6]
'&' ( 38) |1010100 [7] 54 [7]
''' ( 39) |11111111|1111110 [15] 7ffe [15]
'(' ( 40) |11111111|1000 [12] ff8 [12]
')' ( 41) |11111111|1001 [12] ff9 [12]
'*' ( 42) |11111111|1010 [12] ffa [12]
'+' ( 43) |11111111|1011 [12] ffb [12]
',' ( 44) |11111011|10 [10] 3ee [10]
'-' ( 45) |011001 [6] 19 [6]
'.' ( 46) |00010 [5] 2 [5]
'/' ( 47) |00011 [5] 3 [5]
'0' ( 48) |011010 [6] 1a [6]
'1' ( 49) |011011 [6] 1b [6]
'2' ( 50) |011100 [6] 1c [6]
'3' ( 51) |011101 [6] 1d [6]
'4' ( 52) |1010101 [7] 55 [7]
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'5' ( 53) |1010110 [7] 56 [7]
'6' ( 54) |1010111 [7] 57 [7]
'7' ( 55) |1011000 [7] 58 [7]
'8' ( 56) |1011001 [7] 59 [7]
'9' ( 57) |1011010 [7] 5a [7]
':' ( 58) |011110 [6] 1e [6]
';' ( 59) |11111011|11 [10] 3ef [10]
'<' ( 60) |11111111|11111111|10 [18] 3fffe [18]
'=' ( 61) |011111 [6] 1f [6]
'>' ( 62) |11111111|11111110|0 [17] 1fffc [17]
'?' ( 63) |11110110|0 [9] 1ec [9]
'@' ( 64) |11111111|11100 [13] 1ffc [13]
'A' ( 65) |10111010 [8] ba [8]
'B' ( 66) |11110110|1 [9] 1ed [9]
'C' ( 67) |10111011 [8] bb [8]
'D' ( 68) |10111100 [8] bc [8]
'E' ( 69) |11110111|0 [9] 1ee [9]
'F' ( 70) |10111101 [8] bd [8]
'G' ( 71) |11111100|00 [10] 3f0 [10]
'H' ( 72) |11111100|01 [10] 3f1 [10]
'I' ( 73) |11110111|1 [9] 1ef [9]
'J' ( 74) |11111100|10 [10] 3f2 [10]
'K' ( 75) |11111111|010 [11] 7fa [11]
'L' ( 76) |11111100|11 [10] 3f3 [10]
'M' ( 77) |11111000|0 [9] 1f0 [9]
'N' ( 78) |11111101|00 [10] 3f4 [10]
'O' ( 79) |11111101|01 [10] 3f5 [10]
'P' ( 80) |11111000|1 [9] 1f1 [9]
'Q' ( 81) |11111101|10 [10] 3f6 [10]
'R' ( 82) |11111001|0 [9] 1f2 [9]
'S' ( 83) |11111001|1 [9] 1f3 [9]
'T' ( 84) |11111010|0 [9] 1f4 [9]
'U' ( 85) |11111101|11 [10] 3f7 [10]
'V' ( 86) |11111110|00 [10] 3f8 [10]
'W' ( 87) |11111110|01 [10] 3f9 [10]
'X' ( 88) |11111110|10 [10] 3fa [10]
'Y' ( 89) |11111110|11 [10] 3fb [10]
'Z' ( 90) |11111111|00 [10] 3fc [10]
'[' ( 91) |11111111|111011 [14] 3ffb [14]
'\' ( 92) |11111111|11111111|11111110 [24] fffffe [24]
']' ( 93) |11111111|111100 [14] 3ffc [14]
'^' ( 94) |11111111|111101 [14] 3ffd [14]
'_' ( 95) |1011011 [7] 5b [7]
'`' ( 96) |11111111|11111111|110 [19] 7fffe [19]
'a' ( 97) |00100 [5] 4 [5]
'b' ( 98) |1011100 [7] 5c [7]
'c' ( 99) |00101 [5] 5 [5]
'd' (100) |100000 [6] 20 [6]
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'e' (101) |0000 [4] 0 [4]
'f' (102) |100001 [6] 21 [6]
'g' (103) |100010 [6] 22 [6]
'h' (104) |100011 [6] 23 [6]
'i' (105) |00110 [5] 6 [5]
'j' (106) |10111110 [8] be [8]
'k' (107) |10111111 [8] bf [8]
'l' (108) |100100 [6] 24 [6]
'm' (109) |100101 [6] 25 [6]
'n' (110) |100110 [6] 26 [6]
'o' (111) |00111 [5] 7 [5]
'p' (112) |01000 [5] 8 [5]
'q' (113) |11111010|1 [9] 1f5 [9]
'r' (114) |01001 [5] 9 [5]
's' (115) |01010 [5] a [5]
't' (116) |01011 [5] b [5]
'u' (117) |100111 [6] 27 [6]
'v' (118) |11000000 [8] c0 [8]
'w' (119) |101000 [6] 28 [6]
'x' (120) |11000001 [8] c1 [8]
'y' (121) |11000010 [8] c2 [8]
'z' (122) |11111011|0 [9] 1f6 [9]
'{' (123) |11111111|11111110|1 [17] 1fffd [17]
'|' (124) |11111111|1100 [12] ffc [12]
'}' (125) |11111111|11111111|0 [17] 1fffe [17]
'~' (126) |11111111|1101 [12] ffd [12]
(127) |101001 [6] 29 [6]
(0xC2) |11000011 [8] c3 [8]
(0xC3) |11000100 [8] c4 [8]
(0xC4) |11000101 [8] c5 [8]
(0xC5) |11000110 [8] c6 [8]
(0xC6) |11000111 [8] c7 [8]
(0xC7) |11001000 [8] c8 [8]
(0xC8) |11001001 [8] c9 [8]
(0xC9) |11001010 [8] ca [8]
(0xCA) |11001011 [8] cb [8]
(0xCB) |11001100 [8] cc [8]
(0xCC) |11001101 [8] cd [8]
(0xCD) |11001110 [8] ce [8]
(0xCE) |11001111 [8] cf [8]
(0xCF) |11010000 [8] d0 [8]
(0xD0) |11010001 [8] d1 [8]
(0xD1) |11010010 [8] d2 [8]
(0xD2) |11010011 [8] d3 [8]
(0xD3) |11010100 [8] d4 [8]
(0xD4) |11010101 [8] d5 [8]
(0xD5) |11010110 [8] d6 [8]
(0xD6) |11010111 [8] d7 [8]
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(0xD7) |11011000 [8] d8 [8]
(0xD8) |11011001 [8] d9 [8]
(0xD9) |11011010 [8] da [8]
(0xDA) |11011011 [8] db [8]
(0xDB) |11011100 [8] dc [8]
(0xDC) |11011101 [8] dd [8]
(0xDD) |11011110 [8] de [8]
(0xDE) |11011111 [8] df [8]
(0xDF) |11100000 [8] e0 [8]
(0xE0) |11100001 [8] e1 [8]
(0xE1) |11100010 [8] e2 [8]
(0xE2) |11100011 [8] e3 [8]
(0xE3) |11100100 [8] e4 [8]
(0xE4) |11100101 [8] e5 [8]
(0xE5) |11100110 [8] e6 [8]
(0xE6) |11100111 [8] e7 [8]
(0xE7) |11101000 [8] e8 [8]
(0xE8) |11101001 [8] e9 [8]
(0xE9) |11101010 [8] ea [8]
(0xEA) |11101011 [8] eb [8]
(0xEB) |11101100 [8] ec [8]
(0xEC) |11101101 [8] ed [8]
(0xED) |11101110 [8] ee [8]
(0xEE) |11101111 [8] ef [8]
(0xEF) |11110000 [8] f0 [8]
(0xF0) |11110001 [8] f1 [8]
(0xF1) |11110010 [8] f2 [8]
(0xF2) |11110011 [8] f3 [8]
(0xF3) |11110100 [8] f4 [8]
(0xF4) |11110101 [8] f5 [8]
Appendix B. Static Storage Cache
0x80 "date" = NIL
0x81 ":scheme" = "https"
0x82 ":scheme" = "http"
0x83 ":scheme" = "ftp"
0x84 ":method" = "get"
0x85 ":method" = "post"
0x86 ":method" = "put"
0x87 ":method" = "delete"
0x88 ":method" = "options"
0x89 ":method" = "patch"
0x8A ":method" = "connect"
0x8B ":path" = "/"
0x8C ":host" = NIL
0x8D "cookie" = NIL
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0x8E ":status" = NIL
0x8F ":status-text" = NIL
0x90 ":version" = NIL
0x91 "accept" = NIL
0x92 "accept-charset" = NIL
0x93 "accept-encoding" = NIL
0x94 "accept-language" = NIL
0x95 "accept-ranges" = NIL
0x96 "allow" = NIL
0x97 "authorization" = NIL
0x98 "cache-control" = NIL
0x99 "content-base" = NIL
0x9A "content-encoding" = NIL
0x9B "content-length" = NIL
0x9C "content-location" = NIL
0x9D "content-md5" = NIL
0x9E "content-range" = NIL
0x9F "content-type" = NIL
0xA0 "content-disposition" = NIL
0xA1 "content-language" = NIL
0xA2 "etag" = NIL
0xA3 "expect" = NIL
0xA4 "expires" = NIL
0xA5 "from" = NIL
0xA6 "if-match" = NIL
0xA7 "if-modified-since" = NIL
0xA8 "if-none-match" = NIL
0xA9 "if-range" = NIL
0xAA "if-unmodified-since" = NIL
0xAB "last-modified" = NIL
0xAC "location" = NIL
0xAD "max-forwards" = NIL
0xAE "origin" = NIL
0xAF "pragma" = NIL
0xB0 "proxy-authenticate" = NIL
0xB1 "proxy-authorization" = NIL
0xB2 "range" = NIL
0xB3 "referer" = NIL
0xB4 "retry-after" = NIL
0xB5 "server" = NIL
0xB6 "set-cookie" = NIL
0xB7 "status" = NIL
0xB8 "te" = NIL
0xB9 "trailer" = NIL
0xBA "transfer-encoding" = NIL
0xBB "upgrade" = NIL
0xBC "user-agent" = NIL
0xBD "vary" = NIL
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0xBE "via" = NIL
0xBF "warning" = NIL
0xC0 "www-authenticate" = NIL
0xC1 "access-control-allow-origin" = NIL
0xC2 "get-dictionary" = NIL
0xC3 "p3p" = NIL
0xC4 "link" = NIL
0xC5 "prefer" = NIL
0xC6 "preference-applied" = NIL
0xC7 "accept-patch" = NIL
0xC8 NIL
0xC9 NIL
0xCA NIL
0xCB NIL
0xCC NIL
0xCD NIL
0xCE NIL
0xCF NIL
0xD0 NIL
0xD1 NIL
0xD2 NIL
0xD3 NIL
0xD4 NIL
0xD5 NIL
0xD6 NIL
0xD7 NIL
0xD8 NIL
0xD9 NIL
0xDA NIL
0xDB NIL
0xDC NIL
0xDD NIL
0xDE NIL
0xDF NIL
0xE0 NIL
0xE1 NIL
0xE2 NIL
0xE3 NIL
0xE4 NIL
0xE5 NIL
0xE6 NIL
0xE7 NIL
0xE8 NIL
0xE9 NIL
0xEA NIL
0xEB NIL
0xEC NIL
0xED NIL
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0xEE NIL
0xEF NIL
0xF0 NIL
0xF1 NIL
0xF2 NIL
0xF3 NIL
0xF4 NIL
0xF5 NIL
0xF6 NIL
0xF7 NIL
0xF8 NIL
0xF9 NIL
0xFA NIL
0xFB NIL
0xFC NIL
0xFD NIL
0xFE NIL
0xFF NIL
Appendix C. Updated Standard Header Definitions
In order to properly deal with the backwards compatibility concerns
for HTTP/1, there are several important rules for use of Typed Codecs
in HTTP headers:
o All header fields MUST be explicitly defined to use the new header
types. All existing HTTP/1 header fields, then, will continue to
be represented as ISO-8859-1 Text unless their standard
definitions are updated. The HTTP/2 specification would update
the definition of specific known header fields (e.g. content-
length, date, if-modified-since, etc).
o Extension header fields that use the typed codecs will have
specific normative transformations to ISO-8859-1 defined.
* UTF-8 Text will be converted to ISO-8859-1 with extended
characters pct-encoded
* Numbers will be converted to their ASCII equivalent values.
* Date Times will be converted to their HTTP-Date equivalent
values.
* Binary fields will be Base64-encoded.
o There will be no normative transformation from ISO-8859-1 values
into the typed codecs. Implementations are free to apply
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transformation where those impls determine it is appropriate, but
it will be perfectly legal for an implementation to pass a text
value through even if it is known that a given header type has a
typed codec equivalent (for instance, Content-Length may come
through as a number or a text value, either will be valid). This
means that when translating from HTTP/1 -> HTTP/2, receiving
implementations need to be prepared to handle either value form.
A Note of warning: Individual header fields MAY be defined such that
they can be represented using multiple types. Numeric fields, for
instance, can be represented using either the uvarint encoding or
using the equivalent sequence of ASCII numbers. Implementers will
need to be capable of supporting each of the possible variations.
Designers of header field definitions need to be aware of the
additional complexity and possible issues that allowing for such
alternatives can introduce for implementers.
Based on an initial survey of header fields currently defined by the
HTTPbis specification documents, the following header field
definitions can be updated to make use of the new types
+---------------------+---------------+-----------------------------+
| Field | Type | Description |
+---------------------+---------------+-----------------------------+
| content-length | Numeric or | Can be represented as |
| | Text | either an unsigned, |
| | | variable-length integer or |
| | | a sequence of ASCII |
| | | numbers. |
| date | Timestamp or | Can be represented as |
| | Text | either a uvarint encoded |
| | | timestamp or as text (HTTP- |
| | | date). |
| max-forwards | Numeric or | Can be represented as |
| | Text | either an unsigned, |
| | | variable-length integer or |
| | | a sequence of ASCII |
| | | numbers. |
| retry-after | Timestamp, | Can be represented as |
| | Numeric or | either a uvarint encoded |
| | Text | timestamp, an unsigned, |
| | | variable-length integer, or |
| | | the text equivalents of |
| | | either (HTTP-date or |
| | | sequence of ASCII numbers) |
| if-modified-since | Timestamp or | Can be represented as |
| | Text | either a uvarint encoded |
| | | timestamp or as text (HTTP- |
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| | | date). |
| if-unmodified-since | Timestamp or | Can be represented as |
| | Text | either a uvarint encoded |
| | | timestamp or as text (HTTP- |
| | | date). |
| last-modified | Timestamp or | Can be represented as |
| | Text | either a uvarint encoded |
| | | timestamp or as text (HTTP- |
| | | date). |
| age | Numeric or | Can be represented as |
| | Text | either an unsigned, |
| | | variable-length integer or |
| | | a sequence of ASCII |
| | | numbers. |
| expires | Timestamp or | Can be represented as |
| | Text | either a uvarint encoded |
| | | timestamp or as text (HTTP- |
| | | date). |
| etag | Binary or | Can be represented as |
| | Text | either a sequence of binary |
| | | octets or using the |
| | | currently defined text |
| | | format. When represented as |
| | | binary octets, the Entity |
| | | Tag MUST be considered to |
| | | be a Strong Entity tag. |
| | | Weak Entity Tags cannot be |
| | | represented using the |
| | | binary octet option. |
+---------------------+---------------+-----------------------------+
Appendix D. Alternative Timestamp encodings
This specification currently uses the number of milliseconds from the
UNIX Epoch to represent timestamps. This 64-bit number is encoded
using the same uvarint encoding as Numeric fields. This means that
the timestamp is encoded using a variable width that, right now (for
about the next 100 years or so), will encode in six bytes, then seven
bytes for the reasonable future.
One possible alternative approach we can take is similar to NTP's
handling of Era's. We can take the current timestamp and generate an
Era value, with a maximum of 255 (0xFF). This is used as a
multiplier for the timestamp value. The two values are calculated
using the following formula:
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m = 4294967296000
now = milliseconds since UNIX Epoch
era = now / m
ts = now % m
The allowable values for "era" would be capped at 255. This value is
encoded as a single byte, followed by a uvarint encoding of ts. This
ensures that the timestamp will never be encoded using more than
7-bytes total, though it may be encoded in as few as two bytes on
extremely rare occasions (specifically, immediately following each
era rollover).
Wire Syntax:
era = %x00-FF
ts = uvarint
date-time = era ts
To convert back to the Epoch, the formula is equally simple:
now = era * m + ts
The largest date we can encode using this format is
"36812-02-20T00:36:15.999Z". Dates prior to the epoch cannot be
represented.
The significant drawback with this approach is that current dates
would encode in 7-bytes until the next era rollover, which will occur
at approximately 2106-02-07T06:28:15.999Z (give or take a few leap
seconds thrown in here and there).
Note: The byte lengths assume we want millisecond precision. If we
opted to keep the second precision currently in HTTP/1, then this
alternative encoding ensures that our timestamps never exceed six-
bytes in length.
Appendix E. Alternative uvarint encodings
The uvarint encoding currently specified by this specification is
certainly not the only possible option we can use. I chose it simply
because it is drop dead simple to implement. There are quite a few
other approaches we can take, each of which can be used as drop-in
replacements for the current approach. Below are just a couple
alternatives. There are plenty others. We just need to pick the one
that we feel will work the best.
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It ought to be noted that while each of these schemes vary in details
such as endianess, specific wire-format, etc, each will typically
encode the same numbers using the same number of bytes with
variations of only a single byte only in the edge cases. Processing
time for each is also equivalent when dealing with any number less or
equal to 64-bits in length. This means that the choice is largely a
matter of style than substance.
E.1. Option 1:
With this option, leading bits are used to indicate the total number
of bytes used to encode the number value, with no fixed upper limit.
Values strictly less than 128 are encoded using a single byte.
0 xxxxxxx
10 xxxxxx OCTET
110 xxxxx 2OCTET
1110 xxxx 3OCTET
11110 xxx 4OCTET
111110 xx 5OCTET
1111110 x 6OCTET
11111110 7OCTET
11111111 0xxxxxxx 7OCTET
11111111 10xxxxxx 8OCTET
...
The number of leading 1 bits specify the number of additional bytes
used to serialize the value. A single 0 bit is used to mark the end
of this prefix, the remaining bits are used to encode the minimum
bits necessary to encode the value (with appropriate leading 0 bits
to ensure proper byte-alignment).
For instance, the integer value 500, which is represented in binary
as 00000001 11110100, can be encoded using two bytes, 10000001
11110100
The integer value 9770098, which is represented in binary as 10010101
00010100 01110010, can be encoded using four bytes: 11100000 10010101
00010100 01110010
E.2. Option 2:
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This option is generally identical to the previous with the exception
of being capped at a maximum of nine encoded octets total. Rather
than growing indefinitely, the encoded value must never require more
then eight continuation bytes to encode. Because of this
restriction, there is no need for a trailing 0-bit spilling over past
the first leading byte.
0 xxxxxxx
10 xxxxxx OCTET
110 xxxxx 2OCTET
1110 xxxx 3OCTET
11110 xxx 4OCTET
111110 xx 5OCTET
1111110 x 6OCTET
11111110 7OCTET
11111111 8OCTET
...
The number of leading 1 bits specify the number of additional bytes
used to serialize the value. If the number of bytes required is less
than 8, a single 0 bit is used to mark the end of this prefix, the
remaining bits are used to encode the minimum bits necessary to
encode the value (with appropriate leading 0 bits to ensure proper
byte-alignment).
For instance, the integer value 500, which is represented in binary
as 00000001 11110100, can be encoded using two bytes, 10000001
11110100
The integer value 9770098, which is represented in binary as 10010101
00010100 01110010, can be encoded using four bytes: 11100000 10010101
00010100 01110010
This format is not capable of encoding any number requiring more than
64-bits.
Author's Address
James M Snell
Email: jasnell@gmail.com
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