Internet Protocol
RFC 791
Document | Type |
RFC - Internet Standard
(September 1981; Errata)
Obsoletes RFC 760
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Authors | |||
Last updated | 2020-07-29 | ||
Stream | Legacy | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized with errata bibtex | ||
Stream | Legacy state | (None) | |
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
RFC Editor Note | (None) | ||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 791 (Internet Standard) | |
Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | (None) | ||
Send notices to | (None) |
RFC: 791 INTERNET PROTOCOL DARPA INTERNET PROGRAM PROTOCOL SPECIFICATION September 1981 prepared for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Information Processing Techniques Office 1400 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22209 by Information Sciences Institute University of Southern California 4676 Admiralty Way Marina del Rey, California 90291 September 1981 Internet Protocol TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ........................................................ iii 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................... 1 1.1 Motivation .................................................... 1 1.2 Scope ......................................................... 1 1.3 Interfaces .................................................... 1 1.4 Operation ..................................................... 2 2. OVERVIEW ......................................................... 5 2.1 Relation to Other Protocols ................................... 9 2.2 Model of Operation ............................................ 5 2.3 Function Description .......................................... 7 2.4 Gateways ...................................................... 9 3. SPECIFICATION ................................................... 11 3.1 Internet Header Format ....................................... 11 3.2 Discussion ................................................... 23 3.3 Interfaces ................................................... 31 APPENDIX A: Examples & Scenarios ................................... 34 APPENDIX B: Data Transmission Order ................................ 39 GLOSSARY ............................................................ 41 REFERENCES .......................................................... 45 [Page i] September 1981 Internet Protocol [Page ii] September 1981 Internet Protocol PREFACE This document specifies the DoD Standard Internet Protocol. This document is based on six earlier editions of the ARPA Internet Protocol Specification, and the present text draws heavily from them. There have been many contributors to this work both in terms of concepts and in terms of text. This edition revises aspects of addressing, error handling, option codes, and the security, precedence, compartments, and handling restriction features of the internet protocol. Jon Postel Editor [Page iii] September 1981 RFC: 791 Replaces: RFC 760 IENs 128, 123, 111, 80, 54, 44, 41, 28, 26 INTERNET PROTOCOL DARPA INTERNET PROGRAM PROTOCOL SPECIFICATION 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Motivation The Internet Protocol is designed for use in interconnected systems of packet-switched computer communication networks. Such a system has been called a "catenet" [1]. The internet protocol provides for transmitting blocks of data called datagrams from sources to destinations, where sources and destinations are hosts identified by fixed length addresses. The internet protocol also provides for fragmentation and reassembly of long datagrams, if necessary, for transmission through "small packet" networks. 1.2. Scope The internet protocol is specifically limited in scope to provide the functions necessary to deliver a package of bits (an internetShow full document text