path: root/doc/rfc/rfc5219.txt

Network Working Group                                       R. Finlayson
Request for Comments: 5219                           Live Networks, Inc.
Obsoletes: 3119                                            February 2008
Category: Standard Track


         A More Loss-Tolerant RTP Payload Format for MP3 Audio

Status of This Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   This document describes an RTP (Real-Time Protocol) payload format
   for transporting MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 1 or 2, layer
   III audio (commonly known as "MP3").  This format is an alternative
   to that described in RFC 2250, and performs better if there is packet
   loss.  This document obsoletes RFC 3119, correcting typographical
   errors in the "SDP usage" section and pseudo-code appendices.



























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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
   2. Terminology .....................................................3
   3. The Structure of MP3 Frames .....................................3
   4. A New Payload Format ............................................4
      4.1. ADU Frames .................................................4
      4.2. ADU Descriptors ............................................4
      4.3. Packing Rules ..............................................5
      4.4. RTP Header Fields ..........................................6
      4.5. Handling Received Data .....................................6
   5. Handling Multiple MPEG Audio Layers .............................6
   6. Frame Packetizing and Depacketizing .............................7
   7. ADU Frame Interleaving ..........................................8
   8. IANA Considerations ............................................10
   9. SDP Usage ......................................................11
   10. Security Considerations .......................................11
   11. Acknowledgements ..............................................11
   12. Normative References ..........................................12
   Appendix A. Translating between "MP3 Frames" and "ADU Frames" .....13
      A.1. Converting a Sequence of "MP3 Frames"
           to a Sequence of "ADU Frames" .............................14
      A.2. Converting a Sequence of "ADU Frames"
           to a Sequence of "MP3 Frames" .............................15
   Appendix B. Interleaving and Deinterleaving .......................18
      B.1. Interleaving a Sequence of "ADU Frames" ...................18
      B.2. Deinterleaving a Sequence of (Interleaved) "ADU Frames" ...19
   Appendix C. Changes from RFC 3119 .................................20

1.  Introduction

   While the RTP payload format defined in RFC 2250 [1] is generally
   applicable to all forms of MPEG audio or video, it is sub-optimal for
   MPEG-1 or 2, layer III audio (commonly known as "MP3").  The reason
   for this is that an MP3 frame is not a true "Application Data Unit"
   -- it contains a back-pointer to data in earlier frames, and so
   cannot be decoded independently of these earlier frames.  Because RFC
   2250 defines that packet boundaries coincide with frame boundaries,
   it handles packet loss inefficiently when carrying MP3 data.  The
   loss of an MP3 frame will render some data in previous (or future)
   frames useless, even if they are received without loss.

   In this document, we define an alternative RTP payload format for MP3
   audio.  This format uses a data-preserving rearrangement of the
   original MPEG frames, so that packet boundaries now coincide with
   true MP3 "Application Data Units", which can also (optionally) be
   rearranged in an interleaving pattern.  This new format is therefore
   more data efficient than RFC 2250 in the face of packet loss.



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2.  Terminology

   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.  The Structure of MP3 Frames

   In this section we give a brief overview of the structure of an MP3
   frame.  (For a more detailed description, see the MPEG-1 audio [3]
   and MPEG-2 audio [4] specifications.)

   Each MPEG audio frame begins with a 4-byte header.  Information
   defined by this header includes:

   -  Whether the audio is MPEG-1 or MPEG-2.
   -  Whether the audio is layer I, II, or III.  (The remainder of this
      document assumes layer III, i.e., "MP3" frames.)
   -  Whether the audio is mono or stereo.
   -  Whether or not there is a 2-byte CRC field following the header.
   -  (indirectly) The size of the frame.

   The following structures appear after the header:

   -  (optionally) A 2-byte Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) field
   -  A "side info" structure.  This has the following length:
      -  32 bytes for MPEG-1 stereo
      -  17 bytes for MPEG-1 mono, or for MPEG-2 stereo
      -  9 bytes for MPEG-2 mono
   -  Encoded audio data, plus optional ancillary data (filling out the
      rest of the frame)

   For the purpose of this document, the "side info" structure is the
   most important, because it defines the location and size of the
   "Application Data Unit" (ADU) that an MP3 decoder will process.  In
   particular, the "side info" structure defines:

   -  "main_data_begin": This is a back-pointer (in bytes) to the start
      of the ADU.  The back-pointer is counted from the beginning of the
      frame, and counts only encoded audio data and any ancillary data
      (i.e., ignoring any header, CRC, or "side info" fields).

   An MP3 decoder processes each ADU independently.  The ADUs will
   generally vary in length, but their average length will, of course,







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   be that of the of the MP3 frames (minus the length of the header,
   CRC, and "side info" fields).  (In MPEG literature, this ADU is
   sometimes referred to as a "bit reservoir".)

4.  A New Payload Format

   As noted in [5], a payload format should be designed so that packet
   boundaries coincide with "codec frame boundaries" -- i.e., with ADUs.
   In the RFC 2250 payload format for MPEG audio [1], each RTP packet
   payload contains MP3 frames.  In this new payload format for MP3
   audio, however, each RTP packet payload contains "ADU frames", each
   preceded by an "ADU descriptor".

4.1.  ADU Frames

   An "ADU frame" is defined as:

      -  The 4-byte MPEG header (the same as the original MP3 frame,
         except that the first 11 bits are (optionally) replaced by an
         "Interleaving Sequence Number", as described in Section 7
         below)
      -  The optional 2-byte CRC field (the same as the original MP3
         frame)
      -  The "side info" structure (the same as the original MP3 frame)
      -  The complete sequence of encoded audio data (and any ancillary
         data) for the ADU (i.e., running from the start of this MP3
         frame's "main_data_begin" back-pointer, up to the start of the
         next MP3 frame's back-pointer)

   Note that there is a one-to-one mapping between MP3 frames and ADU
   frames.  Because MP3 frames are self-describing, with the bitrate
   (and sampling frequency) encoded within the 4-byte MPEG header, the
   same is true for ADU frames.  Therefore, as with MP3 streams, the
   bitrate can change within a stream and may be used for congestion
   control.

4.2.  ADU Descriptors

   Within each RTP packet payload, each "ADU frame" is preceded by a
   1- or 2-byte "ADU descriptor", which gives the size of the ADU and
   indicates whether or not this packet's data is a continuation of the
   previous packet's data.  (This occurs only when a single "ADU
   descriptor" + "ADU frame" is too large to fit within an RTP packet.)








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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


   An ADU descriptor consists of the following fields:

   -  "C": Continuation flag (1 bit):  1, if the data following the ADU
           descriptor is a continuation of an ADU frame that was too
           large to fit within a single RTP packet; 0 otherwise.

   -  "T": Descriptor Type flag (1 bit):
           0 if this is a 1-byte ADU descriptor;
           1 if this is a 2-byte ADU descriptor.

   -  "ADU size" (6 or 14 bits):  The size (in bytes) of the ADU frame
           that will follow this ADU descriptor (i.e., NOT including the
           size of the descriptor itself).  A 2-byte ADU descriptor
           (with a 14-bit "ADU size" field) is used for ADU frame sizes
           of 64 bytes or more.  For smaller ADU frame sizes, senders
           MAY alternatively use a 1-byte ADU descriptor (with a 6-bit
           "ADU size" field).  Receivers MUST be able to accept an ADU
           descriptor of either size.

   Thus, a 1-byte ADU descriptor is formatted as follows:

          0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
         |C|0|  ADU size |
         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   and a 2-byte ADU descriptor is formatted as follows:

          0                   1
          0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
         |C|1|     ADU size (14 bits)    |
         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

4.3.  Packing Rules

   Each RTP packet payload begins with an "ADU descriptor", followed by
   "ADU frame" data.  Normally, this "ADU descriptor" + "ADU frame" will
   fit completely within the RTP packet.  In this case, more than one
   successive "ADU descriptor" + "ADU frame" MAY be packed into a single
   RTP packet, provided that they all fit completely.

   If, however, a single "ADU descriptor" + "ADU frame" is too large to
   fit within an RTP packet, then the "ADU frame" is split across two or
   more successive RTP packets.  Each such packet begins with an ADU
   descriptor.  The first packet's descriptor has a "C" (continuation)
   flag of 0; the following packets' descriptors each have a "C" flag of
   1.  Each descriptor, in this case, has the same "ADU size" value: the



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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


   size of the entire "ADU frame" (not just the portion that will fit
   within a single RTP packet).  Each such packet (even the last one)
   contains only one "ADU descriptor".

4.4.  RTP Header Fields

   Payload Type: The (static) payload type 14 that was defined for
      MPEG audio [6] MUST NOT be used.  Instead, a different, dynamic
      payload type MUST be used -- i.e., one within the range [96..127].

   M bit: This payload format defines no use for this bit.  Senders
      SHOULD set this bit to zero in each outgoing packet.

   Timestamp: This is a 32-bit, 90 kHz timestamp, representing the
      presentation time of the first ADU packed within the packet.

4.5.  Handling Received Data

   Note that no information is lost by converting a sequence of MP3
   frames to a corresponding sequence of "ADU frames", so a receiving
   RTP implementation can either feed the ADU frames directly to an
   appropriately modified MP3 decoder, or convert them back into a
   sequence of MP3 frames, as described in Appendix A.2 below.

5.  Handling Multiple MPEG Audio Layers

   The RTP payload format described here is intended only for MPEG-1 or
   2, layer III audio ("MP3").  In contrast, layer I and layer II frames
   are self-contained, without a back-pointer to earlier frames.
   However, it is possible (although unusual) for a sequence of audio
   frames to consist of a mixture of layer III frames, and layer I or II
   frames.  When such a sequence is transmitted, only layer III frames
   are converted to ADUs; layer I or II frames are sent 'as is' (except
   for the prepending of an "ADU descriptor").  Similarly, the receiver
   of a sequence of frames -- using this payload format -- leaves layer
   I and II frames untouched (after removing the prepended "ADU
   descriptor"), but converts layer III frames from "ADU frames" to
   regular MP3 frames.  (Recall that each frame's layer is identified
   from its 4-byte MPEG header.)

   If you are transmitting a stream consisting *only* of layer I or
   layer II frames (i.e., without any MP3 data), then there is no
   benefit to using this payload format, *unless* you are using the
   interleaving mechanism described in Section 7 below.







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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


6.  Frame Packetizing and Depacketizing

   The transmission of a sequence of MP3 frames takes the following
   steps:

         MP3 frames
                 -1-> ADU frames
                     -2-> interleaved ADU frames
                           -3-> RTP packets

   Step 1 is the conversion of a sequence of MP3 frames to a
   corresponding sequence of ADU frames, and takes place as described in
   Sections 3 and 4.1 above.  (Note also the pseudo-code in Appendix
   A.1.)

   Step 2 is the reordering of the sequence of ADU frames in an
   (optional) interleaving pattern, prior to packetization, as described
   in section 7 below.  (Note also the pseudo-code in Appendix B.1.)
   Interleaving helps reduce the effect of packet loss by distributing
   consecutive ADU frames over non-consecutive packets.  (Note that
   because of the back-pointer in MP3 frames, interleaving can be
   applied -- in general -- only to ADU frames.  Thus, interleaving was
   not possible for RFC 2250.)

   Step 3 is the packetizing of a sequence of (interleaved) ADU frames
   into RTP packets -- as described in section 4.3 above.  Each packet's
   RTP timestamp is the presentation time of the first ADU that is
   packed within it.  Note that if interleaving was done in step 2, the
   RTP timestamps on outgoing packets will not necessarily be
   monotonically nondecreasing.

   Similarly, a sequence of received RTP packets is handled as follows:

         RTP packets
               -4-> RTP packets ordered by RTP sequence number
                     -5-> interleaved ADU frames
                           -6-> ADU frames
                                 -7-> MP3 frames

   Step 4 is the usual sorting of incoming RTP packets using the RTP
   sequence number.

   Step 5 is the depacketizing of ADU frames from RTP packets -- i.e.,
   the reverse of step 3.  As part of this process, a receiver uses the
   "C" (continuation) flag in the ADU descriptor to notice when an ADU
   frame is split over more than one packet (and to discard the ADU
   frame entirely if one of these packets is lost).




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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


   Step 6 is the rearranging of the sequence of ADU frames back to its
   original order (except for ADU frames missing due to packet loss), as
   described in Section 7 below.  (Note also the pseudo-code in Appendix
   B.2.)

   Step 7 is the conversion of the sequence of ADU frames into a
   corresponding sequence of MP3 frames -- i.e., the reverse of step 1.
   (Note also the pseudo-code in Appendix A.2.)  With an appropriately
   modified MP3 decoder, an implementation may omit this step; instead,
   it could feed ADU frames directly to the (modified) MP3 decoder.

7.  ADU Frame Interleaving

   In MPEG audio frames (MPEG-1 or 2; all layers), the high-order 11
   bits of the 4-byte MPEG header ('syncword') are always all-one (i.e.,
   0xFFE).  When reordering a sequence of ADU frames for transmission,
   we reuse these 11 bits as an "Interleaving Sequence Number" (ISN).
   (Upon reception, they are replaced with 0xFFE once again.)

   The structure of the ISN is (a,b), where:

         - a == bits 0-7:      8-bit Interleave Index (within Cycle)
         - b == bits 8-10:     3-bit Interleave Cycle Count

   That is, the 4-byte MPEG header is reused as follows:

     0                   1                   2                   3
     0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |Interleave Idx |CycCt|   The rest of the original MPEG header  |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Example: Consider the following interleave cycle (of size 8):

            1,3,5,7,0,2,4,6

   (This particular pattern has the property that any loss of up to four
   consecutive ADUs in the interleaved stream will lead to a
   deinterleaved stream with no gaps greater than one.)  This produces
   the following sequence of ISNs:

   (1,0) (3,0) (5,0) (7,0) (0,0) (2,0) (4,0) (6,0) (1,1) (3,1) (5,1)
   etc.








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   So, in this example, a sequence of ADU frames

   f0 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 (etc.)

   would get reordered, in step 2, into:

   (1,0)f1 (3,0)f3 (5,0)f5 (7,0)f7 (0,0)f0 (2,0)f2 (4,0)f4 (6,0)f6
   (1,1)f9 (3,1)f11 (5,1)f13 (etc.)

   and the reverse reordering (along with replacement of the 0xFFE)
   would occur upon reception.

   The reason for breaking the ISN into "Interleave Cycle Count" and
   "Interleave Index" (rather than just treating it as a single 11-bit
   counter) is to give receivers a way of knowing when an ADU frame
   should be 'released' to the ADU->MP3 conversion process (step 7
   above), rather than waiting for more interleaved ADU frames to
   arrive.  For instance, in the example above, when the receiver sees a
   frame with ISN (<something>,1), it knows that it can release all
   previously seen frames with ISN (<something>,0), even if some other
   (<something>,0) frames remain missing due to packet loss.  An 8-bit
   Interleave Index allows interleave cycles of size up to 256.

   The choice of an interleaving order can be made independently of RTP
   packetization.  Thus, a simple implementation could choose an
   interleaving order first, reorder the ADU frames accordingly (step
   2), then simply pack them sequentially into RTP packets (step 3).
   However, the size of ADU frames -- and thus the number of ADU frames
   that will fit in each RTP packet -- will typically vary in size, so a
   more optimal implementation would combine steps 2 and 3, by choosing
   an interleaving order that better reflected the number of ADU frames
   packed within each RTP packet.

   Each receiving implementation of this payload format MUST recognize
   the ISN and be able to perform deinterleaving of incoming ADU frames
   (step 6).  However, a sending implementation of this payload format
   MAY choose not to perform interleaving -- i.e., by omitting step 2.
   In this case, the high-order 11 bits in each 4-byte MPEG header would
   remain at 0xFFE.  Receiving implementations would thus see a sequence
   of identical ISNs (all 0xFFE).  They would handle this in the same
   way as if the Interleave Cycle Count changed with each ADU frame, by
   simply releasing the sequence of incoming ADU frames sequentially to
   the ADU->MP3 conversion process (step 7), without reordering.  (Note
   also the pseudo-code in Appendix B.2.)







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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


8.  IANA Considerations

   Media type name: audio

   Media subtype: mpa-robust

   Required parameters: none

   Optional parameters: none

   Encoding considerations:
         This type is defined only for transfer via RTP, as specified in
         RFC 5219.

      Security considerations:
         See the "Security Considerations" section of RFC 5219.

      Interoperability considerations:
         This encoding is incompatible with both the "audio/mpa" and
         "audio/mpeg" media types.

      Published specification:
         The ISO/IEC MPEG-1 [3] and MPEG-2 [4] audio specifications, and
         RFC 5219.

      Applications that use this media type:
         Audio streaming tools (transmitting and receiving)

      Additional information: none

      Person & email address to contact for further information:
         Ross Finlayson
         finlayson@live555.com

      Intended usage: COMMON

      Author/Change controller:
         Author: Ross Finlayson
         Change controller: IETF AVT Working Group












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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


9.  SDP Usage

   When conveying information by SDP [7], the encoding name SHALL be
   "mpa-robust" (the same as the media subtype).  An example of the
   media representation in SDP is:

         m=audio 49000 RTP/AVP 121
         a=rtpmap:121 mpa-robust/90000

   Note that the RTP timestamp frequency MUST be 90000.

10.  Security Considerations

   If a session using this payload format is being encrypted, and
   interleaving is being used, then the sender SHOULD ensure that any
   change of encryption key coincides with a start of a new interleave
   cycle.  Apart from this, the security considerations for this payload
   format are identical to those noted for RFC 2250 [1].

11.  Acknowledgements

   The suggestion of adding an interleaving option (using the first bits
   of the MPEG 'syncword' -- which would otherwise be all-ones -- as an
   interleaving index) is due to Dave Singer and Stefan Gewinner.  In
   addition, Dave Singer provided valuable feedback that helped clarify

   and improve the description of this payload format.  Feedback from
   Chris Sloan led to the addition of an "ADU descriptor" preceding each
   ADU frame in the RTP packet.






















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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


12. Normative References

   [1] Hoffman, D., Fernando, G., Goyal, V., and M. Civanlar, "RTP
       Payload Format for MPEG1/MPEG2 Video", RFC 2250, January 1998.

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

   [3] ISO/IEC International Standard 11172-3; "Coding of moving
       pictures and associated audio for digital storage media up to
       about 1,5 Mbits/s -- Part 3: Audio", 1993.

   [4] ISO/IEC International Standard 13818-3; "Generic coding of moving
       pictures and associated audio information -- Part 3: Audio",
       1998.

   [5] Handley, M. and C. Perkins, "Guidelines for Writers of RTP
       Payload Format Specifications", BCP 36, RFC 2736, December 1999.

   [6] Schulzrinne, H. and S. Casner, "RTP Profile for Audio and Video
       Conferences with Minimal Control", STD 65, RFC 3551, July 2003.

   [7] Handley, M., Jacobson, V., and C. Perkins, "SDP: Session
       Description Protocol", RFC 4566, July 2006.



























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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


Appendix A.  Translating between "MP3 Frames" and "ADU Frames"

   The following 'pseudo code' describes how a sender using this payload
   format can translate a sequence of regular "MP3 Frames" to "ADU
   Frames", and how a receiver can perform the reverse translation: from
   "ADU Frames" to "MP3 Frames".

   We first define the following abstract data structures:

   -  "Segment": A record that represents either a "MP3 Frame" or an
      "ADU Frame".  It consists of the following fields:
      -  "header": the 4-byte MPEG header
      -  "headerSize": a constant (== 4)
      -  "sideInfo": the 'side info' structure, *including* the optional
         2-byte CRC field, if present
      -  "sideInfoSize": the size (in bytes) of the above structure
      -  "frameData": the remaining data in this frame
      -  "frameDataSize": the size (in bytes) of the above data
      -  "backpointer": the value (expressed in bytes) of the
         backpointer for this frame
      -  "aduDataSize": the size (in bytes) of the ADU associated with
         this frame.  (If the frame is already an "ADU Frame", then
         aduDataSize == frameDataSize)
      -  "mp3FrameSize": the total size (in bytes) that this frame would
         have if it were a regular "MP3 Frame".  (If it is already a
         "MP3 Frame", then mp3FrameSize == headerSize + sideInfoSize +
         frameDataSize) Note that this size can be derived completely
         from "header".

   -  "SegmentQueue": A FIFO queue of "Segments", with operations
      -  void enqueue(Segment)
      -  Segment dequeue()
      -  Boolean isEmpty()
      -  Segment head()
      -  Segment tail()
      -  Segment previous(Segment):  returns the segment prior to a
         given one
      -  Segment next(Segment): returns the segment after a given one
      -  unsigned totalDataSize(): returns the sum of the
         "frameDataSize" fields of each entry in the queue











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A.1.  Converting a Sequence of "MP3 Frames" to a Sequence of
      "ADU Frames"

   SegmentQueue pendingMP3Frames; // initially empty
   while (1) {
            // Enqueue new MP3 Frames, until we have enough data to
            // generate the ADU for a frame:
            do {
                    int totalDataSizeBefore
                            = pendingMP3Frames.totalDataSize();

                    Segment newFrame = 'the next MP3 Frame';
                    pendingMP3Frames.enqueue(newFrame);

                    int totalDataSizeAfter
                            = pendingMP3Frames.totalDataSize();
            } while (totalDataSizeBefore < newFrame.backpointer ||
                      totalDataSizeAfter < newFrame.aduDataSize);

            // We now have enough data to generate the ADU for the most
            // recently enqueued frame (i.e., the tail of the queue).
            // (The earlier frames in the queue -- if any -- must be
            // discarded, as we don't have enough data to generate
            // their ADUs.)
            Segment tailFrame = pendingMP3Frames.tail();

            // Output the header and side info:
            output(tailFrame.header);
            output(tailFrame.sideInfo);

            // Go back to the frame that contains the start of our
            // ADU data:
            int offset = 0;
            Segment curFrame = tailFrame;
            int prevBytes = tailFrame.backpointer;
            while (prevBytes > 0) {
                    curFrame = pendingMP3Frames.previous(curFrame);
                    int dataHere = curFrame.frameDataSize;
                    if (dataHere < prevBytes) {
                            prevBytes -= dataHere;
                    } else {
                            offset = dataHere - prevBytes;
                            break;
                    }
            }

            // Dequeue any frames that we no longer need:
            while (pendingMP3Frames.head() != curFrame) {



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                    pendingMP3Frames.dequeue();
            }

            // Output, from the remaining frames, the ADU data that
            // we want:
            int bytesToUse = tailFrame.aduDataSize;
            while (bytesToUse > 0) {
                    int dataHere = curFrame.frameDataSize - offset;
                    int bytesUsedHere
                            = dataHere < bytesToUse ? dataHere :
                            bytesToUse;

                    output("bytesUsedHere" bytes from
                           curFrame.frameData, starting from "offset");

                    bytesToUse -= bytesUsedHere;
                    offset = 0;
                    curFrame = pendingMP3Frames.next(curFrame);
            }
   }

A.2.  Converting a Sequence of "ADU Frames" to a Sequence of
      "MP3 Frames"

   SegmentQueue pendingADUFrames; // initially empty
   while (1) {
            while (needToGetAnADU()) {
                    Segment newADU = 'the next ADU Frame';
                    pendingADUFrames.enqueue(newADU);

                    insertDummyADUsIfNecessary();
            }

            generateFrameFromHeadADU();
   }

   Boolean needToGetAnADU() {
            // Checks whether we need to enqueue one or more new ADUs
            // before we have enough data to generate a frame for the
            // head ADU.
            Boolean needToEnqueue = True;

            if (!pendingADUFrames.isEmpty()) {
                    Segment curADU = pendingADUFrames.head();
                    int endOfHeadFrame = curADU.mp3FrameSize
                            - curADU.headerSize - curADU.sideInfoSize;
                    int frameOffset = 0;




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                    while (1) {
                           int endOfData = frameOffset
                                   - curADU.backpointer +
                                     curADU.aduDataSize;
                           if (endOfData >= endOfHeadFrame) {
                                   // We have enough data to generate a
                                   // frame.
                                   needToEnqueue = False;
                                   break;
                           }

                           frameOffset += curADU.mp3FrameSize
                                   - curADU.headerSize
                                   - curADU.sideInfoSize;
                           if (curADU == pendingADUFrames.tail()) break;
                           curADU = pendingADUFrames.next(curADU);
                    }
            }

        return needToEnqueue;
   }

   void generateFrameFromHeadADU() {
            Segment curADU = pendingADUFrames.head();

            // Output the header and side info:
            output(curADU.header);
            output(curADU.sideInfo);

            // Begin by zeroing out the rest of the frame, in case the
            // ADU data doesn't fill it in completely:
            int endOfHeadFrame = curADU.mp3FrameSize
                    - curADU.headerSize - curADU.sideInfoSize;
            output("endOfHeadFrame" zero bytes);

            // Fill in the frame with appropriate ADU data from this and
            // subsequent ADUs:
            int frameOffset = 0;
            int toOffset = 0;

            while (toOffset < endOfHeadFrame) {
                   int startOfData = frameOffset - curADU.backpointer;
                   if (startOfData > endOfHeadFrame) {
                           break; // no more ADUs are needed
                   }
                   int endOfData = startOfData + curADU.aduDataSize;
                   if (endOfData > endOfHeadFrame) {
                           endOfData = endOfHeadFrame;



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                   }

                   int fromOffset;
                   if (startOfData <= toOffset) {
                           fromOffset = toOffset - startOfData;
                           startOfData = toOffset;
                           if (endOfData < startOfData) {
                                   endOfData = startOfData;
                           }
                   } else {
                           fromOffset = 0;

                           // leave some zero bytes beforehand:
                           toOffset = startOfData;
                   }

                   int bytesUsedHere = endOfData - startOfData;
                   output(starting at offset "toOffset", "bytesUsedHere"
                           bytes from "&curADU.frameData[fromOffset]");
                   toOffset += bytesUsedHere;

                   frameOffset += curADU.mp3FrameSize
                           - curADU.headerSize - curADU.sideInfoSize;
                   curADU = pendingADUFrames.next(curADU);
            }

            pendingADUFrames.dequeue();
   }

   void insertDummyADUsIfNecessary() {
            // The tail segment (ADU) is assumed to have been recently
            // enqueued.  If its backpointer would overlap the data
            // of the previous ADU, then we need to insert one or more
            // empty, 'dummy' ADUs ahead of it.  (This situation
            // should occur only if an intermediate ADU was missing
            // -- e.g., due to packet loss.)
            while (1) {
                   Segment tailADU = pendingADUFrames.tail();
                   int prevADUend; // relative to the start
                    of the tail ADU

                   if (pendingADUFrames.head() != tailADU) {
                           // there is a previous ADU
                           Segment prevADU
                                   = pendingADUFrames.previous(tailADU);
                           prevADUend
                                   = prevADU.mp3FrameSize +
                                     prevADU.backpointer



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                                     - prevADU.headerSize
                                     - prevADU.sideInfoSize;
                           if (prevADU.aduDataSize > prevADUend) {
                                   // this shouldn't happen if the
                                   // previous ADU was well-formed
                                   prevADUend = 0;
                           } else {
                                   prevADUend -= prevADU.aduDataSize;
                           }
                   } else {
                           prevADUend = 0;
                   }

                   if (tailADU.backpointer > prevADUend) {
                      // Insert a 'dummy' ADU in front of the tail.
                      // This ADU can have the same "header" (and thus,
                      // "mp3FrameSize") as the tail ADU, but should
                      // have a "backpointer" of "prevADUend", and
                      // an "aduDataSize" of zero.  The simplest
                      // way to do this is to copy the "sideInfo" from
                      // the tail ADU, replace the value of
                      // "main_data_begin" with "prevADUend", and set
                      // all of the "part2_3_length" fields to zero.
                   } else {
                           break; // no more dummy ADUs need to be
                                  // inserted
                   }
            }
   }

Appendix B.  Interleaving and Deinterleaving

   The following 'pseudo code' describes how a sender can reorder a
   sequence of "ADU Frames" according to an interleaving pattern
   (step 2), and how a receiver can perform the reverse reordering (step
   6).

B.1.  Interleaving a Sequence of "ADU Frames"

   We first define the following abstract data structures:

   -  "interleaveCycleSize": an integer in the range [1..256] --
      "interleaveCycle": an array, of size "interleaveCycleSize",
      containing some permutation of the integers from the set [0 ..
      interleaveCycleSize-1] e.g., if "interleaveCycleSize" == 8,
      "interleaveCycle" might contain: 1,3,5,7,0,2,4,6
   -  "inverseInterleaveCycle": an array containing the inverse of the
      permutation in "interleaveCycle" -- i.e., such that



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      interleaveCycle[inverseInterleaveCycle[i]] == i
   -  "ii": the current Interleave Index (initially 0)
   -  "icc": the current Interleave Cycle Count (initially 0)
   -  "aduFrameBuffer": an array, of size "interleaveCycleSize", of ADU
      Frames that are awaiting packetization

   while (1) {
            int positionOfNextFrame = inverseInterleaveCycle[ii];
            aduFrameBuffer[positionOfNextFrame] = the next ADU frame;
            replace the high-order 11 bits of this frame's MPEG header
                with (ii,icc);
                    // Note: Be sure to leave the remaining 21 bits
                    // as is
            if (++ii == interleaveCycleSize) {
                    // We've finished this cycle, so pass all
                    // pending frames to the packetizing step
                    for (int i = 0; i < interleaveCycleSize; ++i) {
                         pass aduFrameBuffer[i] to the packetizing step;
                    }

                    ii = 0;
                    icc = (icc+1)%8;
            }
   }

B.2.  Deinterleaving a Sequence of (Interleaved) "ADU Frames"

   We first define the following abstract data structures:

   -  "ii": the Interleave Index from the current incoming ADU frame
   -  "icc": the Interleave Cycle Count from the current incoming ADU
      frame
   -  "iiLastSeen": the most recently seen Interleave Index (initially,
      some integer *not* in the range [0..255])
   -  "iccLastSeen": the most recently seen Interleave Cycle Count
      (initially, some integer *not* in the range [0..7])
   -  "aduFrameBuffer": an array, of size 256, of (pointers to) ADU
      Frames that have just been depacketized (initially, all entries
      are NULL)

   while (1) {
            aduFrame = the next ADU frame from the depacketizing step;
            (ii,icc) = "the high-order 11 bits of aduFrame's MPEG
            header"; "the high-order 11 bits of aduFrame's MPEG
            header" = 0xFFE;
                    // Note: Be sure to leave the remaining 21 bits
                    // as is




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            if (icc != iccLastSeen || ii == iiLastSeen) {
                    // We've started a new interleave cycle
                    // (or interleaving was not used).  Release all
                    // pending ADU frames to the ADU->MP3 conversion
                    // step:
                    for (int i = 0; i < 256; ++i) {
                            if (aduFrameBuffer[i] != NULL) {
                                    release aduFrameBuffer[i];
                                    aduFrameBuffer[i] = NULL;
                            }
                    }
            }

            iiLastSeen = ii;
            iccLastSeen = icc;
            aduFrameBuffer[ii] = aduFrame;
   }

Appendix C.  Changes from RFC 3119

   The primary change from RFC 3119 is to correct the encoding name in
   the "SDP usage" section.  The correct encoding name is "mpa-robust".
   Also, the term "media type" replaces "mime type".  Finally, some
   minor bug fixes and clarifications were made to the (non-normative)
   pseudo code in Appendix A and Appendix B.


























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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


Author's Address

   Ross Finlayson,
   Live Networks, Inc.
   650 Castro St., suite 120-196
   Mountain View, CA 94041
   USA

   EMail: finlayson@live555.com
   URI: http://www.live555.com/









































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RFC 5219                                                   February 2008


Full Copyright Statement

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   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
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   ietf-ipr@ietf.org.












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