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rfc:rfc6184

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Y.-K. Wang Request for Comments: 6184 R. Even Obsoletes: 3984 Huawei Technologies Category: Standards Track T. Kristensen ISSN: 2070-1721 Tandberg

                                                              R. Jesup
                                              WorldGate Communications
                                                              May 2011
                 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video

Abstract

 This memo describes an RTP Payload format for the ITU-T
 Recommendation H.264 video codec and the technically identical
 ISO/IEC International Standard 14496-10 video codec, excluding the
 Scalable Video Coding (SVC) extension and the Multiview Video Coding
 extension, for which the RTP payload formats are defined elsewhere.
 The RTP payload format allows for packetization of one or more
 Network Abstraction Layer Units (NALUs), produced by an H.264 video
 encoder, in each RTP payload.  The payload format has wide
 applicability, as it supports applications from simple low bitrate
 conversational usage, to Internet video streaming with interleaved
 transmission, to high bitrate video-on-demand.
 This memo obsoletes RFC 3984.  Changes from RFC 3984 are summarized
 in Section 14.  Issues on backward compatibility to RFC 3984 are
 discussed in Section 15.

Status of This Memo

 This is an Internet Standards Track document.
 This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
 (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
 received public review and has been approved for publication by the
 Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
 Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.
 Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
 and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
 http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6184.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (c) 2011 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
 document authors.  All rights reserved.
 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
 Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
 (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
 publication of this document.  Please review these documents
 carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
 to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
 the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
 described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

 1. Introduction ....................................................4
    1.1. The H.264 Codec ............................................4
    1.2. Parameter Set Concept ......................................5
    1.3. Network Abstraction Layer Unit Types .......................6
 2. Conventions .....................................................7
 3. Scope ...........................................................7
 4. Definitions and Abbreviations ...................................7
    4.1. Definitions ................................................7
    4.2. Abbreviations ..............................................9
 5. RTP Payload Format .............................................10
    5.1. RTP Header Usage ..........................................10
    5.2. Payload Structures ........................................12
    5.3. NAL Unit Header Usage .....................................13
    5.4. Packetization Modes .......................................16
    5.5. Decoding Order Number (DON) ...............................17
    5.6. Single NAL Unit Packet ....................................19
    5.7. Aggregation Packets .......................................20
         5.7.1. Single-Time Aggregation Packet (STAP) ..............22
         5.7.2. Multi-Time Aggregation Packets (MTAPs) .............25
    5.8. Fragmentation Units (FUs) .................................29
 6. Packetization Rules ............................................33
    6.1. Common Packetization Rules ................................33
    6.2. Single NAL Unit Mode ......................................34
    6.3. Non-Interleaved Mode ......................................34
    6.4. Interleaved Mode ..........................................34
 7. De-Packetization Process .......................................35
    7.1. Single NAL Unit and Non-Interleaved Mode ..................35
    7.2. Interleaved Mode ..........................................35
         7.2.1. Size of the De-Interleaving Buffer .................36
         7.2.2. De-Interleaving Process ............................36
    7.3. Additional De-Packetization Guidelines ....................38

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 8. Payload Format Parameters ......................................39
    8.1. Media Type Registration ...................................39
    8.2. SDP Parameters ............................................57
         8.2.1. Mapping of Payload Type Parameters to SDP ..........57
         8.2.2. Usage with the SDP Offer/Answer Model ..............58
         8.2.3. Usage in Declarative Session Descriptions ..........66
    8.3. Examples ..................................................68
    8.4. Parameter Set Considerations ..............................75
    8.5. Decoder Refresh Point Procedure Using In-Band
         Transport of Parameter Sets (Informative)..................78
         8.5.1. IDR Procedure to Respond to a Request for
                a Decoder Refresh Point ............................78
         8.5.2. Gradual Recovery Procedure to Respond to
                a Request for a Decoder Refresh Point ..............79
 9. Security Considerations ........................................79
 10. Congestion Control ............................................80
 11. IANA Considerations ...........................................81
 12. Informative Appendix: Application Examples ....................81
    12.1. Video Telephony According to Annex A of ITU-T
          Recommendation H.241 .....................................81
    12.2. Video Telephony, No Slice Data Partitioning, No
          NAL Unit Aggregation .....................................82
    12.3. Video Telephony, Interleaved Packetization Using
          NAL Unit Aggregation .....................................82
    12.4. Video Telephony with Data Partitioning ...................83
    12.5. Video Telephony or Streaming with FUs and Forward
          Error Correction .........................................83
    12.6. Low Bitrate Streaming ....................................86
    12.7. Robust Packet Scheduling in Video Streaming ..............86
 13. Informative Appendix: Rationale for Decoding Order Number .....87
    13.1. Introduction .............................................87
    13.2. Example of Multi-Picture Slice Interleaving ..............88
    13.3. Example of Robust Packet Scheduling ......................89
    13.4. Robust Transmission Scheduling of Redundant Coded
          Slices ...................................................93
    13.5. Remarks on Other Design Possibilities ....................94
 14. Changes from RFC 3984 .........................................94
 15. Backward Compatibility to RFC 3984 ............................96
 16. Acknowledgements ..............................................98
 17. References ....................................................98
    17.1. Normative References .....................................98
    17.2. Informative References ...................................99

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 3] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

1. Introduction

 This memo specifies an RTP payload specification for the video coding
 standard known as ITU-T Recommendation H.264 [1] and ISO/IEC
 International Standard 14496-10 [2] (both also known as Advanced
 Video Coding (AVC)).  In this memo, the name H.264 is used for the
 codec and the standard, but this memo is equally applicable to the
 ISO/IEC counterpart of the coding standard.
 This memo obsoletes RFC 3984.  Changes from RFC 3984 are summarized
 in Section 14.  Issues on backward compatibility to RFC 3984 are
 discussed in Section 15.

1.1. The H.264 Codec

 The H.264 video codec has a very broad application range that covers
 all forms of digital compressed video, from low bitrate Internet
 streaming applications to HDTV broadcast and Digital Cinema
 applications with nearly lossless coding.  Compared to the current
 state of technology, the overall performance of H.264 is such that
 bitrate savings of 50% or more are reported.  Digital Satellite TV
 quality, for example, was reported to be achievable at 1.5 Mbit/s,
 compared to the current operation point of MPEG 2 video at around 3.5
 Mbit/s [10].
 The codec specification [1] itself conceptually distinguishes between
 a Video Coding Layer (VCL) and a Network Abstraction Layer (NAL).
 The VCL contains the signal processing functionality of the codec;
 mechanisms such as transform, quantization, and motion-compensated
 prediction; and a loop filter.  It follows the general concept of
 most of today's video codecs, a macroblock-based coder that uses
 inter picture prediction with motion compensation and transform
 coding of the residual signal.  The VCL encoder outputs slices: a bit
 string that contains the macroblock data of an integer number of
 macroblocks and the information of the slice header (containing the
 spatial address of the first macroblock in the slice, the initial
 quantization parameter, and similar information).  Macroblocks in
 slices are arranged in scan order unless a different macroblock
 allocation is specified using the syntax of slice groups.  In-picture
 prediction is used only within a slice.  More information is provided
 in [10].
 The NAL encoder encapsulates the slice output of the VCL encoder into
 Network Abstraction Layer Units (NALUs), which are suitable for
 transmission over packet networks or for use in packet-oriented

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 4] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 multiplex environments.  Annex B of H.264 defines an encapsulation
 process to transmit such NALUs over bytestream-oriented networks.  In
 the scope of this memo, Annex B is not relevant.
 Internally, the NAL uses NAL units.  A NAL unit consists of a one-
 byte header and the payload byte string.  The header indicates the
 type of the NAL unit, the (potential) presence of bit errors or
 syntax violations in the NAL unit payload, and information regarding
 the relative importance of the NAL unit for the decoding process.
 This RTP payload specification is designed to be unaware of the bit
 string in the NAL unit payload.
 One of the main properties of H.264 is the complete decoupling of the
 transmission time, the decoding time, and the sampling or
 presentation time of slices and pictures.  The decoding process
 specified in H.264 is unaware of time, and the H.264 syntax does not
 carry information such as the number of skipped frames (as is common
 in the form of the Temporal Reference in earlier video compression
 standards).  Also, there are NAL units that affect many pictures and
 that are, therefore, inherently timeless.  For this reason, the
 handling of the RTP timestamp requires some special considerations
 for NAL units for which the sampling or presentation time is not
 defined or, at transmission time, is unknown.

1.2. Parameter Set Concept

 One very fundamental design concept of H.264 is to generate self-
 contained packets, to make mechanisms such as the header duplication
 of RFC 4629 [11] or MPEG-4 Visual's Header Extension Code (HEC) [12]
 unnecessary.  This was achieved by decoupling information relevant to
 more than one slice from the media stream.  This higher-layer meta
 information should be sent reliably, asynchronously, and in advance
 from the RTP packet stream that contains the slice packets.
 (Provisions for sending this information in-band are also available
 for applications that do not have an out-of-band transport channel
 appropriate for the purpose).  The combination of the higher-level
 parameters is called a parameter set.  The H.264 specification
 includes two types of parameter sets: sequence parameter sets and
 picture parameter sets.  An active sequence parameter set remains
 unchanged throughout a coded video sequence, and an active picture
 parameter set remains unchanged within a coded picture.  The sequence
 and picture parameter set structures contain information such as
 picture size, optional coding modes employed, and macroblock to slice
 group map.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 5] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 To be able to change picture parameters (such as the picture size)
 without having to transmit parameter set updates synchronously to the
 slice packet stream, the encoder and decoder can maintain a list of
 more than one sequence and picture parameter set.  Each slice header
 contains a codeword that indicates the sequence and picture parameter
 set to be used.
 This mechanism allows the decoupling of the transmission of parameter
 sets from the packet stream and the transmission of them by external
 means (e.g., as a side effect of the capability exchange) or through
 a (reliable or unreliable) control protocol.  It may even be possible
 that they are never transmitted but are fixed by an application
 design specification.

1.3. Network Abstraction Layer Unit Types

 Tutorial information on the NAL design can be found in [13], [14],
 and [15].
 All NAL units consist of a single NAL unit type octet, which also
 co-serves as the payload header of this RTP payload format.  A
 description of the payload of a NAL unit follows.
 The syntax and semantics of the NAL unit type octet are specified in
 [1], but the essential properties of the NAL unit type octet are
 summarized below.  The NAL unit type octet has the following format:
    +---------------+
    |0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |F|NRI|  Type   |
    +---------------+
 The semantics of the components of the NAL unit type octet, as
 specified in the H.264 specification, are described briefly below.
 F:       1 bit
          forbidden_zero_bit.  The H.264 specification declares a
          value of 1 as a syntax violation.
 NRI:     2 bits
          nal_ref_idc.  A value of 00 indicates that the content of
          the NAL unit is not used to reconstruct reference pictures
          for inter picture prediction.  Such NAL units can be
          discarded without risking the integrity of the reference
          pictures.  Values greater than 00 indicate that the decoding
          of the NAL unit is required to maintain the integrity of the
          reference pictures.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 6] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Type:    5 bits
          nal_unit_type.  This component specifies the NAL unit
          payload type as defined in Table 7-1 of [1] and later within
          this memo.  For a reference of all currently defined NAL
          unit types and their semantics, please refer to Section
          7.4.1 in [1].
 This memo introduces new NAL unit types, which are presented in
 Section 5.2.  The NAL unit types defined in this memo are marked as
 unspecified in [1].  Moreover, this specification extends the
 semantics of F and NRI as described in Section 5.3.

2. Conventions

 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 [4].
 This specification uses the notion of setting and clearing a bit when
 bit fields are handled.  Setting a bit is the same as assigning that
 bit the value of 1 (On).  Clearing a bit is the same as assigning
 that bit the value of 0 (Off).

3. Scope

 This payload specification can only be used to carry the "naked"
 H.264 NAL unit stream over RTP and not the bitstream format discussed
 in Annex B of H.264.  Likely, the first applications of this
 specification will be in the conversational multimedia field, video
 telephony or video conferencing, but the payload format also covers
 other applications, such as Internet streaming and TV over IP.

4. Definitions and Abbreviations

4.1. Definitions

 This document uses the definitions of [1].  The following terms,
 defined in [1], are summed up for convenience:
    access unit: A set of NAL units always containing a primary coded
    picture.  In addition to the primary coded picture, an access unit
    may also contain one or more redundant coded pictures or other NAL
    units not containing slices or slice data partitions of a coded
    picture.  The decoding of an access unit always results in a
    decoded picture.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 7] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    coded video sequence: A sequence of access units that consists, in
    decoding order, of an instantaneous decoding refresh (IDR) access
    unit followed by zero or more non-IDR access units including all
    subsequent access units up to but not including any subsequent IDR
    access unit.
    IDR access unit: An access unit in which the primary coded picture
    is an IDR picture.
    IDR picture: A coded picture containing only slices with I or SI
    slice types that causes a "reset" in the decoding process.  After
    the decoding of an IDR picture, all following coded pictures in
    decoding order can be decoded without inter prediction from any
    picture decoded prior to the IDR picture.
    primary coded picture: The coded representation of a picture to be
    used by the decoding process for a bitstream conforming to H.264.
    The primary coded picture contains all macroblocks of the picture.
    redundant coded picture: A coded representation of a picture or a
    part of a picture.  The content of a redundant coded picture shall
    not be used by the decoding process for a bitstream conforming to
    H.264.  The content of a redundant coded picture may be used by
    the decoding process for a bitstream that contains errors or
    losses.
    VCL NAL unit: A collective term used to refer to coded slice and
    coded data partition NAL units.
 In addition, the following definitions apply:
    decoding order number (DON): A field in the payload structure or a
    derived variable indicating NAL unit decoding order.  Values of
    DON are in the range of 0 to 65535, inclusive.  After reaching the
    maximum value, the value of DON wraps around to 0.
    NAL unit decoding order: A NAL unit order that conforms to the
    constraints on NAL unit order given in Section 7.4.1.2 in [1].
    NALU-time: The value that the RTP timestamp would have if the NAL
    unit would be transported in its own RTP packet.
    transmission order: The order of packets in ascending RTP sequence
    number order (in modulo arithmetic).  Within an aggregation
    packet, the NAL unit transmission order is the same as the order
    of appearance of NAL units in the packet.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 8] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    media-aware network element (MANE): A network element, such as a
    middlebox or application layer gateway that is capable of parsing
    certain aspects of the RTP payload headers or the RTP payload and
    reacting to the contents.
       Informative note: The concept of a MANE goes beyond normal
       routers or gateways in that a MANE has to be aware of the
       signaling (e.g., to learn about the payload type mappings of
       the media streams) and that it has to be trusted when working
       with Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP).  The advantage
       of using MANEs is that they allow packets to be dropped
       according to the needs of the media coding.  For example, if a
       MANE has to drop packets due to congestion on a certain link,
       it can identify and remove those packets whose elimination
       produces the least adverse effect on the user experience.
    static macroblock: A certain amount of macroblocks in the video
    stream can be defined as static, as defined in Section 8.3.2.8 in
    [3].  Static macroblocks free up additional processing cycles for
    the handling of non-static macroblocks.  Based on a given amount
    of video processing resources and a given resolution, a higher
    number of static macroblocks enables a correspondingly higher
    frame rate.
    default sub-profile: The subset of coding tools, which may be all
    coding tools of one profile or the common subset of coding tools
    of more than one profile, indicated by the profile-level-id
    parameter.
    default level: The level indicated by the profile-level-id
    parameter, which consists of three octets, profile_idc, profile-
    iop, and level_idc.  The default level is indicated by level_idc
    in most cases, and, in some cases, additionally by profile-iop.

4.2. Abbreviations

    DON:        Decoding Order Number
    DONB:       Decoding Order Number Base
    DOND:       Decoding Order Number Difference
    FEC:        Forward Error Correction
    FU:         Fragmentation Unit
    IDR:        Instantaneous Decoding Refresh
    IEC:        International Electrotechnical Commission
    ISO:        International Organization for Standardization
    ITU-T:      International Telecommunication Union,
                Telecommunication Standardization Sector
    MANE:       Media-Aware Network Element
    MTAP:       Multi-Time Aggregation Packet

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 9] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    MTAP16:     MTAP with 16-bit timestamp offset
    MTAP24:     MTAP with 24-bit timestamp offset
    NAL:        Network Abstraction Layer
    NALU:       NAL Unit
    SAR:        Sample Aspect Ratio
    SEI:        Supplemental Enhancement Information
    STAP:       Single-Time Aggregation Packet
    STAP-A:     STAP type A
    STAP-B:     STAP type B
    TS:         Timestamp
    VCL:        Video Coding Layer
    VUI:        Video Usability Information

5. RTP Payload Format

5.1. RTP Header Usage

 The format of the RTP header is specified in RFC 3550 [5] and
 reprinted in Figure 1 for convenience.  This payload format uses the
 fields of the header in a manner consistent with that specification.
 When one NAL unit is encapsulated per RTP packet, the RECOMMENDED RTP
 payload format is specified in Section 5.6.  The RTP payload (and the
 settings for some RTP header bits) for aggregation packets and
 fragmentation units are specified in Sections 5.7.2 and 5.8,
 respectively.
     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
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |V=2|P|X|  CC   |M|     PT      |       sequence number         |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |                           timestamp                           |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |           synchronization source (SSRC) identifier            |
    +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
    |            contributing source (CSRC) identifiers             |
    |                             ....                              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    Figure 1.  RTP header according to RFC 3550
 The RTP header information to be set according to this RTP payload
 format is set as follows:
 Marker bit (M): 1 bit
    Set for the very last packet of the access unit indicated by the
    RTP timestamp, in line with the normal use of the M bit in video

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 10] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    formats, to allow an efficient playout buffer handling.  For
    aggregation packets (STAP and MTAP), the marker bit in the RTP
    header MUST be set to the value that the marker bit of the last
    NAL unit of the aggregation packet would have been if it were
    transported in its own RTP packet.  Decoders MAY use this bit as
    an early indication of the last packet of an access unit but MUST
    NOT rely on this property.
       Informative note: Only one M bit is associated with an
       aggregation packet carrying multiple NAL units.  Thus, if a
       gateway has re-packetized an aggregation packet into several
       packets, it cannot reliably set the M bit of those packets.
 Payload type (PT): 7 bits
    The assignment of an RTP payload type for this new packet format
    is outside the scope of this document and will not be specified
    here.  The assignment of a payload type has to be performed either
    through the profile used or in a dynamic way.
 Sequence number (SN): 16 bits
    Set and used in accordance with RFC 3550.  For the single NALU and
    non-interleaved packetization mode, the sequence number is used to
    determine decoding order for the NALU.
 Timestamp: 32 bits
    The RTP timestamp is set to the sampling timestamp of the content.
    A 90 kHz clock rate MUST be used.
    If the NAL unit has no timing properties of its own (e.g.,
    parameter set and SEI NAL units), the RTP timestamp is set to the
    RTP timestamp of the primary coded picture of the access unit in
    which the NAL unit is included, according to Section 7.4.1.2 of
    [1].
    The setting of the RTP timestamp for MTAPs is defined in Section
    5.7.2.
    Receivers SHOULD ignore any picture timing SEI messages included
    in access units that have only one display timestamp.  Instead,
    receivers SHOULD use the RTP timestamp for synchronizing the
    display process.
    If one access unit has more than one display timestamp carried in
    a picture timing SEI message, then the information in the SEI
    message SHOULD be treated as relative to the RTP timestamp, with
    the earliest event occurring at the time given by the RTP
    timestamp and subsequent events later, as given by the difference
    in picture time values carried in the picture timing SEI message.

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    Let tSEI1, tSEI2, ..., tSEIn be the display timestamps carried in
    the SEI message of an access unit, where tSEI1 is the earliest of
    all such timestamps.  Let tmadjst() be a function that adjusts the
    SEI messages time scale to a 90-kHz time scale.  Let TS be the RTP
    timestamp.  Then, the display time for the event associated with
    tSEI1 is TS.  The display time for the event with tSEIx, where x
    is [2..n], is TS + tmadjst (tSEIx - tSEI1).
       Informative note: Displaying coded frames as fields is needed
       commonly in an operation known as 3:2 pulldown, in which film
       content that consists of coded frames is displayed on a display
       using interlaced scanning.  The picture timing SEI message
       enables carriage of multiple timestamps for the same coded
       picture, and therefore the 3:2 pulldown process is perfectly
       controlled.  The picture timing SEI message mechanism is
       necessary because only one timestamp per coded frame can be
       conveyed in the RTP timestamp.

5.2. Payload Structures

 The payload format defines three different basic payload structures.
 A receiver can identify the payload structure by the first byte of
 the RTP packet payload, which co-serves as the RTP payload header
 and, in some cases, as the first byte of the payload.  This byte is
 always structured as a NAL unit header.  The NAL unit type field
 indicates which structure is present.  The possible structures are as
 follows.
 Single NAL Unit Packet: Contains only a single NAL unit in the
 payload.  The NAL header type field is equal to the original NAL unit
 type, i.e., in the range of 1 to 23, inclusive.  Specified in Section
 5.6.
 Aggregation Packet: Packet type used to aggregate multiple NAL units
 into a single RTP payload.  This packet exists in four versions, the
 Single-Time Aggregation Packet type A (STAP-A), the Single-Time
 Aggregation Packet type B (STAP-B), Multi-Time Aggregation Packet
 (MTAP) with 16-bit offset (MTAP16), and Multi-Time Aggregation Packet
 (MTAP) with 24-bit offset (MTAP24).  The NAL unit type numbers
 assigned for STAP-A, STAP-B, MTAP16, and MTAP24 are 24, 25, 26, and
 27, respectively.  Specified in Section 5.7.
 Fragmentation Unit: Used to fragment a single NAL unit over multiple
 RTP packets.  Exists with two versions, FU-A and FU-B, identified
 with the NAL unit type numbers 28 and 29, respectively.  Specified in
 Section 5.8.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 12] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    Informative note: This specification does not limit the size of
    NAL units encapsulated in single NAL unit packets and
    fragmentation units.  The maximum size of a NAL unit encapsulated
    in any aggregation packet is 65535 bytes.
 Table 1 summarizes NAL unit types and the corresponding RTP packet
 types when each of these NAL units is directly used as a packet
 payload, and where the types are described in this memo.
    Table 1.  Summary of NAL unit types and the corresponding packet
              types
    NAL Unit  Packet    Packet Type Name               Section
    Type      Type
    -------------------------------------------------------------
    0        reserved                                     -
    1-23     NAL unit  Single NAL unit packet             5.6
    24       STAP-A    Single-time aggregation packet     5.7.1
    25       STAP-B    Single-time aggregation packet     5.7.1
    26       MTAP16    Multi-time aggregation packet      5.7.2
    27       MTAP24    Multi-time aggregation packet      5.7.2
    28       FU-A      Fragmentation unit                 5.8
    29       FU-B      Fragmentation unit                 5.8
    30-31    reserved                                     -

5.3. NAL Unit Header Usage

 The structure and semantics of the NAL unit header were introduced in
 Section 1.3.  For convenience, the format of the NAL unit header is
 reprinted below:
    +---------------+
    |0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |F|NRI|  Type   |
    +---------------+
 This section specifies the semantics of F and NRI according to this
 specification.
 F:    1 bit
       forbidden_zero_bit.  A value of 0 indicates that the NAL unit
       type octet and payload should not contain bit errors or other
       syntax violations.  A value of 1 indicates that the NAL unit
       type octet and payload may contain bit errors or other syntax
       violations.

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       MANEs SHOULD set the F bit to indicate detected bit errors in
       the NAL unit.  The H.264 specification requires that the F bit
       be equal to 0.  When the F bit is set, the decoder is advised
       that bit errors or any other syntax violations may be present
       in the payload or in the NAL unit type octet.  The simplest
       decoder reaction to a NAL unit in which the F bit is equal to 1
       is to discard such a NAL unit and to conceal the lost data in
       the discarded NAL unit.
 NRI:  2 bits
       nal_ref_idc.  The semantics of value 00 and a non-zero value
       remain unchanged from the H.264 specification.  In other words,
       a value of 00 indicates that the content of the NAL unit is not
       used to reconstruct reference pictures for inter picture
       prediction.  Such NAL units can be discarded without risking
       the integrity of the reference pictures.  Values greater than
       00 indicate that the decoding of the NAL unit is required to
       maintain the integrity of the reference pictures.
       In addition to the specification above, according to this RTP
       payload specification, values of NRI indicate the relative
       transport priority, as determined by the encoder.  MANEs can
       use this information to protect more important NAL units better
       than they do less important NAL units.  The highest transport
       priority is 11, followed by 10, and then by 01; finally, 00 is
       the lowest.
          Informative note: Any non-zero value of NRI is handled
          identically in H.264 decoders.  Therefore, receivers need
          not manipulate the value of NRI when passing NAL units to
          the decoder.
       An H.264 encoder MUST set the value of NRI according to the
       H.264 specification (Subclause 7.4.1) when the value of
       nal_unit_type is in the range of 1 to 12, inclusive.  In
       particular, the H.264 specification requires that the value of
       NRI SHALL be equal to 0 for all NAL units having nal_unit_type
       equal to 6, 9, 10, 11, or 12.
       For NAL units having nal_unit_type equal to 7 or 8 (indicating
       a sequence parameter set or a picture parameter set,
       respectively), an H.264 encoder SHOULD set the value of NRI to
       11 (in binary format).  For coded slice NAL units of a primary
       coded picture having nal_unit_type equal to 5 (indicating a
       coded slice belonging to an IDR picture), an H.264 encoder
       SHOULD set the value of NRI to 11 (in binary format).

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 14] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       For a mapping of the remaining nal_unit_types to NRI values,
       the following example MAY be used and has been shown to be
       efficient in a certain environment [14].  Other mappings MAY
       also be desirable, depending on the application and the H.264
       profile in use.
          Informative note: Data partitioning is not available in
          certain profiles, e.g., in the Main or Baseline profiles.
          Consequently, the NAL unit types 2, 3, and 4 can occur only
          if the video bitstream conforms to a profile in which data
          partitioning is allowed and not in streams that conform to
          the Main or Baseline profiles.
    Table 2.  Example of NRI values for coded slices and coded slice
              data partitions of primary coded reference pictures
     NAL Unit Type     Content of NAL Unit              NRI (binary)
     ----------------------------------------------------------------
      1              non-IDR coded slice                         10
      2              Coded slice data partition A                10
      3              Coded slice data partition B                01
      4              Coded slice data partition C                01
          Informative note: As mentioned before, the NRI value of non-
          reference pictures is 00 as mandated by H.264.
       An H.264 encoder SHOULD set the value of NRI for coded slice
       and coded slice data partition NAL units of redundant coded
       reference pictures equal to 01 (in binary format).
       Definitions of the values for NRI for NAL unit types 24 to 29,
       inclusive, are given in Sections 5.7 and 5.8 of this memo.
       No recommendation for the value of NRI is given for NAL units
       having nal_unit_type in the range of 13 to 23, inclusive,
       because these values are reserved for ITU-T and ISO/IEC.  No
       recommendation for the value of NRI is given for NAL units
       having nal_unit_type equal to 0 or in the range of 30 to 31,
       inclusive, as the semantics of these values are not specified
       in this memo.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 15] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

5.4. Packetization Modes

 This memo specifies three cases of packetization modes:
 o  Single NAL unit mode
 o  Non-interleaved mode
 o  Interleaved mode
 The single NAL unit mode is targeted for conversational systems that
 comply with ITU-T Recommendation H.241 [3]  (see Section 12.1).  The
 non-interleaved mode is targeted for conversational systems that may
 not comply with ITU-T Recommendation H.241.  In the non-interleaved
 mode, NAL units are transmitted in NAL unit decoding order.  The
 interleaved mode is targeted for systems that do not require very low
 end-to-end latency.  The interleaved mode allows transmission of NAL
 units out of NAL unit decoding order.
 The packetization mode in use MAY be signaled by the value of the
 OPTIONAL packetization-mode media type parameter.  The used
 packetization mode governs which NAL unit types are allowed in RTP
 payloads.  Table 3 summarizes the allowed packet payload types for
 each packetization mode.  Packetization modes are explained in more
 detail in Section 6.
    Table 3.  Summary of allowed NAL unit types for each packetization
              mode (yes = allowed, no = disallowed, ig = ignore)
    Payload Packet    Single NAL    Non-Interleaved    Interleaved
    Type    Type      Unit Mode           Mode             Mode
    -------------------------------------------------------------
    0      reserved      ig               ig               ig
    1-23   NAL unit     yes              yes               no
    24     STAP-A        no              yes               no
    25     STAP-B        no               no              yes
    26     MTAP16        no               no              yes
    27     MTAP24        no               no              yes
    28     FU-A          no              yes              yes
    29     FU-B          no               no              yes
    30-31  reserved      ig               ig               ig
 Some NAL unit or payload type values (indicated as reserved in Table
 3) are reserved for future extensions.  NAL units of those types
 SHOULD NOT be sent by a sender (direct as packet payloads, as
 aggregation units in aggregation packets, or as fragmented units in
 FU packets) and MUST be ignored by a receiver.  For example, the
 payload types 1-23, with the associated packet type "NAL unit", are

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 16] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 allowed in "Single NAL Unit Mode" and in "Non-Interleaved Mode" but
 disallowed in "Interleaved Mode".  However, NAL units of NAL unit
 types 1-23 can be used in "Interleaved Mode" as aggregation units in
 STAP-B, MTAP16, and MTAP24 packets as well as fragmented units in FU-
 A and FU-B packets.  Similarly, NAL units of NAL unit types 1-23 can
 also be used in the "Non-Interleaved Mode" as aggregation units in
 STAP-A packets or fragmented units in FU-A packets, in addition to
 being directly used as packet payloads.

5.5. Decoding Order Number (DON)

 In the interleaved packetization mode, the transmission order of NAL
 units is allowed to differ from the decoding order of the NAL units.
 Decoding order number (DON) is a field in the payload structure or a
 derived variable that indicates the NAL unit decoding order.
 Rationale and examples of use cases for transmission out of decoding
 order and for the use of DON are given in Section 13.
 The coupling of transmission and decoding order is controlled by the
 OPTIONAL sprop-interleaving-depth media type parameter as follows.
 When the value of the OPTIONAL sprop-interleaving-depth media type
 parameter is equal to 0 (explicitly or per default), the transmission
 order of NAL units MUST conform to the NAL unit decoding order.  When
 the value of the OPTIONAL sprop-interleaving-depth media type
 parameter is greater than 0:
 o  the order of NAL units in an MTAP16 and an MTAP24 is not required
    to be the NAL unit decoding order, and
 o  the order of NAL units generated by de-packetizing STAP-Bs, MTAPs,
    and FUs in two consecutive packets is not required to be the NAL
    unit decoding order.
 The RTP payload structures for a single NAL unit packet, an STAP-A,
 and an FU-A do not include DON.  STAP-B and FU-B structures include
 DON, and the structure of MTAPs enables derivation of DON, as
 specified in Section 5.7.2.
    Informative note: When an FU-A occurs in interleaved mode, it
    always follows an FU-B, which sets its DON.
    Informative note: If a transmitter wants to encapsulate a single
    NAL unit per packet and transmit packets out of their decoding
    order, STAP-B packet type can be used.
 In the single NAL unit packetization mode, the transmission order of
 NAL units, determined by the RTP sequence number, MUST be the same as
 their NAL unit decoding order.  In the non-interleaved packetization

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 17] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 mode, the transmission order of NAL units in single NAL unit packets,
 STAP-As, and FU-As MUST be the same as their NAL unit decoding order.
 The NAL units within an STAP MUST appear in the NAL unit decoding
 order.  Thus, the decoding order is first provided through the
 implicit order within an STAP and then provided through the RTP
 sequence number for the order between STAPs, FUs, and single NAL unit
 packets.
 The signaling of the value of DON for NAL units carried in STAP-B,
 MTAP, and a series of fragmentation units starting with an FU-B is
 specified in Sections 5.7.1, 5.7.2, and 5.8, respectively.  The DON
 value of the first NAL unit in transmission order MAY be set to any
 value.  Values of DON are in the range of 0 to 65535, inclusive.
 After reaching the maximum value, the value of DON wraps around to 0.
 The decoding order of two NAL units contained in any STAP-B, MTAP, or
 a series of fragmentation units starting with an FU-B is determined
 as follows.  Let DON(i) be the decoding order number of the NAL unit
 having index i in the transmission order.  Function don_diff(m,n) is
 specified as follows:
    If DON(m) == DON(n), don_diff(m,n) = 0
    If (DON(m) < DON(n) and DON(n) - DON(m) < 32768),
    don_diff(m,n) = DON(n) - DON(m)
    If (DON(m) > DON(n) and DON(m) - DON(n) >= 32768),
    don_diff(m,n) = 65536 - DON(m) + DON(n)
    If (DON(m) < DON(n) and DON(n) - DON(m) >= 32768),
    don_diff(m,n) = - (DON(m) + 65536 - DON(n))
    If (DON(m) > DON(n) and DON(m) - DON(n) < 32768),
    don_diff(m,n) = - (DON(m) - DON(n))
 A positive value of don_diff(m,n) indicates that the NAL unit having
 transmission order index n follows, in decoding order, the NAL unit
 having transmission order index m.  When don_diff(m,n) is equal to 0,
 the NAL unit decoding order of the two NAL units can be in either
 order.  A negative value of don_diff(m,n) indicates that the NAL unit
 having transmission order index n precedes, in decoding order, the
 NAL unit having transmission order index m.
 Values of DON-related fields (DON, DONB, and DOND; see Section 5.7)
 MUST be such that the decoding order determined by the values of DON,
 as specified above, conforms to the NAL unit decoding order.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 18] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 If the order of two NAL units in NAL unit decoding order is switched
 and the new order does not conform to the NAL unit decoding order,
 the NAL units MUST NOT have the same value of DON.  If the order of
 two consecutive NAL units in the NAL unit stream is switched and the
 new order still conforms to the NAL unit decoding order, the NAL
 units MAY have the same value of DON.  For example, when arbitrary
 slice order is allowed by the video coding profile in use, all the
 coded slice NAL units of a coded picture are allowed to have the same
 value of DON.  Consequently, NAL units having the same value of DON
 can be decoded in any order, and two NAL units having a different
 value of DON should be passed to the decoder in the order specified
 above.  When two consecutive NAL units in the NAL unit decoding order
 have a different value of DON, the value of DON for the second NAL
 unit in decoding order SHOULD be the value of DON for the first,
 incremented by one.
 An example of the de-packetization process to recover the NAL unit
 decoding order is given in Section 7.
    Informative note: Receivers should not expect that the absolute
    difference of values of DON for two consecutive NAL units in the
    NAL unit decoding order will be equal to one, even in error-free
    transmission.  An increment by one is not required, as at the time
    of associating values of DON to NAL units, it may not be known
    whether all NAL units are delivered to the receiver.  For example,
    a gateway may not forward coded slice NAL units of non-reference
    pictures or SEI NAL units when there is a shortage of bitrate in
    the network to which the packets are forwarded.  In another
    example, a live broadcast is interrupted by pre-encoded content,
    such as commercials, from time to time.  The first intra picture
    of a pre-encoded clip is transmitted in advance to ensure that it
    is readily available in the receiver.  When transmitting the first
    intra picture, the originator does not exactly know how many NAL
    units will be encoded before the first intra picture of the pre-
    encoded clip follows in decoding order.  Thus, the values of DON
    for the NAL units of the first intra picture of the pre-encoded
    clip have to be estimated when they are transmitted, and gaps in
    values of DON may occur.

5.6. Single NAL Unit Packet

 The single NAL unit packet defined here MUST contain only one NAL
 unit of the types defined in [1].  This means that neither an
 aggregation packet nor a fragmentation unit can be used within a
 single NAL unit packet.  A NAL unit stream composed by de-packetizing
 single NAL unit packets in RTP sequence number order MUST conform to
 the NAL unit decoding order.  The structure of the single NAL unit
 packet is shown in Figure 2.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 19] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    Informative note: The first byte of a NAL unit co-serves as the
    RTP payload header.
   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |F|NRI|  Type   |                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               |
  |                                                               |
  |               Bytes 2..n of a single NAL unit                 |
  |                                                               |
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :...OPTIONAL RTP padding        |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 2.  RTP payload format for single NAL unit packet

5.7. Aggregation Packets

 Aggregation packets are the NAL unit aggregation scheme of this
 payload specification.  The scheme is introduced to reflect the
 dramatically different MTU sizes of two key target networks: wireline
 IP networks (with an MTU size that is often limited by the Ethernet
 MTU size, roughly 1500 bytes) and IP-based or non-IP-based (e.g.,
 ITU-T H.324/M) wireless communication systems with preferred
 transmission unit sizes of 254 bytes or less.  To prevent media
 transcoding between the two worlds, and to avoid undesirable
 packetization overhead, a NAL unit aggregation scheme is introduced.
 Two types of aggregation packets are defined by this specification:
 o  Single-time aggregation packet (STAP): aggregates NAL units with
    identical NALU-times.  Two types of STAPs are defined, one without
    DON (STAP-A) and another including DON (STAP-B).
 o  Multi-time aggregation packet (MTAP): aggregates NAL units with
    potentially differing NALU-times.  Two different MTAPs are
    defined, differing in the length of the NAL unit timestamp offset.
 Each NAL unit to be carried in an aggregation packet is encapsulated
 in an aggregation unit.  Please see below for the four different
 aggregation units and their characteristics.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 20] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 The structure of the RTP payload format for aggregation packets is
 presented in Figure 3.
   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |F|NRI|  Type   |                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               |
  |                                                               |
  |             one or more aggregation units                     |
  |                                                               |
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :...OPTIONAL RTP padding        |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 3.  RTP payload format for aggregation packets
 MTAPs and STAPs share the following packetization rules:
 o  The RTP timestamp MUST be set to the earliest of the NALU-times of
    all the NAL units to be aggregated.
 o  The type field of the NAL unit type octet MUST be set to the
    appropriate value, as indicated in Table 4.
 o  The F bit MUST be cleared if all F bits of the aggregated NAL
    units are zero; otherwise, it MUST be set.
 o  The value of NRI MUST be the maximum of all the NAL units carried
    in the aggregation packet.
               Table 4.  Type field for STAPs and MTAPs
    Type   Packet    Timestamp offset   DON-related fields
                     field length       (DON, DONB, DOND)
                     (in bits)          present
    --------------------------------------------------------
    24     STAP-A       0                 no
    25     STAP-B       0                 yes
    26     MTAP16      16                 yes
    27     MTAP24      24                 yes
 The marker bit in the RTP header is set to the value that the marker
 bit of the last NAL unit of the aggregated packet would have if it
 were transported in its own RTP packet.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 21] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 The payload of an aggregation packet consists of one or more
 aggregation units.  See Sections 5.7.1 and 5.7.2 for the four
 different types of aggregation units.  An aggregation packet can
 carry as many aggregation units as necessary; however, the total
 amount of data in an aggregation packet obviously MUST fit into an IP
 packet, and the size SHOULD be chosen so that the resulting IP packet
 is smaller than the MTU size.  An aggregation packet MUST NOT contain
 fragmentation units, as specified in Section 5.8.  Aggregation
 packets MUST NOT be nested; that is, an aggregation packet MUST NOT
 contain another aggregation packet.

5.7.1. Single-Time Aggregation Packet (STAP)

 A single-time aggregation packet (STAP) SHOULD be used whenever NAL
 units are aggregated that all share the same NALU-time.  The payload
 of an STAP-A does not include DON and consists of at least one
 single-time aggregation unit, as presented in Figure 4.  The payload
 of an STAP-B consists of a 16-bit unsigned decoding order number
 (DON) (in network byte order) followed by at least one single-time
 aggregation unit, as presented in Figure 5.
   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                  :                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               |
  |                                                               |
  |                single-time aggregation units                  |
  |                                                               |
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 4.  Payload format for STAP-A

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 22] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                  :  decoding order number (DON)  |               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+               |
  |                                                               |
  |                single-time aggregation units                  |
  |                                                               |
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 5.  Payload format for STAP-B
 The DON field specifies the value of DON for the first NAL unit in an
 STAP-B in transmission order.  For each successive NAL unit in
 appearance order in an STAP-B, the value of DON is equal to (the
 value of DON of the previous NAL unit in the STAP-B + 1) % 65536, in
 which '%' stands for the modulo operation.
 A single-time aggregation unit consists of 16-bit unsigned size
 information (in network byte order) that indicates the size of the
 following NAL unit in bytes (excluding these two octets, but
 including the NAL unit type octet of the NAL unit), followed by the
 NAL unit itself, including its NAL unit type byte.  A single-time
 aggregation unit is byte aligned within the RTP payload, but it may
 not be aligned on a 32-bit word boundary.  Figure 6 presents the
 structure of the single-time aggregation unit.
   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                  :        NAL unit size          |               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+               |
  |                                                               |
  |                           NAL unit                            |
  |                                                               |
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 6.  Structure for single-time aggregation unit

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 23] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Figure 7 presents an example of an RTP packet that contains an STAP-
 A.  The STAP contains two single-time aggregation units, labeled as 1
 and 2 in the figure.
   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                          RTP Header                           |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |STAP-A NAL HDR |         NALU 1 Size           | NALU 1 HDR    |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                         NALU 1 Data                           |
  :                                                               :
  +               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |               | NALU 2 Size                   | NALU 2 HDR    |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                         NALU 2 Data                           |
  :                                                               :
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :...OPTIONAL RTP padding        |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 7.  An example of an RTP packet including an STAP-A
             containing two single-time aggregation units

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 24] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Figure 8 presents an example of an RTP packet that contains an STAP-
 B.  The STAP contains two single-time aggregation units, labeled as 1
 and 2 in the figure.
   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                          RTP Header                           |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |STAP-B NAL HDR | DON                           | NALU 1 Size   |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | NALU 1 Size   | NALU 1 HDR    | NALU 1 Data                   |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +
  :                                                               :
  +               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |               | NALU 2 Size                   | NALU 2 HDR    |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                       NALU 2 Data                             |
  :                                                               :
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :...OPTIONAL RTP padding        |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 8.  An example of an RTP packet including an STAP-B
             containing two single-time aggregation units

5.7.2. Multi-Time Aggregation Packets (MTAPs)

 The NAL unit payload of MTAPs consists of a 16-bit unsigned decoding
 order number base (DONB) (in network byte order) and one or more
 multi-time aggregation units, as presented in Figure 9.  DONB MUST
 contain the value of DON for the first NAL unit in the NAL unit
 decoding order among the NAL units of the MTAP.
    Informative note: The first NAL unit in the NAL unit decoding
    order is not necessarily the first NAL unit in the order in which
    the NAL units are encapsulated in an MTAP.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 25] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                  :  decoding order number base   |               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+               |
  |                                                               |
  |                 multi-time aggregation units                  |
  |                                                               |
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 9.  NAL unit payload format for MTAPs
 Two different multi-time aggregation units are defined in this
 specification.  Both of them consist of 16 bits of unsigned size
 information of the following NAL unit (in network byte order), an
 8-bit unsigned decoding order number difference (DOND), and n bits
 (in network byte order) of timestamp offset (TS offset) for this NAL
 unit, whereby n can be 16 or 24.  The choice between the different
 MTAP types (MTAP16 and MTAP24) is application dependent: the larger
 the timestamp offset is, the higher the flexibility of the MTAP, but
 the overhead is also higher.
 The structure of the multi-time aggregation units for MTAP16 and
 MTAP24 are presented in Figures 10 and 11, respectively.  The
 starting or ending position of an aggregation unit within a packet is
 not required to be on a 32-bit word boundary.  The DON of the NAL
 unit contained in a multi-time aggregation unit is equal to (DONB +
 DOND) % 65536, in which % denotes the modulo operation.  This memo
 does not specify how the NAL units within an MTAP are ordered, but,
 in most cases, NAL unit decoding order SHOULD be used.
 The timestamp offset field MUST be set to a value equal to the value
 of the following formula: if the NALU-time is larger than or equal to
 the RTP timestamp of the packet, then the timestamp offset equals
 (the NALU-time of the NAL unit - the RTP timestamp of the packet).
 If the NALU-time is smaller than the RTP timestamp of the packet,
 then the timestamp offset is equal to the NALU-time + (2^32 - the RTP
 timestamp of the packet).

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 26] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  :        NAL unit size          |      DOND     |  TS offset    |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |  TS offset    |                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+              NAL unit                         |
  |                                                               |
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 10.  Multi-time aggregation unit for MTAP16
   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  :        NAL unit size         |      DOND     |  TS offset    |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |         TS offset             |                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               |
  |                              NAL unit                         |
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 11.  Multi-time aggregation unit for MTAP24
 For the "earliest" multi-time aggregation unit in an MTAP, the
 timestamp offset MUST be zero.  Hence, the RTP timestamp of the MTAP
 itself is identical to the earliest NALU-time.
    Informative note: The "earliest" multi-time aggregation unit is
    the one that would have the smallest extended RTP timestamp among
    all the aggregation units of an MTAP if the NAL units contained in
    the aggregation units were encapsulated in single NAL unit
    packets.  An extended timestamp is a timestamp that has more than
    32 bits and is capable of counting the wraparound of the timestamp
    field, thus enabling one to determine the smallest value if the
    timestamp wraps.  Such an "earliest" aggregation unit may not be
    the first one in the order in which the aggregation units are
    encapsulated in an MTAP.  The "earliest" NAL unit need not be the
    same as the first NAL unit in the NAL unit decoding order either.
 Figure 12 presents an example of an RTP packet that contains a multi-
 time aggregation packet of type MTAP16 that contains two multi-time
 aggregation units, labeled as 1 and 2 in the figure.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 27] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                          RTP Header                           |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |MTAP16 NAL HDR |  decoding order number base   | NALU 1 Size   |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |  NALU 1 Size  |  NALU 1 DOND  |       NALU 1 TS offset        |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |  NALU 1 HDR   |  NALU 1 DATA                                  |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               +
  :                                                               :
  +               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |               | NALU 2 SIZE                   |  NALU 2 DOND  |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |       NALU 2 TS offset        |  NALU 2 HDR   |  NALU 2 DATA  |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+               |
  :                                                               :
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :...OPTIONAL RTP padding        |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 12.  An RTP packet including a multi-time aggregation
              packet of type MTAP16 containing two multi-time
              aggregation units

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 28] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Figure 13 presents an example of an RTP packet that contains a multi-
 time aggregation packet of type MTAP24 that contains two multi-time
 aggregation units, labeled as 1 and 2 in the figure.
   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                          RTP Header                           |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |MTAP24 NAL HDR |  decoding order number base   | NALU 1 Size   |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |  NALU 1 Size  |  NALU 1 DOND  |       NALU 1 TS offs          |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |NALU 1 TS offs |  NALU 1 HDR   |  NALU 1 DATA                  |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +
  :                                                               :
  +               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |               | NALU 2 SIZE                   |  NALU 2 DOND  |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |       NALU 2 TS offset                        |  NALU 2 HDR   |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |  NALU 2 DATA                                                  |
  :                                                               :
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :...OPTIONAL RTP padding        |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 13.  An RTP packet including a multi-time aggregation
              packet of type MTAP24 containing two multi-time
              aggregation units

5.8. Fragmentation Units (FUs)

 This payload type allows fragmenting a NAL unit into several RTP
 packets.  Doing so on the application layer instead of relying on
 lower-layer fragmentation (e.g., by IP) has the following advantages:
 o  The payload format is capable of transporting NAL units bigger
    than 64 kbytes over an IPv4 network that may be present in pre-
    recorded video, particularly in High-Definition formats (there is
    a limit of the number of slices per picture, which results in a
    limit of NAL units per picture, which may result in big NAL
    units).
 o  The fragmentation mechanism allows fragmenting a single NAL unit
    and applying generic forward error correction as described in
    Section 12.5.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 29] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Fragmentation is defined only for a single NAL unit and not for any
 aggregation packets.  A fragment of a NAL unit consists of an integer
 number of consecutive octets of that NAL unit.  Each octet of the NAL
 unit MUST be part of exactly one fragment of that NAL unit.
 Fragments of the same NAL unit MUST be sent in consecutive order with
 ascending RTP sequence numbers (with no other RTP packets within the
 same RTP packet stream being sent between the first and last
 fragment).  Similarly, a NAL unit MUST be reassembled in RTP sequence
 number order.
 When a NAL unit is fragmented and conveyed within fragmentation units
 (FUs), it is referred to as a fragmented NAL unit.  STAPs and MTAPs
 MUST NOT be fragmented.  FUs MUST NOT be nested; that is, an FU MUST
 NOT contain another FU.
 The RTP timestamp of an RTP packet carrying an FU is set to the NALU-
 time of the fragmented NAL unit.
 Figure 14 presents the RTP payload format for FU-As.  An FU-A
 consists of a fragmentation unit indicator of one octet, a
 fragmentation unit header of one octet, and a fragmentation unit
 payload.
   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | FU indicator  |   FU header   |                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               |
  |                                                               |
  |                         FU payload                            |
  |                                                               |
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :...OPTIONAL RTP padding        |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 14.  RTP payload format for FU-A
 Figure 15 presents the RTP payload format for FU-Bs.  An FU-B
 consists of a fragmentation unit indicator of one octet, a
 fragmentation unit header of one octet, a decoding order number (DON)
 (in network byte order), and a fragmentation unit payload.  In other
 words, the structure of FU-B is the same as the structure of FU-A,
 except for the additional DON field.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 30] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

   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
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | FU indicator  |   FU header   |               DON             |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|
  |                                                               |
  |                         FU payload                            |
  |                                                               |
  |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               :...OPTIONAL RTP padding        |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  Figure 15.  RTP payload format for FU-B
 NAL unit type FU-B MUST be used in the interleaved packetization mode
 for the first fragmentation unit of a fragmented NAL unit.  NAL unit
 type FU-B MUST NOT be used in any other case.  In other words, in the
 interleaved packetization mode, each NALU that is fragmented has an
 FU-B as the first fragment, followed by one or more FU-A fragments.
 The FU indicator octet has the following format:
     +---------------+
     |0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |F|NRI|  Type   |
     +---------------+
 Values equal to 28 and 29 in the type field of the FU indicator octet
 identify an FU-A and an FU-B, respectively.  The use of the F bit is
 described in Section 5.3.  The value of the NRI field MUST be set
 according to the value of the NRI field in the fragmented NAL unit.
 The FU header has the following format:
    +---------------+
    |0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |S|E|R|  Type   |
    +---------------+
 S:     1 bit
        When set to one, the Start bit indicates the start of a
        fragmented NAL unit.  When the following FU payload is not the
        start of a fragmented NAL unit payload, the Start bit is set
        to zero.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 31] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 E:     1 bit
        When set to one, the End bit indicates the end of a fragmented
        NAL unit, i.e., the last byte of the payload is also the last
        byte of the fragmented NAL unit.  When the following FU
        payload is not the last fragment of a fragmented NAL unit, the
        End bit is set to zero.
 R:     1 bit
        The Reserved bit MUST be equal to 0 and MUST be ignored by the
        receiver.
 Type:  5 bits
        The NAL unit payload type as defined in Table 7-1 of [1].
 The value of DON in FU-Bs is selected as described in Section 5.5.
    Informative note: The DON field in FU-Bs allows gateways to
    fragment NAL units to FU-Bs without organizing the incoming NAL
    units to the NAL unit decoding order.
 A fragmented NAL unit MUST NOT be transmitted in one FU; that is, the
 Start bit and End bit MUST NOT both be set to one in the same FU
 header.
 The FU payload consists of fragments of the payload of the fragmented
 NAL unit so that if the fragmentation unit payloads of consecutive
 FUs are sequentially concatenated, the payload of the fragmented NAL
 unit can be reconstructed.  The NAL unit type octet of the fragmented
 NAL unit is not included as such in the fragmentation unit payload,
 but rather the information of the NAL unit type octet of the
 fragmented NAL unit is conveyed in the F and NRI fields of the FU
 indicator octet of the fragmentation unit and in the type field of
 the FU header.  An FU payload MAY have any number of octets and MAY
 be empty.
    Informative note: Empty FUs are allowed to reduce the latency of a
    certain class of senders in nearly lossless environments.  These
    senders can be characterized in that they packetize NALU fragments
    before the NALU is completely generated and, hence, before the
    NALU size is known.  If zero-length NALU fragments were not
    allowed, the sender would have to generate at least one bit of
    data of the following fragment before the current fragment could
    be sent.  Due to the characteristics of H.264, where sometimes
    several macroblocks occupy zero bits, this is undesirable and can
    add delay.  However, the (potential) use of zero-length NALU
    fragments should be carefully weighed against the increased risk
    of the loss of at least a part of the NALU because of the
    additional packets employed for its transmission.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 32] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 If a fragmentation unit is lost, the receiver SHOULD discard all
 following fragmentation units in transmission order corresponding to
 the same fragmented NAL unit.
 A receiver in an endpoint or in a MANE MAY aggregate the first n-1
 fragments of a NAL unit to an (incomplete) NAL unit, even if fragment
 n of that NAL unit is not received.  In this case, the
 forbidden_zero_bit of the NAL unit MUST be set to one to indicate a
 syntax violation.

6. Packetization Rules

 The packetization modes are introduced in Section 5.2.  The
 packetization rules common to more than one of the packetization
 modes are specified in Section 6.1.  The packetization rules for the
 single NAL unit mode, the non-interleaved mode, and the interleaved
 mode are specified in Sections 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4, respectively.

6.1. Common Packetization Rules

 All senders MUST enforce the following packetization rules,
 regardless of the packetization mode in use:
 o  Coded slice NAL units or coded slice data partition NAL units
    belonging to the same coded picture (and thus sharing the same RTP
    timestamp value) MAY be sent in any order; however, for delay-
    critical systems, they SHOULD be sent in their original decoding
    order to minimize the delay.  Note that the decoding order is the
    order of the NAL units in the bitstream.
 o  Parameter sets are handled in accordance with the rules and
    recommendations given in Section 8.4.
 o  MANEs MUST NOT duplicate any NAL unit except for sequence or
    picture parameter set NAL units, as neither this memo nor the
    H.264 specification provides means to identify duplicated NAL
    units.  Sequence and picture parameter set NAL units MAY be
    duplicated to make their correct reception more probable, but any
    such duplication MUST NOT affect the contents of any active
    sequence or picture parameter set.  Duplication SHOULD be
    performed on the application layer and not by duplicating RTP
    packets (with identical sequence numbers).

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 33] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Senders using the non-interleaved mode and the interleaved mode MUST
 enforce the following packetization rule:
 o  In an RTP translator, MANEs MAY convert single NAL unit packets
    into one aggregation packet, convert an aggregation packet into
    several single NAL unit packets, or mix both concepts.  The RTP
    translator SHOULD take into account at least the following
    parameters: path MTU size, unequal protection mechanisms (e.g.,
    through packet-based FEC according to RFC 5109 [18], especially
    for sequence and picture parameter set NAL units and coded slice
    data partition A NAL units), bearable latency of the system, and
    buffering capabilities of the receiver.
       Informative note: An RTP translator is required to handle RTP
       Control Protocol (RTCP) as per RFC 3550.

6.2. Single NAL Unit Mode

 This mode is in use when the value of the OPTIONAL packetization-mode
 media type parameter is equal to 0 or the packetization-mode is not
 present.  All receivers MUST support this mode.  It is primarily
 intended for low-delay applications that are compatible with systems
 using ITU-T Recommendation H.241 [3] (see Section 12.1).  Only single
 NAL unit packets MAY be used in this mode.  STAPs, MTAPs, and FUs
 MUST NOT be used.  The transmission order of single NAL unit packets
 MUST comply with the NAL unit decoding order.

6.3. Non-Interleaved Mode

 This mode is in use when the value of the OPTIONAL packetization-mode
 media type parameter is equal to 1.  This mode SHOULD be supported.
 It is primarily intended for low-delay applications.  Only single NAL
 unit packets, STAP-As, and FU-As MAY be used in this mode.  STAP-Bs,
 MTAPs, and FU-Bs MUST NOT be used.  The transmission order of NAL
 units MUST comply with the NAL unit decoding order.

6.4. Interleaved Mode

 This mode is in use when the value of the OPTIONAL packetization-mode
 media type parameter is equal to 2.  Some receivers MAY support this
 mode.  STAP-Bs, MTAPs, FU-As, and FU-Bs MAY be used.  STAP-As and
 single NAL unit packets MUST NOT be used.  The transmission order of
 packets and NAL units is constrained as specified in Section 5.5.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 34] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

7. De-Packetization Process

 The de-packetization process is implementation dependent.  Therefore,
 the following description should be seen as an example of a suitable
 implementation.  Other schemes may also be used as long as the output
 for the same input is the same as the process described below.  The
 same output means that the resulting NAL units and their order are
 identical.  Optimizations relative to the described algorithms are
 likely possible.  Section 7.1 presents the de-packetization process
 for the single NAL unit and non-interleaved packetization modes,
 whereas Section 7.2 describes the process for the interleaved mode.
 Section 7.3 includes additional de-packetization guidelines for
 intelligent receivers.
 All normal RTP mechanisms related to buffer management apply.  In
 particular, duplicated or outdated RTP packets (as indicated by the
 RTP sequence number and the RTP timestamp) are removed.  To determine
 the exact time for decoding, factors such as a possible intentional
 delay to allow for proper inter-stream synchronization must be
 factored in.

7.1. Single NAL Unit and Non-Interleaved Mode

 The receiver includes a receiver buffer to compensate for
 transmission delay jitter.  The receiver stores incoming packets in
 reception order into the receiver buffer.  Packets are de-packetized
 in RTP sequence number order.  If a de-packetized packet is a single
 NAL unit packet, the NAL unit contained in the packet is passed
 directly to the decoder.  If a de-packetized packet is an STAP-A, the
 NAL units contained in the packet are passed to the decoder in the
 order in which they are encapsulated in the packet.  For all the FU-A
 packets containing fragments of a single NAL unit, the de-packetized
 fragments are concatenated in their sending order to recover the NAL
 unit, which is then passed to the decoder.
    Informative note: If the decoder supports arbitrary slice order,
    coded slices of a picture can be passed to the decoder in any
    order, regardless of their reception and transmission order.

7.2. Interleaved Mode

 The general concept behind these de-packetization rules is to reorder
 NAL units from transmission order to the NAL unit decoding order.
 The receiver includes a receiver buffer, which is used to compensate
 for transmission delay jitter and to reorder NAL units from
 transmission order to the NAL unit decoding order.  In this section,
 the receiver operation is described under the assumption that there

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 35] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 is no transmission delay jitter.  To differentiate the receiver
 buffer from a practical receiver buffer that is also used for
 compensation of transmission delay jitter, the receiver buffer is
 hereafter called the de-interleaving buffer in this section.
 Receivers SHOULD also prepare for transmission delay jitter, i.e.,
 either reserve separate buffers for transmission delay jitter
 buffering and de-interleaving buffering or use a receiver buffer for
 both transmission delay jitter and de-interleaving.  Moreover,
 receivers SHOULD take transmission delay jitter into account in the
 buffering operation, e.g., by additional initial buffering before
 starting of decoding and playback.
 This section is organized as follows: Subsection 7.2.1 presents how
 to calculate the size of the de-interleaving buffer.  Subsection
 7.2.2 specifies the receiver process on how to organize received NAL
 units to the NAL unit decoding order.

7.2.1. Size of the De-Interleaving Buffer

 In either Offer/Answer or declarative Session Description Protocol
 (SDP) usage, the sprop-deint-buf-req media type parameter signals the
 requirement for the de-interleaving buffer size.  Therefore, it is
 RECOMMENDED to set the de-interleaving buffer size, in terms of
 number of bytes, equal to or greater than the value of the sprop-
 deint-buf-req media type parameter.
 When the SDP Offer/Answer model or any other capability exchange
 procedure is used in session setup, the properties of the received
 stream SHOULD be such that the receiver capabilities are not
 exceeded.  In the SDP Offer/Answer model, the receiver can indicate
 its capabilities to allocate a de-interleaving buffer with the deint-
 buf-cap media type parameter.  See Section 8.1 for further
 information on the deint-buf-cap and sprop-deint-buf-req media type
 parameters and Section 8.2.2 for further information on their use in
 the SDP Offer/Answer model.

7.2.2. De-Interleaving Process

 There are two buffering states in the receiver: initial buffering and
 buffering while playing.  Initial buffering occurs when the RTP
 session is initialized.  After initial buffering, decoding and
 playback are started, and the buffering-while-playing mode is used.
 Regardless of the buffering state, the receiver stores incoming NAL
 units, in reception order, in the de-interleaving buffer as follows.
 NAL units of aggregation packets are stored in the de-interleaving
 buffer individually.  The value of DON is calculated and stored for
 each NAL unit.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 36] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 The receiver operation is described below with the help of the
 following functions and constants:
 o  Function AbsDON is specified in Section 8.1.
 o  Function don_diff is specified in Section 5.5.
 o  Constant N is the value of the OPTIONAL sprop-interleaving-depth
    media type parameter (see Section 8.1) incremented by 1.
 Initial buffering lasts until one of the following conditions is
 fulfilled:
 o  There are N or more VCL NAL units in the de-interleaving buffer.
 o  If sprop-max-don-diff is present, don_diff(m,n) is greater than
    the value of sprop-max-don-diff, in which n corresponds to the NAL
    unit having the greatest value of AbsDON among the received NAL
    units and m corresponds to the NAL unit having the smallest value
    of AbsDON among the received NAL units.
 o  Initial buffering has lasted for the duration equal to or greater
    than the value of the OPTIONAL sprop-init-buf-time media type
    parameter.
 The NAL units to be removed from the de-interleaving buffer are
 determined as follows:
 o  If the de-interleaving buffer contains at least N VCL NAL units,
    NAL units are removed from the de-interleaving buffer and passed
    to the decoder in the order specified below until the buffer
    contains N-1 VCL NAL units.
 o  If sprop-max-don-diff is present, all NAL units m for which
    don_diff(m,n) is greater than sprop-max-don-diff are removed from
    the de-interleaving buffer and passed to the decoder in the order
    specified below.  Herein, n corresponds to the NAL unit having the
    greatest value of AbsDON among the NAL units in the de-
    interleaving buffer.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 37] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 The order in which NAL units are passed to the decoder is specified
 as follows:
 o  Let PDON be a variable that is initialized to 0 at the beginning
    of the RTP session.
 o  For each NAL unit associated with a value of DON, a DON distance
    is calculated as follows.  If the value of DON of the NAL unit is
    larger than the value of PDON, the DON distance is equal to DON -
    PDON.  Otherwise, the DON distance is equal to 65535 - PDON + DON
    + 1.
 o  NAL units are delivered to the decoder in ascending order of DON
    distance.  If several NAL units share the same value of DON
    distance, they can be passed to the decoder in any order.
 o  When a desired number of NAL units have been passed to the
    decoder, the value of PDON is set to the value of DON for the last
    NAL unit passed to the decoder.

7.3. Additional De-Packetization Guidelines

 The following additional de-packetization rules may be used to
 implement an operational H.264 de-packetizer:
 o  Intelligent RTP receivers (e.g., in gateways) may identify lost
    coded slice data partitions A (DPAs).  If a lost DPA is detected,
    after taking into account possible retransmission and FEC, a
    gateway may decide not to send the corresponding coded slice data
    partitions B and C, as their information is meaningless for H.264
    decoders.  In this way, a MANE can reduce network load by
    discarding useless packets without parsing a complex bitstream.
 o  Intelligent RTP receivers (e.g., in gateways) may identify lost
    FUs.  If a lost FU is found, a gateway may decide not to send the
    following FUs of the same fragmented NAL unit, as their
    information is meaningless for H.264 decoders.  In this way, a
    MANE can reduce network load by discarding useless packets without
    parsing a complex bitstream.
 o  Intelligent receivers having to discard packets or NALUs should
    first discard all packets/NALUs in which the value of the NRI
    field of the NAL unit type octet is equal to 0.  This will
    minimize the impact on user experience and keep the reference
    pictures intact.  If more packets have to be discarded, then

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 38] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    packets with a numerically lower NRI value should be discarded
    before packets with a numerically higher NRI value.  However,
    discarding any packets with an NRI bigger than 0 very likely leads
    to decoder drift and SHOULD be avoided.

8. Payload Format Parameters

 This section specifies the parameters that MAY be used to select
 optional features of the payload format and certain features of the
 bitstream.  The parameters are specified here as part of the media
 subtype registration for the ITU-T H.264 | ISO/IEC 14496-10 codec.  A
 mapping of the parameters into the Session Description Protocol (SDP)
 [6] is also provided for applications that use SDP.  Equivalent
 parameters could be defined elsewhere for use with control protocols
 that do not use SDP.
 Some parameters provide a receiver with the properties of the stream
 that will be sent.  The names of all these parameters start with
 "sprop" for stream properties.  Some of these "sprop" parameters are
 limited by other payload or codec configuration parameters.  For
 example, the sprop-parameter-sets parameter is constrained by the
 profile-level-id parameter.

8.1. Media Type Registration

 The media subtype for the ITU-T H.264 | ISO/IEC 14496-10 codec has
 been allocated from the IETF tree.
 Media Type name:     video
 Media subtype name:  H264
 Required parameters: none
 OPTIONAL parameters:
    profile-level-id:
       A base16 [7] (hexadecimal) representation of the following
       three bytes in the sequence parameter set NAL unit is specified
       in [1]: 1) profile_idc, 2) a byte herein referred to as
       profile-iop, composed of the values of constraint_set0_flag,
       constraint_set1_flag, constraint_set2_flag,
       constraint_set3_flag, constraint_set4_flag,
       constraint_set5_flag, and reserved_zero_2bits in bit-
       significance order, starting from the most-significant bit, and
       3) level_idc.  Note that reserved_zero_2bits is required to be
       equal to 0 in [1], but other values for it may be specified in
       the future by ITU-T or ISO/IEC.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 39] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       The profile-level-id parameter indicates the default sub-
       profile (i.e., the subset of coding tools that may have been
       used to generate the stream or that the receiver supports) and
       the default level of the stream or the receiver supports.
       The default sub-profile is indicated collectively by the
       profile_idc byte and some fields in the profile-iop byte.
       Depending on the values of the fields in the profile-iop byte,
       the default sub-profile may be the set of coding tools
       supported by one profile, or a common subset of coding tools of
       multiple profiles, as specified in Section 7.4.2.1.1 of [1].
       The default level is indicated by the level_idc byte, and, when
       profile_idc is equal to 66, 77, or 88 (the Baseline, Main, or
       Extended profile) and level_idc is equal to 11, additionally by
       bit 4 (constraint_set3_flag) of the profile-iop byte.  When
       profile_idc is equal to 66, 77, or 88 (the Baseline, Main, or
       Extended profile), level_idc is equal to 11, and bit 4
       (constraint_set3_flag) of the profile-iop byte is equal to 1,
       the default level is Level 1b.
       Table 5 lists all profiles defined in Annex A of [1] and, for
       each of the profiles, the possible combinations of profile_idc
       and profile-iop that represent the same sub-profile.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 40] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

          Table 5.  Combinations of profile_idc and profile-iop
          representing the same sub-profile corresponding to the full
          set of coding tools supported by one profile.  In the
          following, x may be either 0 or 1, while the profile names
          are indicated as follows.  CB: Constrained Baseline profile,
          B: Baseline profile, M: Main profile, E: Extended profile,
          H: High profile, H10: High 10 profile, H42: High 4:2:2
          profile, H44: High 4:4:4 Predictive profile, H10I: High 10
          Intra profile, H42I: High 4:2:2 Intra profile, H44I: High
          4:4:4 Intra profile, and C44I: CAVLC 4:4:4 Intra profile.
            Profile     profile_idc        profile-iop
                        (hexadecimal)      (binary)
            CB          42 (B)             x1xx0000
               same as: 4D (M)             1xxx0000
               same as: 58 (E)             11xx0000
            B           42 (B)             x0xx0000
               same as: 58 (E)             10xx0000
            M           4D (M)             0x0x0000
            E           58                 00xx0000
            H           64                 00000000
            H10         6E                 00000000
            H42         7A                 00000000
            H44         F4                 00000000
            H10I        6E                 00010000
            H42I        7A                 00010000
            H44I        F4                 00010000
            C44I        2C                 00010000
       For example, in the table above, profile_idc equal to 58
       (Extended) with profile-iop equal to 11xx0000 indicates the
       same sub-profile corresponding to profile_idc equal to 42
       (Baseline) with profile-iop equal to x1xx0000.  Note that other
       combinations of profile_idc and profile-iop (not listed in
       Table 5) may represent a sub-profile equivalent to the common
       subset of coding tools for more than one profile.  Note also
       that a decoder conforming to a certain profile may be able to
       decode bitstreams conforming to other profiles.
       If the profile-level-id parameter is used to indicate
       properties of a NAL unit stream, it indicates that, to decode
       the stream, the minimum subset of coding tools a decoder has to
       support is the default sub-profile, and the lowest level the
       decoder has to support is the default level.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 41] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       If the profile-level-id parameter is used for capability
       exchange or session setup, it indicates the subset of coding
       tools, which is equal to the default sub-profile, that the
       codec supports for both receiving and sending.  If max-recv-
       level is not present, the default level from profile-level-id
       indicates the highest level the codec wishes to support.  If
       max-recv-level is present, it indicates the highest level the
       codec supports for receiving.  For either receiving or sending,
       all levels that are lower than the highest level supported MUST
       also be supported.
          Informative note: Capability exchange and session setup
          procedures should provide means to list the capabilities for
          each supported sub-profile separately.  For example, the
          one-of-N codec selection procedure of the SDP Offer/Answer
          model can be used (Section 10.2 of [8]).  The one-of-N codec
          selection procedure may also be used to provide different
          combinations of profile_idc and profile-iop that represent
          the same sub-profile.  When there are many different
          combinations of profile_idc and profile-iop that represent
          the same sub-profile, using the one-of-N codec selection
          procedure may result in a fairly large SDP message.
          Therefore, a receiver should understand the different
          equivalent combinations of profile_idc and profile-iop that
          represent the same sub-profile and be ready to accept an
          offer using any of the equivalent combinations.
       If no profile-level-id is present, the Baseline profile,
       without additional constraints at Level 1, MUST be inferred.
    max-recv-level:
       This parameter MAY be used to indicate the highest level a
       receiver supports when the highest level is higher than the
       default level (the level indicated by profile-level-id).  The
       value of max-recv-level is a base16 (hexadecimal)
       representation of the two bytes after the syntax element
       profile_idc in the sequence parameter set NAL unit specified in
       [1]: profile-iop (as defined above) and level_idc.  If the
       level_idc byte of max-recv-level is equal to 11 and bit 4 of
       the profile-iop byte of max-recv-level is equal to 1 or if the
       level_idc byte of max-recv-level is equal to 9 and bit 4 of the
       profile-iop byte of max-recv-level is equal to 0, the highest
       level the receiver supports is Level 1b.  Otherwise, the
       highest level the receiver supports is equal to the level_idc
       byte of max-recv-level divided by 10.
       max-recv-level MUST NOT be present if the highest level the
       receiver supports is not higher than the default level.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 42] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    max-mbps, max-smbps, max-fs, max-cpb, max-dpb, and max-br:
       These parameters MAY be used to signal the capabilities of a
       receiver implementation.  These parameters MUST NOT be used for
       any other purpose.  The highest level conveyed in the value of
       the profile-level-id parameter or the max-recv-level parameter
       MUST be such that the receiver is fully capable of supporting.
       max-mbps, max-smbps, max-fs, max-cpb, max-dpb, and max-br MAY
       be used to indicate capabilities of the receiver that extend
       the required capabilities of the signaled highest level, as
       specified below.
       When more than one parameter from the set (max-mbps, max-smbps,
       max-fs, max-cpb, max-dpb, max-br) is present, the receiver MUST
       support all signaled capabilities simultaneously.  For example,
       if both max-mbps and max-br are present, the signaled highest
       level with the extension of both the frame rate and bitrate is
       supported.  That is, the receiver is able to decode NAL unit
       streams in which the macroblock processing rate is up to max-
       mbps (inclusive), the bitrate is up to max-br (inclusive), the
       coded picture buffer size is derived as specified in the
       semantics of the max-br parameter below, and the other
       properties comply with the highest level specified in the value
       of the profile-level-id parameter or the max-recv-level
       parameter.
       If a receiver can support all the properties of Level A, the
       highest level specified in the value of the profile-level-id
       parameter or the max-recv-level parameter MUST be Level A
       (i.e., MUST NOT be lower than Level A).  In other words, a
       receiver MUST NOT signal values of max-mbps, max-fs, max-cpb,
       max-dpb, and max-br that taken together meet the requirements
       of a higher level compared to the highest level specified in
       the value of the profile-level-id parameter or the max-recv-
       level parameter.
          Informative note: When the OPTIONAL media type parameters
          are used to signal the properties of a NAL unit stream, max-
          mbps, max-smbps, max-fs, max-cpb, max-dpb, and max-br are
          not present, and the value of profile-level-id must always
          be such that the NAL unit stream complies fully with the
          specified profile and level.
    max-mbps: The value of max-mbps is an integer indicating the
       maximum macroblock processing rate in units of macroblocks per
       second.  The max-mbps parameter signals that the receiver is
       capable of decoding video at a higher rate than is required by
       the signaled highest level conveyed in the value of the
       profile-level-id parameter or the max-recv-level parameter.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 43] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       When max-mbps is signaled, the receiver MUST be able to decode
       NAL unit streams that conform to the signaled highest level,
       with the exception that the MaxMBPS value in Table A-1 of [1]
       for the signaled highest level is replaced with the value of
       max-mbps.  The value of max-mbps MUST be greater than or equal
       to the value of MaxMBPS given in Table A-1 of [1] for the
       highest level.  Senders MAY use this knowledge to send pictures
       of a given size at a higher picture rate than is indicated in
       the signaled highest level.
    max-smbps: The value of max-smbps is an integer indicating the
       maximum static macroblock processing rate in units of static
       macroblocks per second, under the hypothetical assumption that
       all macroblocks are static macroblocks.  When max-smbps is
       signaled, the MaxMBPS value in Table A-1 of [1] should be
       replaced with the result of the following computation:
       o  If the parameter max-mbps is signaled, set a variable
          MaxMacroblocksPerSecond to the value of max-mbps.
          Otherwise, set MaxMacroblocksPerSecond equal to the value of
          MaxMBPS in Table A-1 [1] for the signaled highest level
          conveyed in the value of the profile-level-id parameter or
          the max-recv-level parameter.
       o  Set a variable P_non-static to the proportion of non-static
          macroblocks in picture n.
       o  Set a variable P_static to the proportion of static
          macroblocks in picture n.
       o  The value of MaxMBPS in Table A-1 of [1] should be
          considered by the encoder to be equal to:
          MaxMacroblocksPerSecond * max-smbps / (P_non-static *
          max-smbps + P_static * MaxMacroblocksPerSecond)
       The encoder should recompute this value for each picture.  The
       value of max-smbps MUST be greater than or equal to the value
       of MaxMBPS given explicitly as the value of the max-mbps
       parameter or implicitly in Table A-1 of [1] for the signaled
       highest level.  Senders MAY use this knowledge to send pictures
       of a given size at a higher picture rate than is indicated in
       the signaled highest level.
    max-fs: The value of max-fs is an integer indicating the maximum
       frame size in units of macroblocks.  The max-fs parameter
       signals that the receiver is capable of decoding larger picture
       sizes than are required by the signaled highest level conveyed

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 44] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       in the value of the profile-level-id parameter or the max-recv-
       level parameter.  When max-fs is signaled, the receiver MUST be
       able to decode NAL unit streams that conform to the signaled
       highest level, with the exception that the MaxFS value in Table
       A-1 of [1] for the signaled highest level is replaced with the
       value of max-fs.  The value of max-fs MUST be greater than or
       equal to the value of MaxFS given in Table A-1 of [1] for the
       highest level.  Senders MAY use this knowledge to send larger
       pictures at a proportionally lower frame rate than is indicated
       in the signaled highest level.
    max-cpb: The value of max-cpb is an integer indicating the maximum
       coded picture buffer size in units of 1000 bits for the VCL HRD
       parameters and in units of 1200 bits for the NAL HRD
       parameters.  Note that this parameter does not use units of
       cpbBrVclFactor and cpbBrNALFactor (see Table A-1 of [1]).  The
       max-cpb parameter signals that the receiver has more memory
       than the minimum amount of coded picture buffer memory required
       by the signaled highest level conveyed in the value of the
       profile-level-id parameter or the max-recv-level parameter.
       When max-cpb is signaled, the receiver MUST be able to decode
       NAL unit streams that conform to the signaled highest level,
       with the exception that the MaxCPB value in Table A-1 of [1]
       for the signaled highest level is replaced with the value of
       max-cpb (after taking cpbBrVclFactor and cpbBrNALFactor into
       consideration when needed).  The value of max-cpb (after taking
       cpbBrVclFactor and cpbBrNALFactor into consideration when
       needed) MUST be greater than or equal to the value of MaxCPB
       given in Table A-1 of [1] for the highest level.  Senders MAY
       use this knowledge to construct coded video streams with
       greater variation of bitrate than can be achieved with the
       MaxCPB value in Table A-1 of [1].
          Informative note: The coded picture buffer is used in the
          hypothetical reference decoder (Annex C of H.264).  The use
          of the hypothetical reference decoder is recommended in
          H.264 encoders to verify that the produced bitstream
          conforms to the standard and to control the output bitrate.
          Thus, the coded picture buffer is conceptually independent
          of any other potential buffers in the receiver, including
          de-interleaving and de-jitter buffers.  The coded picture
          buffer need not be implemented in decoders as specified in
          Annex C of H.264, but rather standard-compliant decoders can
          have any buffering arrangements provided that they can
          decode standard-compliant bitstreams.  Thus, in practice,
          the input buffer for a video decoder can be integrated with
          de-interleaving and de-jitter buffers of the receiver.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 45] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    max-dpb: The value of max-dpb is an integer indicating the maximum
       decoded picture buffer size in units of 8/3 macroblocks.  The
       max-dpb parameter signals that the receiver has more memory
       than the minimum amount of decoded picture buffer memory
       required by the signaled highest level conveyed in the value of
       the profile-level-id parameter or the max-recv-level parameter.
       When max-dpb is signaled, the receiver MUST be able to decode
       NAL unit streams that conform to the signaled highest level,
       with the exception that the MaxDpbMbs value in Table A-1 of [1]
       for the signaled highest level is replaced with the value of
       max-dpb * 3 / 8.  Consequently, a receiver that signals max-dpb
       MUST be capable of storing the following number of decoded
       frames, complementary field pairs, and non-paired fields in its
       decoded picture buffer:
          Min(max-dpb * 3 / 8 / ( PicWidthInMbs * FrameHeightInMbs),
          16)
       Wherein PicWidthInMbs and FrameHeightInMbs are defined in [1].
       The value of max-dpb MUST be greater than or equal to the value
       of MaxDpbMbs * 3 / 8, wherein the value of MaxDpbMbs is given
       in Table A-1 of [1] for the highest level.  Senders MAY use
       this knowledge to construct coded video streams with improved
       compression.
          Informative note: This parameter was added primarily to
          complement a similar codepoint in the ITU-T Recommendation
          H.245, so as to facilitate signaling gateway designs.  The
          decoded picture buffer stores reconstructed samples.  There
          is no relationship between the size of the decoded picture
          buffer and the buffers used in RTP, especially
          de-interleaving and de-jitter buffers.
          Informative note: In RFC 3984, which this document
          obsoletes, the unit of this parameter was 1024 bytes.  The
          unit has been changed to 8/3 macroblocks in this document.
          The reason for this change was due to the changes from the
          2003 version of the H.264 specification referenced by RFC
          3984 to the 2010 version of the H.264 specification
          referenced by this document, particularly the changes to
          Table A-1 in the H.264 specification due to addition of
          color formats and bit depths not supported earlier.  The
          changed semantics of this parameter keeps backward
          compatibility to RFC 3984 and supports all profiles defined
          in the 2010 version of the H.264 specification.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 46] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    max-br: The value of max-br is an integer indicating the maximum
       video bitrate in units of 1000 bits per second for the VCL HRD
       parameters and in units of 1200 bits per second for the NAL HRD
       parameters.  Note that this parameter does not use units of
       cpbBrVclFactor and cpbBrNALFactor (see Table A-1 of [1]).
       The max-br parameter signals that the video decoder of the
       receiver is capable of decoding video at a higher bitrate than
       is required by the signaled highest level conveyed in the value
       of the profile-level-id parameter or the max-recv-level
       parameter.
       When max-br is signaled, the video codec of the receiver MUST
       be able to decode NAL unit streams that conform to the signaled
       highest level, with the following exceptions in the limits
       specified by the highest level:
       o  The value of max-br (after taking cpbBrVclFactor and
          cpbBrNALFactor into consideration when needed) replaces the
          MaxBR value in Table A-1 of [1] for the highest level.
       o  When the max-cpb parameter is not present, the result of the
          following formula replaces the value of MaxCPB in Table A-1
          of [1]: (MaxCPB of the signaled level) * max-br / (MaxBR of
          the signaled highest level).
       For example, if a receiver signals capability for Main profile
       Level 1.2 with max-br equal to 1550, this indicates a maximum
       video bitrate of 1550 kbits/sec for VCL HRD parameters, a
       maximum video bitrate of 1860 kbits/sec for NAL HRD parameters,
       and a CPB size of 4036458 bits (1550000 / 384000 * 1000 *
       1000).
       The value of max-br (after taking cpbBrVclFactor and
       cpbBrNALFactor into consideration when needed) MUST be greater
       than or equal to the value MaxBR given in Table A-1 of [1] for
       the signaled highest level.
       Senders MAY use this knowledge to send higher bitrate video as
       allowed in the level definition of Annex A of H.264 to achieve
       improved video quality.
          Informative note: This parameter was added primarily to
          complement a similar codepoint in the ITU-T Recommendation
          H.245, so as to facilitate signaling gateway designs.  The
          assumption that the network is capable of handling such
          bitrates at any given time cannot be made from the value of

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 47] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

          this parameter.  In particular, no conclusion can be drawn
          that the signaled bitrate is possible under congestion
          control constraints.
    redundant-pic-cap:
       This parameter signals the capabilities of a receiver
       implementation.  When equal to 0, the parameter indicates that
       the receiver makes no attempt to use redundant coded pictures
       to correct incorrectly decoded primary coded pictures.  When
       equal to 0, the receiver is not capable of using redundant
       slices; therefore, a sender SHOULD avoid sending redundant
       slices to save bandwidth.  When equal to 1, the receiver is
       capable of decoding any such redundant slice that covers a
       corrupted area in a primary decoded picture (at least partly),
       and therefore a sender MAY send redundant slices.  When the
       parameter is not present, a value of 0 MUST be used for
       redundant-pic-cap.  When present, the value of redundant-pic-
       cap MUST be either 0 or 1.
       When the profile-level-id parameter is present in the same
       signaling as the redundant-pic-cap parameter and the profile
       indicated in profile-level-id is such that it disallows the use
       of redundant coded pictures (e.g., Main profile), the value of
       redundant-pic-cap MUST be equal to 0.  When a receiver
       indicates redundant-pic-cap equal to 0, the received stream
       SHOULD NOT contain redundant coded pictures.
          Informative note: Even if redundant-pic-cap is equal to 0,
          the decoder is able to ignore redundant codec pictures
          provided that the decoder supports a profile (Baseline,
          Extended) in which redundant coded pictures are allowed.
          Informative note: Even if redundant-pic-cap is equal to 1,
          the receiver may also choose other error concealment
          strategies to replace or complement decoding of redundant
          slices.
    sprop-parameter-sets:
       This parameter MAY be used to convey any sequence and picture
       parameter set NAL units (herein referred to as the initial
       parameter set NAL units) that can be placed in the NAL unit
       stream to precede any other NAL units in decoding order.  The
       parameter MUST NOT be used to indicate codec capability in any
       capability exchange procedure.  The value of the parameter is a
       comma-separated (',') list of base64 [7] representations of
       parameter set NAL units as specified in Sections 7.3.2.1 and

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 48] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       7.3.2.2 of [1].  Note that the number of bytes in a parameter
       set NAL unit is typically less than 10, but a picture parameter
       set NAL unit can contain several hundred bytes.
          Informative note: When several payload types are offered in
          the SDP Offer/Answer model, each with its own sprop-
          parameter-sets parameter, the receiver cannot assume that
          those parameter sets do not use conflicting storage
          locations (i.e., identical values of parameter set
          identifiers).  Therefore, a receiver should buffer all
          sprop-parameter-sets and make them available to the decoder
          instance that decodes a certain payload type.
       The sprop-parameter-sets parameter MUST only contain parameter
       sets that are conforming to the profile-level-id, i.e., the
       subset of coding tools indicated by any of the parameter sets
       MUST be equal to the default sub-profile, and the level
       indicated by any of the parameter sets MUST be equal to the
       default level.
    sprop-level-parameter-sets:
       This parameter MAY be used to convey any sequence and picture
       parameter set NAL units (herein referred to as the initial
       parameter set NAL units) that can be placed in the NAL unit
       stream to precede any other NAL units in decoding order and
       that are associated with one or more levels different than the
       default level.  The parameter MUST NOT be used to indicate
       codec capability in any capability exchange procedure.
       The sprop-level-parameter-sets parameter contains parameter
       sets for one or more levels that are different than the default
       level.  All parameter sets associated with one level are
       clustered and prefixed with a three-byte field that has the
       same syntax as profile-level-id.  This enables the receiver to
       install the parameter sets for one level and discard the rest.
       The three-byte field is named PLId, and all parameter sets
       associated with one level are named PSL, which has the same
       syntax as sprop-parameter-sets.  Parameter sets for each level
       are represented in the form of PLId:PSL, i.e., PLId followed by
       a colon (':') and the base64 [7] representation of the initial
       parameter set NAL units for the level.  Each pair of PLId:PSLs
       is also separated by a colon.  Note that a PSL can contain
       multiple parameter sets for that level, separated with commas
       (',').
       The subset of coding tools indicated by each PLId field MUST be
       equal to the default sub-profile, and the level indicated by
       each PLId field MUST be different than the default level.  All

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 49] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       sequence parameter sets contained in each PSL MUST have the
       three bytes from profile_idc to level_idc, inclusive, equal to
       the preceding PLId.
          Informative note: This parameter allows for efficient level
          downgrade or upgrade in SDP Offer/Answer and out-of-band
          transport of parameter sets simultaneously.
    use-level-src-parameter-sets:
       This parameter MAY be used to indicate a receiver capability.
       The value MAY be equal to either 0 or 1.  When the parameter is
       not present, the value MUST be inferred to be equal to 0.  The
       value 0 indicates that the receiver does not understand the
       sprop-level-parameter-sets parameter, does not understand the
       "fmtp" source attribute as specified in Section 6.3 of [9],
       will ignore sprop-level-parameter-sets when present, and will
       ignore sprop-parameter-sets when conveyed using the "fmtp"
       source attribute.  The value 1 indicates that the receiver
       understands the sprop-level-parameter-sets parameter,
       understands the "fmtp" source attribute as specified in Section
       6.3 of [9], and is capable of using parameter sets contained in
       the sprop-level-parameter-sets or contained in the sprop-
       parameter-sets that is conveyed using the "fmtp" source
       attribute.
          Informative note: An RFC 3984 receiver does not understand
          sprop-level-parameter-sets, use-level-src-parameter-sets, or
          the "fmtp" source attribute as specified in Section 6.3 of
          [9].  Therefore, during SDP Offer/Answer, an RFC 3984
          receiver as the answerer will simply ignore sprop-level-
          parameter-sets when present in an offer and sprop-parameter-
          sets conveyed using the "fmtp" source attribute, as
          specified in Section 6.3 of [9].  Assume that the offered
          payload type was accepted at a level lower than the default
          level.  If the offered payload type included sprop-level-
          parameter-sets or included sprop-parameter-sets conveyed
          using the "fmtp" source attribute and if the offerer sees
          that the answerer has not included use-level-src-parameter-
          sets equal to 1 in the answer, the offerer knows that
          in-band transport of parameter sets is needed.
    in-band-parameter-sets:
       This parameter MAY be used to indicate a receiver capability.
       The value MAY be equal to either 0 or 1.  The value 1 indicates
       that the receiver discards out-of-band parameter sets in sprop-
       parameter-sets and sprop-level-parameter-sets; therefore, the
       sender MUST transmit all parameter sets in-band.  The value 0
       indicates that the receiver utilizes out-of-band parameter sets

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 50] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       included in sprop-parameter-sets and/or sprop-level-parameter-
       sets.  However, in this case, the sender MAY still choose to
       send parameter sets in-band.  When in-band-parameter-sets is
       equal to 1, use-level-src-parameter-sets MUST NOT be present or
       MUST be equal to 0.  When the parameter is not present, this
       receiver capability is not specified, and therefore the sender
       MAY send out-of-band parameter sets only, it MAY send in-band-
       parameter-sets only, or it MAY send both.
    level-asymmetry-allowed:
       This parameter MAY be used in SDP Offer/Answer to indicate
       whether level asymmetry, i.e., sending media encoded at a
       different level in the offerer-to-answerer direction than the
       level in the answerer-to-offerer direction, is allowed.  The
       value MAY be equal to either 0 or 1.  When the parameter is not
       present, the value MUST be inferred to be equal to 0.  The
       value 1 in both the offer and the answer indicates that level
       asymmetry is allowed.  The value of 0 in either the offer or
       the answer indicates that level asymmetry is not allowed.
       If level-asymmetry-allowed is equal to 0 (or not present) in
       either the offer or the answer, level asymmetry is not allowed.
       In this case, the level to use in the direction from the
       offerer to the answerer MUST be the same as the level to use in
       the opposite direction.
    packetization-mode:
       This parameter signals the properties of an RTP payload type or
       the capabilities of a receiver implementation.  Only a single
       configuration point can be indicated; thus, when capabilities
       to support more than one packetization-mode are declared,
       multiple configuration points (RTP payload types) must be used.
       When the value of packetization-mode is equal to 0 or
       packetization-mode is not present, the single NAL mode MUST be
       used.  This mode is in use in standards using ITU-T
       Recommendation H.241 [3] (see Section 12.1).  When the value of
       packetization-mode is equal to 1, the non-interleaved mode MUST
       be used.  When the value of packetization-mode is equal to 2,
       the interleaved mode MUST be used.  The value of packetization-
       mode MUST be an integer in the range of 0 to 2, inclusive.
    sprop-interleaving-depth:
       This parameter MUST NOT be present when packetization-mode is
       not present or the value of packetization-mode is equal to 0 or
       1.  This parameter MUST be present when the value of
       packetization-mode is equal to 2.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 51] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       This parameter signals the properties of an RTP packet stream.
       It specifies the maximum number of VCL NAL units that precede
       any VCL NAL unit in the RTP packet stream in transmission order
       and that follow the VCL NAL unit in decoding order.
       Consequently, it is guaranteed that receivers can reconstruct
       NAL unit decoding order when the buffer size for NAL unit
       decoding order recovery is at least the value of sprop-
       interleaving-depth + 1 in terms of VCL NAL units.
       The value of sprop-interleaving-depth MUST be an integer in the
       range of 0 to 32767, inclusive.
    sprop-deint-buf-req:
       This parameter MUST NOT be present when packetization-mode is
       not present or the value of packetization-mode is equal to 0 or
       1.  It MUST be present when the value of packetization-mode is
       equal to 2.
       sprop-deint-buf-req signals the required size of the
       de-interleaving buffer for the RTP packet stream.  The value of
       the parameter MUST be greater than or equal to the maximum
       buffer occupancy (in units of bytes) required in such a
       de-interleaving buffer that is specified in Section 7.2.  It is
       guaranteed that receivers can perform the de-interleaving of
       interleaved NAL units into NAL unit decoding order, when the
       de-interleaving buffer size is at least the value of sprop-
       deint-buf-req in terms of bytes.
       The value of sprop-deint-buf-req MUST be an integer in the
       range of 0 to 4294967295, inclusive.
          Informative note: sprop-deint-buf-req indicates the required
          size of the de-interleaving buffer only.  When network
          jitter can occur, an appropriately sized jitter buffer has
          to be provisioned for as well.
    deint-buf-cap:
       This parameter signals the capabilities of a receiver
       implementation and indicates the amount of de-interleaving
       buffer space in units of bytes that the receiver has available
       for reconstructing the NAL unit decoding order.  A receiver is
       able to handle any stream for which the value of the sprop-
       deint-buf-req parameter is smaller than or equal to this
       parameter.
       If the parameter is not present, then a value of 0 MUST be used
       for deint-buf-cap.  The value of deint-buf-cap MUST be an
       integer in the range of 0 to 4294967295, inclusive.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 52] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

          Informative note: deint-buf-cap indicates the maximum
          possible size of the de-interleaving buffer of the receiver
          only.  When network jitter can occur, an appropriately sized
          jitter buffer has to be provisioned for as well.
    sprop-init-buf-time:
       This parameter MAY be used to signal the properties of an RTP
       packet stream.  The parameter MUST NOT be present if the value
       of packetization-mode is equal to 0 or 1.
       The parameter signals the initial buffering time that a
       receiver MUST wait before starting decoding to recover the NAL
       unit decoding order from the transmission order.  The parameter
       is the maximum value of (decoding time of the NAL unit -
       transmission time of a NAL unit), assuming reliable and
       instantaneous transmission, the same timeline for transmission
       and decoding, and commencement of decoding when the first
       packet arrives.
       An example of specifying the value of sprop-init-buf-time
       follows.  A NAL unit stream is sent in the following
       interleaved order, in which the value corresponds to the
       decoding time and the transmission order is from left to right:
             0  2  1  3  5  4  6  8  7 ...
       Assuming a steady transmission rate of NAL units, the
       transmission times are:
             0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 ...
       Subtracting the decoding time from the transmission time
       column-wise results in the following series:
             0 -1  1  0 -1  1  0 -1  1 ...
       Thus, in terms of intervals of NAL unit transmission times, the
       value of sprop-init-buf-time in this example is 1.  The
       parameter is coded as a non-negative base10 integer
       representation in clock ticks of a 90-kHz clock.  If the
       parameter is not present, then no initial buffering time value
       is defined.  Otherwise, the value of sprop-init-buf-time MUST
       be an integer in the range of 0 to 4294967295, inclusive.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 53] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       In addition to the signaled sprop-init-buf-time, receivers
       SHOULD take into account the transmission delay jitter
       buffering, including buffering for the delay jitter caused by
       mixers, translators, gateways, proxies, traffic-shapers, and
       other network elements.
    sprop-max-don-diff:
       This parameter MAY be used to signal the properties of an RTP
       packet stream.  It MUST NOT be used to signal transmitter,
       receiver, or codec capabilities.  The parameter MUST NOT be
       present if the value of packetization-mode is equal to 0 or 1.
       sprop-max-don-diff is an integer in the range of 0 to 32767,
       inclusive.  If sprop-max-don-diff is not present, the value of
       the parameter is unspecified.  sprop-max-don-diff is calculated
       as follows:
          sprop-max-don-diff = max{AbsDON(i) - AbsDON(j)},
          for any i and any j>i,
       where i and j indicate the index of the NAL unit in the
       transmission order and AbsDON denotes a decoding order number
       of the NAL unit that does not wrap around to 0 after 65535.  In
       other words, AbsDON is calculated as follows: let m and n be
       consecutive NAL units in transmission order.  For the very
       first NAL unit in transmission order (whose index is 0),
       AbsDON(0) = DON(0).  For other NAL units, AbsDON is calculated
       as follows:
          If DON(m) == DON(n), AbsDON(n) = AbsDON(m)
          If (DON(m) < DON(n) and DON(n) - DON(m) < 32768),
            AbsDON(n) = AbsDON(m) + DON(n) - DON(m)
          If (DON(m) > DON(n) and DON(m) - DON(n) >= 32768),
            AbsDON(n) = AbsDON(m) + 65536 - DON(m) + DON(n)
          If (DON(m) < DON(n) and DON(n) - DON(m) >= 32768),
            AbsDON(n) = AbsDON(m) - (DON(m) + 65536 - DON(n))
          If (DON(m) > DON(n) and DON(m) - DON(n) < 32768),
            AbsDON(n) = AbsDON(m) - (DON(m) - DON(n))
       where DON(i) is the decoding order number of the NAL unit
       having index i in the transmission order.  The decoding order
       number is specified in Section 5.5.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 54] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

          Informative note: Receivers may use sprop-max-don-diff to
          trigger which NAL units in the receiver buffer can be passed
          to the decoder.
    max-rcmd-nalu-size:
       This parameter MAY be used to signal the capabilities of a
       receiver.  The parameter MUST NOT be used for any other
       purposes.  The value of the parameter indicates the largest
       NALU size in bytes that the receiver can handle efficiently.
       The parameter value is a recommendation, not a strict upper
       boundary.  The sender MAY create larger NALUs but must be aware
       that the handling of these may come at a higher cost than NALUs
       conforming to the limitation.
       The value of max-rcmd-nalu-size MUST be an integer in the range
       of 0 to 4294967295, inclusive.  If this parameter is not
       specified, no known limitation to the NALU size exists.
       Senders still have to consider the MTU size available between
       the sender and the receiver and SHOULD run MTU discovery for
       this purpose.
       This parameter is motivated by, for example, an IP to H.223
       video telephony gateway, where NALUs smaller than the H.223
       transport data unit will be more efficient.  A gateway may
       terminate IP; thus, MTU discovery will normally not work beyond
       the gateway.
          Informative note: Setting this parameter to a lower than
          necessary value may have a negative impact.
    sar-understood:
       This parameter MAY be used to indicate a receiver capability
       and nothing else.  The parameter indicates the maximum value of
       aspect_ratio_idc (specified in [1]) smaller than 255 that the
       receiver understands.  Table E-1 of [1] specifies
       aspect_ratio_idc equal to 0 as "unspecified"; 1 to 16,
       inclusive, as specific Sample Aspect Ratios (SARs); 17 to 254,
       inclusive, as "reserved"; and 255 as the Extended SAR, for
       which SAR width and SAR height are explicitly signaled.
       Therefore, a receiver with a decoder according to [1]
       understands aspect_ratio_idc in the range of 1 to 16,
       inclusive, and aspect_ratio_idc equal to 255, in the sense that
       the receiver knows exactly what the SAR is.  For such a
       receiver, the value of sar-understood is 16.  In the future, if
       Table E-1 of [1] is extended, e.g., such that the SAR for
       aspect_ratio_idc equal to 17 is specified, then for a receiver
       with a decoder that understands the extension, the value of

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 55] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       sar-understood is 17.  For a receiver with a decoder according
       to the 2003 version of [1], the value of sar-understood is 13,
       as the minimum reserved aspect_ratio_idc therein is 14.
       When sar-understood is not present, the value MUST be inferred
       to be equal to 13.
    sar-supported:
       This parameter MAY be used to indicate a receiver capability
       and nothing else.  The value of this parameter is an integer in
       the range of 1 to sar-understood, inclusive, equal to 255.  The
       value of sar-supported equal to N smaller than 255 indicates
       that the receiver supports all the SARs corresponding to H.264
       aspect_ratio_idc values (see Table E-1 of [1]) in the range
       from 1 to N, inclusive, without geometric distortion.  The
       value of sar-supported equal to 255 indicates that the receiver
       supports all sample aspect ratios that are expressible using
       two 16-bit integer values as the numerator and denominator,
       i.e., those that are expressible using the H.264
       aspect_ratio_idc value of 255 (Extended_SAR, see Table E-1 of
       [1]), without geometric distortion.
       H.264-compliant encoders SHOULD NOT send an aspect_ratio_idc
       equal to 0 or an aspect_ratio_idc larger than sar-understood
       and smaller than 255.  H.264-compliant encoders SHOULD send an
       aspect_ratio_idc that the receiver is able to display without
       geometrical distortion.  However, H.264-compliant encoders MAY
       choose to send pictures using any SAR.
       Note that the actual sample aspect ratio or extended sample
       aspect ratio, when present, of the stream is conveyed in the
       Video Usability Information (VUI) part of the sequence
       parameter set.
    Encoding considerations:
       This type is only defined for transfer via RTP (RFC 3550).
    Security considerations:
       See Section 9 of RFC 6184.
    Public specification:
       Please refer to RFC 6184 and its Section 17.
    Additional information:
       None
    File extensions:  none

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 56] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    Macintosh file type code:  none
    Object identifier or OID:  none
    Person & email address to contact for further information:
       Ye-Kui Wang, yekui.wang@huawei.com
    Intended usage:  COMMON
    Author:
       Ye-Kui Wang, yekui.wang@huawei.com
    Change controller:
       IETF Audio/Video Transport working group delegated from the
       IESG.

8.2. SDP Parameters

 The receiver MUST ignore any parameter unspecified in this memo.

8.2.1. Mapping of Payload Type Parameters to SDP

 The media type video/H264 string is mapped to fields in the Session
 Description Protocol (SDP) [6] as follows:
 o  The media name in the "m=" line of SDP MUST be video.
 o  The encoding name in the "a=rtpmap" line of SDP MUST be H264 (the
    media subtype).
 o  The clock rate in the "a=rtpmap" line MUST be 90000.
 o  The OPTIONAL parameters profile-level-id, max-recv-level, max-
    mbps, max-smbps, max-fs, max-cpb, max-dpb, max-br, redundant-pic-
    cap, use-level-src-parameter-sets, in-band-parameter-sets, level-
    asymmetry-allowed, packetization-mode, sprop-interleaving-depth,
    sprop-deint-buf-req, deint-buf-cap, sprop-init-buf-time, sprop-
    max-don-diff, max-rcmd-nalu-size, sar-understood, and sar-
    supported, when present, MUST be included in the "a=fmtp" line of
    SDP.  These parameters are expressed as a media type string, in
    the form of a semicolon-separated list of parameter=value pairs.
 o  The OPTIONAL parameters sprop-parameter-sets and sprop-level-
    parameter-sets, when present, MUST be included in the "a=fmtp"
    line of SDP or conveyed using the "fmtp" source attribute as
    specified in Section 6.3 of [9].  For a particular media format
    (i.e., RTP payload type), a sprop-parameter-sets or sprop-level-
    parameter-sets MUST NOT be both included in the "a=fmtp" line of

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 57] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    SDP and conveyed using the "fmtp" source attribute.  When included
    in the "a=fmtp" line of SDP, these parameters are expressed as a
    media type string, in the form of a semicolon-separated list of
    parameter=value pairs.  When conveyed using the "fmtp" source
    attribute, these parameters are only associated with the given
    source and payload type as parts of the "fmtp" source attribute.
       Informative note: Conveyance of sprop-parameter-sets and sprop-
       level-parameter-sets using the "fmtp" source attribute allows
       for out-of-band transport of parameter sets in topologies like
       Topo-Video-switch-MCU [29].
 An example of media representation in SDP is as follows (Baseline
 profile, Level 3.0, some of the constraints of the Main profile may
 not be obeyed):
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E;
              packetization-mode=1;
              sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data>

8.2.2. Usage with the SDP Offer/Answer Model

 When H.264 is offered over RTP using SDP in an Offer/Answer model [8]
 for negotiation for unicast usage, the following limitations and
 rules apply:
 o  The parameters identifying a media format configuration for H.264
    are profile-level-id and packetization-mode.  These media format
    configuration parameters (except for the level part of profile-
    level-id) MUST be used symmetrically; that is, the answerer MUST
    either maintain all configuration parameters or remove the media
    format (payload type) completely if one or more of the parameter
    values are not supported.  Note that the level part of profile-
    level-id includes level_idc, and, for indication of Level 1b when
    profile_idc is equal to 66, 77, or 88, bit 4
    (constraint_set3_flag) of profile-iop.  The level part of profile-
    level-id is changeable.
       Informative note: The requirement for symmetric use does not
       apply for the level part of profile-level-id and does not apply
       for the other stream properties and capability parameters.
       Informative note: In H.264 [1], all the levels except for Level
       1b are equal to the value of level_idc divided by 10.  Level 1b
       is a level higher than Level 1.0 but lower than Level 1.1 and
       is signaled in an ad hoc manner, because the level was

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 58] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

       specified after Level 1.0 and Level 1.1.  For the Baseline,
       Main, and Extended profiles (with profile_idc equal to 66, 77,
       and 88, respectively), Level 1b is indicated by level_idc equal
       to 11 (i.e., same as Level 1.1) and constraint_set3_flag equal
       to 1.  For other profiles, Level 1b is indicated by level_idc
       equal to 9 (but note that Level 1b for these profiles are still
       higher than Level 1, which has level_idc equal to 10 and lower
       than Level 1.1).  In SDP Offer/Answer, an answer to an offer
       may indicate a level equal to or lower than the level indicated
       in the offer.  Due to the ad hoc indication of Level 1b,
       offerers and answerers must check the value of bit 4
       (constraint_set3_flag) of the middle octet of the parameter
       profile-level-id, when profile_idc is equal to 66, 77, or 88
       and level_idc is equal to 11.
    To simplify the handling and matching of these configurations, the
    same RTP payload type number used in the offer SHOULD also be used
    in the answer, as specified in [8].  An answer MUST NOT contain
    the payload type number used in the offer unless the configuration
    is exactly the same as in the offer.
       Informative note: When an offerer receives an answer, it has to
       compare payload types not declared in the offer based on the
       media type (i.e., video/H264) and the above media configuration
       parameters with any payload types it has already declared.
       This will enable it to determine whether the configuration in
       question is new or if it is equivalent to configuration already
       offered, since a different payload type number may be used in
       the answer.
 o  When present, the parameter max-recv-level declares the highest
    level supported for receiving.  In case max-recv-level is not
    present, the highest level supported for receiving is equal to the
    default level indicated by the level part of profile-level-id.
    When present, max-recv-level MUST be higher than the default
    level.
 o  The parameter level-asymmetry-allowed indicates whether level
    asymmetry is allowed.
    If level-asymmetry-allowed is equal to 0 (or not present) in
    either the offer or the answer, level asymmetry is not allowed.
    In this case, the level to use in the direction from the offerer
    to the answerer MUST be the same as the level to use in the
    opposite direction, and the common level to use is equal to the
    lower value of the default level in the offer and the default
    level in the answer.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 59] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    Otherwise, level-asymmetry-allowed equals 1 in both the offer and
    the answer, and level asymmetry is allowed.  In this case, the
    level to use in the offerer-to-answerer direction MUST be equal to
    the highest level the answerer supports for receiving, and the
    level to use in the answerer-to-offerer direction MUST be equal to
    the highest level the offerer supports for receiving.
    When level asymmetry is not allowed, level upgrade is not allowed,
    i.e., the default level in the answer MUST be equal to or lower
    than the default level in the offer.
 o  The parameters sprop-deint-buf-req, sprop-interleaving-depth,
    sprop-max-don-diff, and sprop-init-buf-time describe the
    properties of the RTP packet stream that the offerer or answerer
    is sending for the media format configuration.  This differs from
    the normal usage of the Offer/Answer parameters: normally such
    parameters declare the properties of the stream that the offerer
    or the answerer is able to receive.  When dealing with H.264, the
    offerer assumes that the answerer will be able to receive media
    encoded using the configuration being offered.
       Informative note: The above parameters apply for any stream
       sent by a declaring entity with the same configuration; i.e.,
       they are dependent on their source.  Rather than being bound to
       the payload type, the values may have to be applied to another
       payload type when being sent, as they apply for the
       configuration.
 o  The capability parameters max-mbps, max-smbps, max-fs, max-cpb,
    max-dpb, max-br, redundant-pic-cap, max-rcmd-nalu-size, sar-
    understood, and sar-supported MAY be used to declare further
    capabilities of the offerer or answerer for receiving.  These
    parameters MUST NOT be present when the direction attribute is
    "sendonly" and when the parameters describe the limitations of
    what the offerer or answerer accepts for receiving streams.
 o  An offerer has to include the size of the de-interleaving buffer,
    sprop-deint-buf-req, in the offer for an interleaved H.264 stream.
    To enable the offerer and answerer to inform each other about
    their capabilities for de-interleaving buffering in receiving
    streams, both parties are RECOMMENDED to include deint-buf-cap.
    For interleaved streams, it is also RECOMMENDED to consider
    offering multiple payload types with different buffering
    requirements when the capabilities of the receiver are unknown.
 o  The sprop-parameter-sets or sprop-level-parameter-sets parameter,
    when present (included in the "a=fmtp" line of SDP or conveyed
    using the "fmtp" source attribute as specified in Section 6.3 of

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 60] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    [9]), is used for out-of-band transport of parameter sets.
    However, when out-of-band transport of parameter sets is used,
    parameter sets MAY still be additionally transported in-band.
    The answerer MAY use either out-of-band or in-band transport of
    parameter sets for the stream it is sending, regardless of whether
    out-of-band parameter sets transport has been used in the offerer-
    to-answerer direction.  Parameter sets included in an answer are
    independent of those parameter sets included in the offer, as they
    are used for decoding two different video streams, one from the
    answerer to the offerer and the other in the opposite direction.
    The following rules apply to transport of parameter sets in the
    offerer-to-answerer direction.
       o  An offer MAY include either or both of sprop-parameter-sets
          and sprop-level-parameter-sets.  If neither sprop-parameter-
          sets nor sprop-level-parameter-sets is present in the offer,
          then only in-band transport of parameter sets is used.
       o  If the answer includes in-band-parameter-sets equal to 1,
          then the offerer MUST transmit parameter sets in-band.
          Otherwise, the following applies.
             o  If the level to use in the offerer-to-answerer
                direction is equal to the default level in the offer,
                the following applies.
                   When there is a sprop-parameter-sets included in
                   the "a=fmtp" line in the offer, the answerer MUST
                   be prepared to use the parameter sets included in
                   the sprop-parameter-sets for decoding the incoming
                   NAL unit stream.
                   When there is a sprop-parameter-sets conveyed using
                   the "fmtp" source attribute in the offer, the
                   following applies.  If the answer includes use-
                   level-src-parameter-sets equal to 1 or the "fmtp"
                   source attribute, the answerer MUST be prepared to
                   use the parameter sets included in the sprop-
                   parameter-sets for decoding the incoming NAL unit
                   stream;  otherwise, the offerer MUST transmit
                   parameter sets in-band.
                   When sprop-parameter-sets is not present in the
                   offer, the offerer MUST transmit parameter sets in-
                   band.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 61] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

                   The answerer MUST ignore sprop-level-parameter-
                   sets, when present (either included in the "a=fmtp"
                   line or conveyed using the "fmtp" source attribute)
                   in the offer.
             o  Otherwise, the level to use in the offerer-to-answerer
                direction is not equal to the default level in the
                offer, and the following applies.
                   The answerer MUST ignore sprop-parameter-sets, when
                   present (either included in the "a=fmtp" line or
                   conveyed using the "fmtp" source attribute) in the
                   offer.
                   When neither use-level-src-parameter-sets is equal
                   to 1 nor the "fmtp" source attribute is present in
                   the answer, the answerer MUST ignore sprop-level-
                   parameter-sets, when present in the offer, and the
                   offerer MUST transmit parameter sets in-band.
                   When either use-level-src-parameter-sets is equal
                   to 1 or the "fmtp" source attribute is present in
                   the answer, the answerer MUST be prepared to use
                   the parameter sets that are included in sprop-
                   level-parameter-sets for the accepted level (i.e.,
                   the default level in the answer), when present in
                   the offer, for decoding the incoming NAL unit
                   stream, and ignore all other parameter sets
                   included in sprop-level-parameter-sets.
                   When no parameter sets for the level to use in the
                   offerer-to-answerer direction are present in sprop-
                   level-parameter-sets in the offer, the offerer MUST
                   transmit parameter sets in-band.
    The following rules apply to the transport of parameter sets in
    the answerer-to-offerer direction.
       o  An answer MAY include either sprop-parameter-sets or sprop-
          level-parameter-sets but MUST NOT include both.  If neither
          sprop-parameter-sets nor sprop-level-parameter-sets is
          present in the answer, then only in-band transport of
          parameter sets is used.
       o  If the offer includes in-band-parameter-sets equal to 1, the
          answerer MUST NOT include sprop-parameter-sets or sprop-
          level-parameter-sets in the answer and MUST transmit
          parameter sets in-band.  Otherwise, the following applies.

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             o  If the level to use in the answerer-to-offerer
                direction is equal to the default level in the answer,
                the following applies.
                   When there is a sprop-parameter-sets included in
                   the "a=fmtp" line in the answer, the offerer MUST
                   be prepared to use the parameter sets included in
                   the sprop-parameter-sets for decoding the incoming
                   NAL unit stream.
                   When there is a sprop-parameter-sets conveyed using
                   the "fmtp" source attribute in the answer, the
                   following applies.  If the offer includes use-
                   level-src-parameter-sets equal to 1 or the "fmtp"
                   source attribute, the offerer MUST be prepared to
                   use the parameter sets included in the sprop-
                   parameter-sets for decoding the incoming NAL unit
                   stream;  otherwise, the answerer MUST transmit
                   parameter sets in-band.
                   When sprop-parameter-sets is not present in the
                   answer, the answerer MUST transmit parameter sets
                   in-band.
                   The offerer MUST ignore sprop-level-parameter-sets,
                   when present (either included in the "a=fmtp" line
                   or conveyed using the "fmtp" source attribute) in
                   the answer.
             o  Otherwise, the level to use in the answerer-to-offerer
                direction is not equal to the default level in the
                answer, and the following applies.
                   The offerer MUST ignore sprop-parameter-sets when
                   present (either included in the "a=fmtp" line of
                   SDP or conveyed using the "fmtp" source attribute)
                   in the answer.
                   When neither use-level-src-parameter-sets is equal
                   to 1 nor the "fmtp" source attribute is present in
                   the offer, the offerer MUST ignore sprop-level-
                   parameter-sets, when present, and the answerer MUST
                   transmit parameter sets in-band.
                   When either use-level-src-parameter-sets is equal
                   to 1 or the "fmtp" source attribute is present in
                   the offer, the offerer MUST be prepared to use the
                   parameter sets that are included in sprop-level-

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 63] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

                   parameter-sets for the level to use in the
                   answerer-to-offerer direction, when present in the
                   answer, for decoding the incoming NAL unit stream,
                   and ignore all other parameter sets included in
                   sprop-level-parameter-sets in the answer.
                   When no parameter sets for the level to use in the
                   answerer-to-offerer direction are present in sprop-
                   level-parameter-sets in the answer, the answerer
                   MUST transmit parameter sets in-band.
    When sprop-parameter-sets or sprop-level-parameter-sets is
    conveyed using the "fmtp" source attribute as specified in Section
    6.3 of [9], the receiver of the parameters MUST store the
    parameter sets included in the sprop-parameter-sets or sprop-
    level-parameter-sets for the accepted level and associate them
    with the source given as a part of the "fmtp" source attribute.
    Parameter sets associated with one source MUST only be used to
    decode NAL units conveyed in RTP packets from the same source.
    When this mechanism is in use, SSRC collision detection and
    resolution MUST be performed as specified in [9].
       Informative note: Conveyance of sprop-parameter-sets and sprop-
       level-parameter-sets using the "fmtp" source attribute may be
       used in topologies like Topo-Video-switch-MCU [29] to enable
       out-of-band transport of parameter sets.
 For streams being delivered over multicast, the following rules
 apply:
 o  The media format configuration is identified by "profile-level-
    id", including the level part, and packetization-mode.  These
    media format configuration parameters (including the level part of
    profile-level-id) MUST be used symmetrically; that is, the
    answerer MUST either maintain all configuration parameters or
    remove the media format (payload type) completely.  Note that this
    implies that the level part of profile-level-id for Offer/Answer
    in multicast is not changeable.
    To simplify the handling and matching of these configurations, the
    same RTP payload type number used in the offer SHOULD also be used
    in the answer, as specified in [8].  An answer MUST NOT contain a
    payload type number used in the offer unless the configuration is
    the same as in the offer.
 o  Parameter sets received MUST be associated with the originating
    source and MUST only be used in decoding the incoming NAL unit
    stream from the same source.

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 o  The rules for other parameters are the same as above for unicast
    as long as the above rules are obeyed.
 Table 6 lists the interpretation of all the media type parameters
 that MUST be used for the different direction attributes.
     Table 6.  Interpretation of parameters for different direction
               attributes
                                            sendonly --+
                                         recvonly --+  |
                                      sendrecv --+  |  |
                                                 |  |  |
              profile-level-id                   C  C  P
              max-recv-level                     R  R  -
              packetization-mode                 C  C  P
              sprop-deint-buf-req                P  -  P
              sprop-interleaving-depth           P  -  P
              sprop-max-don-diff                 P  -  P
              sprop-init-buf-time                P  -  P
              max-mbps                           R  R  -
              max-smbps                          R  R  -
              max-fs                             R  R  -
              max-cpb                            R  R  -
              max-dpb                            R  R  -
              max-br                             R  R  -
              redundant-pic-cap                  R  R  -
              deint-buf-cap                      R  R  -
              max-rcmd-nalu-size                 R  R  -
              sar-understood                     R  R  -
              sar-supported                      R  R  -
              in-band-parameter-sets             R  R  -
              use-level-src-parameter-sets       R  R  -
              level-asymmetry-allowed            O  -  -
              sprop-parameter-sets               S  -  S
              sprop-level-parameter-sets         S  -  S
           Legend:
           C: configuration for sending and receiving streams
           O: offer/answer mode
           P: properties of the stream to be sent
           R: receiver capabilities
           S: out-of-band parameter sets
           -: not usable (when present, SHOULD be ignored)

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 65] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Parameters used for declaring receiver capabilities are in general
 downgradable; that is, they express the upper limit for a sender's
 possible behavior.  Thus, a sender MAY select to set its encoder
 using only lower/less or equal values of these parameters.
 Parameters declaring a configuration point are not changeable, with
 the exception of the level part of the profile-level-id parameter for
 unicast usage.
 When a sender's capabilities are declared and non-downgradable
 parameters are used in this declaration, these parameters express a
 configuration that is acceptable for the sender to receive streams.
 In order to achieve high interoperability levels, it is often
 advisable to offer multiple alternative configurations, e.g., for the
 packetization mode.  It is impossible to offer multiple
 configurations in a single payload type.  Thus, when multiple
 configuration offers are made, each offer requires its own RTP
 payload type associated with the offer.
 A receiver SHOULD understand all media type parameters, even if it
 only supports a subset of the payload format's functionality.  This
 ensures that a receiver is capable of understanding when an offer to
 receive media can be downgraded to what is supported by the receiver
 of the offer.
 An answerer MAY extend the offer with additional media format
 configurations.  However, to enable their usage, in most cases, a
 second offer is required from the offerer to provide the stream
 property parameters that the media sender will use.  This also has
 the effect that the offerer has to be able to receive this media
 format configuration, not only to send it.
 If an offerer wishes to have non-symmetric capabilities between
 sending and receiving, the offerer can allow asymmetric levels via
 level-asymmetry-allowed being equal to 1.  Alternatively, the offerer
 could offer different RTP sessions, i.e., different media lines
 declared as "recvonly" and "sendonly", respectively.  This may have
 further implications on the system and may require additional
 external semantics to associate the two media lines.

8.2.3. Usage in Declarative Session Descriptions

 When H.264 over RTP is offered with SDP in a declarative style, as in
 Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) [27] or Session Announcement
 Protocol (SAP) [28], the following considerations are necessary.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 66] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 o  All parameters capable of indicating both stream properties and
    receiver capabilities are used to indicate only stream properties.
    For example, in this case, the parameter profile-level-id declares
    only the values used by the stream, not the capabilities for
    receiving streams.  The result of this is that the following
    interpretation of the parameters MUST be used:
    Declaring actual configuration or stream properties:
  1. profile-level-id
  2. packetization-mode
  3. sprop-interleaving-depth
  4. sprop-deint-buf-req
  5. sprop-max-don-diff
  6. sprop-init-buf-time
    Out-of-band transporting of parameter sets:
  1. sprop-parameter-sets
  2. sprop-level-parameter-sets
    Not usable (when present, they SHOULD be ignored):
  1. max-mbps
  2. max-smbps
  3. max-fs
  4. max-cpb
  5. max-dpb
  6. max-br
  7. max-recv-level
  8. redundant-pic-cap
  9. max-rcmd-nalu-size
  10. deint-buf-cap
  11. sar-understood
  12. sar-supported
  13. in-band-parameter-sets
  14. level-asymmetry-allowed
  15. use-level-src-parameter-sets
 o  A receiver of the SDP is required to support all parameters and
    values of the parameters provided; otherwise, the receiver MUST
    reject (RTSP) or not participate in (SAP) the session.  It falls
    on the creator of the session to use values that are expected to
    be supported by the receiving application.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 67] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

8.3. Examples

 An SDP Offer/Answer exchange wherein both parties are expected to
 both send and receive could look like the following.  Only the media-
 codec-specific parts of the SDP are shown.  Some lines are wrapped
 due to text constraints.
    Offerer -> Answerer SDP message:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 100 99 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; packetization-mode=0;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#0>
    a=rtpmap:99 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:99 profile-level-id=42A01E; packetization-mode=1;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#1>
    a=rtpmap:100 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:100 profile-level-id=42A01E; packetization-mode=2;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#2>;
      sprop-interleaving-depth=45; sprop-deint-buf-req=64000;
      sprop-init-buf-time=102478; deint-buf-cap=128000
 The above offer presents the same codec configuration in three
 different packetization formats.  Payload type 98 represents single
 NALU mode, payload type 99 represents non-interleaved mode, and
 payload type 100 indicates the interleaved mode.  In the interleaved
 mode case, the interleaving parameters that the offerer would use if
 the answer indicates support for payload type 100 are also included.
 In all three cases, the parameter sprop-parameter-sets conveys the
 initial parameter sets that are required by the answerer when
 receiving a stream from the offerer when this configuration is
 accepted.  Note that the value for sprop-parameter-sets could be
 different for each payload type.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 68] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    Answerer -> Offerer SDP message:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 100 99 97
    a=rtpmap:97 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:97 profile-level-id=42A01E; packetization-mode=0;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#3>
    a=rtpmap:99 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:99 profile-level-id=42A01E; packetization-mode=1;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#4>;
      max-rcmd-nalu-size=3980
    a=rtpmap:100 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:100 profile-level-id=42A01E; packetization-mode=2;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#5>;
      sprop-interleaving-depth=60;
      sprop-deint-buf-req=86000; sprop-init-buf-time=156320;
      deint-buf-cap=128000; max-rcmd-nalu-size=3980
 As the Offer/Answer negotiation covers both sending and receiving
 streams, an offer indicates the exact parameters for what the offerer
 is willing to receive, whereas the answer indicates the same for what
 the answerer is willing to receive.  In this case, the offerer
 declared that it is willing to receive payload type 98.  The answerer
 accepts this by declaring an equivalent payload type 97; that is, it
 has identical values for the two parameters profile-level-id and
 packetization-mode (since packetization-mode is equal to 0 and sprop-
 deint-buf-req is not present).  As the offered payload type 98 is
 accepted, the answerer needs to store parameter sets included in
 sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#0> in case the offer
 finally decides to use this configuration.  In the answer, the
 answerer includes the parameter sets in sprop-parameter-
 sets=<parameter sets data#3> that the answerer would use in the
 stream sent from the answerer if this configuration is finally used.
 The answerer also accepts the reception of the two configurations
 that payload types 99 and 100 represent.  Again, the answerer needs
 to store parameter sets included in sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter
 sets data#1> and sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#2> in case
 the offer finally decides to use either of these two configurations.
 The answerer provides the initial parameter sets for the answerer-to-
 offerer direction, i.e., the parameter sets in sprop-parameter-
 sets=<parameter sets data#4> and sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets
 data#5>, for payload types 99 and 100, respectively, that it will use
 to send the payload types.  The answerer also provides the offerer
 with its memory limit for de-interleaving operations by providing a
 deint-buf-cap parameter.  This is only useful if the offerer decides
 on making a second offer, where it can take the new value into

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 69] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 account.  The max-rcmd-nalu-size indicates that the answerer can
 efficiently process NALUs up to the size of 3980 bytes.  However,
 there is no guarantee that the network supports this size.
 In the following example, the offer is accepted without level
 downgrading (i.e., the default level, Level 3.0, is accepted), and
 both sprop-parameter-sets and sprop-level-parameter-sets are present
 in the offer.  The answerer must ignore sprop-level-parameter-
 sets=<parameter sets data#1> and store parameter sets in sprop-
 parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#0> for decoding the incoming NAL
 unit stream.  The offerer must store the parameter sets in sprop-
 parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#2> in the answer for decoding the
 incoming NAL unit stream.  Note that in this example, parameter sets
 in sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#2> must be associated
 with Level 3.0.
    Offer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#0>;
      sprop-level-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#1>
    Answer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#2>
 In the following example, the offer (Baseline profile, Level 1.1) is
 accepted with level downgrading (the accepted level is Level 1b), and
 both sprop-parameter-sets and sprop-level-parameter-sets are present
 in the offer.  The answerer must ignore sprop-parameter-
 sets=<parameter sets data#0> and all parameter sets not for the
 accepted level (Level 1b) in sprop-level-parameter-sets=<parameter
 sets data#1> and must store parameter sets for the accepted level
 (Level 1b) in sprop-level-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#1> for
 decoding the incoming NAL unit stream.  The offerer must store the
 parameter sets in sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#2> in the
 answer for decoding the incoming NAL unit stream.  Note that in this
 example, parameter sets in sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets
 data#2> must be associated with Level 1b.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 70] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    Offer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A00B; //Baseline profile, Level 1.1
      packetization-mode=1;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#0>;
      sprop-level-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#1>
    Answer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42B00B; //Baseline profile, Level 1b
      packetization-mode=1;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#2>;
      use-level-src-parameter-sets=1
 In the following example, the offer (Baseline profile, Level 1.1) is
 accepted with level downgrading (the accepted level is Level 1b), and
 both sprop-parameter-sets and sprop-level-parameter-sets are present
 in the offer.  However, the answerer is a legacy RFC 3984
 implementation and does not understand sprop-level-parameter-sets;
 hence, it does not include use-level-src-parameter-sets (which the
 answerer does not understand either) in the answer.  Therefore, the
 answerer must ignore both sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets
 data#0> and sprop-level-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#1>, and
 the offerer must transport parameter sets in-band.
    Offer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A00B; //Baseline profile, Level 1.1
      packetization-mode=1;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#0>;
      sprop-level-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#1>
    Answer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42B00B; //Baseline profile, Level 1b
      packetization-mode=1
 In the following example, the offer is accepted without level
 downgrading, and sprop-parameter-sets is present in the offer.
 Parameter sets in sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#0> must

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 71] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 be stored and used by the encoder of the offerer and the decoder of
 the answerer, and parameter sets in sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter
 sets data#1> must be used by the encoder of the answerer and the
 decoder of the offerer.  Note that sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter
 sets data#0> is basically independent of sprop-parameter-
 sets=<parameter sets data#1>.
    Offer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#0>
    Answer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#1>
 In the following example, the offer is accepted without level
 downgrading, and neither sprop-parameter-sets nor sprop-level-
 parameter-sets is present in the offer, meaning that there is no out-
 of-band transmission of parameter sets, which then have to be
 transported in-band.
    Offer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1
    Answer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 72] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 In the following example, the offer is accepted with level
 downgrading and sprop-parameter-sets is present in the offer.  As
 sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#0> contains level_idc
 indicating Level 3.0, it therefore cannot be used, as the answerer
 wants Level 2.0, and must be ignored by the answerer, and in-band
 parameter sets must be used.
    Offer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1;
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#0>
    Answer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A014; //Baseline profile, Level 2.0
      packetization-mode=1
 In the following example, the offer is also accepted with level
 downgrading, and neither sprop-parameter-sets nor sprop-level-
 parameter-sets is present in the offer, meaning that there is no out-
 of-band transmission of parameter sets, which then have to be
 transported in-band.
    Offer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1
    Answer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A014; //Baseline profile, Level 2.0
      packetization-mode=1
 In the following example, the offer is accepted with level upgrading,
 and neither sprop-parameter-sets nor sprop-level-parameter-sets is
 present in the offer or the answer, meaning that there is no out-of-
 band transmission of parameter sets, which then have to be
 transported in-band.  The level to use in the offerer-to-answerer
 direction is Level 3.0, and the level to use in the answerer-to-

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 73] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 offerer direction is Level 2.0.  The answerer is allowed to send at
 any level up to and including Level 2.0, and the offerer is allowed
 to send at any level up to and including Level 3.0.
    Offer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A014; //Baseline profile, Level 2.0
      packetization-mode=1; level-asymmetry-allowed=1
    Answer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1; level-asymmetry-allowed=1
 In the following example, the offerer is a Multipoint Control Unit
 (MCU) in a topology like Topo-Video-switch-MCU [29], offering
 parameter sets received (using out-of-band transport) from three
 other participants (B, C, and D) and receiving parameter sets from
 the participant A, which is the answerer.  The participants are
 identified by their values of canonical name (CNAME), which are
 mapped to different SSRC values.  The same codec configuration is
 used by all four participants.  The participant A stores and
 associates the parameter sets included in <parameter sets data#B>,
 <parameter sets data#C>, and <parameter sets data#D> to participants
 B, C, and D, respectively, and uses <parameter sets data#B> for
 decoding NAL units carried in RTP packets originating from
 participant B only, uses <parameter sets data#C> for decoding NAL
 units carried in RTP packets originating from participant C only, and
 uses <parameter sets data#D> for decoding NAL units carried in RTP
 packets originating from participant D only.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 74] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    Offer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=ssrc:SSRC-B cname:CNAME-B
    a=ssrc:SSRC-C cname:CNAME-C
    a=ssrc:SSRC-D cname:CNAME-D
    a=ssrc:SSRC-B fmtp:98
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#B>
    a=ssrc:SSRC-C fmtp:98
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#C>
    a=ssrc:SSRC-D fmtp:98
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#D>
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1
    Answer SDP:
    m=video 49170 RTP/AVP 98
    a=ssrc:SSRC-A cname:CNAME-A
    a=ssrc:SSRC-A fmtp:98
      sprop-parameter-sets=<parameter sets data#A>
    a=rtpmap:98 H264/90000
    a=fmtp:98 profile-level-id=42A01E; //Baseline profile, Level 3.0
      packetization-mode=1

8.4. Parameter Set Considerations

 The H.264 parameter sets are a fundamental part of the video codec
 and vital to its operation (see Section 1.2).  Due to their
 characteristics and their importance for the decoding process, lost
 or erroneously transmitted parameter sets can hardly be concealed
 locally at the receiver.  A reference to a corrupt parameter set
 normally has fatal results to the decoding process.  Corruption could
 occur, for example, due to the erroneous transmission or loss of a
 parameter set NAL unit but also due to the untimely transmission of a
 parameter set update.  A parameter set update refers to a change of
 at least one parameter in a picture parameter set or sequence
 parameter set for which the picture parameter set or sequence
 parameter set identifier remains unchanged.  Therefore, the following
 recommendations are provided as a guideline for the implementer of
 the RTP sender.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 75] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Parameter set NALUs can be transported using three different
 principles:
 A.  Using a session control protocol (out-of-band) prior to the
     actual RTP session.
 B.  Using a session control protocol (out-of-band) during an ongoing
     RTP session.
 C.  Within the RTP packet stream in the payload (in-band) during an
     ongoing RTP session.
 It is recommended to implement principles A and B within a session
 control protocol.  SIP and SDP can be used as described in the SDP
 Offer/Answer model and in the previous sections of this memo.
 Section 8.2.2 includes a detailed discussion on transport of
 parameter sets in-band or out-of-band in SDP Offer/Answer using media
 type parameters sprop-parameter-sets, sprop-level-parameter-sets,
 use-level-src-parameter-sets, and in-band-parameter-sets.  This
 section contains guidelines on how principles A and B should be
 implemented within session control protocols.  It is independent of
 the particular protocol used.  Principle C is supported by the RTP
 payload format defined in this specification.  There are topologies
 like Topo-Video-switch-MCU [29] for which the use of principle C may
 be desirable.
 If in-band signaling of parameter sets is used, the picture and
 sequence parameter set NALUs SHOULD be transmitted in the RTP payload
 using a reliable method of delivering of RTP (see below), as a loss
 of a parameter set of either type will likely prevent decoding of a
 considerable portion of the corresponding RTP packet stream.
 If in-band signaling of parameter sets is used, the sender SHOULD
 take the error characteristics into account and use mechanisms to
 provide a high probability for delivering the parameter sets
 correctly.  Mechanisms that increase the probability for a correct
 reception include packet repetition, FEC, and retransmission.  The
 use of an unreliable, out-of-band control protocol has similar
 disadvantages as the in-band signaling (possible loss) and, in
 addition, may also lead to difficulties in the synchronization (see
 below).  Therefore, it is NOT RECOMMENDED.
 Parameter sets MAY be added or updated during the lifetime of a
 session using principles B and C.  It is required that parameter sets
 be present at the decoder prior to the NAL units that refer to them.
 Update or addition of parameter sets can result in further problems;
 therefore, the following recommendations should be considered.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 76] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

  1. When parameter sets are added or updated, care SHOULD be taken to

ensure that any parameter set is delivered prior to its usage.

    When new parameter sets are added, previously unused parameter set
    identifiers are used.  It is common that no synchronization is
    present between out-of-band signaling and in-band traffic.  If
    out-of-band signaling is used, it is RECOMMENDED that a sender not
    start sending NALUs requiring the added or updated parameter sets
    prior to acknowledgement of delivery from the signaling protocol.
  1. When parameter sets are updated, the following synchronization

issue should be taken into account. When overwriting a parameter

    set at the receiver, the sender has to ensure that the parameter
    set in question is not needed by any NALU present in the network
    or receiver buffers.  Otherwise, decoding with a wrong parameter
    set may occur.  To lessen this problem, it is RECOMMENDED either
    to overwrite only those parameter sets that have not been used for
    a sufficiently long time (to ensure that all related NALUs have
    been consumed) or to add a new parameter set instead (which may
    have negative consequences for the efficiency of the video
    coding).
       Informative note: In some topologies like Topo-Video-switch-
       MCU [29], the origin of the whole set of parameter sets may
       come from multiple sources that may use non-unique parameter
       set identifiers.  In this case, an offer may overwrite an
       existing parameter set if no other mechanism that enables
       uniqueness of the parameter sets in the out-of-band channel
       exists.
  1. In a multiparty session, one participant MUST associate parameter

sets coming from different sources with the source identification

    whenever possible, e.g., by conveying out-of-band transported
    parameter sets, as different sources typically use independent
    parameter set identifier value spaces.
  1. Adding or modifying parameter sets by using both principles B and

C in the same RTP session may lead to inconsistencies of the

    parameter sets because of the lack of synchronization between the
    control and the RTP channel.  Therefore, principles B and C MUST
    NOT both be used in the same session unless sufficient
    synchronization can be provided.
 In some scenarios (e.g., when only the subset of this payload format
 specification corresponding to H.241 is used) or topologies, it is
 not possible to employ out-of-band parameter set transmission.  In
 this case, parameter sets have to be transmitted in-band.  Here, the
 synchronization with the non-parameter-set-data in the bitstream is
 implicit, but the possibility of a loss has to be taken into account.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 77] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 The loss probability should be reduced using the mechanisms discussed
 above.  In case a loss of a parameter set is detected, recovery may
 be achieved using a Decoder Refresh Point procedure, for example,
 using RTCP feedback Full Intra Request (FIR) [30].  Two example
 Decoder Refresh Point procedures are provided in the informative
 Section 8.5.
  1. When parameter sets are initially provided using principle A and

then later added or updated in-band (principle C), there is a risk

    associated with updating the parameter sets delivered out-of-band.
    If receivers miss some in-band updates (for example, because of a
    loss or a late tune-in), those receivers attempt to decode the
    bitstream using outdated parameters.  It is therefore RECOMMENDED
    that parameter set IDs be partitioned between the out-of-band and
    in-band parameter sets.

8.5. Decoder Refresh Point Procedure Using In-Band Transport of

    Parameter Sets (Informative)
 When a sender with a video encoder according to [1] receives a
 request for a decoder refresh point, the encoder shall enter the fast
 update mode by using one of the procedures specified in Sections
 8.5.1 or 8.5.2.  The procedure in Section 8.5.1 is the preferred
 response in a lossless transmission environment.  Both procedures
 satisfy the requirement to enter the fast update mode for H.264 video
 encoding.

8.5.1. IDR Procedure to Respond to a Request for a Decoder Refresh

      Point
 This section gives one possible way to respond to a request for a
 decoder refresh point.
 The encoder shall, in the order presented here:
 1) Immediately prepare to send an IDR picture.
 2) Send a sequence parameter set to be used by the IDR picture to be
    sent.  The encoder may optionally also send other sequence
    parameter sets.
 3) Send a picture parameter set to be used by the IDR picture to be
    sent.  The encoder may optionally also send other picture
    parameter sets.
 4) Send the IDR picture.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 78] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 5) From this point forward in time, send any other sequence or
    picture parameter sets that have not yet been sent in this
    procedure, prior to their reference by any NAL unit, regardless of
    whether such parameter sets were previously sent prior to
    receiving the request for a decoder refresh point.  As needed,
    such parameter sets may be sent in a batch, one at a time, or in
    any combination of these two methods.  Parameter sets may be
    re-sent at any time for redundancy.  Caution should be taken when
    parameter set updates are present, as described above in Section
    8.4.

8.5.2. Gradual Recovery Procedure to Respond to a Request for a Decoder

      Refresh Point
 This section gives another possible way to respond to a request for a
 decoder refresh point.
 The encoder shall, in the order presented here:
 1) Send a recovery point SEI message (see Sections D.1.7 and D.2.7 of
    [1]).
 2) Repeat any sequence and picture parameter sets that were sent
    before the recovery point SEI message, prior to their reference by
    a NAL unit.
 The encoder shall ensure that the decoder has access to all reference
 pictures for inter prediction of pictures at or after the recovery
 point, which is indicated by the recovery point SEI message, in
 output order, assuming that the transmission from now on is error-
 free.
 The value of the recovery_frame_cnt syntax element in the recovery
 point SEI message should be small enough to ensure a fast recovery.
 As needed, such parameter sets may be re-sent in a batch, one at a
 time, or in any combination of these two methods.  Parameter sets may
 be re-sent at any time for redundancy.  Caution should be taken when
 parameter set updates are present, as described above in Section 8.4.

9. Security Considerations

 RTP packets using the payload format defined in this specification
 are subject to the security considerations discussed in the RTP
 specification [5] and in any appropriate RTP profile (for example,
 [16]).  This implies that confidentiality of the media streams is
 achieved by encryption, for example, through the application of SRTP
 [26].  Because the data compression used with this payload format is

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 79] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 applied end-to-end, any encryption needs to be performed after
 compression.  A potential denial-of-service threat exists for data
 encodings using compression techniques that have non-uniform
 receiver-end computational load.  The attacker can inject
 pathological datagrams into the stream that are complex to decode and
 that cause the receiver to be overloaded.  H.264 is particularly
 vulnerable to such attacks, as it is extremely simple to generate
 datagrams containing NAL units that affect the decoding process of
 many future NAL units.  Therefore, the usage of data origin
 authentication and data integrity protection of at least the RTP
 packet is RECOMMENDED, for example, with SRTP [26].
 Note that the appropriate mechanism to ensure confidentiality and
 integrity of RTP packets and their payloads is very dependent on the
 application and on the transport and signaling protocols employed.
 Thus, although SRTP is given as an example above, other possible
 choices exist.
 Decoders MUST exercise caution with respect to the handling of user
 data SEI messages, particularly if they contain active elements, and
 MUST restrict their domain of applicability to the presentation
 containing the stream.
 End-to-end security with either authentication, integrity, or
 confidentiality protection will prevent a MANE from performing media-
 aware operations other than discarding complete packets.  In the case
 of confidentiality protection, it will even be prevented from
 discarding packets in a media-aware way.  To be allowed to perform
 its operations, a MANE is required to be a trusted entity that is
 included in the security context establishment.

10. Congestion Control

 Congestion control for RTP SHALL be used in accordance with RFC 3550
 [5] and with any applicable RTP profile, e.g., RFC 3551 [16].  If
 best-effort service is being used, an additional requirement is that
 users of this payload format MUST monitor packet loss to ensure that
 the packet loss rate is 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.  This condition can be satisfied by
 implementing congestion control mechanisms to adapt the transmission
 rate (or the number of layers subscribed for a layered multicast
 session) or by arranging for a receiver to leave the session if the
 loss rate is unacceptably high.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 80] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 The bitrate adaptation necessary for obeying the congestion control
 principle is easily achievable when real-time encoding is used.
 However, when pre-encoded content is being transmitted, bandwidth
 adaptation requires the availability of more than one coded
 representation of the same content, at different bitrates, or the
 existence of non-reference pictures or sub-sequences [22] in the
 bitstream.  The switching between the different representations can
 normally be performed in the same RTP session, e.g., by employing a
 concept known as SI/SP slices of the Extended profile or by switching
 streams at IDR picture boundaries.  Only when non-downgradable
 parameters (such as the profile part of the profile/level ID) are
 required to be changed does it become necessary to terminate and
 restart the media stream.  This may be accomplished by using a
 different RTP payload type.
 MANEs MAY follow the suggestions outlined in Section 7.3 and remove
 certain unusable packets from the packet stream when that stream was
 damaged due to previous packet losses.  This can help reduce the
 network load in certain special cases.

11. IANA Considerations

 The H264 media subtype name specified by RFC 3984 has been updated as
 defined in Section 8.1 of this memo.

12. Informative Appendix: Application Examples

 This payload specification is very flexible in its use, in order to
 cover the extremely wide application space anticipated for H.264.
 However, this great flexibility also makes it difficult for an
 implementer to decide on a reasonable packetization scheme.  Some
 information on how to apply this specification to real-world
 scenarios is likely to appear in the form of academic publications
 and a test model software and description in the near future.
 However, some preliminary usage scenarios are described here as well.

12.1. Video Telephony According to Annex A of ITU-T Recommendation

     H.241
 H.323-based video telephony systems that use H.264 as an optional
 video compression scheme are required to support Annex A of H.241 [3]
 as a packetization scheme.  The packetization mechanism defined in
 this Annex is technically identical with a small subset of this
 specification.
 When a system operates according to Annex A of H.241, parameter set
 NAL units are sent in-band.  Only single NAL unit packets are used.
 Many such systems are not sending IDR pictures regularly, but only

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 81] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 when required by user interaction or by control protocol means, e.g.,
 when switching between video channels in a Multipoint Control Unit or
 for error recovery requested by feedback.

12.2. Video Telephony, No Slice Data Partitioning, No NAL Unit

     Aggregation
 The RTP part of this scheme is implemented and tested (though not the
 control-protocol part; see below).
 In most real-world video telephony applications, picture parameters
 such as picture size or optional modes never change during the
 lifetime of a connection.  Therefore, all necessary parameter sets
 (usually only one) are sent as a side effect of the capability
 exchange/announcement process, e.g., according to the SDP syntax
 specified in Section 8.2 of this document.  As all necessary
 parameter set information is established before the RTP session
 starts, there is no need for sending any parameter set NAL units.
 Slice data partitioning is not used either.  Thus, the RTP packet
 stream basically consists of NAL units that carry single coded
 slices.
 The encoder chooses the size of coded slice NAL units so that they
 offer the best performance.  Often, this is done by adapting the
 coded slice size to the MTU size of the IP network.  For small
 picture sizes, this may result in a one-picture-per-one-packet
 strategy.  Intra refresh algorithms clean up the loss of packets and
 the resulting drift-related artifacts.

12.3. Video Telephony, Interleaved Packetization Using NAL Unit

     Aggregation
 This scheme allows better error concealment and is used in
 H.263-based designs using RFC 4629 packetization [11].  It has been
 implemented, and good results were reported [13].
 The VCL encoder codes the source picture so that all macroblocks
 (MBs) of one MB line are assigned to one slice.  All slices with even
 MB row addresses are combined into one STAP, and all slices with odd
 MB row addresses are combined into another.  Those STAPs are
 transmitted as RTP packets.  The establishment of the parameter sets
 is performed as discussed above.
 Note that the use of STAPs is essential here, as the high number of
 individual slices (18 for a Common Intermediate Format (CIF) picture)
 would lead to unacceptably high IP/UDP/RTP header overhead (unless
 the source coding tool FMO is used, which is not assumed in this
 scenario).  Furthermore, some wireless video transmission systems,

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 82] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 such as H.324M and the IP-based video telephony specified in 3GPP,
 are likely to use relatively small transport packet size.  For
 example, a typical MTU size of H.223 AL3 SDU is around 100 bytes
 [17].  Coding individual slices according to this packetization
 scheme provides further advantage in communication between wired and
 wireless networks, as individual slices are likely to be smaller than
 the preferred maximum packet size of wireless systems.  Consequently,
 a gateway can convert the STAPs used in a wired network into several
 RTP packets with only one NAL unit, which are preferred in a wireless
 network, and vice versa.

12.4. Video Telephony with Data Partitioning

 This scheme has been implemented and has been shown to offer good
 performance, especially at higher packet loss rates [13].
 Data partitioning is known to be useful only when some form of
 unequal error protection is available.  Normally, in single-session
 RTP environments, even error characteristics are assumed; that is,
 the packet loss probability of all packets of the session is the same
 statistically.  However, there are means to reduce the packet loss
 probability of individual packets in an RTP session.  A FEC packet
 according to RFC 5109 [18], for example, specifies which media
 packets are associated with the FEC packet.
 In all cases, the incurred overhead is substantial but is in the same
 order of magnitude as the number of bits that have otherwise been
 spent for intra information.  However, this mechanism does not add
 any delay to the system.
 Again, the complete parameter set establishment is performed through
 control protocol means.

12.5. Video Telephony or Streaming with FUs and Forward Error

     Correction
 This scheme has been implemented and has been shown to provide good
 performance, especially at higher packet loss rates [19].
 The most efficient means to combat packet losses for scenarios where
 retransmissions are not applicable is forward error correction (FEC).
 Although application layer, end-to-end use of FEC is often less
 efficient than a FEC-based protection of individual links (especially
 when links of different characteristics are in the transmission
 path), application layer, end-to-end FEC is unavoidable in some
 scenarios.  RFC 5109 [18] provides means to use generic, application
 layer, end-to-end FEC in packet loss environments.  A binary forward
 error correcting code is generated by applying the XOR operation to

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 83] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 the bits at the same bit position in different packets.  The binary
 code can be specified by the parameters (n,k), in which k is the
 number of information packets used in the connection and n is the
 total number of packets generated for k information packets; that is,
 n-k parity packets are generated for k information packets.
 When a code is used with parameters (n,k) within the RFC 5109
 framework, the following properties are well known:
 a) If applied over one RTP packet, RFC 5109 provides only packet
    repetition.
 b) RFC 5109 is most bitrate efficient if XOR-connected packets have
    equal length.
 c) At the same packet loss probability p and for a fixed k, the
    greater the value of n, the smaller the residual error probability
    becomes.  For example, for a packet loss probability of 10%, k=1,
    and n=2, the residual error probability is about 1%, whereas for
    n=3, the residual error probability is about 0.1%.
 d) At the same packet loss probability p and for a fixed code rate
    k/n, the greater the value of n, the smaller the residual error
    probability becomes.  For example, at a packet loss probability of
    p=10%, k=1, and n=2, the residual error rate is about 1%, whereas
    for an extended Golay code with k=12 and n=24, the residual error
    rate is about 0.01%.
 For applying RFC 5109 in combination with H.264 baseline-coded video
 without using FUs, several options might be considered:
 1) The video encoder produces NAL units for which each video frame is
    coded in a single slice.  Applying FEC, one could use a simple
    code, e.g., (n=2, k=1).  That is, each NAL unit would basically
    just be repeated.  The disadvantage is obviously the bad code
    performance according to d), above, and the low flexibility, as
    only (n, k=1) codes can be used.
 2) The video encoder produces NAL units for which each video frame is
    encoded in one or more consecutive slices.  Applying FEC, one
    could use a better code, e.g., (n=24, k=12), over a sequence of
    NAL units.  Depending on the number of RTP packets per frame, a
    loss may introduce a significant delay, which is reduced when more
    RTP packets are used per frame.  Packets of completely different
    lengths might also be connected, which decreases bitrate

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 84] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

    efficiency according to b), above.  However, with some care and
    for slices of 1 kb or larger, similar length (100-200 bytes
    difference) may be produced, which will not lower the bit
    efficiency catastrophically.
 3) The video encoder produces NAL units, for which a certain frame
    contains k slices of possibly almost equal length.  Then, applying
    FEC, a better code, e.g., (n=24, k=12), can be used over the
    sequence of NAL units for each frame.  The delay compared to that
    of 2), above, may be reduced, but several disadvantages are
    obvious.  First, the coding efficiency of the encoded video is
    lowered significantly, as slice-structured coding reduces intra-
    frame prediction and additional slice overhead is necessary.
    Second, pre-encoded content or, when operating over a gateway, the
    video is usually not appropriately coded with k slices such that
    FEC can be applied.  Finally, the encoding of video producing k
    slices of equal length is not straightforward and might require
    more than one encoding pass.
 Many of the mentioned disadvantages can be avoided by applying FUs in
 combination with FEC.  Each NAL unit can be split into any number of
 FUs of basically equal length; therefore, FEC, with a reasonable k
 and n, can be applied, even if the encoder made no effort to produce
 slices of equal length.  For example, a coded slice NAL unit
 containing an entire frame can be split to k FUs, and a parity check
 code (n=k+1, k) can be applied.  However, this has the disadvantage
 that unless all created fragments can be recovered, the whole slice
 will be lost.  Thus, a larger section is lost than would be if the
 frame had been split into several slices.
 The presented technique makes it possible to achieve good
 transmission error tolerance, even if no additional source coding
 layer redundancy (such as periodic intra frames) is present.
 Consequently, the same coded video sequence can be used to achieve
 the maximum compression efficiency and quality over error-free
 transmission and for transmission over error-prone networks.
 Furthermore, the technique allows the application of FEC to pre-
 encoded sequences without adding delay.  In this case, pre-encoded
 sequences that are not encoded for error-prone networks can still be
 transmitted almost reliably without adding extensive delays.  In
 addition, FUs of equal length result in a bitrate efficient use of
 RFC 5109.
 If the error probability depends on the length of the transmitted
 packet (e.g., in case of mobile transmission [15]), the benefits of
 applying FUs with FEC are even more obvious.  Basically, the
 flexibility of the size of FUs allows appropriate FEC to be applied
 for each NAL unit and unequal error protection of NAL units.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 85] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 When FUs and FEC are used, the incurred overhead is substantial but
 is in the same order of magnitude as the number of bits that have to
 be spent for intra-coded macroblocks if no FEC is applied.  In [19],
 it was shown that the overall performance of the FEC-based approach
 enhanced quality when using the same error rate and same overall
 bitrate, including the overhead.

12.6. Low Bitrate Streaming

 This scheme has been implemented with H.263 and non-standard RTP
 packetization and has given good results [20].  There is no technical
 reason why similarly good results could not be achievable with H.264.
 In today's Internet streaming, some of the offered bitrates are
 relatively low in order to allow terminals with dial-up modems to
 access the content.  In wired IP networks, relatively large packets,
 say 500 - 1500 bytes, are preferred to smaller and more frequently
 occurring packets in order to reduce network congestion.  Moreover,
 use of large packets decreases the amount of RTP/UDP/IP header
 overhead.  For low bitrate video, the use of large packets means that
 sometimes up to few pictures should be encapsulated in one packet.
 However, the loss of a packet including many coded pictures would
 have drastic consequences for visual quality, as there is practically
 no way to conceal the loss of an entire picture other than repeating
 the previous one.  One way to construct relatively large packets and
 maintain possibilities for successful loss concealment is to
 construct MTAPs that contain interleaved slices from several
 pictures.  An MTAP should not contain spatially adjacent slices from
 the same picture or spatially overlapping slices from any picture.
 If a packet is lost, it is likely that a lost slice is surrounded by
 spatially adjacent slices of the same picture and spatially
 corresponding slices of the temporally previous and succeeding
 pictures.  Consequently, concealment of the lost slice is likely to
 be relatively successful.

12.7. Robust Packet Scheduling in Video Streaming

 Robust packet scheduling has been implemented with MPEG-4 Part 2 and
 simulated in a wireless streaming environment [21].  There is no
 technical reason why similar or better results could not be
 achievable with H.264.
 Streaming clients typically have a receiver buffer that is capable of
 storing a relatively large amount of data.  Initially, when a
 streaming session is established, a client does not start playing the
 stream back immediately.  Rather, it typically buffers the incoming
 data for a few seconds.  This buffering helps maintain continuous

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 86] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 playback, as, in case of occasional increased transmission delays or
 network throughput drops, the client can decode and play buffered
 data.  Otherwise, without initial buffering, the client has to freeze
 the display, stop decoding, and wait for incoming data.  The
 buffering is also necessary for either automatic or selective
 retransmission in any protocol level.  If any part of a picture is
 lost, a retransmission mechanism may be used to resend the lost data.
 If the retransmitted data is received before its scheduled decoding
 or playback time, the loss is recovered perfectly.  Coded pictures
 can be ranked according to their importance in the subjective quality
 of the decoded sequence.  For example, non-reference pictures, such
 as conventional B pictures, are subjectively least important, as
 their absence does not affect decoding of any other pictures.  In
 addition to non-reference pictures, the ITU-T H.264 | ISO/IEC
 14496-10 standard includes a temporal scalability method called sub-
 sequences [22].  Subjective ranking can also be made on coded slice
 data partition or slice group basis.  Coded slices and coded slice
 data partitions that are subjectively the most important can be sent
 earlier than their decoding order indicates, whereas coded slices and
 coded slice data partitions that are subjectively the least important
 can be sent later than their natural coding order indicates.
 Consequently, any retransmitted parts of the most important slices
 and coded slice data partitions are more likely to be received before
 their scheduled decoding or playback time compared to the least
 important slices and slice data partitions.

13. Informative Appendix: Rationale for Decoding Order Number

13.1. Introduction

 The Decoding Order Number (DON) concept was introduced mainly to
 enable efficient multi-picture slice interleaving (see Section 12.6)
 and robust packet scheduling (see Section 12.7).  In both of these
 applications, NAL units are transmitted out of decoding order.  DON
 indicates the decoding order of NAL units and should be used in the
 receiver to recover the decoding order.  Example use cases for
 efficient multi-picture slice interleaving and for robust packet
 scheduling are given in Sections 13.2 and 13.3, respectively.
 Section 13.4 describes the benefits of the DON concept in error
 resiliency achieved by redundant coded pictures.  Section 13.5
 summarizes considered alternatives to DON and justifies why DON was
 chosen for this RTP payload specification.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 87] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

13.2. Example of Multi-Picture Slice Interleaving

 An example of multi-picture slice interleaving follows.  A subset of
 a coded video sequence is depicted below in output order.  R denotes
 a reference picture, N denotes a non-reference picture, and the
 number indicates a relative output time.
    ... R1 N2 R3 N4 R5 ...
 The decoding order of these pictures from left to right is as
 follows:
    ... R1 R3 N2 R5 N4 ...
 The NAL units of pictures R1, R3, N2, R5, and N4 are marked with a
 DON equal to 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively.
 Each reference picture consists of three slice groups that are
 scattered as follows (a number denotes the slice group number for
 each macroblock in a Quarter Common Intermediate Format (QCIF)
 frame):
    0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1
    2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0
    1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2
    0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1
    2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0
    1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2
    0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1
    2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0
    1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2
 For the sake of simplicity, we assume that all the macroblocks of a
 slice group are included in one slice.  Three MTAPs are constructed
 from three consecutive reference pictures so that each MTAP contains
 three aggregation units, each of which contains all the macroblocks
 from one slice group.  The first MTAP contains slice group 0 of
 picture R1, slice group 1 of picture R3, and slice group 2 of picture
 R5.  The second MTAP contains slice group 1 of picture R1, slice
 group 2 of picture R3, and slice group 0 of picture R5.  The third
 MTAP contains slice group 2 of picture R1, slice group 0 of picture
 R3, and slice group 1 of picture R5.  Each non-reference picture is
 encapsulated into an STAP-B.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 88] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Consequently, the transmission order of NAL units is the following:
    R1, slice group 0, DON 1, carried in MTAP,RTP SN: N
    R3, slice group 1, DON 2, carried in MTAP,RTP SN: N
    R5, slice group 2, DON 4, carried in MTAP,RTP SN: N
    R1, slice group 1, DON 1, carried in MTAP,RTP SN: N+1
    R3, slice group 2, DON 2, carried in MTAP,RTP SN: N+1
    R5, slice group 0, DON 4, carried in MTAP,RTP SN: N+1
    R1, slice group 2, DON 1, carried in MTAP,RTP SN: N+2
    R3, slice group 1, DON 2, carried in MTAP,RTP SN: N+2
    R5, slice group 0, DON 4, carried in MTAP,RTP SN: N+2
    N2, DON 3, carried in STAP-B, RTP SN: N+3
    N4, DON 5, carried in STAP-B, RTP SN: N+4
 The receiver is able to organize the NAL units back in decoding order
 based on the value of DON associated with each NAL unit.
 If one of the MTAPs is lost, the spatially adjacent and temporally
 co-located macroblocks are received and can be used to conceal the
 loss efficiently.  If one of the STAPs is lost, the effect of the
 loss does not propagate temporally.

13.3. Example of Robust Packet Scheduling

 An example of robust packet scheduling follows.  The communication
 system used in the example consists of the following components in
 the order that the video is processed from source to sink:
 o camera and capturing
 o pre-encoding buffer
 o encoder
 o encoded picture buffer
 o transmitter
 o transmission channel
 o receiver
 o receiver buffer
 o decoder
 o decoded picture buffer
 o display
 The video communication system used in this example operates as
 follows.  Note that processing of the video stream happens gradually
 and at the same time in all components of the system.  The source
 video sequence is shot and captured to a pre-encoding buffer.  The
 pre-encoding buffer can be used to order pictures from sampling order
 to encoding order or to analyze multiple uncompressed frames for
 bitrate control purposes, for example.  In some cases, the pre-
 encoding buffer may not exist; instead, the sampled pictures are

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 89] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 encoded right away.  The encoder encodes pictures from the pre-
 encoding buffer and stores the output (i.e., coded pictures) to the
 encoded picture buffer.  The transmitter encapsulates the coded
 pictures from the encoded picture buffer to transmission packets and
 sends them to a receiver through a transmission channel.  The
 receiver stores the received packets to the receiver buffer.  The
 receiver buffering process typically includes buffering for
 transmission delay jitter.  The receiver buffer can also be used to
 recover correct decoding order of coded data.  The decoder reads
 coded data from the receiver buffer and produces decoded pictures as
 output into the decoded picture buffer.  The decoded picture buffer
 is used to recover the output (or display) order of pictures.
 Finally, pictures are displayed.
 In the following example figures, I denotes an IDR picture, R denotes
 a reference picture, N denotes a non-reference picture, and the
 number after I, R, or N indicates the sampling time relative to the
 previous IDR picture in decoding order.  Values below the sequence of
 pictures indicate scaled system clock timestamps.  The system clock
 is initialized arbitrarily in this example, and time runs from left
 to right.  Each I, R, and N picture is mapped into the same timeline
 compared to the previous processing step, if any, assuming that
 encoding, transmission, and decoding take no time.  Thus, events
 happening at the same time are located in the same column throughout
 all example figures.
 A subset of a sequence of coded pictures is depicted below in
 sampling order.
     ...  N58 N59 I00 N01 N02 R03 N04 N05 R06 ... N58 N59 I00 N01 ...
     ... --|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|- ... -|---|---|---|- ...
     ...  58  59  60  61  62  63  64  65  66  ... 128 129 130 131 ...
     Figure 16.  Sequence of pictures in sampling order
 The sampled pictures are buffered in the pre-encoding buffer to
 arrange them in encoding order.  In this example, we assume that the
 non-reference pictures are predicted from both the previous and the
 next reference picture in output order, except for the non-reference
 pictures immediately preceding an IDR picture, which are predicted
 only from the previous reference picture in output order.  Thus, the
 pre-encoding buffer has to contain at least two pictures, and the
 buffering causes a delay of two picture intervals.  The output of the
 pre-encoding buffering process and the encoding (and decoding) order
 of the pictures are as follows:

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 90] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

     ... N58 N59 I00 R03 N01 N02 R06 N04 N05 ...
     ... -|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|- ...
     ... 60  61  62  63  64  65  66  67  68  ...
     Figure 17.  Reordered pictures in the pre-encoding buffer
 The encoder or the transmitter can set the value of DON for each
 picture to a value of DON for the previous picture in decoding order
 plus one.
 For the sake of simplicity, let us assume that:
 o  the frame rate of the sequence is constant,
 o  each picture consists of only one slice,
 o  each slice is encapsulated in a single NAL unit packet,
 o  there is no transmission delay, and
 o  pictures are transmitted at constant intervals (that is, 1 /
    (frame rate)).
 When pictures are transmitted in decoding order, they are received as
 follows:
     ... N58 N59 I00 R03 N01 N02 R06 N04 N05 ...
     ... -|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|- ...
     ... 60  61  62  63  64  65  66  67  68  ...
     Figure 18.  Received pictures in decoding order
 The OPTIONAL sprop-interleaving-depth media type parameter is set to
 0, as the transmission (or reception) order is identical to the
 decoding order.
 Initially, the decoder has to buffer for one picture interval in its
 decoded picture buffer to organize pictures from decoding order to
 output order, as depicted below:
     ... N58 N59 I00 N01 N02 R03 N04 N05 R06 ...
     ... -|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|- ...
     ... 61  62  63  64  65  66  67  68  69  ...
     Figure 19.  Output order
 The amount of required initial buffering in the decoded picture
 buffer can be signaled in the buffering period SEI message or with
 the num_reorder_frames syntax element of H.264 video usability
 information.  num_reorder_frames indicates the maximum number of
 frames, complementary field pairs, or non-paired fields that precede
 any frame, complementary field pair, or non-paired field in the

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 91] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 sequence in decoding order and that follow it in output order.  For
 the sake of simplicity, we assume that num_reorder_frames is used to
 indicate the initial buffer in the decoded picture buffer.  In this
 example, num_reorder_frames is equal to 1.
 It can be observed that if the IDR picture I00 is lost during
 transmission and a retransmission request is issued when the value of
 the system clock is 62, there is one picture interval of time (until
 the system clock reaches timestamp 63) to receive the retransmitted
 IDR picture I00.
 Let us then assume that IDR pictures are transmitted two frame
 intervals earlier than their decoding position; that is, the pictures
 are transmitted as follows:
     ...  I00 N58 N59 R03 N01 N02 R06 N04 N05 ...
     ... --|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|- ...
     ...  62  63  64  65  66  67  68  69  70  ...
     Figure 20.  Interleaving: Early IDR pictures in sending order
 The OPTIONAL sprop-interleaving-depth media type parameter is set
 equal to 1 according to its definition.  (The value of sprop-
 interleaving-depth in this example can be derived as follows: picture
 I00 is the only picture preceding picture N58 or N59 in transmission
 order and following it in decoding order.  Except for pictures I00,
 N58, and N59, the transmission order is the same as the decoding
 order of pictures.  As a coded picture is encapsulated into exactly
 one NAL unit, the value of sprop-interleaving-depth is equal to the
 maximum number of pictures preceding any picture in transmission
 order and following the picture in decoding order).
 The receiver buffering process contains two pictures at a time
 according to the value of the sprop-interleaving-depth parameter and
 orders pictures from the reception order to the correct decoding
 order based on the value of DON associated with each picture.  The
 output of the receiver buffering process is as follows:
     ... N58 N59 I00 R03 N01 N02 R06 N04 N05 ...
     ... -|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|- ...
     ... 63  64  65  66  67  68  69  70  71  ...
     Figure 21.  Interleaving: Receiver buffer

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 92] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Again, an initial buffering delay of one picture interval is needed
 to organize pictures from decoding order to output order, as depicted
 below:
      ... N58 N59 I00 N01 N02 R03 N04 N05 ...
      ... -|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|- ...
      ... 64  65  66  67  68  69  70  71  ...
      Figure 22.  Interleaving: Receiver buffer after reordering
 Note that the maximum delay that IDR pictures can undergo during
 transmission, including possible application, transport, or link
 layer retransmission, is equal to three picture intervals.  Thus, the
 loss resiliency of IDR pictures is improved in systems supporting
 retransmission compared to the case in which pictures are transmitted
 in their decoding order.

13.4. Robust Transmission Scheduling of Redundant Coded Slices

 A redundant coded picture is a coded representation of a picture or a
 part of a picture that is not used in the decoding process if the
 corresponding primary coded picture is correctly decoded.  There
 should be no noticeable difference between any area of the decoded
 primary picture and a corresponding area that would result from
 application of the H.264 decoding process for any redundant picture
 in the same access unit.  A redundant coded slice is a coded slice
 that is a part of a redundant coded picture.
 Redundant coded pictures can be used to provide unequal error
 protection in error-prone video transmission.  If a primary coded
 representation of a picture is decoded incorrectly, a corresponding
 redundant coded picture can be decoded.  Examples of applications and
 coding techniques using the redundant codec picture feature include
 the video redundancy coding [23] and the protection of "key pictures"
 in multicast streaming [24].
 One property of many error-prone video communications systems is that
 transmission errors are often bursty.  Therefore, they may affect
 more than one consecutive transmission packet in transmission order.
 In low bitrate video communication, it is relatively common for an
 entire coded picture to be encapsulated into one transmission packet.
 Consequently, a primary coded picture and the corresponding redundant
 coded pictures may be transmitted in consecutive packets in
 transmission order.  To make the transmission scheme more tolerant of
 bursty transmission errors, it is beneficial to transmit the primary
 coded picture and redundant coded picture separated by more than a
 single packet.  The DON concept enables this.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 93] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

13.5. Remarks on Other Design Possibilities

 The slice header syntax structure of the H.264 coding standard
 contains the frame_num syntax element that can indicate the decoding
 order of coded frames.  However, the usage of the frame_num syntax
 element is not feasible or desirable to recover the decoding order,
 due to the following reasons:
 o  The receiver is required to parse at least one slice header per
    coded picture (before passing the coded data to the decoder).
 o  Coded slices from multiple coded video sequences cannot be
    interleaved, as the frame number syntax element is reset to 0 in
    each IDR picture.
 o  The coded fields of a complementary field pair share the same
    value of the frame_num syntax element.  Thus, the decoding order
    of the coded fields of a complementary field pair cannot be
    recovered based on the frame_num syntax element or any other
    syntax element of the H.264 coding syntax.
 The RTP payload format for transport of MPEG-4 elementary streams
 [25] enables interleaving of access units and transmission of
 multiple access units in the same RTP packet.  An access unit is
 specified in the H.264 coding standard to comprise all NAL units
 associated with a primary coded picture according to Subclause
 7.4.1.2 of [1].  Consequently, slices of different pictures cannot be
 interleaved, and the multi-picture slice interleaving technique (see
 Section 12.6) for improved error resilience cannot be used.

14. Changes from RFC 3984

 Following is the list of technical changes (including bug fixes) from
 RFC 3984.  Besides this list of technical changes, numerous editorial
 changes have been made, but not documented in this section.  Note
 that Section 8.2.2 is where much of the important changes in this
 memo occurs and deserves particular attention.
 1)  In Sections 5.4, 5.5, 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4, removed that the
     packetization mode in use may be signaled by external means.
 2)  In Section 7.2.2, changed the sentence
     There are N VCL NAL units in the de-interleaving buffer.
     to
     There are N or more VCL NAL units in the de-interleaving buffer.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 94] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 3)  In Section 8.1, the semantics of sprop-init-buf-time (paragraph
     2), changed the sentence
     The parameter is the maximum value of (transmission time of a NAL
     unit - decoding time of the NAL unit), assuming reliable and
     instantaneous transmission, the same timeline for transmission
     and decoding, and that decoding starts when the first packet
     arrives.
     to
     The parameter is the maximum value of (decoding time of the NAL
     unit - transmission time of a NAL unit), assuming reliable and
     instantaneous transmission, the same timeline for transmission
     and decoding, and that decoding starts when the first packet
     arrives.
 4)  Added media type parameters max-smbps, sprop-level-parameter-
     sets, use-level-src-parameter-sets, in-band-parameter-sets, sar-
     understood, and sar-supported.
 5)  In Section 8.1, removed the specification of parameter-add.
     Other descriptions of parameter-add (in Sections 8.2 and 8.4)
     were also removed.
 6)  In Section 8.1, added a constraint to sprop-parameter-sets such
     that it can only contain parameter sets for the same profile and
     level as indicated by profile-level-id.
 7)  In Section 8.2.1, added that sprop-parameter-sets and sprop-
     level-parameter-sets may be either included in the "a=fmtp" line
     of SDP or conveyed using the "fmtp" source attribute as specified
     in Section 6.3 of [9].
 8)  In Section 8.2.2, removed sprop-deint-buf-req from being part of
     the media format configuration in usage with the SDP Offer/Answer
     model.
 9)  In Section 8.2.2, made it clear that level is downgradable in the
     SDP Offer/Answer model, i.e., the use of the level part of
     profile-level-id does not need to be symmetric (the level
     included in the answer can be lower than or equal to the level
     included in the offer).
 10) In Section 8.2.2, removed that the capability parameters may be
     used to declare encoding capabilities.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 95] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 11) In Section 8.2.2, added rules on how to use sprop-parameter-sets
     and sprop-level-parameter-sets for out-of-band transport of
     parameter sets, with or without level downgrading.
 12) In Section 8.2.2, clarified the rules of using the media type
     parameters with SDP Offer/Answer for multicast.
 13) In Section 8.2.2, completed and corrected the list of how
     different media type parameters shall be interpreted in the
     different combinations of offer or answer and direction
     attribute.
 14) In Section 8.4, changed the text such that both out-of-band and
     in-band transport of parameter sets are allowed, and neither is
     recommended or required.
 15) Added Section 8.5 (informative) providing example methods for
     decoder refresh to handle parameter set losses.
 16) Added media type parameters max-recv-level and level-asymmetry-
     allowed and adjusted associated text and examples for level
     upgrade and asymmetry.

15. Backward Compatibility to RFC 3984

 The current document is a revision of RFC 3984 and obsoletes it.  The
 technical changes relative to RFC 3984 are listed in Section 14.
 This section addresses the backward compatibility issues.
 It should be noted that for the majority of cases, there will be no
 compatibility issues for legacy implementations per RFC 3984 and new
 implementations per this document to interwork.  Compatibility issues
 may only occur when both of the following conditions are true: 1)
 legacy implementations and new implementations are interworking, and
 2) parameter sets are transported out-of-band.  When such
 compatibility issues occur, it is easy to debug and find the reason
 for the incompatibility using the following analyses.
 Items 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 13 are bug-fix types of changes and
 do not incur any backward compatibility issues.
 Item 4 (addition of six new media type parameters) does not incur any
 backward compatibility issues for SDP Offer/Answer-based
 applications, as legacy RFC 3984 receivers ignore these parameters,
 and it is fine for legacy RFC 3984 senders not to use these
 parameters as they are optional.  However, there is a backward
 compatibility issue for declarative-usage-based applications (only
 for the parameter sprop-level-parameter-sets as the other five

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 96] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 parameters are not usable in declarative usage).  For example,
 declarative-usage-based applications using RTSP and SAP have a
 backward compatibility issue because the SDP receiver per RFC 3984
 cannot accept a session for which the SDP includes an unrecognized
 parameter.  Therefore, the RTSP or SAP server may have to prepare two
 sets of streams, one for legacy RFC 3984 receivers and one for
 receivers according to this memo.
 Items 5, 6, and 11 are related to out-of-band transport of parameter
 sets.  There are following backward compatibility issues.
 1)  When a legacy sender per RFC 3984 includes parameter sets for a
     level different than the default level indicated by profile-
     level-id to sprop-parameter-sets, the parameter value of sprop-
     parameter-sets is invalid to the receiver per this memo;
     therefore, the session may be rejected.
 2)  In SDP Offer/Answer between a legacy offerer per RFC 3984 and an
     answerer per this memo, when the answerer includes in the answer
     parameter sets that are not a superset of the parameter sets
     included in the offer, the parameter value of sprop-parameter-
     sets is invalid to the offerer, and the session may not be
     initiated properly (related to change item 11).
 3)  When one endpoint A per this memo includes in-band-parameter-sets
     equal to 1, the other side B per RFC 3984 does not understand
     that it must transmit parameter sets in-band, and B may still
     exclude parameter sets in the in-band stream it is sending.
     Consequently, endpoint A cannot decode the stream it receives.
 Item 7 (allowance of conveying sprop-parameter-sets and sprop-level-
 parameter-sets using the "fmtp" source attribute as specified in
 Section 6.3 of [9]) is similar to item 4.  It does not incur any
 backward compatibility issues for SDP Offer/Answer-based
 applications, as legacy RFC 3984 receivers ignore the "fmtp" source
 attribute, and it is fine for legacy RFC 3984 senders not to use the
 "fmtp" source attribute as it is optional.  However, there is a
 backward compatibility issue for SDP declarative-usage-based
 applications, e.g., those using RTSP and SAP, because the SDP
 receiver per RFC 3984 cannot accept a session for which the SDP
 includes an unrecognized parameter (i.e., the "fmtp" source
 attribute).  Therefore, the RTSP or SAP server may have to prepare
 two sets of streams, one for legacy RFC 3984 receivers and one for
 receivers according to this memo.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 97] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 Item 14 does not incur any backward compatibility issues, as out-of-
 band transport of parameter sets is still allowed.
 Item 15 does not incur any backward compatibility issues, as the
 added Section 8.5 is informative.
 Item 16 does not create any backward compatibility issues as the
 handling of the default level is the same if either end is RFC 3984
 compliant, and, furthermore, RFC-3984-compliant ends would simply
 ignore the new media type parameters, if present.

16. Acknowledgements

 Stephan Wenger, Miska Hannuksela, Thomas Stockhammer, Magnus
 Westerlund, and David Singer are thanked as the authors of RFC 3984.
 Dave Lindbergh, Philippe Gentric, Gonzalo Camarillo, Gary Sullivan,
 Joerg Ott, and Colin Perkins are thanked for careful review during
 the development of RFC 3984. Stephen Botzko, Magnus Westerlund, Alex
 Eleftheriadis, Thomas Schierl, Tom Taylor, Ali Begen, Aaron Wells,
 Stuart Taylor, Robert Sparks, Dan Romascanu, and Niclas Comstedt are
 thanked for their valuable comments and input during the development
 of this memo.

17. References

17.1. Normative References

 [1]   ITU-T Recommendation H.264, "Advanced video coding for generic
       audiovisual services", March 2010.
 [2]   ISO/IEC International Standard 14496-10:2008.
 [3]   ITU-T Recommendation H.241, "Extended video procedures and
       control signals for H.300-series terminals", May 2006.
 [4]   Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
       Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
 [5]   Schulzrinne, H., Casner, S., Frederick, R., and V. Jacobson,
       "RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications", STD 64,
       RFC 3550, July 2003.
 [6]   Handley, M., Jacobson, V., and C. Perkins, "SDP: Session
       Description Protocol", RFC 4566, July 2006.
 [7]   Josefsson, S., "The Base16, Base32, and Base64 Data Encodings",
       RFC 4648, October 2006.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 98] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 [8]   Rosenberg, J. and H. Schulzrinne, "An Offer/Answer Model with
       Session Description Protocol (SDP)", RFC 3264, June 2002.
 [9]   Lennox, J., Ott, J., and T. Schierl, "Source-Specific Media
       Attributes in the Session Description Protocol (SDP)", RFC
       5576, June 2009.

17.2. Informative References

 [10]  Luthra, A., Sullivan, G.J., and T. Wiegand (eds.),
       "Introduction to the special issue on the H.264/AVC video
       coding standard", IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for
       Video Technology, Vol. 13, No. 7, July 2003.
 [11]  Ott, J., Bormann, C., Sullivan, G., Wenger, S., and R. Even,
       Ed., "RTP Payload Format for ITU-T Rec. H.263 Video", RFC 4629,
       January 2007.
 [12]  ISO/IEC International Standard 14496-2:2004.
 [13]  Wenger, S., "H.264/AVC over IP", IEEE Transaction on Circuits
       and Systems for Video Technology, Vol. 13, No. 7, July 2003.
 [14]  Wenger, S., "H.26L over IP: The IP-Network Adaptation Layer",
       Proceedings Packet Video Workshop, April 2002.
 [15]  Stockhammer, T., Hannuksela, M.M., and S. Wenger, "H.26L/JVT
       Coding Network Abstraction Layer and IP-Based Transport", IEEE
       International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP 2002),
       Rochester, NY, September 2002.
 [16]  Schulzrinne, H. and S. Casner, "RTP Profile for Audio and Video
       Conferences with Minimal Control", STD 65, RFC 3551, July 2003.
 [17]  ITU-T Recommendation H.223, "Multiplexing protocol for low bit
       rate multimedia communication", July 2001.
 [18]  Li, A., Ed., "RTP Payload Format for Generic Forward Error
       Correction", RFC 5109, December 2007.
 [19]  Stockhammer, T., Wiegand, T., Oelbaum, T., and F. Obermeier,
       "Video Coding and Transport Layer Techniques for H.264/AVC-
       Based Transmission over Packet-Lossy Networks", IEEE
       International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP 2003),
       Barcelona, Spain, September 2003.
 [20]  Varsa, V. and M. Karczewicz, "Slice interleaving in compressed
       video packetization", Packet Video Workshop 2000.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 99] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

 [21]  Kang, S.H. and A. Zakhor, "Packet scheduling algorithm for
       wireless video streaming", Packet Video Workshop 2002.
 [22]  Hannuksela, M.M., "Enhanced Concept of GOP", JVT-B042,
       available http://ftp3.itu.int/av-arch/video-site/0201_Gen/JVT-
       B042.doc, January 2002.
 [23]  Wenger, S., "Video Redundancy Coding in H.263+", 1997
       International Workshop on Audio-Visual Services over Packet
       Networks, September 1997.
 [24]  Wang, Y.-K., Hannuksela, M.M., and M. Gabbouj, "Error Resilient
       Video Coding Using Unequally Protected Key Pictures", in Proc.
       International Workshop VLBV03, September 2003.
 [25]  van der Meer, J., Mackie, D., Swaminathan, V., Singer, D., and
       P. Gentric, "RTP Payload Format for Transport of MPEG-4
       Elementary Streams", RFC 3640, November 2003.
 [26]  Baugher, M., McGrew, D., Naslund, M., Carrara, E., and K.
       Norrman, "The Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP)", RFC
       3711, March 2004.
 [27]  Schulzrinne, H., Rao, A., and R. Lanphier, "Real Time Streaming
       Protocol (RTSP)", RFC 2326, April 1998.
 [28]  Handley, M., Perkins, C., and E. Whelan, "Session Announcement
       Protocol", RFC 2974, October 2000.
 [29]  Westerlund, M. and S. Wenger, "RTP Topologies", RFC 5117,
       January 2008.
 [30]  Wenger, S., Chandra, U., Westerlund, M., and B. Burman, "Codec
       Control Messages in the RTP Audio-Visual Profile with Feedback
       (AVPF)", RFC 5104, February 2008.

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 100] RFC 6184 RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video May 2011

Authors' Addresses

 Ye-Kui Wang
 Huawei Technologies
 400 Crossing Blvd, 2nd Floor
 Bridgewater, NJ 08807
 USA
 Phone: +1-908-541-3518
 EMail: yekui.wang@huawei.com
 Roni Even
 Huawei Technologies
 14 David Hamelech
 Tel Aviv 64953
 Israel
 Phone: +972-545481099
 EMail: even.roni@huawei.com
 Tom Kristensen
 TANDBERG
 Philip Pedersens vei 22
 N-1366 Lysaker
 Norway
 Phone: +47 67125125
 EMail: tom.kristensen@tandberg.com, tomkri@ifi.uio.no
 Randell Jesup
 WorldGate Communications
 3800 Horizon Blvd, Suite #103
 Trevose, PA 19053-4947
 USA
 Phone: +1-215-354-5166
 EMail: rjesup@wgate.com, randell_ietf@jesup.org

Wang, et al. Standards Track [Page 101]

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