MPEG flow identification for IP networks

[0001] This invention relates to the art of transmitting real-time-constrained information over internet protocol (IP) networks, and more particularly, to identifying particular streams of real-time-constrained information, such as video encoded using Motion Pictures Expert Group (MPEG)-2 encoding, so that they may be given appropriate processing treatment.

[0002] A problem in the art of transmitting packets containing real-time-constrained information over internet protocol (IP) networks is the need to give each type of information the appropriate processing. In order to do this, it is necessary to know the type of information that is contained within each packet as it passes through the network at each point at which the packet will be processed. In particular, video, such as using Motion Pictures Expert Group (MPEG)-2 encoded video, cannot withstand dropped packets. Therefore, in processing streams of packets that contain MPEG-2 video, it is necessary to give priority to any MPEG-2 video streams over other streams which are less sensitive, or insensitive, to dropped packets.

[0003] Prior art techniques prioritize packets based on predefined criteria without actually ascertaining, e.g., by investigating the contents of the packet, that the packets actually contain MPEG-2 video. For example, a packet flow may be defined and it is assumed that all packets in that flow are MPEG-2 packets, and packets from that flow are treated as if they contain MPEG-2 packets without regard for their actual contents. A flow is often defined by specifying source and destination IP addresses for the flow, or by specifying the source/destination port address thereof.

[0004] Another prior art technique that is used to prioritize packets is based upon the so-called “type-of-service” (TOS) byte, which is part of the IP packet header. The TOS may be used to indicate a coarse prioritization, so that, for example, it is assumed that any packet with either a predefined value in the TOS byte, or a value in the TOS byte that is at least a predefined value, contains MPEG-2 video and is treated appropriately.

[0005] Because these prior art techniques do not actually investigate the contents of the packet to be certain that it contains MPEG-2 video, it is possible that packets that do not contain MPEG-2 video will be processed as if they contained MPEG-2 video. Provided that there is sufficient bandwidth in the processing system, processing these non-MPEG-2 packets, i.e., these fake MPEG-2 packets, as if they were indeed actual MPEG-2 packets is not a problem. However, in the face of limited bandwidth—and what system does not have limited bandwidth—processing these fake MPEG-2 packets as undroppable actual MPEG-2 packets unnecessarily consumes system resources. Furthermore, these prior art prioritization arrangements can be abused by an unscrupulous user who sets his flow, or TOS byte, to indicate that he is sending MPEG-2 video, when in reality he is not.

[0006] In addition, setting up the flows in an IP network—the flows being a static configuration that specifies fixed ports—requires administration and/or reconfiguration each time a flow needs to be changed, i.e., a) when a point to point connection changes one of its points, b) when a new connection is made, or c) the like. Note that each switch or processing unit through which an MPEG-2 video stream flows must be updated with the new flow identifying information each time a flow needs to be changed. Thus, there is a constant administrative burden due to the resulting flow churn.

[0007] Another problem that arises in prior art arrangements using the TOS byte to define a flow that is to contain MPEG-2 video is the need for all of switches or processing units through which the flow passes to agree to a common TOS byte value, or set of values, that indicate MPEG-2 video. Otherwise, some switches or processing units may not properly handle, e.g., may drop, the MPEG-2 packets. It is difficult in practice to arrange for such agreement, especially when the flow travels over multiple networks.

[0008] We have recognized that that the problems with the prior art can be overcome, in accordance with the principles of the invention, by actually determining that a packet contains MPEG-2 video rather than using predefined streams or priority levels that are assumed to contain such information as is done in the prior art. More specifically, in accordance with an aspect of the invention, the “sync” bytes of the MPEG-2 stream are searched for within the IP packet payload, and when a pattern indicative of the sync bytes is found the sync bytes are identified and the packet is determined to contain MPEG-2 video. The sync byte was defined in MPEG-2 for over-the-air broadcasting in order that a television receiver be able to synchronize the MPEG-2 transport stream packets. Note that the MPEG-2 video, e.g., the MPEG-2 transport stream packets, may or may not be incorporated within real time protocol (RTP) packets before being incorporated into the IP packets.

[0013] The following merely illustrates the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements which, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples and conditional language recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.

[0014] Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudocode, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

[0015] The functions of the various elements shown in the FIGs., including functional blocks labeled as “processors”, may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which may be shared. Moreover, explicit use of the term “processor” or “controller” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software, random access memory (RAM), and non-volatile storage. Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included. Similarly, any switches shown in the FIGS. are conceptual only. Their function may be carried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicated logic, through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particular technique being selectable by the implementor as more specifically understood from the context.

[0016] In the claims hereof any element expressed as a means for performing a specified function is intended to encompass any way of performing that function including, for example, a) a combination of circuit elements which performs that function or b) software in any form, including, therefore, firmware, microcode or the like, combined with appropriate circuitry for executing that software to perform the function. The invention as defined by such claims resides in the fact that the functionalities provided by the various recited means are combined and brought together in the manner which the claims call for. Applicant thus regards any means which can provide those functionalities as equivalent as those shown herein.

[0017] Unless otherwise explicitly specified herein, the drawings are not drawn to scale.

[0018] FIG. 1 shows internet protocol (IP) packet 101 that is of the general type for which a determination may be made as to whether or not it contains MPEG-2 video based only on the packet's IP data payload in accordance with the principles of the invention. More specifically, in accordance with an aspect of the invention, a search is performed for the “sync” bytes of the MPEG-2 stream within the IP packet data payload of packet 101. When a pattern indicative of the sync bytes is found, the packet is determined to contain MPEG-2 video. Otherwise, the packet is determined to contain information that is not MPEG-2 video.

[0019] Packet 101 has a series of headers which precede IP data payload 111. In particular, packet 101 contains IP header 105, which is 20 bytes long and unreliable datagram protocol/transmission control protocol (UDP/TCP) header 107, which is 8 bytes long. Note that conventionally IP header 105 and UDP/TCP header 107 are conventionally grouped together and referred to as the header for the IP packet. They are shown independently in FIG. 1 for clarity of exposition and pedagogical purposes only.

[0020] Note that IP packet 101, as shown, is a UDP packet. This is because, as of this writing, UDP is typically used for real-time streaming, as TCP requires end-to-end communication. Thus, the invention is described herein in terms of UDP packets in IP. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize how to apply the principles of the invention to TCP packets.

[0021] IP data payload 111 follows UDP/TCP header 109. The number of bytes that are contained within IP data payload 111 is flexible, ranging from 0 and up, although certain transmission arrangements, such as ethernet, may impose other limits. Optional real time protocol (RTP) header 109, if present, is 12 bytes long, and is within IP data payload 111.

[0022] FIG. 2 shows an expanded version of IP data payload 111, which, as packet 101 is a UDP packet, is a UDP data payload. FIG. 2 shows an example in which UDP data payload 111 is carrying MPEG-2 video. As indicated, RTP header 109 may precede the MPEG-2 video within UDP data payload 111.

[0023] Consistent with any size limitations placed on it, UDP data payload 111 may carry any arbitrary number of MPEG-2 transport stream packets 201. Each of MPEG-2 transport stream packets 201 is 188 bytes in length. By virtue of the definition of the MPEG-2 transport layer, the first byte of each of MPEG-2 transport stream packets 201 is always a so-called “sync” byte 203, which has the value of 0x47.

[0024] In accordance with the principles of the invention, due to the regular spacing of the sync byte, it is possible to search through UDP data payload 111 for the presence of the expected pattern of MPEG-2 video, i.e., a pattern of having a sync byte as the first byte of UDP data payload 111—after any optional RTP header—and thereafter having a sync byte at each byte position in UDP data payload 111 that is a multiple of 188. Although finding a sync byte as the first byte of UDP data payload 111, after any optional RTP header, gives a strong indication that the IP packet contains MPEG-2 video, and it is assumed that for UDP data payloads of length 188 for which the first byte has the value of a sync byte that the packet contains MPEG-2 video, preferably each potential sync byte position should be checked. This is because the confidence level that MPEG-2 video has actually been found increases substantially when each position indeed contains a sync byte value.

[0025] In the event that most of the expected positions contain a sync byte, but one or more do not, whether or not to declare the packet as one containing MPEG-2 video is at the discretion of the implementor when designing, or configuring, the system. For example, if only one position at which a sync byte would be expected was not a sync byte, and the IP packet was indicated to have a transmission error, then the implementor may decide to have the system still treat the packet as containing MPEG-2 video.

[0026] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary process, in flowchart form, for processing an IP packet to determine if it contains MPEG-2 video, in accordance with the principles of the invention. The process is entered in step 301 when an IP packet is received. Next, in step 303, the packet is processed so there is a pointer that points to the UDP data payload within the packet, i.e., a pointer pointing within the packet is incremented to point to the UDP data payload. Thereafter, conditional branch point 305 tests to determine if the length of the UDP data payload is a multiple of 188. If the test result in step 305 is YES, indicating that there is no RTP header and that the length of the UDP data payload corresponds to a multiple of the length of MPEG-2 transport stream packet, control passes to conditional branch point 307, which tests to determine if the byte of the UDP data payload being pointed to by the pointer has the value of a sync byte, e.g., 0x47.

[0027] If the test result in step 307 is YES, control passes to step 309, which increments the pointer 188 bytes, i.e., the length of an MPEG-2 transport stream packet. This should result in the pointer pointing either at a) the beginning of the next MPEG-2 transport stream packet or to the end of the UDP data payload, which is also the end of the packet, provided the UDP data payload actually contains MPEG-2 video, or b) just a random byte when the UDP data payload does not actually contain MPEG-2 video. Thereafter, control passes to conditional branch point 311, which tests to determine if the end of the IP packet has been reached. If the test result in step 311 is NO, indicating that there yet remains additional portions of the UDP data payload to process, control passes back to step 307 to process the rest of the packet as described above. If the test result in step 311 is YES, control passes to step 313, and the IP packet is declared to be one containing MPEG-2 video, in accordance with an aspect of the invention. It may then be further processed accordingly. The process exits in step 315.

[0028] If the test result in step 307 is NO, indicating that either the first byte or another byte at a 188 multiple position does not have the value of a sync byte, control passes to step 315 and the process is exited.

[0029] If the test result in step 305 is NO, control passes to conditional branch point 317, which tests to determine if the length of the UDP data payload is equal to a multiple of 188 plus the length of the RTP header. If the test result in step 317 is YES, indicating that the UDP data payload may contain an RTP header and thereafter MPEG-2 transport stream packets, control passes to step conditional branch point 319, which tests to determine if the first bytes of the UDP data payload which correspond in length to an RTP header, have the characteristics of an RTP header, e.g., there is a video indicator in the location where the payload type field is expected. More specifically, the payload type field is 7 bits, with the definition for MPEG-2 transport stream data being 0x21.

[0030] If the test result in step 319 is NO, which indicates that there was no RTP header or that the header was not indicative of video, control passes to step 315 and the process is exited without declaring the IP packet to be one containing MPEG-2 video. If the test result in step 319 is YES, indicating that an RTP header for video was found, control passes to step 321, in which the pointer is incremented to point to the first byte after the RTP header. Control then passes to conditional branch point 307 and the process continues as described above.

[0031] If the test result in step 317 is NO, indicating that the IP packet does not contain a whole number of MPEG-2 video transport stream packets, control passes to step 323, in which a counter variable COUNT, which is to be used as the offset into the UDP data payload, is set to 0. Next, conditional branch point 325 tests to determine if COUNT is equal to the sum of 188 and the length of an RTP header. If the test result in step 325 is YES, indicating that all the positions that could potentially contain a sync byte of a first MPEG-2 video transport stream packet in the UDP data payload have been tested and not been found to be a sync byte, the process is exited in step 315, i.e., the packet is not declared to contain MPEG-2 video. If the test result in step 325 is NO, indicating that all the positions that could potentially contain a sync byte of a first MPEG-2 video transport stream packet in the UDP data payload have not been tested, control passes to conditional branch point 327 in which another pointer, PACKTPT, is set to the value of COUNT.

[0032] Thereafter, in step 329, the byte within the UDP data payload pointed to by PACKTPT is tested to determine if it has the value of a sync byte. If the test result in step 329 is NO, indicating that the byte currently pointed to by PACKTPT is not a sync byte, control passes to step 331 in which COUNT is incremented, so that it will point to the next byte in the UDP data payload. Control then passes back to step 325, and the process continues as described above.

[0033] If the test result in step 329 is YES, indicating that the byte currently pointed to by PACKTPT indeed has the value of a sync byte, control passes to conditional branch point 333, which tests to determine if the remaining number of bytes in the packet from the place being pointed to by COUNT is less than 188. If the test result in step 333 is YES, indicating that a whole MPEG-2 video transport stream packet cannot be contained within the UDP data payload, control passes to step 315 and the process is exited, i.e., the packet is not declared to contain MPEG-2 video. If the test result in step 333 is NO, indicating that a whole MPEG-2 video transport stream packet could be contained within the UDP data payload, control passes to step 335, in which PACKTPT is incremented by 188.

[0034] At this point, if the UDP data payload indeed contains MPEG-2 video and the byte currently pointed to by COUNT is a sync byte, the byte pointed to by PACKTPT should also have the value of a sync byte, or at or beyond the end of the packet. To this end, conditional branch point 337 tests to determine if the end of the packet has been reached or is exceed. If the test result in step 337 is NO, indicating that PACKTPT points to a byte within the UDP data payload, control passes back to step 329 and the process continues as described above. If the test result in step 337 is YES, indicating that PACKTPT points to the end of the packet or beyond, control passes to step 313 and the process continues as described above.

[0035] Note that the discussion herein with regard to IP refers to IP version 4, which is essentially universally in use as of the time of the writing of this application. Those of ordinary skill in the art will be readily able to apply the principles of the invention to later developed version of IP, such as proposed version 6, should one be implemented.