Behavior of a Receiver

As highlighted in Chapter 1, An Introduction to RTP, a receiver is responsible for collecting RTP packets from the network, repairing and correcting for any lost packets, recovering the timing, decompressing the media, and presenting the result to the user . In addition, the receiver is expected to send reception quality reports so that the sender can adapt the transmission to match the network characteristics. The receiver will also typically maintain a database of participants in a session to be able to provide the user with information on the other participants . Figure 1.3 in Chapter 1 shows a block diagram of a receiver.

The first step of the reception process is to collect packets from the network, validate them for correctness, and insert them into a per-sender input queue. This is a straightforward operation, independent of the media format. The next section ”Packet Reception ”describes this process.

The rest of the receiver processing operates in a sender-specific manner and may be media-specific. Packets are removed from their input queue and passed to an optional channel-coding routine to correct for loss (Chapter 9 describes error correction). Following any channel coder , packets are inserted into a source-specific playout buffer, where they remain until complete frames have been received and any variation in interpacket timing caused by the network has been smoothed. The calculation of the amount of delay to add is one of the most critical aspects in the design of an RTP implementation and is explained in the section titled The Playout Buffer later in this chapter. The section titled Adapting the Playout Point describes a related operation: how to adjust the timing without disrupting playout of the media.

Sometime before their playout time is reached, packets are grouped to form complete frames, damaged or missing frames are repaired (Chapter 8, Error Concealment, describes repair algorithms), and frames are decoded. Finally, the media data is rendered for the user. Depending on the media format and output device, it may be possible to play each stream individually ”for example, presenting several video streams, each in its own window. Alternatively, it may be necessary to mix the media from all sources into a single stream for playout ”for example, combining several audio sources for playout via a single set of speakers . The final section of this chapter ”Decoding, Mixing, and Playout ”describes these operations.

The operation of an RTP receiver is a complex process, and more involved than the operation of a sender. This increased complexity is largely due to the variability inherent in IP networks: Most of the complexity comes from the need to compensate for lost packets and to recover the timing of a stream.