Cotse - Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia - 6.5. Protocol-Field-Compression (PFC)

This Configuration Option provides a method to negotiate the compression of the PPP Protocol field. By default, all implementations MUST transmit packets with two octet PPP Protocol fields.

PPP Protocol field numbers are chosen such that some values may be compressed into a single octet form which is clearly distinguishable from the two octet form. This Configuration Option is sent to inform the peer that the implementation can receive such single octet Protocol fields.

As previously mentioned, the Protocol field uses an extension mechanism consistent with the ISO 3309 extension mechanism for the Address field; the Least Significant Bit (LSB) of each octet is used to indicate extension of the Protocol field. A binary "0" as the LSB indicates that the Protocol field continues with the following octet. The presence of a binary "1" as the LSB marks the last octet of the Protocol field. Notice that any number of "0" octets may be prepended to the field, and will still indicate the same value (consider the two binary representations for 3, 00000011 and 00000000 00000011).

When using low speed links, it is desirable to conserve bandwidth by sending as little redundant data as possible. The Protocol- Field-Compression Configuration Option allows a trade-off between implementation simplicity and bandwidth efficiency. If successfully negotiated, the ISO 3309 extension mechanism may be used to compress the Protocol field to one octet instead of two. The large majority of packets are compressible since data protocols are typically assigned with Protocol field values less than 256.

Compressed Protocol fields MUST NOT be transmitted unless this Configuration Option has been negotiated. When negotiated, PPP implementations MUST accept PPP packets with either double-octet or single-octet Protocol fields, and MUST NOT distinguish between them.

The Protocol field is never compressed when sending any LCP packet. This rule guarantees unambiguous recognition of LCP packets.

When a Protocol field is compressed, the Data Link Layer FCS field is calculated on the compressed frame, not the original uncompressed frame.

A summary of the Protocol-Field-Compression Configuration Option format is shown below. The fields are transmitted from left to right.

    0                   1
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |     Type      |    Length     |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Type

Length

Next: 6.6. Address-and-Control-Field-Compression (ACFC)

Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
6.5. Protocol-Field-Compression (PFC)


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