Scribd
Upload
5 views2 pages

ipv4_packet_structure

The document explains the structure of IPv4 packets, detailing how data segments from layer-4 are encapsulated into packets with a header that contains essential information for delivery. Key components of the IP header include version number, header length, total length, identification, flags, time to live, source and destination addresses, and optional fields. Each of these components plays a crucial role in ensuring the proper transmission and integrity of data across networks.

Uploaded by

standsw1066
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
5 views2 pages

ipv4_packet_structure

The document explains the structure of IPv4 packets, detailing how data segments from layer-4 are encapsulated into packets with a header that contains essential information for delivery. Key components of the IP header include version number, header length, total length, identification, flags, time to live, source and destination addresses, and optional fields. Each of these components plays a crucial role in ensuring the proper transmission and integrity of data across networks.

Uploaded by

standsw1066
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

IPV4 - PACKET STRUCTURE

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/ipv4/ipv4_packet_structure.htm Copyright © tutorialspoint.com

Internet Protocol being a layer-3 protocol OSI takes data Segments from layer-4 Transport and
divides it into packets. IP packet encapsulates data unit received from above layer and add to its
own header information.

The encapsulated data is referred to as IP Payload. IP header contains all the necessary
information to deliver the packet at the other end.

IP header includes many relevant information including Version Number, which, in this context, is
4. Other details are as follows:

Version: Version no. of Internet Protocol used e. g. IPv4.

IHL: Internet Header Length; Length of entire IP header.

DSCP: Differentiated Services Code Point; this is Type of Service.

ECN: Explicit Congestion Notification; It carries information about the congestion seen in the
route.

Total Length: Length of entire IP Packet includingIPheaderandIPPayload.

Identification: If IP packet is fragmented during the transmission, all the fragments contain
same identification number. to identify original IP packet they belong to.

Flags: As required by the network resources, if IP Packet is too large to handle, these ‘flags’
tells if they can be fragmented or not. In this 3-bit flag, the MSB is always set to ‘0’.

Fragment Offset: This offset tells the exact position of the fragment in the original IP
Packet.

Time to Live: To avoid looping in the network, every packet is sent with some TTL value set,
which tells the network how many routers hops this packet can cross. At each hop, its value is
decremented by one and when the value reaches zero, the packet is discarded.

Protocol: Tells the Network layer at the destination host, to which Protocol this packet
belongs to, i.e. the next level Protocol. For example protocol number of ICMP is 1, TCP is 6
and UDP is 17.

Header Checksum: This field is used to keep checksum value of entire header which is then
used to check if the packet is received error-free.

Source Address: 32-bit address of the Sender orsource of the packet.

Destination Address: 32-bit address of the Receiver ordestination of the packet.

Options: This is optional field, which is used if the value of IHL is greater than 5. These
options may contain values for options such as Security, Record Route, Time Stamp, etc.
Loading [MathJax]/jax/output/HTML-CSS/jax.js

You might also like