A lightweight encapsulation protocol for IP over MPEG-2 networks: design, implementation and analysis

Digital TV Broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC, DVB) offer a good solution to last mile Internet delivery. Satellites, terrestrial broadcast, and cable systems are well suited to the delivery of high bandwidth data to the end user. Low transport overhead and ready availability of MPEG-2 TS equipment make it very appealing as a bearer for connecting IP networks. The Multi-Protocol Encapsulation (MPE) is a standard for the transport of IP over DVB. However, MPE has a number of shortcomings and inefficiencies when supporting next generation Internetworking systems. This paper describes a new method for the encapsulation of IPv4/IPv6 datagrams, known as the Ultra Lightweight Encapsulation (ULE) that overcomes limitations of MPE. The paper provides the rationale for developing ULE and provides measurements and analysis to show that the new scheme can offer additional functionality while achieving increased transmission efficiency.