MANIPULATING HEADER FIELDS FOR IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN PACKET COMMUNICATIONS

摘要

In packet communication paths (18) that include header compression, header fields of packets to be communicated are altered. The alteration of the header fields (14) does not disturb their functionality, and its transparent to the header compression scheme of the packet communication path (18). The altered header fields (14) are provided for compression by the header compression scheme, resulting in improved performance of the header compression scheme. Performance improvements can also be achieved in packet communication paths (18) that do not use header compression, by violating the integrity of header fields in packets to be transmitted over the packet communication path (18).