ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, we will review the major characteristics of the TCP/IP protocol suite. Once this is accomplished, we will use our knowledge of the protocol suite to obtain an understanding of the manner by which video can be transported in a TCP/IP environment.
When we discuss the TCP/IP protocol suite and IPTV it is important to note that there are two types of video that can be delivered through the use of the TCP/IP protocol suite. Those types of video can be categorized as realtime and stored for replay. The first type of video, real-time, requires the use of a jitter buffer to smooth out delay variations experienced by packets as they flow through an IP network. In comparison, video that will be stored and later viewed on a PC, video iPod, or other device does not require the use of a jitter buffer.
