Data packet header compression

A transmitter for transmitting data packets comprising:

• a Media Access Control (MAC) address extractor configured to extract one or more MAC addresses from packet headers comprised in data packets;
• a MAC compression unit configured to:
• store a table of MAC data, the MAC data comprising MAC addresses;
• and
• provide compressed MAC data comprising one or more values associated with each of the one or more extracted MAC addresses respectively, each of the one or more values associated with MAC addresses being a pointer to a row in the table storing a MAC address equal to the respective MAC address;
• a MAC data aging unit configured to identify MAC addresses in the table as candidates for replacement, using counters corresponding to rows in the table;
• a packet modifier configured to modify the data packets by adding the compressed MAC data to the data packets;
• and
• a transmission unit configured to transmit the modified data packets,
• wherein the MAC compression unit is configured to replace a row of the MAC data table comprising an identified MAC address with a new MAC address according to a data aging method comprising:
• for each transmitted data packet, calculating a new value cntn for each counter corresponding to a MAC address in the table of MAC data as follows:
• cntn=cntn-1(½N)*cntn-1+(a match value)*x
• where cntn-1 is a previous value of the counter, N is an integer in a range starting at 0 and ending at a number of bits representing the value of cntn-1, and if the transmitted data packet header includes a match for the MAC address x=1, else x=0.

A system for transmitting and receiving data packets, comprising:

• a Media Access Control (MAC) address extractor configured to extract one or more MAC addresses from packet headers comprised in data packets;
• a MAC compression unit configured to:
• store a table of MAC data, the MAC data comprising MAC addresses;
• and
• provide compressed MAC data comprising one or more values associated with each of the one or more extracted MAC addresses respectively, each of the one or more values associated with MAC addresses being a pointer to a row in the table storing a MAC address equal to the respective MAC address;
• a MAC data restart unit configured to delete a row of data in the MAC data table after the value associated with the MAC address comprised in the row has been used more than a set number of times;
• an output packet modifier configured to modify the data packets by adding the compressed MAC data to the data packets;
• a transmission unit configured to transmit the modified data packets;
• a receiving unit configured to receive the modified data packets;
• a compressed MAC data extractor configured to find and extract the compressed MAC data from the received modified data packets;
• and
• an input packet modifier configured to modify the received modified data packets by removing the compressed MAC data from the received modified data packets.

A method for transmitting data packets comprising compressed Media Access Control (MAC) data, comprising:

• extracting one or more MAC addresses from packet headers comprised in the data packets;
• storing a table of MAC data, the MAC data comprising MAC addresses;
• providing compressed MAC data comprising one or more values associated with each of the one or more extracted MAC addresses respectively, each of the one or more values associated with MAC addresses being a pointer to a row in the table storing a MAC address equal to the respective MAC address;
• modifying the data packets by adding the compressed MAC data to the data packets;
• and
• transmitting the modified data packets,
• wherein, after the value associated with the MAC address comprised in the row has been used more than a set number of times, deleting a row of data in the MAC data table.

A method for transmitting data packets comprising compressed Media Access Control (MAC) data, comprising:

• extracting one or more MAC addresses from packet headers comprised in the data packets;
• storing a table of MAC data, the MAC data comprising MAC addresses;
• providing compressed MAC data comprising one or more values associated with each of the one or more extracted MAC addresses respectively, each of the one or more values associated with MAC addresses being a pointer to a row in the table storing a MAC address equal to the respective MAC address;
• modifying the data packets by adding the compressed MAC data to the data packets;
• and
• transmitting the modified data packets,
• wherein, replacing a row of the MAC data table comprising an identified MAC address with a new MAC address is optionally performed by identifying MAC addresses in the table as candidates for replacement, using counters corresponding to rows in the table, according to a data aging method comprising:
• for each transmitted data packet, calculating a new value cntn for each counter corresponding to a MAC address in the table of MAC data as follows:
• cntn=cntn-1(½N)cntn-1+(a match value)*x
• where cntn-1 is a previous value of the counter, N is an integer in a range starting at 0 and ending at a number of bits representing the value of cntn-1, and if the transmitted data packet header includes a match for the MAC address x=1, else x=0;
• and
• replacing a row of the MAC data table comprising an identified MAC address with a new MAC address.

A method for point to point transmission of data packets comprising:

• modifying and transmitting modified data packets by:
• extracting one or more MAC addresses from packet headers comprised in data packets;
• storing a table of MAC data, the MAC data comprising MAC addresses;
• providing compressed MAC data comprising one or more values associated with each of the one or more extracted MAC addresses respectively, each of the one or more values associated with MAC addresses being a pointer to a row in the table storing a MAC address equal to the respective MAC address;
• modifying the data packets by adding the compressed MAC data to the data packets;
• and
• transmitting the modified data packets,
• wherein, after the value associated with the MAC address comprised in the row has been used more than a set number of times, deleting a row of data in the MAC data table;
• and
• receiving and modifying the modified data packets by:
• receiving the modified data packets;
• extracting the compressed MAC data from the received modified data packets;
• and
• modifying the received modified data packets by removing the compressed MAC data in the received modified data packets, thereby producing twice-modified data packets substantially equal to the data packets.

A transmitter for transmitting data packets comprising:

• a Media Access Control (MAC) address extractor configured to extract one or more MAC addresses from packet headers comprised in data packets;
• a MAC compression unit configured to:
• store a table of MAC data, the MAC data comprising MAC addresses;
• and
• provide compressed MAC data comprising one or more values associated with each of the one or more extracted MAC addresses respectively, each of the one or more values associated with MAC addresses being a pointer to a row in the table storing a MAC address equal to the respective MAC address;
• a MAC data aging unit configured to identify MAC addresses in the table as candidates for replacement, using counters corresponding to rows in the table;
• a packet modifier configured to modify the data packets by adding the compressed MAC data to the data packets;
• and
• a transmission unit configured to transmit the modified data packets,
• wherein the MAC compression unit is configured to replace a row of the MAC data table comprising an identified MAC address with a new MAC address according to a data aging method comprising:
• for each transmitted data packet, calculating a new value cntn for each counter corresponding to a MAC address in the table of MAC data as follows:
• cntn=cntn-1−1+(a match value)*x
• where cntn-1 is a previous value of the counter, and if the transmitted data packet header includes the MAC address x=1, else x=0.