Methods for Compression and Decompression of Headers of Internet Protocol Packets, Devices, Computer Programs and Computer Program Products

A method, performed in a device, for compression of Internet Protocol (IP) packet headers, the method comprising:

• aggregating a first IP packet and a reference IP packet into a single transmission unit;
• identifying each of one or more header information elements in the first IP packet as redundant or non-redundant;
• indicating the one or more header information elements as redundant or non-redundant by a bitmap;
• and
• compressing the header of the first IP packet according to the bitmap.

A device for compression of headers of Internet Protocol (IP) packets, the device comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory storing program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, configure the device to:
• aggregate a first IP packet and a reference IP packet into a single transmission unit;
• identify each of one or more header information elements in the first IP packet as redundant or non-redundant;
• indicate the one or more header information elements as redundant or non-redundant by a bitmap;
• and
• compress the header of the first IP packet according to the bitmap.

A device for decompression of headers of Internet Protocol (IP) packets, the device comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory storing program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, configure the device to:
• receive a transmission unit comprising:
• an aggregation of a first IP packet and a reference IP packet;
• and
• a bitmap identifying each of one or more header information elements in the first IP packet as redundant or non-redundant,
• reconstruct a header of the first IP packet based on a header of the reference IP packet and on the bitmap;
• and
• decompress the header of the first IP packet.