Maximum transmission unit tuning mechanism for a real-time transport protocol stream

A node of a network for originating a Real-Time Protocol (RTP) data packet stream comprising:

• an interface coupled to the network;
• a processor operable to send via the interface a first data packet of a first size to a RTP destination node over the network, the processor being further operable to receive a RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) report from the destination node, the RTCP report containing information indicating that the first data packet was received as a plurality of fragments, the information including a number of the fragments received and a largest data packet size of the fragments, in response to the RTCP report the processor sending subsequent data packets to the RTP destination node over the network, the subsequent data packets having a second size less than or equal to the largest data packet size;
• wherein the processor is further operable to increment the second size of the subsequent data packets after a certain number of RTCP reports are received indicating no fragmentation.

A node of a network comprising:

• an interface coupled to the network;
• a processor operable to receive via the interface a first Real-Time Protocol (RTP) data packet sent by a RTP source node over the network, the processor being further operable to send a RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) report back to the RTP source node over the network, the RTCP report comprising an RTCP Extended Report data packet type that contains information indicating that the first data packet was received as a plurality of fragments, the information including a number of the fragments received and a largest data packet size of the fragments.

A node of a network for originating a Real-Time Protocol (RTP) data packet stream comprising:

• an interface coupled to the network;
• means for sending via the interface a first data packet of a first size to a destination node over the network via a plurality of intermediate nodes, at least one of the intermediate nodes having a maximum transmission unit (MTU) size smaller than the first size such that the first data packet is fragmented, and for receiving a RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) report from the destination node, the RTCP report comprising an RTCP Extended Report data packet type that contains information which includes a number of the fragments received and a largest data packet size of the fragments, in response the means sending subsequent data packets to the destination node, the subsequent data packets having a second size less than or equal to the largest data packet size, the means further for incrementally increasing the second size of the subsequent data packets after a time period until another RTCP report is received from the destination node that indicates fragmentation has occurred.