1<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> 2<html> 3<head> 4 5<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-15"/> 6<title>Ogg Documentation</title> 7 8<style type="text/css"> 9body { 10 margin: 0 18px 0 18px; 11 padding-bottom: 30px; 12 font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; 13 color: #333333; 14 font-size: .8em; 15} 16 17a { 18 color: #3366cc; 19} 20 21img { 22 border: 0; 23} 24 25#xiphlogo { 26 margin: 30px 0 16px 0; 27} 28 29#content p { 30 line-height: 1.4; 31} 32 33h1, h1 a, h2, h2 a, h3, h3 a { 34 font-weight: bold; 35 color: #ff9900; 36 margin: 1.3em 0 8px 0; 37} 38 39h1 { 40 font-size: 1.3em; 41} 42 43h2 { 44 font-size: 1.2em; 45} 46 47h3 { 48 font-size: 1.1em; 49} 50 51li { 52 line-height: 1.4; 53} 54 55#copyright { 56 margin-top: 30px; 57 line-height: 1.5em; 58 text-align: center; 59 font-size: .8em; 60 color: #888888; 61 clear: both; 62} 63</style> 64 65</head> 66 67<body> 68 69<div id="xiphlogo"> 70 <a href="http://www.xiph.org/"><img src="fish_xiph_org.png" alt="Fish Logo and Xiph.org"/></a> 71</div> 72 73<h1>Ogg logical bitstream framing</h1> 74 75<h2>Ogg bitstreams</h2> 76 77<p>The Ogg transport bitstream is designed to provide framing, error 78protection and seeking structure for higher-level codec streams that 79consist of raw, unencapsulated data packets, such as the Vorbis audio 80codec or Theora video codec.</p> 81 82<h2>Application example: Vorbis</h2> 83 84<p>Vorbis encodes short-time blocks of PCM data into raw packets of 85bit-packed data. These raw packets may be used directly by transport 86mechanisms that provide their own framing and packet-separation 87mechanisms (such as UDP datagrams). For stream based storage (such as 88files) and transport (such as TCP streams or pipes), Vorbis uses the 89Ogg bitstream format to provide framing/sync, sync recapture 90after error, landmarks during seeking, and enough information to 91properly separate data back into packets at the original packet 92boundaries without relying on decoding to find packet boundaries.</p> 93 94<h2>Design constraints for Ogg bitstreams</h2> 95 96<ol> 97<li>True streaming; we must not need to seek to build a 100% 98 complete bitstream.</li> 99<li>Use no more than approximately 1-2% of bitstream bandwidth for 100 packet boundary marking, high-level framing, sync and seeking.</li> 101<li>Specification of absolute position within the original sample 102 stream.</li> 103<li>Simple mechanism to ease limited editing, such as a simplified 104 concatenation mechanism.</li> 105<li>Detection of corruption, recapture after error and direct, random 106 access to data at arbitrary positions in the bitstream.</li> 107</ol> 108 109<h2>Logical and Physical Bitstreams</h2> 110 111<p>A <em>logical</em> Ogg bitstream is a contiguous stream of 112sequential pages belonging only to the logical bitstream. A 113<em>physical</em> Ogg bitstream is constructed from one or more 114than one logical Ogg bitstream (the simplest physical bitstream 115is simply a single logical bitstream). We describe below the exact 116formatting of an Ogg logical bitstream. Combining logical 117bitstreams into more complex physical bitstreams is described in the 118<a href="oggstream.html">Ogg bitstream overview</a>. The exact 119mapping of raw Vorbis packets into a valid Ogg Vorbis physical 120bitstream is described in the Vorbis I Specification.</p> 121 122<h2>Bitstream structure</h2> 123 124<p>An Ogg stream is structured by dividing incoming packets into 125segments of up to 255 bytes and then wrapping a group of contiguous 126packet segments into a variable length page preceded by a page 127header. Both the header size and page size are variable; the page 128header contains sizing information and checksum data to determine 129header/page size and data integrity.</p> 130 131<p>The bitstream is captured (or recaptured) by looking for the beginning 132of a page, specifically the capture pattern. Once the capture pattern 133is found, the decoder verifies page sync and integrity by computing 134and comparing the checksum. At that point, the decoder can extract the 135packets themselves.</p> 136 137<h3>Packet segmentation</h3> 138 139<p>Packets are logically divided into multiple segments before encoding 140into a page. Note that the segmentation and fragmentation process is a 141logical one; it's used to compute page header values and the original 142page data need not be disturbed, even when a packet spans page 143boundaries.</p> 144 145<p>The raw packet is logically divided into [n] 255 byte segments and a 146last fractional segment of < 255 bytes. A packet size may well 147consist only of the trailing fractional segment, and a fractional 148segment may be zero length. These values, called "lacing values" are 149then saved and placed into the header segment table.</p> 150 151<p>An example should make the basic concept clear:</p> 152 153<pre> 154<tt> 155raw packet: 156 ___________________________________________ 157 |______________packet data__________________| 753 bytes 158 159lacing values for page header segment table: 255,255,243 160</tt> 161</pre> 162 163<p>We simply add the lacing values for the total size; the last lacing 164value for a packet is always the value that is less than 255. Note 165that this encoding both avoids imposing a maximum packet size as well 166as imposing minimum overhead on small packets (as opposed to, eg, 167simply using two bytes at the head of every packet and having a max 168packet size of 32k. Small packets (<255, the typical case) are 169penalized with twice the segmentation overhead). Using the lacing 170values as suggested, small packets see the minimum possible 171byte-aligned overhead (1 byte) and large packets, over 512 bytes or 172so, see a fairly constant ~.5% overhead on encoding space.</p> 173 174<p>Note that a lacing value of 255 implies that a second lacing value 175follows in the packet, and a value of < 255 marks the end of the 176packet after that many additional bytes. A packet of 255 bytes (or a 177multiple of 255 bytes) is terminated by a lacing value of 0:</p> 178 179<pre><tt> 180raw packet: 181 _______________________________ 182 |________packet data____________| 255 bytes 183 184lacing values: 255, 0 185</tt></pre> 186 187<p>Note also that a 'nil' (zero length) packet is not an error; it 188consists of nothing more than a lacing value of zero in the header.</p> 189 190<h3>Packets spanning pages</h3> 191 192<p>Packets are not restricted to beginning and ending within a page, 193although individual segments are, by definition, required to do so. 194Packets are not restricted to a maximum size, although excessively 195large packets in the data stream are discouraged; the Ogg 196bitstream specification strongly recommends nominal page size of 197approximately 4-8kB (large packets are foreseen as being useful for 198initialization data at the beginning of a logical bitstream).</p> 199 200<p>After segmenting a packet, the encoder may decide not to place all the 201resulting segments into the current page; to do so, the encoder places 202the lacing values of the segments it wishes to belong to the current 203page into the current segment table, then finishes the page. The next 204page is begun with the first value in the segment table belonging to 205the next packet segment, thus continuing the packet (data in the 206packet body must also correspond properly to the lacing values in the 207spanned pages. The segment data in the first packet corresponding to 208the lacing values of the first page belong in that page; packet 209segments listed in the segment table of the following page must begin 210the page body of the subsequent page).</p> 211 212<p>The last mechanic to spanning a page boundary is to set the header 213flag in the new page to indicate that the first lacing value in the 214segment table continues rather than begins a packet; a header flag of 2150x01 is set to indicate a continued packet. Although mandatory, it 216is not actually algorithmically necessary; one could inspect the 217preceding segment table to determine if the packet is new or 218continued. Adding the information to the packet_header flag allows a 219simpler design (with no overhead) that needs only inspect the current 220page header after frame capture. This also allows faster error 221recovery in the event that the packet originates in a corrupt 222preceding page, implying that the previous page's segment table 223cannot be trusted.</p> 224 225<p>Note that a packet can span an arbitrary number of pages; the above 226spanning process is repeated for each spanned page boundary. Also a 227'zero termination' on a packet size that is an even multiple of 255 228must appear even if the lacing value appears in the next page as a 229zero-length continuation of the current packet. The header flag 230should be set to 0x01 to indicate that the packet spanned, even though 231the span is a nil case as far as data is concerned.</p> 232 233<p>The encoding looks odd, but is properly optimized for speed and the 234expected case of the majority of packets being between 50 and 200 235bytes (note that it is designed such that packets of wildly different 236sizes can be handled within the model; placing packet size 237restrictions on the encoder would have only slightly simplified design 238in page generation and increased overall encoder complexity).</p> 239 240<p>The main point behind tracking individual packets (and packet 241segments) is to allow more flexible encoding tricks that requiring 242explicit knowledge of packet size. An example is simple bandwidth 243limiting, implemented by simply truncating packets in the nominal case 244if the packet is arranged so that the least sensitive portion of the 245data comes last.</p> 246 247<h3>Page header</h3> 248 249<p>The headering mechanism is designed to avoid copying and re-assembly 250of the packet data (ie, making the packet segmentation process a 251logical one); the header can be generated directly from incoming 252packet data. The encoder buffers packet data until it finishes a 253complete page at which point it writes the header followed by the 254buffered packet segments.</p> 255 256<h4>capture_pattern</h4> 257 258<p>A header begins with a capture pattern that simplifies identifying 259pages; once the decoder has found the capture pattern it can do a more 260intensive job of verifying that it has in fact found a page boundary 261(as opposed to an inadvertent coincidence in the byte stream).</p> 262 263<pre><tt> 264 byte value 265 266 0 0x4f 'O' 267 1 0x67 'g' 268 2 0x67 'g' 269 3 0x53 'S' 270</tt></pre> 271 272<h4>stream_structure_version</h4> 273 274<p>The capture pattern is followed by the stream structure revision:</p> 275 276<pre><tt> 277 byte value 278 279 4 0x00 280</tt></pre> 281 282<h4>header_type_flag</h4> 283 284<p>The header type flag identifies this page's context in the bitstream:</p> 285 286<pre><tt> 287 byte value 288 289 5 bitflags: 0x01: unset = fresh packet 290 set = continued packet 291 0x02: unset = not first page of logical bitstream 292 set = first page of logical bitstream (bos) 293 0x04: unset = not last page of logical bitstream 294 set = last page of logical bitstream (eos) 295</tt></pre> 296 297<h4>absolute granule position</h4> 298 299<p>(This is packed in the same way the rest of Ogg data is packed; LSb 300of LSB first. Note that the 'position' data specifies a 'sample' 301number (eg, in a CD quality sample is four octets, 16 bits for left 302and 16 bits for right; in video it would likely be the frame number. 303It is up to the specific codec in use to define the semantic meaning 304of the granule position value). The position specified is the total 305samples encoded after including all packets finished on this page 306(packets begun on this page but continuing on to the next page do not 307count). The rationale here is that the position specified in the 308frame header of the last page tells how long the data coded by the 309bitstream is. A truncated stream will still return the proper number 310of samples that can be decoded fully.</p> 311 312<p>A special value of '-1' (in two's complement) indicates that no packets 313finish on this page.</p> 314 315<pre><tt> 316 byte value 317 318 6 0xXX LSB 319 7 0xXX 320 8 0xXX 321 9 0xXX 322 10 0xXX 323 11 0xXX 324 12 0xXX 325 13 0xXX MSB 326</tt></pre> 327 328<h4>stream serial number</h4> 329 330<p>Ogg allows for separate logical bitstreams to be mixed at page 331granularity in a physical bitstream. The most common case would be 332sequential arrangement, but it is possible to interleave pages for 333two separate bitstreams to be decoded concurrently. The serial 334number is the means by which pages physical pages are associated with 335a particular logical stream. Each logical stream must have a unique 336serial number within a physical stream:</p> 337 338<pre><tt> 339 byte value 340 341 14 0xXX LSB 342 15 0xXX 343 16 0xXX 344 17 0xXX MSB 345</tt></pre> 346 347<h4>page sequence no</h4> 348 349<p>Page counter; lets us know if a page is lost (useful where packets 350span page boundaries).</p> 351 352<pre><tt> 353 byte value 354 355 18 0xXX LSB 356 19 0xXX 357 20 0xXX 358 21 0xXX MSB 359</tt></pre> 360 361<h4>page checksum</h4> 362 363<p>32 bit CRC value (direct algorithm, initial val and final XOR = 0, 364generator polynomial=0x04c11db7). The value is computed over the 365entire header (with the CRC field in the header set to zero) and then 366continued over the page. The CRC field is then filled with the 367computed value.</p> 368 369<p>(A thorough discussion of CRC algorithms can be found in <a 370href="http://www.ross.net/crc/download/crc_v3.txt">"A 371Painless Guide to CRC Error Detection Algorithms"</a> by Ross 372Williams <a href="mailto:ross@ross.net">ross@ross.net</a>.)</p> 373 374<pre><tt> 375 byte value 376 377 22 0xXX LSB 378 23 0xXX 379 24 0xXX 380 25 0xXX MSB 381</tt></pre> 382 383<h4>page_segments</h4> 384 385<p>The number of segment entries to appear in the segment table. The 386maximum number of 255 segments (255 bytes each) sets the maximum 387possible physical page size at 65307 bytes or just under 64kB (thus 388we know that a header corrupted so as destroy sizing/alignment 389information will not cause a runaway bitstream. We'll read in the 390page according to the corrupted size information that's guaranteed to 391be a reasonable size regardless, notice the checksum mismatch, drop 392sync and then look for recapture).</p> 393 394<pre><tt> 395 byte value 396 397 26 0x00-0xff (0-255) 398</tt></pre> 399 400<h4>segment_table (containing packet lacing values)</h4> 401 402<p>The lacing values for each packet segment physically appearing in 403this page are listed in contiguous order.</p> 404 405<pre><tt> 406 byte value 407 408 27 0x00-0xff (0-255) 409 [...] 410 n 0x00-0xff (0-255, n=page_segments+26) 411</tt></pre> 412 413<p>Total page size is calculated directly from the known header size and 414lacing values in the segment table. Packet data segments follow 415immediately after the header.</p> 416 417<p>Page headers typically impose a flat .25-.5% space overhead assuming 418nominal ~8k page sizes. The segmentation table needed for exact 419packet recovery in the streaming layer adds approximately .5-1% 420nominal assuming expected encoder behavior in the 44.1kHz, 128kbps 421stereo encodings.</p> 422 423<div id="copyright"> 424 The Xiph Fish Logo is a 425 trademark (™) of Xiph.Org.<br/> 426 427 These pages © 1994 - 2005 Xiph.Org. All rights reserved. 428</div> 429 430</body> 431</html> 432