RFC 9751 Closing the RTP Payload Format Registry February 2025
Westerlund Standards Track [Page]
Stream:
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
RFC:
9751
Updates:
8088
Category:
Standards Track
Published:
ISSN:
2070-1721
Author:
M. Westerlund
Ericsson

RFC 9751

Closing the RTP Payload Format Media Types Registry

Abstract

A number of authors defining RTP payload formats and the Working Group process have failed to ensure that the media types are registered in the IANA "RTP Payload Format Media Types" registry as recommended by RFC 8088. To simplify the process and rely only on the "Media Types" registry, this document closes the RTP payload-specific registry. In addition, it updates the instruction in RFC 8088 to reflect this change.

Status of This Memo

This is an Internet Standards Track document.

This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.

Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9751.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

It has been observed that specifications of new Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) payload formats often forget to specify registration of the format's media type in the IANA registry "RTP Payload Formats Media Types" [RTP-FORMATS] as recommended by [RFC8088]. In practice, this has no real impact. This registry is not used for any purpose other than to track which media types actually have RTP payload formats. That purpose could be addressed through other means.

The "Media Types" registry [MEDIA-TYPES] is the crucial registry to register any media type to establish the media type used to identify the format in various signalling usages, to avoid collisions, and to reference their specifications.

To resolve this situation, this document performs the following actions. First, it updates the registry to include known RTP payload formats at the time of writing. Then, it closes the "RTP Payload Format Media Types" registry to future registrations. Beyond instructing IANA to close this registry, the instructions to authors in [RFC8088] are updated so that registration in the closed registry is no longer mentioned.

The origins of the "RTP Payload Format Media Types" registry, as referenced in [RTP-FORMATS], are unclear. The registry cites [RFC4855] as providing the instructions for its maintenance. However, upon reviewing RFC 4855, no text has been found that defines the registry's purpose and operational rules. Further attempts to trace the registry's creation have failed to uncover any references to its establishment. It is likely that the registry was created based on email correspondence or at the request of an Area Director. Consequently, there is no known specification for this registry that requires updating upon its closure.

2. Update to How to Write an RTP Payload Format

The IANA Considerations section of "How to write an RTP Payload Format" (Section 7.4 of [RFC8088]) mandates that RTP payload formats shall be registered in the "RTP Payload Format Media Types" registry. This paragraph is changed without affecting its status as part of an Informational RFC. Thus removing the need to register in the "RTP Payload Format media types".

OLD:

Since all RTP payload formats contain a media type specification, they also need an IANA Considerations section. The media type name must be registered, and this is done by requesting that IANA register that media name. When that registration request is written, it shall also be requested that the media type is included under the "RTP Payload Format media types" sub-registry of the RTP registry (http://www.iana.org/assignments/rtp-parameters).

NEW:

Since all RTP payload formats contain a media type specification, they also need an IANA Considerations section. The media type name must be registered, and this is done by requesting that IANA register that media name in the "Media Types" registry (https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/).

3. IANA Considerations

IANA has added the following RTP payload types to the "RTP Payload Format Media Types" registry [RTP-FORMATS].

Table 1: Payload Types Added to the RTP Payload Format Media Types Registry
Media Type Subtype Clock Rate (Hz) Channels (audio) Reference
application flexfec RFC 8627
audio EVRCNW 16000 RFC 6884
audio EVRCNW0 16000 RFC 6884
audio EVRCNW1 16000 RFC 6884
audio aptx RFC 7310
audio opus 48000 RFC 7587
audio G711-0 RFC 7650
audio flexfec RFC 8627
text flexfec RFC 8627
text ttml+xml RFC 8759
video VP8 90000 RFC 7741
video AV1 90000 [AV1-Media-Type]
video HEVC 90000 RFC 7798
video smpte291 RFC 8331
video VVC 90000 RFC 9328
video EVC 90000 RFC 9584
video flexfec RFC 8627

IANA has updated the following entries in the "RTP Payload Format Media Types" registry [RTP-FORMATS].

Table 2: Payload Types Updated in RTP Payload Format Media Types Registry
Media Type Subtype Clock Rate (Hz) Channels (audio) Reference
audio MP4A-LATM RFC 6416
video MP4V-ES 90000 RFC 6416

IANA has also closed the "RTP Payload Format Media Types" registry [RTP-FORMATS] to any further registrations. IANA added the following to the registry note:

NEW:

This registry has been closed; it was considered redundant because all RTP payload formats are part of the [Media Types registry]. See RFC 9751 for further details.

In addition, IANA updated the note in the "RTP Payload Format Media Types" registry [RTP-FORMATS] as follows:

OLD:

Registration procedures and a registration template can be found in [RFC4855].

NEW:

It was previously stated that registration procedures and a registration template can be found in [RFC4855]. As documented in RFC 9751, this is not the case.

4. Security Considerations

This document has no security considerations as it defines an administrative rule change.

5. References

5.1. Normative References

[AV1-Media-Type]
IANA, "video/AV1", <https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/video/AV1>.
[MEDIA-TYPES]
IANA, "Media Types", <https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types>.
[RFC8088]
Westerlund, M., "How to Write an RTP Payload Format", RFC 8088, DOI 10.17487/RFC8088, , <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8088>.
[RTP-FORMATS]
IANA, "RTP Payload Format Media Types", <https://www.iana.org/assignments/rtp-parameters>.

5.2. Informative References

[RFC4855]
Casner, S., "Media Type Registration of RTP Payload Formats", RFC 4855, DOI 10.17487/RFC4855, , <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4855>.

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Jonathan Lennox, Zaheduzzaman Sarker, Bernard Aboba, Elwyn Davies, Wes Hardaker, Gunter Van de Velde, Éric Vyncke, Mahesh Jethanandani, and Hyunsik Yang for their reviews and editorial fixes.

Author's Address

Magnus Westerlund
Ericsson