is in the internet system longer than the time to live, then the datagram must be destroyed.
This field must be decreased at each point that the internet header is processed to reflect the time spent processing the datagram. Even if no local information is available on the time actually spent, the field must be decremented by 1. The time is measured in units of seconds (i.e. the value 1 means one second). Thus, the maximum time to live is 255 seconds or 4.25 minutes. Since every module that processes a datagram must decrease the TTL by at least one even if it process the datagram in less than a second, the TTL must be thought of only as an upper bound on the time a datagram may exist. The intention is to cause undeliverable datagrams to be discarded, and to bound the maximum datagram lifetime.
Some higher level reliable connection protocols are based on assumptions that old duplicate datagrams will not arrive after a certain time elapses. The TTL is a way for such protocols to have an assurance that their assumption is met.
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September 1981 Internet Protocol Specification
Options
The options are optional in each datagram, but required in implementations. That is, the presence or absence of an option is the choice of the sender, but each internet module must be able to parse every option. There can be several options present in the option field.
The options might not end on a 32-bit boundary. The internet header must be filled out with octets of zeros. The first of these would be interpreted as the end-of-options option, and the remainder as internet header padding.
Every internet module must be able to act on every option. The Security Option is required if classified, restricted, or compartmented traffic is to be passed.
Checksum
The internet header checksum is recomputed if the internet header is changed. For example, a reduction of the time to live, additions or changes to internet options, or due to fragmentation. This checksum at the internet level is intended to protect the internet header fields from transmission errors.
There are some applications where a few data bit errors are acceptable while retransmission delays are not. If the internet protocol enforced data correctness such applications could not be supported.
Errors
Internet protocol errors may be reported via the ICMP messages [3].
3.3. Interfaces
The functional description of user interfaces to the IP is, at best, fictional, since every operating system will have different facilities. Consequently, we must warn readers that different IP implementations may have different user interfaces. However, all IPs must provide a certain minimum set of services to guarantee that all IP implementations can support the same protocol hierarchy. This section specifies the functional interfaces required of all IP
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