Editing RTP Control Protocol (section)

{{Infobox networking protocol
| title        = RTP Control Protocol
| logo         = 
| logo alt     = 
| image        = 
| image alt    = 
| caption      = 
| is stack     = No
| abbreviation = RTCP
| purpose      = Provide feedback on the [[quality of service]]
| developer    = [[Columbia University]]
| date         = {{Start date and age|2003|07}}
| based on     = 
| influenced   = 
| osilayer     = 
| ports        = 
| rfcs         = {{IETF RFC|3550}}
| hardware     = 
}}
{{distinguish|Real Time Streaming Protocol}}
{{short description|Sister protocol of the Real-time Transport Protocol that provides control information}}

The '''RTP Control Protocol''' ('''RTCP''') is a binary-encoded [[out-of-band signaling|out-of-band]] [[signaling protocol]] that functions alongside the [[Real-time Transport Protocol]] (RTP). RTCP provides statistics and control information for an RTP session. It partners with RTP in the delivery and packaging of multimedia data but does not transport any media data itself.

The primary function of RTCP is to provide feedback on the [[quality of service]] (QoS) in media distribution by periodically sending statistics information such as transmitted [[Octet (computing)|octet]] and packet counts, [[packet loss]], [[packet delay variation]], and [[round-trip delay time]] to participants in a streaming multimedia session. An application may use this information to control quality of service parameters, perhaps by limiting flow, or using a different [[codec]].

{{Internet protocol suite|application=[[RTP Control Protocol]]}}