IPv4 Header Format, Size and Fields

IPv4 means Internet protocol version 4. Internet Protocol is used to transfer data packets across a network. An IPv4 header is a component of IP protocol that facilitates smooth data transfer over the internet.

This article will explain the IPv4 header format structure along with fields and their sizes. Get a clear understanding of the IPv4 Header format with simple diagrams.

To further deepen your knowledge about IPv4 or IPv6 header, you can check our networking courses online, where we have covered multiple protocols and technologies.

What is IPv4 Header?

IPv4 header is a component of Internet protocol that facilitates data transmission over a network.

An IPv4 header has a fixed structure with 13 fields: Version, IHL (Internet Header Length), Type of Service, Total Length, Identification, Flags, Fragment Offset, Time to Live, Protocol, Header Checksum, Source Address, Destination Address, Options.

Each field contains specific information required for data transfer with IPv4 technology.

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IPv4 Header Structure

The IPv4 header has a fixed structure with 13 fields. The header size of IPv4 is 20 bytes, but it can be extended to 60 bytes with the options field.

Each field also has a fixed size or length, helping in a fast data delivery process.

To understand the IPv4 Datagram header structure better, let's take a look at this IPv4 structure diagram.

IPv4 Header Diagram

Understanding Bit and Byte Order in IP Header

In IPv4 header format the bits and bytes are organized in a specific way to ensure seamless communication across devices. Look at the above diagram, we see at the top it starts with 0 and ends with 31.

It represents a 32-bit value which has bits numbered from 0 (leftmost) to 31 (rightmost). The most significant bit (MSB) is on the left and the least significant bit (LSB) is on the right.

A 32-bit value is divided into 4 bytes as follows

● Bits 0-7 (First Byte)

● Bits 8-15 (Second Byte)

● Bits 16-23 (Third Byte)

● Bits 24-31 (Fourth Byte)

These bytes are sent in order, starting with the most significant byte (bits 0-7). This is called Big Endian Byte Ordering. TCP/IP always uses Big Endian for consistency.

Some systems (like Intel-based devices) use Little Endian, where the least significant byte is sent first. These systems must convert data to Big Endian before sending it over the network.

IPv4 Header Fields and Their Functions

After understanding the header format of the IPv4, we know about the 13 fields.  Below we have discussed the fields of the IPv4 header.

1. Internet Protocol Header Version

It is a 4-bit field. The version of IPv4 is 4.   

2. IPv4 Header Length

The header length field indicates the size of the IP header which is 4 bits long. It tells us how many 32-bit words (each word is 4 bytes) are present in the IP header, including any optional fields.

The header length field is only 4 bits long, so the maximum value it can hold is 15. This means the maximum header size is:

15 x 4 bytes = 60 bytes

Normally, the IP header doesn't have extra options, so the header size is 5 words (4 bytes each) so size is:

5 x 4 bytes = 20 bytes

If additional options are used, the header grows beyond 20 bytes. But it can never exceed 60 bytes due to the 4-bit limit. By using the header length field, devices reading the packet know where the header ends and where the actual data (payload) begins.

3. Type Of Service (TOS)

It is an 8-bit field. In the initial implementations, it consists of 3-bit precedence, 4 TOS bits, and an unused bit which should be 0. The 4 TOS bits are:

● Minimize Delay

● Maximize Throughput

● Maximize Reliability

● Minimize Monetary Cost

Later, the ToS field was redefined for Differentiated Services (DiffServ) as follows

DiffServ Code Point (DSCP): In DSCP, it uses the first 6 bits to classify packets into service classes, ensuring quality of service (QoS). For example, packets for streaming or gaming might be marked for expedited forwarding.

Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN): In ECN, the last 2 bits signal whether a network is congested, helping devices adjust their sending rates.

The ToS field ensures that packets carrying critical or time-sensitive data are handled appropriately, improving the overall network performance and user experience. For example:

● Video calls can get low latency.

● Backup data transfers can be deprioritized during congestion.

You can think of the ToS field as a "priority tag" that helps routers decide how to handle each packet effectively.

4. Total Length Field in IP Header

The Total Length field tells us how big the IP packet is (in bytes) which includes header and data payload. By using the Total Length and another field called the Header Length, we can figure out where the header ends and where the actual data begins.

It is a 16-bit field, meaning the largest packet size it can handle is 65,535 bytes. If a packet is too big for the network, the packet gets broken into smaller pieces called fragments. Each fragment is sent separately but can be reassembled at the destination.

Some networks, like Ethernet, require a minimum packet size of 46 bytes long. If the packet is too small, padding (extra space) is added to meet this requirement. The Total Length field ensures we know the actual size of the packet, even if padding is present. Without a Total Length field, the receiver wouldn’t know where the real data ends and the padding starts.

Though it is possible to send a large datagram, most applications stick to smaller sizes to avoid fragmentation. For example

● UDP applications like DNS send packets under 576 bytes

● TCP automatically breaks data into smaller chunks to fit the network's requirements

Next, let's discuss how the IP header handles the fragmentation process using the below three key fields.

When we send data over a network, it is often broken into packets called IP datagrams. Each datagram must fit within the size limits of the network it travels through. However, different networks have different size limits, called the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU). If an IP datagram is larger than the MTU, it needs to be fragmented into smaller pieces to pass through. The receiver later reassembles these pieces back into the original data. 

Let's now understand IP header fields one by one which help in handling the fragmentation process

5. Identification Field

The identification field of the IPv4 header format is like a unique ID assigned to every IP datagram sent by a host.

● When a large IP datagram is fragmented, all fragments get the same Identification number.

● This helps the receiver understand which fragments belong to the same original datagram.

6. Flags Field

The Flags field has 3 bits, and each bit has a specific purpose:

● Bit 0: It is a Reserved bit and always be 0 which is not used.

● Bit 1: It is a Don’t Fragment (DF) bit, if this bit is set to 1, the router will not fragment the datagram. If the datagram is too large to pass through, it will simply be dropped, and the sender will get an error.

● Bit 2: It is a More Fragments (MF) bit, if this bit is set to 1, it means more fragments are coming. For all fragments except the last one, the MF bit = 1. For the last fragment, the MF bit = 0, signaling the end of the original datagram.

7. Fragment Offset

It is a 13-bit value field. When an IP datagram is fragmented, each packet has a Fragment Offset set, which tells the receiver where this fragment fits in the original datagram. The offset is measured in 8-byte blocks.

For example, If the first fragment starts at byte 0, its offset is 0 and If the second fragment starts at byte 1000, its offset is 125 (because 1000 ÷ 8 = 125). The Fragment Offset ensures that all pieces are put back together in the correct order at the receiver’s end.

Now let's try to understand all three fields all together from the above diagram. Let's say a source router R1 sends an IP datagram of 3000 bytes and at R2 due to network limitations (like MTU) this original datagram is fragmented into 3 datagrams of 1000 bytes each. Each fragmented datagram will have the same identification number (not shown in the diagram above) so that the receiver can identify that all three fragments are a part of the same IP datagram.

The first and second fragments will have a More Fragments (MF) bit set to 1 while the last (third) fragment with have an MF bit of 0. The first fragment starts with byte 0 so the offset is 0, the second fragment starts with byte 1000 so the offset is 125 (as explained earlier) similarly, the third fragment starts with byte 2000 so the offset is 250. Using these values the destination router R5 will be able to reassemble all three fragments and make an original IP datagram. 

8. Time To Live (TTL) Field

It is an 8-bit value in the format of IPv4 header. It sets the limit on the number of hops (routers) an IP datagram can pass through meaning it defines the lifetime of the datagram.

The sender initiated the TTL value (32, 64, or 255 based on operating systems) in the IP header and it is then decremented by one at every hop it crosses. When it reaches 0 the datagram is discarded and an ICMP message is sent back to the sender. This prevents routing loops at layer 3 of the OSI layer model.

9. Protocol Field

It is an 8-bit field in the IP header. It identifies the type of protocol that is encapsulated inside the IP packet. This helps the receiving device know which upper-layer protocol should process the data. The protocol has a specific number for example:

● 6 for TCP (Transmission Control Protocol).

● 17 for UDP (User Datagram Protocol).

● 1 for ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol).

When a packet arrives, the receiving device looks at this field to decide where to send the data next shown in below diagram. 

10. Header Checksum Field

The IP checksum is a mechanism used in the IP header to ensure that the data hasn't been corrupted during transmission. It is a 16-bit field and is used to calculate checksum for IP header only. It does not cover any data followed by the header. Other protocols like TCP and UDP have their own checksum fields for header and data.

In checksum calculation, the initial checksum value is set to 0 so that it does not interfere with the calculations. The IP header is divided into 16-bit chunks or words for example if the header is 20 bytes then it is divided into ten 16-bit words. These chunks are added together using a method called the one's complement sum. The one's complement of the total sum is stored in the checksum field.

When the receiver gets the datagram, it performs the same steps:

● Calculates the checksum based on the header values and compares it with the checksum in the received header.

● Sum of the calculated checksum and the received checksum is all ones (binary 1111...1111), the header is valid.

If not, the datagram is discarded.

11. Source IP Address

It contains a 32-bit value of the sender IP address.

12. Destination IP Address

It contains 32-bit value of the receiver IP address.

13. IP header Options Field

It is a variable-length list and always ends on a 32-bit boundary. Pad bytes with a value of 0 are added if necessary. his assures that IP header is always a multiple of 32 bits (as per required for the header length). The options are as follows

● Security and Handling Restrictions

● Record Route

● Timestamp

● Loose Source Route

● Strict Source Routing

Why is the IPv4 Header important?

IPv4 datagram header enables efficient and reliable data transfer on the internet. Some other benefits of IPv4 header are:

1. Packet Identification: The identification field helps in fragment reassembly, ensuring that packets split into smaller parts can be correctly reassembled at their destination.

2. Error Detection: The Header Checksum field checks for errors while data transfer, allowing devices to detect and discard corrupted packets during transmission.

3. Control Over Traffic: The Time to Live (TTL) field prevents packets from circulating indefinitely in the network by limiting the number of hops a packet can take before being discarded.

4. Quality of Service (QoS): The Type of Service (ToS) field allows for prioritization of certain traffic, which helps in managing network performance.

5. Fragmentation Management: The Flags and Fragment Offset fields facilitate the fragmentation of packets when necessary, allowing larger packets to be sent over networks with smaller maximum transmission units (MTUs).

Limitation of IPv4 Header

The two major drawbacks of using IPv4 are: 

1. Unreliable IP Datagram Delivery

IPv4 header or simply IP does not guarantee successful delivery of packets to their destination.

For example, when something goes wrong such as a router goes out of buffer it simply discards the IP datagram and sends an ICMP message back to the source.

As shown in the diagram below, an IP datagram will not reach its destination, it depends on the reliability provided by upper layer TCP protocol. 

2. Connectionless IP Datagram Delivery

IP header does not keep any state information about datagrams and these are taken care of independently. So delivery of IP datagrams sometimes can be out of order.

As shown in the below diagram, IP datagrams are routed independently at each hop and they do not keep any information about them so at the destination router datagrams are received as out of order.

Conclusion

Understanding the IPv4 header in detail will help you learn the basics of data transmission in internet protocol version 4. In this article, we have explained the IPv4 datagram header format in easy language.

We have also learned about the 13 IPv4 header fields along with their sizes and lengths. Each field of the IPv4 header is unique and serves a purpose for IP working.