US Patent 7330902 Header compression

A method for communicating a message over a data path by means of data transfer apparatus capable of transmitting the data over the data path, generating a representation of the data as received from the data path and generating an indication of the communication quality of the data path; the method comprising: forming a plurality of individual data segments together representing the message, the format of each data segment being selected from one of a plurality of available segment formats in dependence on the quality of the data path; transferring the segments over the data path by means of the data transfer apparatus; and combining the segments as received from the data transfer apparatus to form a representation of the message.