reference herein to “ one embodiment ” or “ an embodiment ” means that a particular feature , structure , or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention . the appearances of the phrase “ in one embodiment ” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment , nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarily mutually exclusive of other embodiments . the same applies to the term “ implementation .” fig4 depicts an embodiment of a receiver 400 in accordance with the present invention . as shown in fig4 , receiver 400 comprises packet buffer 404 , play - out buffer 406 , fec decoder 408 , and fec cache 410 . in receiver 400 , fec decoder 408 processes each received packet substantially in real - time , e . g ., shortly after each packet arrives and is stored in packet buffer 404 . fec processing is initiated for each packet , even if the frame to which the packet belongs is incomplete . for this reason , fec decoder 408 produces and maintains intermediate fec - processing results that are stored in fec cache 410 . fec decoder 408 updates the intermediate results stored in fec cache 410 after each incoming packet is received and fec processed . as such , fec decoder 408 differs from prior - art fec decoder 108 of fig1 , which waits until all but one of the data packets in a media frame have been received before commencing fec processing . because fec decoder 408 processes received packets substantially in real - time ( without waiting for further packets in a frame to be received ), packet buffer 404 may be significantly smaller than prior - art packet buffer 104 of fig1 . packet buffer 404 stores a received packet only for as long as needed to ( i ) transfer the received packet to play - out buffer 406 and ( ii ) transfer the received packet to fec decoder 408 . after those transfers are completed , the memory in packet buffer 404 consumed by the received packet may be cleared and used for another incoming packet . as such , packet buffer 404 no longer is required to store all of the packets for a frame until the frame is deemed to be ready for fec processing . thus , play - out buffer 406 may be significantly smaller ( e . g ., by a factor ranging from about 2 to about 10 ) than play - out buffer 106 . for example , in one embodiment , play - out buffer 406 may be sized to allow storage of between about 12 to about 24 packets ( which packets may belong to 12 different consecutively transmitted frames ), and fec decoder 408 is adapted to fec process packets for the 12 consecutively transmitted frames . it should be understood , however , that the number of packets that packet buffer 404 and the number of frames that fec decoder 408 are designed to handle may be varied , based on the packet jitter in the packet - based network , the latency of fec decoder 408 , and the processing delay of fec decoder 408 . for the sake of simplicity , it will be assumed below that , in one embodiment , receiver 400 is designed for use in a communication system having a packet jitter that is sufficiently small to permit fec decoder 408 to operate on packets belonging to three consecutively transmitted media frames at a time . in such an embodiment , fec cache 410 comprises , inter alia , three memory locations fec_str 1 , fec_str 2 , and fec_str 3 ( not shown in fig4 ) for storing intermediate mathematical results ( e . g ., xor - logic operation results ) for the three consecutively transmitted media frames ( referred to below as the previous frame f 1 , the current frame f 2 , and the next frame f 3 ) and a memory location current_packet for storing the current received packet . it is further assumed below that the number of packets protected by an fec frame is either predetermined or negotiated between the receiver 400 and a transmitter ( not shown ), in accordance with techniques known to persons of ordinary skill in the art . fig5 depicts the operation of receiver 400 . operation begins in block 502 . in block 504 , memory locations fec_str 1 , fec_str 2 , and fec_str 3 are cleared ( e . g ., set to zero ). in block 506 , a received packet 402 is stored in packet buffer 404 . in block 508 , received packet 402 is transferred from packet buffer 404 to memory location current_packet in fec cache 410 and to play - out buffer 406 , and the memory location in packet buffer 404 that is occupied by received packet 402 is freed for other packets . in block 510 , fec decoder 408 reads header information for packet 402 and determines to which media frame ( e . g ., previous frame f 1 ) packet 402 belongs . in block 512 , fec decoder 408 determines whether packet 402 is the first packet that receiver 400 has received for the media frame ( e . g ., previous frame f 1 ) to which packet 402 belongs . if so , in block 514 , fec decoder stores packet 402 in the memory location ( fec_str 1 , fec_str 2 , or fec_str 3 ) corresponding to the media frame to which packet 402 belongs , and operation returns to block 506 to process another received packet . if packet 402 is not the first packet that receiver 400 has received for the media frame ( e . g ., previous frame f 1 ) to which packet 402 belongs , then in block 516 , fec decoder 408 performs a mathematical operation ( e . g ., an xor - logic operation ) between a data portion of packet 402 and the contents of the memory location ( e . g ., fec_str 1 ) corresponding to the media frame to which the packet belongs . the result of the mathematical operation is then stored in the same memory location ( e . g ., fec_str 1 ), thereby replacing the previous contents of the memory location . in block 518 , fec decoder determines whether the media frame to which packet 402 belongs is ready for fec decoding ( e . g ., when an fec packet and all data packets except one have been received for the media frame ). ( frame - determination block 518 is explained in more detail below with reference to fig8 .) if the frame to which packet 402 belongs is not ready for fec decoding , then operation returns to block 506 to process another received packet . if the media frame is ready for fec decoding , then , in block 520 , fec decoder 408 uses the mathematical operation result stored in the memory location ( e . g ., fec_str 1 ) corresponding to the media frame ( e . g ., previous frame f 1 ) to which packet 402 belongs to reconstruct the missing packet , in accordance with well - known techniques , such as those described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 141 , 788 and in internet standards track protocol no . rfc - 2733 . finally , in block 522 , fec decoder 408 stores the recovered packet in play - out buffer 406 , and the memory location ( e . g ., fec_str 1 ) is cleared for the next incoming frame . fig6 is a graphical illustration of fec cache 410 . in one embodiment , fec cache 410 comprises three data structures ( or defined memory portions ) 602 1 , 602 2 , and 602 3 ( identified respectively as fec_rx_data 1 , fec_rx_data 2 , and fec_rx_data 3 ) and a current_packet memory location 604 for storing the current received packet . in data structures ( or defined memory portions ) 602 1 , 602 2 , and 602 3 , fec decoder 408 stores information that is useful for fec decoding media frames f 1 , f 2 , and f 3 , respectively . in one embodiment , data structures 602 1 , 602 2 , and 602 3 are defined as follows : typedef struct fec_rx_data { uint16_t snmin ; uint16_t snmax ; uint8_t fec_str [ max_rtp_packet_size ]; uint16_t fstrlen ; uint8_t fec_rec [ max_rtp_packet_size ]; uint16_t freclen ; struct fec_rx_data * prev ; struct fec_rx_data * next ; } fec_rx_data_t ; be stored in an xor format ( e . g ., if packet 1 has a payload length of 9 bytes , and packet 2 has a payload length of 8 bytes , for the sake of illustration , fig7 graphically depicts data structure 602 1 . fig8 is a flow chart illustrating in more detail frame - determination block 510 of fig5 , in which fec decoder 408 determines to which media frame ( e . g ., previous frame f 1 ) received packet 402 belongs . in block 802 , fec decoder 408 reads a payload - type descriptor pt and a sequence number snrcvd for received packet 402 stored in packet buffer 404 shown in fig4 . in block 804 , fec decoder 408 checks whether received packet 402 is an fec packet ( i . e ., the payload - type descriptor pt equals a predetermined value fec_type ). if received packet 402 is not an fec packet , then operation continues in block 806 . in block 806 , fec decoder 408 checks whether the sequence number snrcvd is greater than or equal to the minimum sequence number snmin of the media packets within current frame f 2 . if not , then , in block 808 , fec decoder 408 identifies received packet 402 as belonging to previous frame f 1 , and a pointer is set to data structure 602 1 ( fec_rx_data 1 ), the defined memory location for storing fec - decoding information relating to previous frame f 1 . operation continues in block ii , where operation returns to block 516 in fig5 . in block 516 , fec decoder 408 uses the pointer to identify the data structure ( e . g ., fec_rx_data 1 ) having the memory location ( e . g ., fec_str 1 ) to be used in performing the mathematical operation on the data portion of packet 402 . if , however , in block 806 , fec decoder 408 determines that the sequence number snrcvd is greater than or equal to the minimum sequence number snmin of the media packets within current frame f 2 , then operation proceeds in block 810 . fec decoder 408 checks whether a difference of the received packet sequence number snrcvd and the minimum sequence number snmin of the rtp media packets within the current frame f 2 is greater than or equal to a predetermined maximum number max_fec_pkt_per_fec of packets that may be protected by an fec packet . for example , for mpeg rtp media frames , the predetermined maximum number max_fec_pkt_per_fec of packets that may be protected by an fec packet is 24 . if the difference of the received packet sequence number snrcvd and the minimum sequence number snmin of the rtp media packets within the current frame f 2 is not greater than or equal to ( i . e ., is less than ) the predetermined maximum number max_fec_pkt_per_fec , then , in block 814 , fec decoder 408 identifies received packet 402 as belonging to current frame f 2 . in particular , a pointer is set to data structure 602 2 ( fec_rx_data 2 ), the defined memory location for storing fec - decoding information relating to current frame f 2 . operation continues in block ii , where operation returns to block 516 in fig5 . in block 516 , fec decoder 408 uses the pointer to identify the data structure ( e . g ., fec_rx_data 2 ) having the memory location ( e . g ., fec_str 2 ) to be used in performing the mathematical operation on the data portion of data packet 402 . returning to block 810 , if fec decoder 408 determines that the difference of the received packet sequence number snrcvd and the minimum sequence number snmin of the rtp media packets within the current frame f 2 is greater than or equal to ( i . e ., is not less than ) the predetermined maximum number max_fec_pkt_per_fec , then operation continues in block 812 . fec decoder 408 identifies received packet 402 as belonging to next frame f 3 . in particular , a pointer is set to data structure 602 3 ( fec_rx_data 3 ), the defined memory location for storing fec - decoding information relating to next frame f 3 . operation continues in block ii , where operation returns to block 516 in fig5 . in block 516 , fec decoder 408 uses the pointer to identify the data structure ( e . g ., fec_rx_data 3 ) having the memory location ( e . g ., fec_str 3 ) to be used in performing the mathematical operation on the data portion of packet 402 . if , in block 804 , fec decoder 408 determines that received packet 402 is an fec packet ( i . e ., the payload - type descriptor pt equals a predetermined value fec_type ), then operation continues in block 816 . in block 816 , the mask field and the snbase field of packet 402 are used to determine to which frame ( e . g ., previous frame f 1 , current frame f 2 , or next frame f 3 ) packet 402 belongs . in block 818 , packet 402 then is stored in the fec_rec memory location in the appropriate data structure ( fec_rx_data 1 , fec_rx_data 2 , or fec_rx_data 3 ) in fec cache 410 , and , in block 820 , operation returns to block 518 in fig5 . fig9 is a more - detailed block diagram of receiver 400 shown in fig4 . fec decoder 408 is preferably implemented as a reduced - instruction - set - computing ( risc ) processor , such as an arm1176j - s processor , based on a core design available from arm holdings plc , located in cambridge , england . the risc processor preferably operates at a speed of at least 250 mhz . packet buffer 404 and fec cache 410 are preferably implemented within a 64 kb data tightly - coupled memory ( d - tcm ) 910 within the risc processor . the risc processor may also include an 8 kb data cache ( d - cache ), an 8 kb instruction cache ( i - cache ), and a 64 kb instruction tightly - coupled memory ( i - tcm ). as shown in fig9 , play - out buffer 406 and fec decoder 408 are connected via a 64 - bit advanced extensible interface ( axi )- based bus matrix 914 . play - out buffer 406 is preferably an external double - data - rate ( ddr ) synchronous dynamic random access memory ( sdram ) ( i ) having a data transfer rate of 533 million data transfers per second , ( ii ) complying with the jedec standard no . jesd79 - 2e , entitled “ ddr2 sdram specification ,” and ( iii ) implemented in an “× 16 ” configuration ( i . e ., a ddr2 - 533 × 16 memory ). play - out buffer 406 is connected to bus matrix 914 through a ddr2 external memory interface ( emi ) 938 . receiver 400 also includes a 256 kb general - purpose sram memory (“ ppbmem ”) 912 for use by fec decoder 408 . receiver 400 also includes media access controllers ( macs ) 924 , 930 for providing ethernet support . macs 924 , 930 are connected to bus matrix 914 through packet classification engine ( pce ) co - processors 920 , 928 and transmit mac dma ( txd ) co - processors . pce co - processors 920 , 928 provide l2 / l3 / l4 ip and udp packet classification and direct - memory - access ( dma ) support between macs 924 , 930 and packet buffer 404 for receive packets . txd co - processors 922 , 926 provide dma support between macs 924 , 930 and transmit memory ( not shown ) for transmit packets . a 48 kb general - purpose sram memory 902 is also provided for pce co - processors 920 , 928 , e . g ., to store tables for internet protocol version 6 ( ipv6 ) support . receiver 400 also includes a dma controller 932 that provides dma support for play - out buffer 406 ( through external memory interface 938 ). fec decoder 408 preferably also communicates ( i ) with macs 924 , 930 and pce co - processors 920 , 928 through an advanced peripheral bus ( apb ) 918 connected via an axi - to - apb bridge 916 and ( ii ) with dma controller 932 and ddr2 external memory interface 938 through an advanced high - performance bus ( ahb ) 936 connected via an axi - to - ahb bridge 934 . one or more digital signal processors ( dsps ) ( not shown ) may also be connected to bus matrix 914 to decode media packets stored in play - out buffer 406 . there has thus been described a novel and innovative system and method for receiving a media frame having a plurality of data packets and an error - correction packet . it may be noted that , in above - described receiver 400 shown in fig4 , fec decoder 408 performs a mathematical operation ( e . g ., an xor - logic operation ) on each received packet immediately , without delaying until all or most of the remaining packets in the corresponding media frame have been received . in contrast , in conventional receiver 100 shown in fig1 , fec decoder 108 delays performing any mathematical operations until a buffered frame is determined to be ready for fec decoding ( e . g ., until an fec packet and all but one of the data packets for the frame have been received .) as such , fec decoder 408 has a significantly smaller latency than conventional fec decoder 108 . moreover , because fec decoder 408 performs the mathematical operation on each received packet immediately , there is no need for packet buffer 404 to be capable of storing nearly all of the packets of each frame . as a result , packet buffer 404 may be much smaller in size than packet buffer 104 of fig1 . the present invention may be implemented as an all - digital , all - analog , or a hybrid of both analog and digital circuit - based processes , including possible implementation as a single integrated circuit ( such as an asic or an fpga ), a multi - chip module , a single card , or a multi - card circuit pack . as would be apparent to one skilled in the art , various functions of circuit elements may also be implemented as processing blocks in a software program . such software may be employed in , for example , a digital signal processor , micro - controller , or general - purpose computer . it will be further understood that various changes in the details , materials , and arrangements of the parts which have been described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims below . thus , although the invention has been described above with respect to error correction using the xor - logic operation , the invention is not so limited , and other logic operations ( e . g ., the not - exclusive - or ( nxor ) logic operation ) may be used . moreover , the invention may be practiced using other error - correction ( ec ) algorithms based on mathematical operations other than logic operations , provided that such ec algorithms allow fec processing to occur for each received packet without delay , e . g ., without requiring all or substantially all of the packets in a frame to be present before ec processing is initiated . further , although the invention has been described above with respect to particular lengths and quantities , the invention is not so limited , and other lengths and quantities may be used . for example , the number of frames that fec decoder 408 and packet buffer 404 are designed to handle , as well as the number of memory locations in fec cache 410 , may be increased or decreased , based on the packet jitter in the packet - based network and / or on the latency of fec decoder 408 . for example , in one embodiment of the invention , a two - frame packet buffer may be employed , rather than a three - frame packet buffer as described above . in such an embodiment , only two data structures 602 1 , 602 2 would be needed in fec cache 410 , rather than three as described above . in another embodiment , if the network packet jitter is very small , a one - frame packet buffer may be employed , and fec cache 410 may comprise , or be composed of , a single data structure 602 1 . on the other hand , if the packet jitter is large , the fec decoder 408 and packet buffer 404 may be designed to handle four ( or more ) frames , and a corresponding number of data structures would be needed in fec cache 410 . for example , it is anticipated that , if the packet jitter is as large as in the case of receiver 100 described above ( where packet buffer 104 was designed to be capable of storing 12 frames ), then nec decoder 408 and packet buffer 404 may be designed to handle 12 frames as well , with 12 data structures in fec cache 410 . it should also be understood that the steps of the exemplary methods set forth herein are not necessarily required to be performed in the order described , and the order of the steps of such methods should be understood to be merely exemplary . likewise , additional steps may be included in such methods , and certain steps may be omitted or combined , in methods consistent with various embodiments of the present invention .