Raptor versus Reed Solomon forward error correction codes

Network conditions generally cause errors on network packets. Correction of these errors is in the subject of "forward error correction." Forward error correction is divided into two categories: bit-level forward error correction and packet-level forward error correction. These two categories are unfamiliar. The aim of this study is to make a literature comparison of two alternative packet-level forward error correction codes: Raptor and Reed Solomon. Nowadays when packet-level error correction codes are mentioned, these two techniques are remembered. Reed Solomon FEC codes are found on the Internet and are tested with different network conditions. Raptor codes are commercial and not used broadly yet. But several new technologies (MBMS, DVB and etc.) uses Raptor. This study shows the cases, where Raptor and Reed Solomon are appropriate to use