Question: I have an applications which sends data in very short bursts, so the DS creates packets containing just 1 data byte. But when I inspect the packets using Ethereal or WinDump, I see that they contain a 'trailer' section with garbage data, which just makes the packet larger. Why is that?
Answer: Per industry standards, TCP and UDP packets have a minimum length. If the serial data isn't enough to create a packet which is large enough, 'junk' data will be appended to the end of the packet to make it large enough. This 'junk' is distinguised from the actual data of your application (your LAN sniffer will also recognize it as a 'trailer'), so there's no risk of any confusion with the actual data you are transporting.
