fix(core): reordering no longer reads as packet loss — net late shards out of the loss estimate

Reversed/reordered delivery lets a FEC block reconstruct EARLY
(data + recovery >= k), counting still-in-flight shards into
fec_recovered_shards; window_loss_ppm then reported pure reordering as
loss, inflating LossReports — which size adaptive FEC and, since the
Automatic overhaul, feed the ABR controller (one severe window ends slow
start FOR GOOD, so a reorder burst could permanently kneecap a session's
climb).

Early reconstruct stays (it's the latency-right choice); the accounting
now nets it out. The reassembler counts a new fec_late_shards stat when a
parity-restored data shard ARRIVES after all — matched exactly: the
completed/abandoned-frame memory (ReassemblyWindow::completed, now a map)
remembers which shards each terminal frame reconstructed, and a late
arrival must match one (removed on hit), so wire duplicates of delivered
shards and stragglers of failed blocks count nothing. In-flight blocks
dedup via have_data. window_loss_ppm takes the late delta and estimates
from (recovered - late), saturating across window boundaries; both
callers (client core + probe) pass it.

The e2e reorder tests now assert the NET equals the true kill count in
both delivery orders, dup included (previously documented as a known
inflation). Not mirrored into the C-ABI PunktfunkStats — the loss windows
run in-core on every platform.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

clients/probe/src/main.rs

@@ -1248,7 +1248,8 @@ async fn session(args: Args) -> Result<()> {
         let cap_secs = args.seconds.unwrap_or(120);
         // Adaptive-FEC loss window: publish a fresh estimate every 750 ms for the LossReport task.
         let mut last_loss_report = std::time::Instant::now();
-        let (mut last_recovered, mut last_received, mut last_dropped) = (0u64, 0u64, 0u64);
+        let (mut last_recovered, mut last_late, mut last_received, mut last_dropped) =
+            (0u64, 0u64, 0u64, 0u64);
         loop {
             // Mirror packet-level receive counters for the speed-test reporter (reads their delta),
             // and publish a windowed loss estimate for the adaptive-FEC LossReport task.
@@ -1262,6 +1263,7 @@ async fn session(args: Args) -> Result<()> {
                     lp_dt.store(
                         window_loss_ppm(
                             s.fec_recovered_shards.wrapping_sub(last_recovered),
+                            s.fec_late_shards.wrapping_sub(last_late),
                             s.packets_received.wrapping_sub(last_received),
                             s.frames_dropped.wrapping_sub(last_dropped),
                         ),
@@ -1269,6 +1271,7 @@ async fn session(args: Args) -> Result<()> {
                     );
                     last_loss_report = std::time::Instant::now();
                     last_recovered = s.fec_recovered_shards;
+                    last_late = s.fec_late_shards;
                     last_received = s.packets_received;
                     last_dropped = s.frames_dropped;
                 }

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client.rs

@@ -1934,7 +1934,8 @@ async fn worker_main(args: WorkerArgs) {
                                           // size FEC to the link. Suppressed during a speed test (its FLAG_PROBE filler would skew it).
         const ADAPT_REPORT_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_millis(750);
         let mut last_report = Instant::now();
-        let (mut last_recovered, mut last_received, mut last_dropped) = (0u64, 0u64, 0u64);
+        let (mut last_recovered, mut last_late, mut last_received, mut last_dropped) =
+            (0u64, 0u64, 0u64, 0u64);
         // PUNKTFUNK_PERF: per-window pump observability — the Session's receive stage split
         // (recv / decrypt / reassemble+FEC, see `Session::take_pump_perf`) and completed-AU
         // inter-arrival jitter. Smoothness has no metric otherwise: jump-to-live counters only
@@ -2091,6 +2092,7 @@ async fn worker_main(args: WorkerArgs) {
                 let window_dropped = st.frames_dropped.wrapping_sub(last_dropped);
                 let loss_ppm = window_loss_ppm(
                     st.fec_recovered_shards.wrapping_sub(last_recovered),
+                    st.fec_late_shards.wrapping_sub(last_late),
                     st.packets_received.wrapping_sub(last_received),
                     window_dropped,
                 );
@@ -2117,6 +2119,7 @@ async fn worker_main(args: WorkerArgs) {
                 flush_in_window = false;
                 last_report = Instant::now();
                 last_recovered = st.fec_recovered_shards;
+                last_late = st.fec_late_shards;
                 last_received = st.packets_received;
                 last_dropped = st.frames_dropped;
                 if pump_perf_on {

crates/punktfunk-core/src/packet.rs

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ use crate::error::{PunktfunkError, Result};
 use crate::fec::ErasureCoder;
 use crate::session::Frame;
 use crate::stats::StatsCounters;
-use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
+use std::collections::HashMap;
 use zerocopy::{FromBytes, Immutable, IntoBytes, KnownLayout};
 
 /// Identifies a punktfunk video packet (vs. an input datagram, see [`crate::input`]).
@@ -349,6 +349,10 @@ struct BlockState {
     /// Terminal — either reconstructed (its buffer range is fully written) or unrecoverable
     /// (corrupt shards; the frame can never complete). Later shards for it are ignored.
     done: bool,
+    /// The block resolved by actually consuming parity (`missing > 0` at reconstruct) — the only
+    /// case where a data shard arriving after `done` was counted into `fec_recovered_shards` and
+    /// must be netted back out as [`fec_late_shards`](crate::stats::Stats::fec_late_shards).
+    reconstructed: bool,
 }
 
 struct FrameBuf {
@@ -409,9 +413,15 @@ impl ReassemblerLimits {
 #[derive(Default)]
 struct ReassemblyWindow {
     frames: HashMap<u32, FrameBuf>,
-    /// Recently-emitted frames, so stray/late shards can't resurrect them. Pruned to
+    /// Recently-terminated frames (emitted OR abandoned by the loss window), so stray/late shards
+    /// can't resurrect them. The value is the frame's parity-restored data shards (frame-wide
+    /// index `block × max_data_shards + shard`, usually empty): each was counted into
+    /// `fec_recovered_shards` at reconstruct, so when one ARRIVES after all — late, not lost —
+    /// it's removed here and counted into `fec_late_shards` for the loss windows to net out
+    /// (reordering alone must not read as packet loss). The removal makes the accounting exact:
+    /// a wire duplicate of a shard that did arrive matches nothing and counts nothing. Pruned to
     /// the reorder window alongside `frames`.
-    completed: HashSet<u32>,
+    completed: HashMap<u32, Vec<u32>>,
     /// The newest frame seen, as `(frame_index, capture pts)` — the loss-window anchor: an
     /// incomplete frame is declared lost once it sits [`LOSS_WINDOW_NS`] behind this pts (or
     /// [`HARD_LOSS_WINDOW`] indices, whichever trips first).
@@ -561,12 +571,30 @@ impl Reassembler {
             !is_probe,
             recovery_pool,
             in_flight_bytes,
+            lim.max_data_shards,
         );
 
-        // Drop shards for frames we've already emitted (e.g. the recovery shards of a
+        // Drop shards for frames already terminated (emitted — e.g. the recovery shards of a
-        // frame that completed early via the all-originals-present fast path) or that
+        // frame that completed early via the all-originals-present fast path — or abandoned by
-        // have fallen out of the loss window.
+        // the loss window) and for frames that have fallen out of the loss window entirely.
-        if win.completed.contains(&hdr.frame_index) || win.is_stale(hdr.frame_index, hdr.pts_ns) {
+        if let Some(reconstructed) = win.completed.get_mut(&hdr.frame_index) {
+            // A data shard the parity reconstruct already restored (and counted into
+            // `fec_recovered_shards`) was late, not lost: count the arrival so the loss windows
+            // net it out (`recovered - late`), or plain reordering reads as packet loss and
+            // spooks adaptive FEC + the bitrate controller. Removing the match keeps it exact —
+            // wire duplicates of delivered shards match nothing, recovery shards are never in
+            // the list. No probe/video split: `fec_recovered_shards` counts both windows.
+            if shard_index < data_shards {
+                let fw = block_idx as u32 * lim.max_data_shards as u32 + shard_index as u32;
+                if let Some(pos) = reconstructed.iter().position(|&s| s == fw) {
+                    reconstructed.swap_remove(pos);
+                    StatsCounters::add(&stats.fec_late_shards, 1);
+                }
+            }
+            drop(stats);
+            return Ok(None);
+        }
+        if win.is_stale(hdr.frame_index, hdr.pts_ns) {
             drop(stats);
             return Ok(None);
         }
@@ -618,13 +646,26 @@ impl Reassembler {
             recovery: vec![None; recovery_shards],
             recovery_received: 0,
             done: false,
+            reconstructed: false,
         });
         if block.recovery_shards != recovery_shards {
             drop(stats);
             return Ok(None);
         }
         if block.done {
-            return Ok(None); // late/duplicate shard for a resolved block — silent, like before
+            // A data shard the parity reconstruct already restored (`!have_data`) was late, not
+            // lost — net it out of the `fec_recovered_shards` it was counted into (see the
+            // completed-frame twin above; this arm covers multi-block frames whose other blocks
+            // are still in flight). `have_data == true` = wire duplicate; a failed reconstruct
+            // (`!reconstructed`) never counted its missing shards, so neither do we.
+            if block.reconstructed
+                && shard_index < block.data_shards
+                && !block.have_data[shard_index]
+            {
+                block.have_data[shard_index] = true; // it HAS arrived now — dedups a re-dup
+                StatsCounters::add(&stats.fec_late_shards, 1);
+            }
+            return Ok(None);
         }
 
         if shard_index < data_shards {
@@ -675,6 +716,11 @@ impl Reassembler {
             block.done = true;
             match outcome {
                 Ok(()) => {
+                    // With in-order delivery `missing` is exactly the block's lost shards; under
+                    // reordering the early trigger also "recovers" shards that are merely still
+                    // in flight — their later arrival counts `fec_late_shards` (both arms above)
+                    // so loss estimators can net the two (`window_loss_ppm`).
+                    block.reconstructed = missing > 0;
                     StatsCounters::add(&stats.fec_recovered_shards, missing as u64);
                     *blocks_ok += 1;
                 }
@@ -692,7 +738,10 @@ impl Reassembler {
         // Whole frame ready?
         if *blocks_ok == block_count {
             let mut done = win.frames.remove(&hdr.frame_index).unwrap();
-            win.completed.insert(hdr.frame_index);
+            win.completed.insert(
+                hdr.frame_index,
+                reconstructed_shards(&done.blocks, lim.max_data_shards),
+            );
             *in_flight_bytes -= done.buf.len();
             done.buf.truncate(done.frame_bytes); // trim trailing-shard zero padding
             return Ok(Some(Frame {
@@ -720,11 +769,30 @@ impl Reassembler {
     }
 }
 
+/// The data shards of a terminating frame that only exist because parity restored them
+/// (`reconstructed` blocks' still-absent originals), as frame-wide indexes
+/// (`block × max_data_shards + shard`) for the [`ReassemblyWindow::completed`] late-shard
+/// memory. Empty (no allocation) for the overwhelmingly common clean frame.
+fn reconstructed_shards(blocks: &HashMap<u16, BlockState>, max_data_shards: usize) -> Vec<u32> {
+    let mut v = Vec::new();
+    for (&bi, b) in blocks {
+        if b.reconstructed {
+            for (i, have) in b.have_data.iter().enumerate() {
+                if !have {
+                    v.push(bi as u32 * max_data_shards as u32 + i as u32);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    v
+}
+
 impl ReassemblyWindow {
     /// Track the newest frame, declare incomplete frames that fell out of the loss window
     /// ([`LOSS_WINDOW_NS`] behind the newest pts, or [`HARD_LOSS_WINDOW`] indices) lost — for the
     /// video window (`count_drops`) counting them dropped, which is what drives the client's
     /// recovery-keyframe request — and prune the completed-index memory to [`REORDER_WINDOW`].
+    #[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
     fn advance_window(
         &mut self,
         frame_index: u32,
@@ -733,6 +801,7 @@ impl ReassemblyWindow {
         count_drops: bool,
         recovery_pool: &mut Vec<Vec<u8>>,
         in_flight_bytes: &mut usize,
+        max_data_shards: usize,
     ) {
         let (newest, newest_pts) = match self.newest_frame {
             // `frame_index` is newer iff it's within the forward half of the index space.
@@ -749,8 +818,10 @@ impl ReassemblyWindow {
             if !keep {
                 // Remember the abandoned index so a straggler shard is dropped (below, and in
                 // `push`) instead of resurrecting the frame — which would re-allocate its buffers
-                // and double-count the drop when it aged out again.
+                // and double-count the drop when it aged out again. Blocks that reconstructed
-                completed.insert(idx);
+                // before the frame died still counted `fec_recovered_shards`, so their restored
+                // shards join the late-shard memory exactly like an emitted frame's.
+                completed.insert(idx, reconstructed_shards(&f.blocks, max_data_shards));
                 // Release its buffer budget and reclaim its parity bufs for the pool.
                 *in_flight_bytes -= f.buf.len();
                 for block in f.blocks.values_mut() {
@@ -770,7 +841,7 @@ impl ReassemblyWindow {
             StatsCounters::add(&stats.frames_dropped, pruned as u64);
         }
         self.completed
-            .retain(|&idx| newest.wrapping_sub(idx) <= REORDER_WINDOW);
+            .retain(|&idx, _| newest.wrapping_sub(idx) <= REORDER_WINDOW);
     }
 
     /// True if this packet's frame lies outside the loss window (behind the newest frame by more
@@ -1095,9 +1166,11 @@ mod tests {
     /// FEC filled the holes.
     ///
     /// `fec_recovered_shards` accounting: with in-order delivery it equals the kill count
-    /// exactly. With reversed delivery parity arrives first, so the `data + recovery ≥ k`
+    /// exactly (and nothing is late). With reversed delivery parity arrives first, so the
-    /// trigger reconstructs EARLY and restores late-not-lost shards too — longstanding behavior
+    /// `data + recovery ≥ k` trigger reconstructs EARLY and restores late-not-lost shards too —
-    /// (the trigger predates this rewrite); assert `≥` there.
+    /// deliberate (latency), but each such shard's later arrival must count `fec_late_shards`
+    /// so the NET (`recovered - late`) still equals the true kill count: reordering alone must
+    /// not read as loss (it pollutes LossReports → adaptive FEC + the ABR controller).
     fn e2e_roundtrip(
         scheme: FecScheme,
         frame_len: usize,
@@ -1136,7 +1209,8 @@ mod tests {
         let f = got.expect("frame must complete within the FEC budget");
         assert_eq!(f.data, src, "reassembled AU must be byte-identical");
         assert_eq!(f.pts_ns, 12345);
-        let recovered = stats.snapshot().fec_recovered_shards;
+        let snap = stats.snapshot();
+        let (recovered, late) = (snap.fec_recovered_shards, snap.fec_late_shards);
         if reverse {
             assert!(
                 recovered >= kill.len() as u64,
@@ -1145,6 +1219,13 @@ mod tests {
         } else {
             assert_eq!(recovered, kill.len() as u64);
         }
+        assert_eq!(
+            recovered - late,
+            kill.len() as u64,
+            "net recovered (recovered - late) must equal the true loss regardless of order \
+             (recovered={recovered} late={late} killed={})",
+            kill.len()
+        );
     }
 
     /// Multi-block frame with a partial tail shard, heavy loss, both delivery orders + dups.

crates/punktfunk-core/src/quic/msgs.rs

@@ -1148,13 +1148,19 @@ impl BitrateChanged {
 }
 
 /// Compute a [`LossReport`] `loss_ppm` from one window's session-stat deltas: shards FEC recovered
-/// (the loss it absorbed), shards received, and frames that went unrecoverable. Loss ≈ recovered /
+/// (the loss it absorbed), recovered-but-then-arrived shards (`late` — reordered delivery lets a
-/// (received + recovered) — the fraction of shards that arrived missing. A frame drop means loss
+/// block reconstruct early, so those were never lost; netting them out keeps plain reordering from
-/// exceeded the current FEC budget (so `recovered` plateaus), so add a fixed bump to push the host's
+/// reading as packet loss and spooking adaptive FEC + the bitrate controller), shards received,
-/// FEC up past the cap on the next adjustment. Returns parts-per-million, capped at 1e6.
+/// and frames that went unrecoverable. Loss ≈ (recovered − late) / (received + recovered − late) —
-pub fn window_loss_ppm(recovered: u64, received: u64, frames_dropped: u64) -> u32 {
+/// the fraction of shards that truly never arrived (a late shard is inside `received`, so the
-    let denom = received.saturating_add(recovered);
+/// denominator nets it too; saturating, so reorder straddling a window boundary can't go
-    let mut ppm = recovered
+/// negative). A frame drop means loss exceeded the current FEC budget (so `recovered` plateaus),
+/// so add a fixed bump to push the host's FEC up past the cap on the next adjustment. Returns
+/// parts-per-million, capped at 1e6.
+pub fn window_loss_ppm(recovered: u64, late: u64, received: u64, frames_dropped: u64) -> u32 {
+    let lost = recovered.saturating_sub(late);
+    let denom = received.saturating_add(lost);
+    let mut ppm = lost
         .saturating_mul(1_000_000)
         .checked_div(denom)
         .unwrap_or(0) as u32;

crates/punktfunk-core/src/quic/tests.rs

@@ -707,15 +707,22 @@ fn loss_report_roundtrip() {
 #[test]
 fn window_loss_ppm_estimates_and_caps() {
     // No traffic → 0. A clean window (nothing recovered) → 0.
-    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(0, 0, 0), 0);
+    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(0, 0, 0, 0), 0);
-    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(0, 1000, 0), 0);
+    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(0, 0, 1000, 0), 0);
     // 50 recovered of 1000 total (950 received + 50 recovered) = 5%.
-    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(50, 950, 0), 50_000);
+    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(50, 0, 950, 0), 50_000);
     // An unrecoverable frame adds the +5% bump (push FEC past the current cap).
-    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(50, 950, 1), 100_000);
+    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(50, 0, 950, 1), 100_000);
     // A total-loss window with a drop but nothing received still reports the bump, capped at 1e6.
-    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(0, 0, 3), 50_000);
+    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(0, 0, 0, 3), 50_000);
-    assert!(window_loss_ppm(u64::MAX, 1, 9) <= 1_000_000);
+    assert!(window_loss_ppm(u64::MAX, 0, 1, 9) <= 1_000_000);
+    // Reordering: shards "recovered" early that then arrived are late, not lost — netted out, so
+    // a pure-reorder window reads 0. Partially late nets to the true loss (20 of 1000 = 2%).
+    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(50, 50, 1000, 0), 0);
+    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(50, 30, 980, 0), 20_000);
+    // `late` can outrun `recovered` across a window boundary (reorder straddling the report
+    // tick) or via a rare wire duplicate — saturate at a clean window, never underflow.
+    assert_eq!(window_loss_ppm(10, 25, 1000, 0), 0);
 }
 
 #[test]

crates/punktfunk-core/src/stats.rs

@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ pub struct Stats {
     /// send path; raise `net.core.wmem_max` / lower the bitrate, or wait for paced batched sending.
     pub packets_send_dropped: u64,
     pub fec_recovered_shards: u64,
+    /// Shards counted into [`fec_recovered_shards`](Self::fec_recovered_shards) that later ARRIVED
+    /// — reordered delivery lets a block reconstruct early from parity, so the still-in-flight
+    /// shards it "recovered" were late, not lost. Loss estimators must net this out
+    /// (`recovered - late`, see [`window_loss_ppm`](crate::quic::window_loss_ppm)) or plain
+    /// reordering reads as packet loss and spooks adaptive FEC + the bitrate controller.
+    /// Deliberately NOT mirrored into the C-ABI `PunktfunkStats` (loss windows run in-core).
+    pub fec_late_shards: u64,
     pub bytes_sent: u64,
     pub bytes_received: u64,
 }
@@ -34,6 +41,7 @@ pub struct StatsCounters {
     pub packets_dropped: AtomicU64,
     pub packets_send_dropped: AtomicU64,
     pub fec_recovered_shards: AtomicU64,
+    pub fec_late_shards: AtomicU64,
     pub bytes_sent: AtomicU64,
     pub bytes_received: AtomicU64,
 }
@@ -55,6 +63,7 @@ impl StatsCounters {
             packets_dropped: self.packets_dropped.load(l),
             packets_send_dropped: self.packets_send_dropped.load(l),
             fec_recovered_shards: self.fec_recovered_shards.load(l),
+            fec_late_shards: self.fec_late_shards.load(l),
             bytes_sent: self.bytes_sent.load(l),
             bytes_received: self.bytes_received.load(l),
         }