Can TCP be implemented via UDP?

Question

I had a strange idea. I heard of software which from my understanding uses UDP to transfer files decreasing the overhead found in TCP packets.

If my app requires TCP and

Answer 1

If you're asking if you can use UDP as a Layer 2, then the answer is yes, sort of. There are various protocols that allow you to create a tunnel to another network using a UDP transport, such as L2TP and even IPsec (with NAT traversal). You could also do it at the application layer.

If you're asking if TCP can be implemented in UDP, the answer is no. First, TCP packets and UDP packets have an incompatible format. Second, TCP and UDP have different protocol numbers (seen in the IP header) which means that TCP traffic destined for a UDP port would not be passed to the correct upper-layer protocol.