HTTP/3: Renaming HTTP-over-QUIC and Its Evolution
This article explains how the protocol formerly known as HTTP-over-QUIC was officially renamed to HTTP/3, outlines the role of the IETF QUIC working group, the distinction between iQUIC and gQUIC, and highlights key interoperability milestones and resources.
The protocol previously referred to as HTTP-over-QUIC has been officially renamed to HTTP/3, a decision originally proposed by Mark Nottingham.
The IETF QUIC working group is responsible for standardizing the QUIC transport protocol, which is built on UDP and intended to replace TCP. QUIC originated as a Google project and later evolved into an encrypted HTTP/2‑over‑UDP solution.
During standardization, the protocol was split into two layers: a transport layer and an HTTP layer, allowing the transport to be used for data beyond HTTP while retaining the QUIC name.
Informal names such as iQUIC and gQUIC are used to differentiate the IETF and Google versions of QUIC, respectively. Historically, HTTP requests sent over iQUIC were called hq (HTTP-over-QUIC).
At the IETF 103 QUIC working group meeting, Mike Bishop presented a slide that sparked discussion and helped solidify the new name, HTTP/3.
On November 7, 2018, Dmitri from LiteSpeed announced successful interoperability testing of two HTTP/3 implementations with Facebook.
A follow‑up demonstration by Mike Bishop can be viewed on YouTube ( link ), confirming the consensus to adopt the HTTP/3 name.
UC Tech Team
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