The branch ID parameter in the Via header field values serves as a transaction identifier, and is used by proxies to detect loops.
A Via header field value contains the transport protocol used to send the message, the client's host name or network address, and possibly the port number at which it wishes to receive responses. A Via header field value can also contain parameters such as "maddr", "ttl", "received", and "branch", whose meaning and use are described in other sections. For implementations compliant to this specification, the value of the branch parameter MUST start with the magic cookie "z9hG4bK", as discussed in Section 8.1.1.7.
The compact form of the via header is "v".