In order to improve the utilization of network bandwidth in multimedia business, a variety of header compression schemes have been proposed. This paper first introduces the background and feasibility of the header compression technology, and then states the principles of three traditional header compression schemes: VJHC, IPHC and CRTP. Since the three traditional header compression schemes can't be used in the wireless networks environment whose bit error rate is very high, this article highlights a robust header compression scheme-ROHC. This article illustrates the states and modes of the compressor and the decompressor in detail, and describes the compression process and the decompression process. Finally, it points out the research direction of header compression schemes.