What are stream-oriented communications?

Definition

• Stream-oriented communication is a form of communication in which timing plays an important role.

• Stream-oriented communication is also referred to as continuous streams of data.

Features

1. Supports for continuous media

2. Streams in distributed systems

3. Stream management

Transmission mode

1. Synchronous
2. Asynchronous
3. Isochronous

Synchronous:

• Specifies max end-to-end delay variance between packets.
• Max time limit.

Asynchronous:

• End to end delay maximum.
• No time limit.

Isochronous:

• Max end-to-end delays are specified and variance to.
• Both max and lower limit.

Characteristics

1. Streams are unidirectional.
2. Generally a single source, one or more sinks.
3. Often either sink/source is wrapped around hardware (e.g., Camera, CD device, Tv monitor).
4. Simplex Stream: Single way to flow data.
5. Complex stream: Multiple ways to flow data. Example: Video with subtitles.