Streaming Communication

#Streaming

Review

  1. 2024-08-15 07:56

[!Summary]

一、Introduction #

HTTP streaming, also known as HTTP-based streaming or HTTP live streaming, is a technique used to deliver real-time multimedia content, such as audio or video, over the Internet. This protocol allows continuous data transmission from a server to a client device, enabling users to consume media content without requiring complete file downloads.

HTTP streaming utilizes the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) as its communication protocol. It leverages existing web infrastructure and uses HTTP servers’ scalability, caching, and load-balancing capabilities. This makes it an efficient and flexible solution for delivering real-time content to many users.

Data is continuously sent from the server to the client without waiting for the entire response to be ready. This allows for real-time or near-real-time updates and can be more efficient for certain types of applications.

二、Solutions #

  • Server-Sent Events (SSE): [[Server Sent Events(SSE)]]
    • A simple protocol that allows the server to push data to the client over HTTP
    • Unidirectional (server to client only)
    • Supported by most modern browsers
  • WebSockets:
    • Provides full-duplex, bidirectional communication
    • Allows both client and server to send messages at any time
    • More complex than SSE but offers more flexibility
  • Long Polling:
    • An older technique where the client repeatedly polls the server for new information
    • Less efficient than SSE or WebSockets but works in older browsers
  • HTTP/2 Server Push:
    • Allows the server to proactively send resources to the client
    • Part of the HTTP/2 protocol
  • WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication):
    • Primarily used for peer-to-peer communication
    • Can be used for streaming data between browsers without a server intermediary
  • HTTP Chunked (Transfer-Encoding: chunked)

Protocol

  1. HTTP Streaming(HTTP-based adaptive streaming)
  2. WebSockets
  3. WebRTC
  4. MQTT
  5. RTMP(Read-Time Messaging Protocol)
  6. HLS(HTTP Live Streaming) by Apple
  7. RTSP(Real-Time Streaming Protocol)

2.1、SSE #

[[Server Sent Events(SSE)]]

2.2、HTTP-Chunked #

Reference #

What is HTTP Streaming? Data Streaming Technologies Overview