Performance analysis on TCP/IP Audio Streaming in Point-to-Point communication

Abstract

UDP has always been a choice number one when it comes to the multimedia streaming systems. Not solely because TCP congestion control does not ensure delivery in a timely fashion, but also because these systems can tolerate data loss. Nonetheless, verification systems, including ones used in DSP audio field, which require both timely and reliable delivery are bringing much more constraints to the mix. The advantage of these systems, on the other hand, is that they are used in the simplest, point-to-point communication topology. In this kind of topology and with latest advances in both Ethernet hardware and embedded software, this paper examines the idea of using TCP instead of UDP application protocol for streaming high-quality audio between two points - device designed for audio system verification, and a personal computer, engineers working station. The main idea of this paper is reducing engineering efforts and development costs by consuming less time for making custom UDP protocol which would satisfy both full-duplex high throughput and reliable data exchange requirements.