SCTP Services:
The services offered by SCTP to the application layer processes are as follows
1. Process-to-Process Communication:
SCTP provides uses Process-to-Process Communication and also uses all well-known ports in the TCP space and also some extra port numbers.
2. Multiple Streams:
TCP is a stream-oriented protocol. Each connection between a TCP client and a TCP server involves one single stream. The problem with this approach is that a loss at any point in the stream blocks the delivery of the rest of the data. This can be acceptable when we are transferring text; it is not when we are sending real-time data such as audio or video. SCTP allows multi stream service in each connection, which is called association in SCTP terminology. If one of the streams is blocked, the other streams can still deliver their data.
3.Multi homing:
A TCP connection involves one source and one destination IP address. This means that even if the sender or receiver is a multihomed host (connected to more than one physical address with multiple IP addresses), only one of these IP addresses per end can be utilized during the connection. An SCTP association, on the other hand, supports multihoming service. The sending and receiving host can define multiple IP addresses in each end for an association. In this fault-tolerant approach, when one path fails, another interface can be used for data delivery without interruption. This fault-tolerant feature is very helpful when we are sending and receiving a real-time payload such as Internet telephony.
4. Full-Duplex Communication:
Like TCP, SCTP offers full-duplex service, in which data can flow in both directions at the same time. Each SCTP then has a sending and receiving buffer, and packets are sent in both directions.
5. Connection-Oriented Service:
Like TCP, SCTP is a connection-oriented protocol. However, in SCTP, a connection is called an association. When a process at site A wants to send and receive data from another process at site B, the following occurs:
1. The two SCTPs establish an association between each other.
2. Data are exchanged in both directions.
3. The association is terminated.
4. Reliable Service: SCTP, like TCP, is a reliable transport protocol. It uses an acknowledgment mechanism to check the safe and sound arrival of data.
For Further Reading:
SCTP Features
Packet Format in SCTP
SCTP Association
Flow Control in SCTP
Error Control in SCTP
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