Preface:

Standards development within the Information Technology sector is harmonized with international standards development. Through the CSA Technical Committee on Information Technology (TCIT), Canadians serve as the SCC Mirror Committee (SMC) on ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 on Information Technology (ISO/IEC JTC1) for the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), the ISO member body for Canada and sponsor of the Canadian National Committee of the IEC. Also, as a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Canada participates in the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (ITU-T).

Introduction: What is UPnP Technology?

UPnP technology defines an architecture for pervasive peer-to-peer network connectivity of intelligent appliances, wireless devices, and PCs of all form factors. It is designed to bring easy-to-use, flexible, standards-based connectivity to ad-hoc or unmanaged networks whether in the home, in a small business, public spaces, or attached to the Internet. UPnP technology provides a distributed, open networking architecture that leverages TCP/IP and Web technologies to enable seamless proximity networking in addition to control and data transfer among networked devices.

The UPnP Device Architecture (UDA) is more than just a simple extension of the plug and play peripheral model. It is designed to support zero-configuration, "invisible" networking, and automatic discovery for a breadth of device categories from a wide range of vendors. This means a device can dynamically join a network, obtain an IP address, convey its capabilities, and learn about the presence and capabilities of other devices. Finally, a device can leave a network smoothly and automatically without leaving any unwanted state behind.

The technologies leveraged in the UPnP architecture include Internet protocols such as IP, TCP, UDP, HTTP, and XML. Like the Internet, contracts are based on wire protocols that are declarative, expressed in XML, and communicated via HTTP. Using Internet protocols is a strong choice for UDA because of its proven ability to span different physical media, to enable real world multiple-vendor interoperation, and to achieve synergy with the Internet and many home and office intranets. The UPnP architecture has been explicitly designed to accommodate these environments. Further, via bridging, UDA accommodates media running non-IP protocols when cost, technology, or legacy prevents the media or devices attached to it from running IP.

What is "universal" about UPnP technology? No device drivers; common protocols are used instead. UPnP networking is media independent. UPnP devices can be implemented using any programming language, and on any operating system. The UPnP architecture does not specify or constrain the design of an API for applications; OS vendors may create APIs that suit their customers' needs.