WebRTC Essentials
Core Concept
1. Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
- Direct communication between two devices without requiring a central server for data transfer.
- WebRTC facilitates this via APIs.
2. ICE (Interactive Connectivity Establishment)
- A framework for NAT traversal that finds the best possible path for communication between peers.
- Combines STUN, TURN, and candidate prioritization.
3. NAT (Network Address Translation)
- A technique used by routers to map multiple private IP addresses to a single public IP.
- WebRTC uses STUN and TURN to overcome challenges posed by NAT.
4. STUN (Session Traversal Utilities for NAT)
- A protocol that helps a device discover its public IP and port.
- Used for NAT traversal when direct communication is possible.
5. TURN (Traversal Using Relays around NAT)
- A relay protocol for cases where direct peer-to-peer communication is blocked by NAT or firewalls.
- Represents a stream of audio and/or video tracks.
- Created from local media devices (camera, microphone) or received from a remote peer.
2. RTCPeerConnection
- The primary API for managing peer-to-peer connections in WebRTC.
- Handles SDP negotiation, ICE candidates, and media/data streaming.
3. RTCDataChannel
- Enables peer-to-peer communication for arbitrary data (e.g., text, files, or binary data).
- Operates over the same connection as audio/video streams.
4. Tracks
- Individual components of a media stream, such as an audio or video track.
- Can be dynamically added or removed from a MediaStream.