UDP Provider

Fast connectionless communication for UTCP

The UDP provider enables UTCP to communicate with services over UDP (User Datagram Protocol), providing fast, connectionless communication with minimal overhead. This provider is ideal for applications requiring low latency, real-time data transmission, or fire-and-forget messaging.

Configuration

UDP providers are configured using the following JSON structure:

{
  "name": "udp_service",
  "provider_type": "udp",
  "host": "api.example.com",
  "port": 5000,
  "timeout": 5000,
  "max_retries": 3,
  "encoding": "utf-8"
}

Configuration Fields

Field	Required	Description
`name`	Yes	Unique identifier for the provider
`provider_type`	Yes	Must be set to `"udp"`
`host`	Yes	Hostname or IP address of the UDP server
`port`	Yes	Port number of the UDP server
`timeout`	No	Response timeout in milliseconds (default: `5000`)
`max_retries`	No	Maximum number of retry attempts (default: `3`)
`encoding`	No	Text encoding for string data (default: `"utf-8"`)
`buffer_size`	No	Buffer size for receiving data (default: `1024`)

UDP Characteristics

UDP is a connectionless protocol with specific characteristics that affect how tools are implemented:

Advantages

Low latency - no connection establishment required
Minimal overhead - simple packet structure
Suitable for real-time applications
Supports broadcasting and multicasting

Limitations

No guarantee of delivery
No guarantee of order
No automatic error correction
Limited packet size (typically 65,507 bytes)

Tool Discovery

Since UDP is connectionless and doesn't support standardized discovery, UTCP tools using UDP providers typically rely on:

Static Definition: Tool definitions provided in a separate JSON file
Companion HTTP Endpoint: A companion HTTP endpoint at /utcp
Custom Discovery Protocol: A custom discovery protocol using UDP packets

{
  "name": "udp_service",
  "provider_type": "udp",
  "host": "api.example.com",
  "port": 5000,
  "discovery_url": "https://api.example.com/utcp"
}

Examples

DNS-like Service

{
  "name": "dns_service",
  "provider_type": "udp",
  "host": "dns.example.com",
  "port": 53,
  "timeout": 3000,
  "max_retries": 2
}

Game Server Communication

{
  "name": "game_server",
  "provider_type": "udp",
  "host": "game.example.com",
  "port": 7777,
  "timeout": 1000,
  "max_retries": 1,
  "buffer_size": 2048
}

IoT Sensor Data

{
  "name": "sensor_data",
  "provider_type": "udp",
  "host": "sensors.example.com",
  "port": 1234,
  "timeout": 2000,
  "max_retries": 0,
  "encoding": "binary"
}

Best Practices

Reliability

Implement retry logic with exponential backoff
Use sequence numbers for duplicate detection
Keep message sizes small to avoid fragmentation
Implement application-level acknowledgments if needed

Performance

Use short timeouts for real-time applications
Minimize the number of round trips
Consider using binary protocols for efficiency
Implement proper error handling for network issues

Security

Validate all incoming data thoroughly
Implement rate limiting to prevent DoS attacks
Use encryption for sensitive data transmission
Consider using DTLS for secure UDP communication