Chapter 1. Introduction
Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) is a new standard and industry effort that extends the web browsing model. For the first time, browsers are able to directly exchange real-time media with other browsers in a peer-to-peer fashion.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) are jointly defining the JavaScript APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), the standard HTML5 tags, and the underlying communication protocols for the setup and management of a reliable communication channel between any pair of next-generation web browsers.
The standardization goal is to define a WebRTC API that enables a web application running on any device, through secure access to the input peripherals (such as webcams and microphones), to exchange real-time media and data with a remote party in a peer-to-peer fashion.
Web Architecture
The classic web architecture semantics are based on a client-server paradigm, where browsers send an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) request for content to the web server, which replies with a response containing the information requested.
The resources provided by a server are closely associated with an entity known by a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) or URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
In the web application scenario, the server can embed some JavaScript code in the HTML page it sends back to the client. Such code can interact with browsers through standard JavaScript APIs and with users through the user ...
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