User Datagram Protocol

A protocol within the IP protocol suite that offers a way to directly connect, send and receive datagrams over an IP network with minimum protocol overhead. With UDP, there is no acknowledgment or checking for missing, out-of-sequence, or duplicate packets. UDP is often used in place of the TCP (Transfer Control Protocol) when reliable, guaranteed delivery is not required. For example, when UDP is used for real-time audio and video traffic where lost packets are simply ignored. Like TCP, UDP runs on top of Internet Protocol (IP) networks.