Session Announcement Protocol (SAP)

Definition - What does Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) mean?

Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) is used for multicast data session broadcasts and participant communication requirements. In 2000 it was published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as Experimental Standard RFC 2974.

Techopedia explains Session Announcement Protocol (SAP)

SAP includes the following features:

  • Session Description Protocol (SDP) providing session format announcement details.
  • User Datagram Protocol (UDP) or Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) exchanging most multicast data sessions.
  • Scaling for unlimited receivers but not unlimited sessions.
  • It uses payload digital signature for optional announcement authentication header.

SAP has a slow announcement rate. It requires several minutes between repeated session announcements. However, this is resolved through caching at startup or local SAP proxies.

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