Windows Rally is a set of technologies from

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

intended to simplify the setup and maintenance of wired and

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

-connected devices. They aim to increase reliability and security of connectivity for users who connect the devices to the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

or to computers running

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

. These technologies provide control of network

quality of service Quality of service (QoS) is the description or measurement of the overall performance of a service, such as a telephony or computer network, or a cloud computing service, particularly the performance seen by the users of the network. To quantitat ...

(QoS) and diagnostics for data sharing, communications, and entertainment. Windows Rally technologies provide provisioning for the following devices: *

Wireless access point In computer networking, a wireless access point (WAP), or more generally just access point (AP), is a networking hardware device that allows other Wi-Fi devices to connect to a wired network. As a standalone device, the AP may have a wired co ...

s, PCs, and servers * Network

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

projectors A projector or image projector is an optical device that projects an image (or moving images) onto a surface, commonly a projection screen. Most projectors create an image by shining a light through a small transparent lens, but some newer types ...

, printer bridges, digital still cameras, and

game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a t ...

s *

Digital media receiver A digital media player (also sometimes known as a streaming device or streaming box) is a type of consumer electronics device designed for the storage, playback, or viewing of digital media content. They are typically designed to be integra ...

s, network media players,

set-top box A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of sign ...

es,

digital photo frame A digital photo frame (also called a digital media frame) is a picture frame that displays digital photos without the need of a computer or printer. The introduction of digital photo frames predates tablet computers, which can serve the same p ...

s, and

PDA PDA may refer to: Science and technology * Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books *Personal digital assistant, a mobile device * Photodiode array, a type of detector * Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting poly ...

Windows Rally technologies

Windows Rally includes the following set of technologies:

LLTD

The Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) protocol enables applications to

discover Discover may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album * ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine Businesses and brands * DISCover, the ''Digital Interactive Systems Corporation'' * D ...

devices and determine

network topology Network topology is the arrangement of the elements ( links, nodes, etc.) of a communication network. Network topology can be used to define or describe the arrangement of various types of telecommunication networks, including command and contro ...

. In

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...

, it enables a graphical view of all the devices in the network on the ''Network Map''. For Windows XP computers to appear on the ''Network Map'', th
LLTD Responder
must be downloaded and installed. Devices that provide audio or video playback or that are bandwidth sensitive can implement the ''QoS Extension'' part of the protocol so that they receive prioritized streams and that changes in available bandwidth have less impact on the playback experience.

qWAVE

Windows Vista includes qWAVE, a pre-configured quality of service API for time-dependent multimedia data, such as audio or video streams. qWAVE uses different

packet Packet may refer to: * A small container or pouch ** Packet (container), a small single use container ** Cigarette packet ** Sugar packet * Network packet, a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-mode computer network * Packet radio, a form ...

priority schemes for real-time flows (such as multimedia packets) and best-effort flows (such as file downloads or e-mails) to ensure that real-time data gets delayed as little as possible, while providing a high-quality channel for other data packets. qWAVE-enabled applications together with devices that implement the LLTD QoS Extensions aim to improve an end user's experience of streaming video by prioritizing traffic and reducing the effects of network-related transient issues.

Windows Connect Now

Windows Connect Now (WCN) is the name of Windows Rally technologies aimed for simpler wireless device configuration. With Windows Connect Now, users running

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...

SP2 can create network configuration settings and transmit them to the access point. Alternatively, users can also print the configuration settings for reference for manually configuring the device. With Windows Connect Now, one of the following methods may be used for easier configuration: * WCN-NET is Microsoft's implementation of the Wi-Fi Simple Config standard. It provides for configuration of devices using out-of-band

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

and in-band

wireless networks A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and business installations avoid the costly process of introducing c ...

. In Windows Vista, WCN-NET can discover an unconfigured router, access point, base station or a device such as a Media Center Extender by using

UPnP Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of networking protocols that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, Wi-Fi access points and mobile devices to seamlessly discover each other's presence on the n ...

, authenticate with the device by using a personal identification number (PIN), provide wireless settings that are based on user selection and set up a wireless network over a wired Ethernet connection. Windows XP and earlier Windows versions do not support WCN-NET. * WCN-UFD uses an API and an

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable ...

format that works with a wizard to write configuration files to a

USB Flash Drive A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since firs ...

for more secure wireless networks. Windows XP Service Pack 2 and later Windows operating systems supports WCN-UFD. * WCN-MTP includes a

Media Transfer Protocol The Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) is an extension to the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) communications protocol that allows media files to be transferred automatically to and from portable devices. Whereas PTP was designed for downloading pho ...

(MTP) extension that enables an ''MTP initiator'' to provide an ''MTP responder'' with configuration parameters for joining a wireless network and supports more secure configuration of MTP-capable devices on wireless networks. In Windows Vista, a temporary USB cable connection can be used for MTP-class devices such as portable media, digital cameras etc.

Devices Profile for Web Services

The ''Devices Profile for Web Services'' (DPWS) standard defines a minimal set of implementation constraints to enable secure web service

messaging A message is a discrete unit of communication intended by the source for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients. A message may be delivered by various means, including courier, telegraphy, carrier pigeon and electronic bus. ...

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

description Description is the pattern of narrative development that aims to make vivid a place, object, character, or group. Description is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narr ...

, and

eventing Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. Thi ...

on resource-constrained devices. DPWS describes a set of requirements that enable a device to be discovered by clients and describe available services to those clients. DPWS is similar

Universal Plug and Play Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of networking protocols that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, Wi-Fi access points and mobile devices to seamlessly discover each other's presence on the n ...

(UPnP) but, it is fully aligned with Web Services technology, supports standards for device connectivity such as WS-Discovery and WS-Eventing and includes numerous extension points allowing for integration of device-provided services in enterprise-wide application scenarios and roaming devices that work across the Internet. In Windows Vista, Web Services for Devices (WSDAPI) is an unmanaged code implementation of the ''Devices Profile for Web Services'' (DPWS) standard. The

Windows Communication Foundation The Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), previously known as Indigo, is a free and open-source runtime and a set of APIs in the .NET Framework for building connected, service-oriented applications. .NET Core 1.0, released 2016, did not sup ...

(WCF) executes managed code and offers enterprise-level services for Web Services solutions on Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Function Discovery

To support

Simple Service Discovery Protocol The Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) is a network protocol based on the Internet protocol suite for advertisement and discovery of network services and presence information. It accomplishes this without assistance of server-based configurat ...

(SSDP) and

WS-Discovery Web Services Dynamic Discovery (WS-Discovery) is a technical specification that defines a multicast discovery protocol to locate services on a local network. It operates over TCP and UDP port 3702 and uses IP multicast address or . As the name s ...

, and for extensible discovery to support other protocols, Windows Vista includes the ''Function Discovery'' API. Function Discovery serves as an abstraction layer between applications and devices, allowing applications to discover devices by referencing the device's function, rather than by its bus type or the nature of its connection. The Function Discovery API aims to create applications that enumerate system resources, use devices of a specific type and discover and manage lists of devices or objects, which are sorted by functionality or class, whether local or network connected. Function Discovery supports an extensible discovery provider model. Vendors can also create a custom provider to expose resources through Function Discovery.

Plug and Play Extensions (PnP-X)

PnP-X uses SSDP and WS-Discovery network communication protocols to make network-connected devices as discoverable as those that are connected directly to a computer over a bus such as

Universal Serial Bus Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...

(USB). The device manufacturer implements PnP-X capabilities to supplement either UPnP or Web Services for Devices (WSD) enabled devices. As a result, for end users, the device is relatively as easy to install as traditional

Plug and Play In computing, a plug and play (PnP) device or computer bus is one with a specification that facilitates the recognition of a hardware component in a system without the need for physical device configuration or user intervention in resolving resou ...

devices. An association database service using this protocol was introduced in

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012; it was subsequently made available for downl ...

under the name ''Device Association Framework''.

Universal Plug and Play

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is an IP-based protocol suite based on preliminary versions of Web Services protocols such as XML and

Simple Object Access Protocol Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used as ...

(SOAP). With UPnP, a device can dynamically join a network, obtain an IP address, convey its capability, and discover the presence and capabilities of other devices on the network. Information about the set of services that a particular device type can provide is captured in an

device description document that the device hosts. The device description also lists properties such as device name and icons associated with the device. UPnP has been adopted widely for devices that interact in home network audio-video scenarios. UPnP is supported by

Windows Me Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me (marketed with the pronunciation of the pronoun "me"), is an operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is the successor to Windo ...

, Windows XP and Windows Vista. In Windows Vista, UPnP is integrated with PnP-X and Function Discovery.

References

External links

Windows Rally Technologies Homepage

Windows Rally Development Kit
{{Microsoft APIs Windows communication and services Network protocols Microsoft application programming interfaces Windows components