SCTP: new transport protocol for TCP/IP

For the past 20 years (1980-2000), applications and end users of the TCP/IP suite have employed one of two protocols: the transmission control protocol or the user datagram protocol. Yet some applications already require greater functionality than what either TCP or UDP has to offer, and future applications might require even more. To extend transport layer functionality, the Internet Engineering Task Force approved the stream control transmission protocol (SCTP) as a proposed standard in October 2000. SUP was spawned from an effort started in the IETF Signaling Transport (Sigtrans) working group to develop a specialized transport protocol for call control signaling in voice-overt (VoIP) networks. Recognizing that other applications could use some of the new protocol's capabilities, the IETF now embraces SCTP as a general-purpose transport layer protocol, joining TCP and UDP above the IP layer. Like TCP, STCP offers a point-to-point, connection-oriented, reliable delivery transport service for applications communicating over an IP network.