pipewire/doc/design.txt
Wim Taymans e167d30296 reintroduce channels
Bring back the channel object. Making a node and port on the client side
was rather awkward because of the async nature of many methods. It feels
better to have a specific communication channel object to interface with
a server side port.
Use port activate/deactivate to start/stop streams
Remove links from the ports. We let other objects install a callback on
the port to receive and route buffers.
2016-07-20 17:29:34 +02:00

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Pinos
-----
The idea is to make a DBus service where you can provide
and consume media to/from.
Some of the requirements are:
- must be efficient for raw video using fd passing
- must be able to provide/consume/process media from any process
- streaming media only (no seeking)
- policy to restrict access to devices and streams
Although an initial goal, the design is not limited to raw video
only and should be able to handle compressed video and other
streamable media as well.
The design is in some part inspired by pulseaudio, hence its original
name. Increasinly we also seem to add functionality of jack.
Objects
-------
Daemon1: the main pinos daemon
/org/pinos/server
Client1: a connected client, the result object from call
Daemon1.ConnectClient
/org/pinos/client*
Device1: a physical device on the machine, devices can provide
processing nodes
/org/pinos/device*
Node1: a processing node, this can be a source, sink or transform
element.
/org/pinos/node*
Port1: a port on a Node1, ports can be input or output ports
/org/pinos/node*/port*
Channel1: a communication channel between a client and port
/org/pinos/client/channel*
Link1: a link between 2 ports
/org/pinos/link*
DBus protocol
-------------
The main daemon is registered on the session bus with name: org.pinos
Various Node1 objects are registered in the server based on the available
sources or sinks of content. Source1 has properties and has format descriptions of
what it can provide.
First a client needs to register with pinos by calling
org.pinos.Daemon1.ConnectClient(). This creates a new Client1 object that
the client must use for further communication.
A client can then do org.pinos.Client1.CreateChannel() to create a
new Channel to retrieve/send data from/to a node. It can specify a node/port
explicitly or let the server choose a port. The client must provide a list
of formats it can handle along with extra properties that can help with
selecting an appropriate port.
A client can then call org.pinos.Channel1.Start() to negotiate the final
media format and start the data transfer. A new fd is returned to the client
along with the negotiated format and properties.
All further media transport is then performed on the fd. The client will read
from the fd to get data and metadata from the server. The wire format is
generic and extensible and allows for inline serialized events such as
property changes and format changes.
fd management
-------------
Pinos shares data between clients by using fd passing. Sometimes the memory
referenced by the fd needs to be reused. It is important that all pinos
clients lost their reference to the fd before it can be reused.
What follows are some scenarios of how the lifecycle of the fds are
managed.
* server side
v4l2src pinossocketsink
| |
| |
make buffer |--------->|
| | (1)
| | (2) ----->
| | (3)
|... | ...
| |
| | (4) <-----
|<---------|
(1) pinossocketsink generates the pinos message from the v4l2 input
buffer. It is assumed in the next steps that the sink
receives fd-memory from v4l2src and that the memory is only
freed again when no clients are looking at the fd.
(2) pinossocketsink sends the buffer to N Pinos clients
(3) for each client that is sent a buffer, pinossocketsink uses the
fdmanager object to map the fd-index that was
sent, to the buffer and client. The buffer is reffed and kept
alive for as long as the client is using the buffer.
(4) when a message is received from a client, pinossocketsink
parses the message and instructs the fdmanager to release
the fd-index again. When all clients release the fd, the buffer
will be unreffed and v4l2src can reuse the memory.
* client consumer
pinossrc xvimagesink
| |
-------> (1)|------------------->| (2)
| |
| (3) |
|<-------------------|
<------- (4)| |
| |
(1) pinossrc receives a buffer from Pinos and wraps the fd with data
in an fd-memory. It remembers the fd-index as qdata on the memory.
It has a special DestroyNotify on the qdata.
(2) xvimagesink renders the buffer and frees the buffer.
(3) freeing the buffer causes the qdata DestoyNotify to be called.
(4) pinossrc constructs a release-fd message and sends it to Pinos
* client producer
videotestsrc pinossink
| |
(1)|------------------->|
| | (2) ----->
| |
| (4) | (3) <-----
|<-------------------|
(1) videotestsrc produces a buffer
(2) pinossink makes a PinosBuffer from the input buffer. It will also
keep the buffer in a hash table indexed by the fd-index.
(3) pinossink receives an fd-release message from Pinos. It removes
the fd-index from the hashtable and
the hashtable and the buffer is unreffed
(4) the fd is returned to videotestsrc for reuse.
* client producer, server side
socketsrc pinossocketsink
| |
------> (1) | (2)|
|----------->|
| | (3) -------->
| | ....
| (4)|
| | ....
| |
| (6)| (5) <--------
<------- (7)|<-----------|
| |
(1) pinos buffer arrives from a client. socketsrc wraps the
fd
(2) pinossocketsink sets a weak-ref on the buffer to know when it is
freed.
(3) pinossocketsink sends the buffer to the clients
(4) for each buffer that is sent, the sink uses the fdmanager to map the
fd-index to a buffer and a client. it keeps a ref on the buffer
(5) release-fd is received from a client
(6) pinossocketsink removes the fd-index from the fdmanager. If all
clients released the fd, the buffer will be freeds, triggering
the DestroyNotify. This will then trigger an event with a release-fd
message to the source.
(7) the source sends the release-fd message to Pinos
* client remove
When a client disconnects from pinos, it must have released all fd-indexes
that it received. Pinos will force a release and will reuse the fd-indexes
when the client disconnects.
Wire
----
Fixed header
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Version |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Flags |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Version : 4 bytes : message version
Flags : 4 bytes : extra flags
Length : 4 bytes : total message length
Followed by 1 or more type-length-data sections
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Type | Len ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Data .... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
<type> : 1 byte
<length> : variable length, 7 bits, high bit is continuation marker
<data> : <length> bytes, see below for contents based on <type>
Types:
1: continuation section
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Offset ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| .... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Size ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| .... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Rest of the commands can be found in the shared memory region at
@offset and @size. A shared memory region is negotiated when the client
connects to the server.
<offset> : 8 bytes : offset
<size> : 8 bytes : size
2: header
Header for payload
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| flags |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| seq |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| PTS ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| .... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| DTS-offset ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| .... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
<flags> : 4 bytes : buffer flags
<seq> : 4 bytes : sequence number
<pts> : 8 bytes : presentation time
<dts-offset> : 8 bytes : dts-offset
3: fd-payload section
Used to send a block of data between client and server. The type of fd and
the possible operations on it are negotiated when the client connects.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| id |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| offset ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| .... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| size ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| .... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| fd-index |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
<id> : 4 bytes : id of the fd-payload
<offset> : 8 bytes : offset
<size> : 8 bytes : size
<fd-index> : 4 bytes : index of fd
4: release fd-payload
Release a fd-payload with <id>
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| id |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
<id> : 4 bytes : the id number of the released fd-payload
5: format change
Perform an in-band format change. The following data blocks will be in this
new format.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| id | format ..... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| ...... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
<format-id> : 1 byte : format id
<format> : 0-terminated : contains serialized format
6: property changes
Notify a property change.
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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| key .... .. |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| ...... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| value .... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| ...... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
<key> : 0-terminated : key
<value> : 0-terminated : value
... : more key/values to fill length, 0 key or
message length is end
7: refresh request
Request a new refresh point
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| last-id |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| request-type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| PTS ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| .... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
<last-id> : the last seen id
<request-type> : the type of request
0 = keyframe
1 = keyframe+full headers
<PTS> : the timestamp when the refresh should be,
0 for as soon as possible