WS-Discovery in briefΒΆ

WS-Discovery is a standard widely used by network cameras and other connected devices. It is based on SOAP over UDP, both unicast & multicast.

The WS-Discovery specification defines the following message semantics for managing and discovering availability of networked services (see WS-Discovery terms for explanation of terms used).

Hello
A service must send a one-way multicast Hello message when it joins a network, or its metadata changes.
Probe
To discover services, optionally limited to a particular service type or scope, a client sends a Probe message. Probe can be unicast or multicast.
Probe match
When a service receives a matching Probe, it must respond with a Probe Match message.
Resolve
A client may send a one-way multicast Resolve message to locate service address(es).
Resolve match
When a service matches a Resolve message, it must respond with a unicast Resolve Match message.
Bye
A service should send a one-way multicast Bye message when preparing to leave a network.

For explanations of WS-Discovery terms, see WS-Discovery terms.