Glossary
A
Agora Analytics
Agora Analytics is a site for developers to track and analyze the usage and quality of calls.
Agora Cloud Backup
Agora Cloud Backup is a backup cloud storage service used in Cloud Recording. If the recording service cannot upload the recorded files to the specified third-party cloud storage, then the service automatically and temporarily stores them in the backup cloud.
Agora Console
Agora Console is a site for developers to manage Agora projects and services.
Agora RTC SDK
Agora provides the Agora RTC (Real-time Communication) SDK for enabling real-time audio and video communications.
Agora RTM SDK
You can use the Agora RTM (Real-time Messaging) SDK to implement real-time messaging scenarios that require low latency and high concurrency for a global audience.
App ID
An App ID is a randomly generated string provided by Agora and is the unique identifier of an app.
App Certificate
An App Certificate is a randomly generated string provided by Agora for enabling token authentication. It is one of the required arguments for generating a token.
audience
The audience are users who do not have streaming permissions in the channel. The audience can only subscribe to the remote audio and video streams, but cannot publish the audio and video streams. For more information, see user role.
audience (becoming)
Becoming an audience describes a scenario within an interactive live streaming channel (the channel profile is Live-Broadcast) when a host switches the user role and becomes an audience.
audio mixing
Audio mixing means combining multiple audio streams into one.
audio profile
An audio profile includes the sample rate, encoding scheme, number of channels, and bitrate for encoded audio data.
audio route
The audio route is the pathway audio data takes through audio hardware components during playback.
C
callee
A callee is an RTM user who receives a call invitation.
caller
A caller is an RTM user who sends a call invitation.
call invitation
Call invitation is a communication protocol based on the peer-to-peer messaging functionality of the Agora RTM SDK. Call invitation supports starting, ending, accepting, and refusing calls. For more information, see Call Invitation.
channel
A channel is created by a developer calling the methods provided by Agora for transmitting real-time data.
channel attribute
Channel attributes are tags added to RTM channels, including the property name, property value, the ID of the last RTM user who updated the attribute, and the time of the last update.
channel message
A channel message is a message that an RTM user sends to all RTM users in a channel.
channel profile
The channel profile is a configuration that Agora uses to apply optimized algorithms for different real-time scenarios.
Cloud Proxy
Cloud Proxy is a proxy service that enables users to connect to Agora services through a firewall by using fixed IP addresses.
Cloud Recording
Cloud Recording is a component provided by Agora for recording and saving voice and video calls and interactive streaming on a third-party cloud storage through RESTful APIs.
co-hosting
Co-hosting describes a scenario with more than one host.
composite recording mode
Composite recording mode generates a single mixed audio and video file for all UIDs in a channel.
custom rendering
Custom rendering is the process where developers collect raw data from the SDK and process it according to specific needs.
custom source
Custom source is the process where an app captures raw data by itself.
D
delay
In real-time audio and video communication, delay refers to the time elapsed from when the data is sent to when it is received.
dual-stream mode
In the dual-stream mode, the SDK transmits a high-quality and a low-quality video stream from the sender.
F
freeze
Freeze refers to choppy audio or video playback caused by a poor network connection or limited device performance during real-time audio and video communication.
H
high-quality video stream
In dual-stream mode, the SDK transmits two video streams of differing quality at the same time. See dual-stream mode for details.
host
The host refers to a user who has streaming permissions in the channel.
host (becoming)
Becoming a host describes a scenario within an interactive live streaming channel (the channel profile is Live-Broadcast) when an audience switches the user role and becomes a host.
I
individual recording mode
Individual recording mode records audio and video of each UID as separate files.
Inject Online Media Stream
"Inject Online Media Stream" refers to injecting an online media stream in an interactive live streaming channel to share the stream with all users in the channel. The Agora RTC SDK provides a method for developers to inject an online mixed audio and video stream or an audio only stream to a channel. For details, see Inject Online Media Stream.
J
jitter
In real-time audio and video communication, jitter is the variation in the delay of data packets transmitted continuously on the network.
L
last mile
The last mile refers to the network between the Agora edge server and the end user's device.
loopback test
A loopback test sends a signal from a communication device and is then returned (looped back) to it. It is often used to determine whether a device is working properly. For more information, see Test a media device.
low-quality video stream
In dual-stream mode, the SDK transmits two video streams of differing quality at the same time. The low-quality video stream has a lower resolution and bitrate than the high-quality video stream. See dual-stream mode for details.
M
MediaPlayer Kit
The MediaPlayer Kit is a plug-in of the Agora RTC SDK to play local and online media resources and publish the media streams to other users in an interactive live streaming channel.
media stream
A media stream is an object that contains media data.
Media Push
Media Push means that the Agora server converts the stream in the RTC channel from the Agora protocol to the standard protocol, and pushes the stream to a third-party CDN.
mirror
Mirroring is an effect that a video image renders.
O
offline
Offline describes the status of an RTM user who has successfully logged out of the Agora RTM system.
offline message
An offline message is a peer-to-peer message that an online RTM user sends to an offline RTM user.
online
Online describes the status of a user who has successfully logged in to the Agora RTM system or stays disconnected from the Agora RTM system for more than 30 seconds.
On-premise Recording
On-premise Recording is a component provided by Agora for recording and saving voice and video calls and interactive streaming on a Linux server.
P
packet loss
Packet loss refers to the data packets transmitted on the network failing to arrive at their intended destination.
peer-to-peer message
A peer-to-peer message is a message that an online RTM user sends to an online or offline user.
publish
Publishing is the action of sending the user's audio and/or video data to the channel.
R
raw data
Raw data, including raw audio data and raw video data, is the unprocessed data which developers can collect during real-time communication.
render the first video frame
Rendering the first video frame is the action of rendering the first video frame on the local device.
S
SD-RTN™
SD-RTN™, or Software Defined Real-time Network, is a real-time transmission network built by Agora and is the only network infrastructure specifically designed for real-time communications in the world.
Slice
Slicing means cutting recorded audio or video into separate files according to specific rules. During an Agora Cloud Recording, the recording service cuts the streams and generates multiple slice files (TS or WebM files) and M3U8 files that serve as a playlist of the slice files. See Manage Recorded Files.
sound localization
Sound localization means determining the distance to and direction of a sound through hearing the difference of volume, time, and timbre between users' ears.
stream fallback
In scenarios where multiple users engage in real-time audio and video communication, user experience can be impaired if the network condition is too poor to guarantee both audio and video at the same time.
stream mixing
Stream mixing means combining multiple media streams into one. It may include the mixing of video streams (video mixing) and audio streams (audio mixing).
subscribe
In the Agora RTC SDK, subscribing is the action of receiving media streams published to the channel. In the Agora RTM SDK, subscribing is the action of monitoring the online status of one or multiple RTM users.
T
TCP
TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is a connection-oriented and reliable transport layer communication protocol.
token
A token, also known as a dynamic key, is used for authentication when an app user joins an RTC channel or logs onto the Agora RTM system.
transcoding
Transcoding is the process of decoding audio and video data and then re-encoding them into the target conversion output or format.
U
UDP
UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is a connectionless-oriented and unreliable transport layer communication protocol.
user attribute
User attributes are tags added to RTM users, including property names and property values.
user ID (uid)
In the Agora RTC SDK, a user ID identifies a user in the RTC channel. In the Agora RTM SDK, a user ID identifiers a user in the RTM system. The user ID in the Agora RTC SDK and the Agora RTM SDK are independent from each other. Each user should have a unique user ID in the same RTC channel or RTM system.
user role
The type of user role determines whether the user in the channel has streaming permissions.
V
video layout
Video layout arranges the display of users when multiple users are mixed into one stream, such as in Media Push or a composite recording.
video mixing
Video mixing means combining multiple video streams into one.
video profile
The video profile refers to a set of video attributes, such as resolution, bitrate, and frame rate.
W
web page recording mode
In web page recording mode, the content and audio of a specified web page are recorded in a single file.
