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ION
Overview

ION

Minimal framed binary protocol for streaming raw PCM audio with JSON control events over a reliable byte stream.

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Go Protocol Audio PCM Streaming

Overview

ION is a transport-agnostic protocol designed for low-latency audio streaming. It combines binary framing for performance with JSON control events for interoperability.

ION defines:

  • Frame structure and parsing rules
  • Control event semantics
  • Raw PCM audio payload behavior

ION does not define:

  • Codecs or compression
  • Security or authentication
  • A specific network transport

Core Concepts

  • Binary framing
  • JSON control events
  • Raw PCM payloads
  • Ordered full-duplex stream
  • Low-latency operation

Typical Session

client -> describe
server -> ready
client -> start
server -> audio frames
client -> stop

Profiles

ION includes profile-level behavior for common voice flows:

  • ASR profile
  • TTS profile
  • Satellite profile

Reference Implementation

The ion repository includes:

  • Go framing implementation
  • TCP and stdio transport support
  • Demo server and clients
  • CLI, web, and satellite examples