What protocol is stacked on top of UDP to support real-time applications?

The Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) is specifically designed to facilitate real-time applications, such as audio and video streaming, over IP networks. It operates on top of the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), leveraging its advantages for real-time data transmission. UDP is chosen because it allows for low-latency communication, which is essential for effective real-time interactions; RTP builds on this by providing additional features like packet sequence numbering, timestamping, and payload type identification.

These features enable RTP to manage the complexities of delivering data in a timely and synchronized manner, which is crucial for applications like video conferencing and live broadcasts. Using RTP with UDP ensures that the data can be sent quickly, which is integral for maintaining the quality of real-time communications.