Editing Universal Plug and Play (section)

==Overview==
The UPnP architecture allows device-to-device networking of [[consumer electronics]], [[Mobile phone|mobile]] devices, [[personal computer]]s, and networked [[home appliance]]s. It is a distributed, [[open architecture]] protocol based on established standards such as the [[Internet Protocol Suite]] (TCP/IP), [[HTTP]], [[XML]], and [[SOAP (protocol)|SOAP]]. UPnP ''control points'' (CPs) are devices which use UPnP protocols to control UPnP ''controlled devices'' (CDs).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/embedded/ms898948(v=msdn.10)|title=Using the UPnP Control Point API|date=14 September 2012 |publisher=[[Microsoft Developer Network]]|access-date=11 September 2014}}</ref>

The UPnP architecture supports zero-configuration networking.  A UPnP-compatible device from any vendor can dynamically join a network, obtain an IP address, announce its name, advertise or convey its capabilities upon request, and learn about the presence and capabilities of other devices. [[Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol]] (DHCP) and [[Domain Name System]] (DNS) servers are optional and are only used if they are available on the network. Devices can disconnect from the network automatically without leaving [[state (computer science)|state]] information.

UPnP was published as a 73-part [[international standard]] ISO/IEC&nbsp;29341 in December 2008.<ref name="uda-v1.0">{{Cite web |date=2008-10-15 |title=UPnP Device Architecture v1.0 |url=http://upnp.org/specs/arch/UPnP-arch-DeviceArchitecture-v1.0.pdf |website=upnp.org |publisher=UPnP Forum}}</ref><ref name="uda-v1.1">{{Cite web |date=2008-10-15 |title=UPnP Device Architecture v1.1 |url=https://openconnectivity.org/upnp-specs/UPnP-arch-DeviceArchitecture-v1.1.pdf |website=openconnectivity.org |publisher=UPnP Forum}}</ref><ref name="uda-v2.0">{{Cite web |date=2020-04-17 |title=UPnP Device Architecture v2.0 |url=https://openconnectivity.org/upnp-specs/UPnP-arch-DeviceArchitecture-v2.0-20200417.pdf |website=openconnectivity.org |publisher=[[Open Connectivity Foundation|OCF]]}}</ref><ref name="igd-v1.0-v2.0">{{Cite web |date=2010-12-10 |title=UPnP InternetGatewayDevice v1.0/v2.0 |url=https://openconnectivity.org/developer/specifications/upnp-resources/upnp/internet-gateway-device-igd-v-2-0/ |website=openconnectivity.org |publisher=UPnP Forum}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iso.org/news/2008/12/Ref1185.html|title=ISO/IEC standard on UPnP device architecture makes networking simple and easy|date=10 December 2008|publisher=[[International Organization for Standardization]]|access-date=11 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.upnp.org/news/documents/UPnPForum_02052009.pdf | title = UPnP Specifications Named International Standard for Device Interoperability for IP-based Network Devices | publisher = [[UPnP Forum]] | date = 5 February 2009 | access-date = 11 September 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401035712/http://upnp.org/news/documents/UPnPForum_02052009.pdf | archive-date=2014-04-01 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Other UPnP features include:
; Media and device independence: UPnP technology can run on many media that support IP, including [[Ethernet]], [[FireWire]], IR ([[IrDA]]), home wiring ([[G.hn]]) and RF ([[Bluetooth]], [[Wi-Fi]]). No special [[device driver]] support is necessary; common network protocols are used instead.
; [[User interface]] (UI) control: ''Optionally'', the UPnP architecture enables devices to present a user interface through a [[web browser]] (see [[#Presentation|Presentation]] below).
; [[Operating system]] and [[programming language]] independence: Any operating system and any programming language can be used to build UPnP products. UPnP stacks are available for most platforms and operating systems in both closed- and open-source forms.
; Programmatic control: UPnP architecture also enables conventional application programmatic control.{{Clarify|date=March 2011|reason=needs a definition for "programmatic control"}}
; Extensibility: Each UPnP product can have device-specific services layered on top of the basic architecture. In addition to combining services defined by UPnP Forum in various ways, vendors can define their own device and service types, and can extend standard devices and services with vendor-defined actions, state variables, data structure elements, and variable values.