liblsl documentation

liblsl is the C/C++ library at the core of the Lab Streaming Layer (LSL). Every LSL application and language binding uses it to publish streams (outlets), find them on the network (resolvers) and receive them (inlets) with synchronized time stamps.

This site documents liblsl itself: how to get, build and link it, how it works on the network, and its C/C++ API. For LSL in general (what it is, supported devices, apps, other languages and recording) see the LSL documentation.

Using liblsl

• Getting liblsl
• Using liblsl in your project
  • CMake: an installed liblsl
  • CMake: build liblsl with your project (FetchContent)
  • Shipping your application
  • pkg-config
  • Other build systems and plain compilers
  • Xcode, iOS and iPadOS
  • Examples
• Building liblsl
  • Requirements
  • Quick start
  • Build options
  • Platform notes
  • Running the tests
• Configuration (lsl_api.cfg)
  • Where liblsl looks for the configuration
  • File syntax
  • Settings
  • Recipes
• Debugging connections
  • Check the basics
  • Watch the network traffic with tcpdump
  • Talk to an outlet by hand

How liblsl works

• How liblsl works: overview
  • The pieces
  • What runs where
  • Lifetime of a connection
  • Configuration
  • Where to look in the code
• Stream discovery
  • What an outlet listens on
  • Defaults and configuration keys
  • Resolve scopes and address lists
  • The query and the reply
  • How a resolve runs
  • ResolveOverTCP
  • IPv4 and IPv6
  • What this means for firewalls
• Data transport (the streamfeed handshake)
  • Overview
  • Protocol versions
  • Protocol 1.10 request
  • Protocol 1.10 response
  • Negotiating the data protocol
  • Protocol 1.00 request
  • Test-pattern samples
  • Sample format for data protocol 1.10
  • Buffering and chunking
  • Synchronous (zero-copy) outlets
  • The other commands
  • Errors and status codes
• Time synchronization
  • The local clock
  • Who does what
  • The probe exchange
  • Choosing the estimate
  • Accuracy of the offset
  • From offsets to synchronized timestamps
  • time_correction()
  • Post-processing
  • Configuration
  • Practical limits
• Connection recovery and failure modes
  • Part 1: how inlet recovery works
  • Part 2: known failure modes

API reference

• Enumerations / Flags
• LSL freestanding functions
• Stream Inlets
• Stream Outlets
• Stream Info

Maintainers

• Maintaining package ports

Indices and tables

• Index

• Search Page