the user datagram protocol (udp) is a core member of the internet protocol suite, the set of network protocols used for the internet. with udp, computer applications can send messages, known as "datagrams", to other hosts on an internet protocol (ip) network without requiring other communications to set up special transmission channels or data paths. udp is sometimes called the universal datagram protocol. the protocol was designed by david p. reed in 1980 and formally defined in .