The CommunicationFlowConfigurationType describes the communication-model-specific configuration to be used for an information flow. An information flow consists of the transmission of output data from a ConnectionEndpoint to input data of a ConnectionEndpoint. The CommunicationFlowConfiguration allows a standard Client to adapt communication-model-specific parameters (e.g., destination address or update interval) without having to understand the internals of the CommunicationModelConfiguration. The ConnectionManager reflects the changes of a Client in the related elements in CommunicationModelConfiguration.

CommunicationFlowConfigurations are referenced by ConnectionEndpointConfigurations using the ToOutboundFlow or ToInboundFlow References. Absence or presence of these References reflects the type of Connection in which the particular ConnectionEndpoint(s) are participating, such as bidirectional, unidirectional, unidirectional with heartbeat, autonomous publisher, or autonomous subscriber. For details about possible Connection types, see 5.5.1. Examples of the configuration can be seen in Annex E.

Multiple ConnectionEndpointConfigurations may reference the same CommunicationFlowConfiguration to share the set of configuration items (e.g., address, QoS, interval, or timeout).

The CommunicationFlowConfigurationType is illustrated in Figure 43.

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Figure 43 – CommunicationFlowConfigurationType illustration