.. _data-rd-chan: Read Channel ============= - **Data alignment** : 8 bits - **Channel type** : Stream - **Direction** : Read The *read* channel provides high bandwidth communication from the controller to the host computer. Data from the read stream of all devices that support it is aggregated and multiplexed by the controller and sent to the host through this channel in the form of :ref:`frame`. Data should be pushed to this channel by the controller as quickly as possible. It is the responsibility of the host computer to read data from the stream quickly enough to keep up with data production by the controller. Therefore, it is highly recommended that an ONI system implements some kind of internal buffering to ameliorate the effects of uneven read times caused by computer operating systems or other software limitations. .. _read-word-alignment: Read Word Alignment --------------------- Hardware implementations of controllers might require a :ref:`word size` greater than 8 bits. In that case, the controller MUST increase the ``rd_samp_size`` provided each devices' :ref:`dev-desc` within the :ref:`dev-table` so they fit into the required word alignment. Extra bytes after the size defined on the :term:`Device Datasheet`'s :ref:`dev-datasheet-read-format` will be padded with 0xFF.