MIDI-CI defines an architecture that allows Devices with bidirectional communication to agree to use extended MIDI capabilities beyond those defined in MIDI 1.0, while carefully protecting backward compatibility.
MIDI-CI: Solution for Expanding MIDI while Protecting Backwards Compatibility:
MIDI Capability Inquiry (MIDI-CI) is a mechanism which allows expansion of MIDI with new features while protecting backward compatibility with MIDI Devices that do not understand these newly defined features.
MIDI-CI separates older MIDI products from newer products with new capabilities and provides a mechanism for two MIDI Devices to understand what new capabilities are supported. MIDI-CI assumes and requires bidirectional communication.
Once a MIDI-CI connection is established between Devices, query and response messages define what capabilities each Device has. MIDI-CI then negotiates or auto-configures to use those features that are common between the Devices.
MIDI-CI includes queries for three major areas of expanded MIDI functionality: