(PHP 4 >= 4.1.0, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
socket_create_pair — Creates a pair of indistinguishable sockets and stores them in an array
 socket_create_pair() creates two connected and
 indistinguishable sockets, and stores them in pair.
 This function is commonly used in IPC (InterProcess Communication).
 
domain
 The domain parameter specifies the protocol
 family to be used by the socket. See socket_create() 
 for the full list.
 
type
 The type parameter selects the type of communication
 to be used by the socket. See socket_create()  for the 
 full list.
 
protocol
 The protocol parameter sets the specific
 protocol within the specified domain to be used
 when communicating on the returned socket. The proper value can be retrieved by
 name by using getprotobyname() . If
 the desired protocol is TCP, or UDP the corresponding constants
 SOL_TCP , and SOL_UDP 
 can also be used.
 
See socket_create() for the full list of supported protocols.
pairReference to an array in which the two Socket instances will be inserted.
| Version | Description | 
|---|---|
| 8.0.0 | pairis a reference to an array of Socket  instances now;
 previously, it was a reference to an array of resource s. | 
Example #1 socket_create_pair() example
<?php
$sockets = array();
/* On Windows we need to use AF_INET */
$domain = (strtoupper(substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3)) == 'WIN' ? AF_INET : AF_UNIX);
/* Setup socket pair */
if (socket_create_pair($domain, SOCK_STREAM, 0, $sockets) === false) {
 echo "socket_create_pair failed. Reason: ".socket_strerror(socket_last_error());
}
/* Send and Receive Data */
if (socket_write($sockets[0], "ABCdef123\n", strlen("ABCdef123\n")) === false) {
 echo "socket_write() failed. Reason: ".socket_strerror(socket_last_error($sockets[0]));
}
if (($data = socket_read($sockets[1], strlen("ABCdef123\n"), PHP_BINARY_READ)) === false) {
 echo "socket_read() failed. Reason: ".socket_strerror(socket_last_error($sockets[1]));
}
var_dump($data);
/* Close sockets */
socket_close($sockets[0]);
socket_close($sockets[1]);
?>
Example #2 socket_create_pair() IPC example
<?php
$ary = array();
$strone = 'Message From Parent.';
$strtwo = 'Message From Child.';
if (socket_create_pair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0, $ary) === false) {
 echo "socket_create_pair() failed. Reason: ".socket_strerror(socket_last_error());
}
$pid = pcntl_fork();
if ($pid == -1) {
 echo 'Could not fork Process.';
} elseif ($pid) {
 /*parent*/
 socket_close($ary[0]);
 if (socket_write($ary[1], $strone, strlen($strone)) === false) {
 echo "socket_write() failed. Reason: ".socket_strerror(socket_last_error($ary[1]));
 }
 if (socket_read($ary[1], strlen($strtwo), PHP_BINARY_READ) == $strtwo) {
 echo "Received $strtwo\n";
 }
 socket_close($ary[1]);
} else {
 /*child*/
 socket_close($ary[1]);
 if (socket_write($ary[0], $strtwo, strlen($strtwo)) === false) {
 echo "socket_write() failed. Reason: ".socket_strerror(socket_last_error($ary[0]));
 }
 if (socket_read($ary[0], strlen($strone), PHP_BINARY_READ) == $strone) {
 echo "Received $strone\n";
 }
 socket_close($ary[0]);
}
?>
The underlying sockpair() function does only support AF_UNIX at least on BSD and Linux.