Implementing async stream for producer/consumer

Question

There is a lib that outputs its results into a given Stream object. I would like to begin consuming the results before the lib is done. The Stream should be blocking to simplify usage and avoid excessive memory consumption if producer runs ahead too far; thread safe to allow independent existence of producer and consumer.

Once the lib finishes, the producer thread should close the stream, hence notifying consumer that there is no more data.

I was thinking of using NetworkStream or PipeStream (anonymous), but both are probably slow as they send data through kernel.

Any recomendations?

var stream = new AsyncBlockingBufferedStream();

void ProduceData()
{
  // In producer thread
  externalLib.GenerateData(stream);
  stream.Close();
}

void ConsumeData()
{
  // In consumer thread
  int read;
  while ((read = stream.Read(...)) != 0)
  { ... }
}

Answer 1

I used the Yuric BlockingStream for a bit until performance dropped dramatically after running for 20 minutes to an hour in our code. I believe the performance drop was due to the garbage collector and the plethora of buffers created in that method when using it to stream a lot of data quickly (I didn't have time to prove it). I ended up creating a ring buffer version which doesn't suffer from performance degradation when used with our code.

/// <summary>
/// A ring-buffer stream that you can read from and write to from
/// different threads.
/// </summary>
public class RingBufferedStream : Stream
{
    private readonly byte[] store;

    private readonly ManualResetEventAsync writeAvailable
        = new ManualResetEventAsync(false);

    private readonly ManualResetEventAsync readAvailable
        = new ManualResetEventAsync(false);

    private readonly CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource
        = new CancellationTokenSource();

    private int readPos;

    private int readAvailableByteCount;

    private int writePos;

    private int writeAvailableByteCount;

    private bool disposed;

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="RingBufferedStream"/>
    /// class.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="bufferSize">
    /// The maximum number of bytes to buffer.
    /// </param>
    public RingBufferedStream(int bufferSize)
    {
        this.store = new byte[bufferSize];
        this.writeAvailableByteCount = bufferSize;
        this.readAvailableByteCount = 0;
    }

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override bool CanRead => true;

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override bool CanSeek => false;

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override bool CanWrite => true;

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override long Length
    {
        get
        {
            throw new NotSupportedException(
                "Cannot get length on RingBufferedStream");
        }
    }

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override int ReadTimeout { get; set; } = Timeout.Infinite;

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override int WriteTimeout { get; set; } = Timeout.Infinite;

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override long Position
    {
        get
        {
            throw new NotSupportedException(
                "Cannot set position on RingBufferedStream");
        }

        set
        {
            throw new NotSupportedException(
                "Cannot set position on RingBufferedStream");
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the number of bytes currently buffered.
    /// </summary>
    public int BufferedByteCount => this.readAvailableByteCount;

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override void Flush()
    {
        // nothing to do
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Set the length of the current stream. Always throws <see
    /// cref="NotSupportedException"/>.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">
    /// The desired length of the current stream in bytes.
    /// </param>
    public override void SetLength(long value)
    {
        throw new NotSupportedException(
            "Cannot set length on RingBufferedStream");
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Sets the position in the current stream. Always throws <see
    /// cref="NotSupportedException"/>.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="offset">
    /// The byte offset to the <paramref name="origin"/> parameter.
    /// </param>
    /// <param name="origin">
    /// A value of type <see cref="SeekOrigin"/> indicating the reference
    /// point used to obtain the new position.
    /// </param>
    /// <returns>
    /// The new position within the current stream.
    /// </returns>
    public override long Seek(long offset, SeekOrigin origin)
    {
        throw new NotSupportedException("Cannot seek on RingBufferedStream");
    }

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override void Write(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
        if (this.disposed)
        {
            throw new ObjectDisposedException("RingBufferedStream");
        }

        Monitor.Enter(this.store);
        bool haveLock = true;
        try
        {
            while (count > 0)
            {
                if (this.writeAvailableByteCount == 0)
                {
                    this.writeAvailable.Reset();
                    Monitor.Exit(this.store);
                    haveLock = false;
                    bool canceled;
                    if (!this.writeAvailable.Wait(
                        this.WriteTimeout,
                        this.cancellationTokenSource.Token,
                        out canceled) || canceled)
                    {
                        break;
                    }

                    Monitor.Enter(this.store);
                    haveLock = true;
                }
                else
                {
                    var toWrite = this.store.Length - this.writePos;
                    if (toWrite > this.writeAvailableByteCount)
                    {
                        toWrite = this.writeAvailableByteCount;
                    }

                    if (toWrite > count)
                    {
                        toWrite = count;
                    }

                    Array.Copy(
                        buffer,
                        offset,
                        this.store,
                        this.writePos,
                        toWrite);
                    offset += toWrite;
                    count -= toWrite;
                    this.writeAvailableByteCount -= toWrite;
                    this.readAvailableByteCount += toWrite;
                    this.writePos += toWrite;
                    if (this.writePos == this.store.Length)
                    {
                        this.writePos = 0;
                    }

                    this.readAvailable.Set();
                }
            }
        }
        finally
        {
            if (haveLock)
            {
                Monitor.Exit(this.store);
            }
        }
    }

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override void WriteByte(byte value)
    {
        if (this.disposed)
        {
            throw new ObjectDisposedException("RingBufferedStream");
        }

        Monitor.Enter(this.store);
        bool haveLock = true;
        try
        {
            while (true)
            {
                if (this.writeAvailableByteCount == 0)
                {
                    this.writeAvailable.Reset();
                    Monitor.Exit(this.store);
                    haveLock = false;
                    bool canceled;
                    if (!this.writeAvailable.Wait(
                        this.WriteTimeout,
                        this.cancellationTokenSource.Token,
                        out canceled) || canceled)
                    {
                        break;
                    }

                    Monitor.Enter(this.store);
                    haveLock = true;
                }
                else
                {
                    this.store[this.writePos] = value;
                    --this.writeAvailableByteCount;
                    ++this.readAvailableByteCount;
                    ++this.writePos;
                    if (this.writePos == this.store.Length)
                    {
                        this.writePos = 0;
                    }

                    this.readAvailable.Set();
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
        finally
        {
            if (haveLock)
            {
                Monitor.Exit(this.store);
            }
        }
    }

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override int Read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
        if (this.disposed)
        {
            throw new ObjectDisposedException("RingBufferedStream");
        }

        Monitor.Enter(this.store);
        int ret = 0;
        bool haveLock = true;
        try
        {
            while (count > 0)
            {
                if (this.readAvailableByteCount == 0)
                {
                    this.readAvailable.Reset();
                    Monitor.Exit(this.store);
                    haveLock = false;
                    bool canceled;
                    if (!this.readAvailable.Wait(
                        this.ReadTimeout,
                        this.cancellationTokenSource.Token,
                        out canceled) || canceled)
                    {
                        break;
                    }

                    Monitor.Enter(this.store);
                    haveLock = true;
                }
                else
                {
                    var toRead = this.store.Length - this.readPos;
                    if (toRead > this.readAvailableByteCount)
                    {
                        toRead = this.readAvailableByteCount;
                    }

                    if (toRead > count)
                    {
                        toRead = count;
                    }

                    Array.Copy(
                        this.store,
                        this.readPos,
                        buffer,
                        offset,
                        toRead);
                    offset += toRead;
                    count -= toRead;
                    this.readAvailableByteCount -= toRead;
                    this.writeAvailableByteCount += toRead;
                    ret += toRead;
                    this.readPos += toRead;
                    if (this.readPos == this.store.Length)
                    {
                        this.readPos = 0;
                    }

                    this.writeAvailable.Set();
                }
            }
        }
        finally
        {
            if (haveLock)
            {
                Monitor.Exit(this.store);
            }
        }

        return ret;
    }

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    public override int ReadByte()
    {
        if (this.disposed)
        {
            throw new ObjectDisposedException("RingBufferedStream");
        }

        Monitor.Enter(this.store);
        int ret = -1;
        bool haveLock = true;
        try
        {
            while (true)
            {
                if (this.readAvailableByteCount == 0)
                {
                    this.readAvailable.Reset();
                    Monitor.Exit(this.store);
                    haveLock = false;
                    bool canceled;
                    if (!this.readAvailable.Wait(
                        this.ReadTimeout,
                        this.cancellationTokenSource.Token,
                        out canceled) || canceled)
                    {
                        break;
                    }

                    Monitor.Enter(this.store);
                    haveLock = true;
                }
                else
                {
                    ret = this.store[this.readPos];
                    ++this.writeAvailableByteCount;
                    --this.readAvailableByteCount;
                    ++this.readPos;
                    if (this.readPos == this.store.Length)
                    {
                        this.readPos = 0;
                    }

                    this.writeAvailable.Set();
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
        finally
        {
            if (haveLock)
            {
                Monitor.Exit(this.store);
            }
        }

        return ret;
    }

    /// <inheritdoc/>
    protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        if (disposing)
        {
            this.disposed = true;
            this.cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
        }

        base.Dispose(disposing);
    }
}

That class uses our ManualResetEventAsync to help with clean closing.

/// <summary>
///     Asynchronous version of <see cref="ManualResetEvent" />
/// </summary>
public sealed class ManualResetEventAsync
{
    /// <summary>
    /// The task completion source.
    /// </summary>
    private volatile TaskCompletionSource<bool> taskCompletionSource =
        new TaskCompletionSource<bool>();

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/>
    /// class with a <see cref="bool"/> value indicating whether to set the
    /// initial state to signaled.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="initialState">
    /// True to set the initial state to signaled; false to set the initial
    /// state to non-signaled.
    /// </param>
    public ManualResetEventAsync(bool initialState)
    {
        if (initialState)
        {
            this.Set();
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Return a task that can be consumed by <see cref="Task.Wait()"/>
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>
    /// The asynchronous waiter.
    /// </returns>
    public Task GetWaitTask()
    {
        return this.taskCompletionSource.Task;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Mark the event as signaled.
    /// </summary>
    public void Set()
    {
        var tcs = this.taskCompletionSource;
        Task.Factory.StartNew(
            s => ((TaskCompletionSource<bool>)s).TrySetResult(true),
            tcs,
            CancellationToken.None,
            TaskCreationOptions.PreferFairness,
            TaskScheduler.Default);
        tcs.Task.Wait();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Mark the event as not signaled.
    /// </summary>
    public void Reset()
    {
        while (true)
        {
            var tcs = this.taskCompletionSource;
            if (!tcs.Task.IsCompleted
#pragma warning disable 420
                || Interlocked.CompareExchange(
                    ref this.taskCompletionSource,
                    new TaskCompletionSource<bool>(),
                    tcs) == tcs)
#pragma warning restore 420
            {
                return;
            }
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Waits for the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> to be signaled.
    /// </summary>
    /// <exception cref="T:System.AggregateException">
    /// The <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> waiting <see cref="Task"/>
    /// was canceled -or- an exception was thrown during the execution
    /// of the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> waiting <see cref="Task"/>.
    /// </exception>
    public void Wait()
    {
        this.GetWaitTask().Wait();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Waits for the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> to be signaled.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="cancellationToken">
    /// A <see cref="CancellationToken"/> to observe while waiting for
    /// the task to complete.
    /// </param>
    /// <exception cref="T:System.OperationCanceledException">
    /// The <paramref name="cancellationToken"/> was canceled.
    /// </exception>
    /// <exception cref="T:System.AggregateException">
    /// The <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> waiting <see cref="Task"/> was
    /// canceled -or- an exception was thrown during the execution of the
    /// <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> waiting <see cref="Task"/>.
    /// </exception>
    public void Wait(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        this.GetWaitTask().Wait(cancellationToken);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Waits for the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> to be signaled.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="cancellationToken">
    /// A <see cref="CancellationToken"/> to observe while waiting for
    /// the task to complete.
    /// </param>
    /// <param name="canceled">
    /// Set to true if the wait was canceled via the <paramref
    /// name="cancellationToken"/>.
    /// </param>
    public void Wait(CancellationToken cancellationToken, out bool canceled)
    {
        try
        {
            this.GetWaitTask().Wait(cancellationToken);
            canceled = false;
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
            when (ex is OperationCanceledException
                || (ex is AggregateException
                    && ex.InnerOf<OperationCanceledException>() != null))
        {
            canceled = true;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Waits for the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> to be signaled.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="timeout">
    /// A <see cref="System.TimeSpan"/> that represents the number of
    /// milliseconds to wait, or a <see cref="System.TimeSpan"/> that
    /// represents -1 milliseconds to wait indefinitely.
    /// </param>
    /// <returns>
    /// true if the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> was signaled within
    /// the allotted time; otherwise, false.
    /// </returns>
    /// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException">
    /// <paramref name="timeout"/> is a negative number other than -1
    /// milliseconds, which represents an infinite time-out -or-
    /// timeout is greater than <see cref="int.MaxValue"/>.
    /// </exception>
    public bool Wait(TimeSpan timeout)
    {
        return this.GetWaitTask().Wait(timeout);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Waits for the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> to be signaled.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="millisecondsTimeout">
    /// The number of milliseconds to wait, or
    /// <see cref="System.Threading.Timeout.Infinite"/> (-1) to wait
    /// indefinitely.
    /// </param>
    /// <returns>
    /// true if the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> was signaled within
    /// the allotted time; otherwise, false.
    /// </returns>
    /// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException">
    /// <paramref name="millisecondsTimeout"/> is a negative number other
    /// than -1, which represents an infinite time-out.
    /// </exception>
    public bool Wait(int millisecondsTimeout)
    {
        return this.GetWaitTask().Wait(millisecondsTimeout);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Waits for the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> to be signaled.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="millisecondsTimeout">
    /// The number of milliseconds to wait, or
    /// <see cref="System.Threading.Timeout.Infinite"/> (-1) to wait
    /// indefinitely.
    /// </param>
    /// <param name="cancellationToken">
    /// A <see cref="CancellationToken"/> to observe while waiting for the
    /// <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> to be signaled.
    /// </param>
    /// <returns>
    /// true if the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> was signaled within
    /// the allotted time; otherwise, false.
    /// </returns>
    /// <exception cref="T:System.AggregateException">
    /// The <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> waiting <see cref="Task"/>
    /// was canceled -or- an exception was thrown during the execution of
    /// the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> waiting <see cref="Task"/>.
    /// </exception>
    /// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException">
    /// <paramref name="millisecondsTimeout"/> is a negative number other
    /// than -1, which represents an infinite time-out.
    /// </exception>
    /// <exception cref="T:System.OperationCanceledException">
    /// The <paramref name="cancellationToken"/> was canceled.
    /// </exception>
    public bool Wait(int millisecondsTimeout, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        return this.GetWaitTask().Wait(millisecondsTimeout, cancellationToken);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Waits for the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> to be signaled.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="millisecondsTimeout">
    /// The number of milliseconds to wait, or
    /// <see cref="System.Threading.Timeout.Infinite"/> (-1) to wait
    /// indefinitely.
    /// </param>
    /// <param name="cancellationToken">
    /// A <see cref="CancellationToken"/> to observe while waiting for the
    /// <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> to be signaled.
    /// </param>
    /// <param name="canceled">
    /// Set to true if the wait was canceled via the <paramref
    /// name="cancellationToken"/>.
    /// </param>
    /// <returns>
    /// true if the <see cref="ManualResetEventAsync"/> was signaled within
    /// the allotted time; otherwise, false.
    /// </returns>
    /// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException">
    /// <paramref name="millisecondsTimeout"/> is a negative number other
    /// than -1, which represents an infinite time-out.
    /// </exception>
    public bool Wait(
        int millisecondsTimeout,
        CancellationToken cancellationToken,
        out bool canceled)
    {
        bool ret = false;
        try
        {
            ret = this.GetWaitTask().Wait(millisecondsTimeout, cancellationToken);
            canceled = false;
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
            when (ex is OperationCanceledException
                || (ex is AggregateException
                    && ex.InnerOf<OperationCanceledException>() != null))
        {
            canceled = true;
        }

        return ret;
    }
}

And, ManualResetEventAsync uses the InnerOf<T> extension...

/// <summary>
///     Extension functions.
/// </summary>
public static class Extensions
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Finds the first exception of the requested type.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T">
    /// The type of exception to return
    /// </typeparam>
    /// <param name="ex">
    /// The exception to look in.
    /// </param>
    /// <returns>
    /// The exception or the first inner exception that matches the
    /// given type; null if not found.
    /// </returns>
    public static T InnerOf<T>(this Exception ex)
        where T : Exception
    {
        return (T)InnerOf(ex, typeof(T));
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Finds the first exception of the requested type.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="ex">
    /// The exception to look in.
    /// </param>
    /// <param name="t">
    /// The type of exception to return
    /// </param>
    /// <returns>
    /// The exception or the first inner exception that matches the
    /// given type; null if not found.
    /// </returns>
    public static Exception InnerOf(this Exception ex, Type t)
    {
        if (ex == null || t.IsInstanceOfType(ex))
        {
            return ex;
        }

        var ae = ex as AggregateException;
        if (ae != null)
        {
            foreach (var e in ae.InnerExceptions)
            {
                var ret = InnerOf(e, t);
                if (ret != null)
                {
                    return ret;
                }
            }
        }

        return InnerOf(ex.InnerException, t);
    }
}

Answer 2

Based on the previous answer by Chris Taylor, here's my own, revised, with much faster block based operations and corrected write completion notifications. It's marked as wiki now, so you can change it.

public class BlockingStream : Stream
{
    private readonly BlockingCollection<byte[]> _blocks;
    private byte[] _currentBlock;
    private int _currentBlockIndex;

    public BlockingStream(int streamWriteCountCache)
    {
        _blocks = new BlockingCollection<byte[]>(streamWriteCountCache);
    }

    public override bool CanTimeout { get { return false; } }
    public override bool CanRead { get { return true; } }
    public override bool CanSeek { get { return false; } }
    public override bool CanWrite { get { return true; } }
    public override long Length { get { throw new NotSupportedException(); } }
    public override void Flush() {}
    public long TotalBytesWritten { get; private set; }
    public int WriteCount { get; private set; }

    public override long Position
    {
        get { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
        set { throw new NotSupportedException(); }
    }

    public override long Seek(long offset, SeekOrigin origin)
    {
        throw new NotSupportedException();
    }

    public override void SetLength(long value)
    {
        throw new NotSupportedException();
    }

    public override int Read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
        ValidateBufferArgs(buffer, offset, count);

        int bytesRead = 0;
        while (true)
        {
            if (_currentBlock != null)
            {
                int copy = Math.Min(count - bytesRead, _currentBlock.Length - _currentBlockIndex);
                Array.Copy(_currentBlock, _currentBlockIndex, buffer, offset + bytesRead, copy);
                _currentBlockIndex += copy;
                bytesRead += copy;

                if (_currentBlock.Length <= _currentBlockIndex)
                {
                    _currentBlock = null;
                    _currentBlockIndex = 0;
                }

                if (bytesRead == count)
                    return bytesRead;
            }

            if (!_blocks.TryTake(out _currentBlock, Timeout.Infinite))
                return bytesRead;
        }
    }

    public override void Write(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
        ValidateBufferArgs(buffer, offset, count);

        var newBuf = new byte[count];
        Array.Copy(buffer, offset, newBuf, 0, count);
        _blocks.Add(newBuf);
        TotalBytesWritten += count;
        WriteCount++;
    }

    protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        base.Dispose(disposing);
        if (disposing)
        {
            _blocks.Dispose();
        }
    }

    public override void Close()
    {
        CompleteWriting();
        base.Close();
    }

    public void CompleteWriting()
    {
        _blocks.CompleteAdding();
    }

    private static void ValidateBufferArgs(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
        if (buffer == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("buffer");
        if (offset < 0)
            throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("offset");
        if (count < 0)
            throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("count");
        if (buffer.Length - offset < count)
            throw new ArgumentException("buffer.Length - offset < count");
    }
}

Answer 3

I will be up front here, this is a very minimalist implementation and I have not had the time to really test the performance characteristics of this. There is probably just enough to maybe do some performance testing of your own. The idea I got when looking at your problem was to create a custom Stream which uses a BlockingCollection as the storage medium.

Basically this will give you a stream that you can read/write from different threads and will throttle the producer if the consumer side gets behind. I reitterate, this is not a robust implementation, just a quick proof of concept, many more error checks need to be put in place, argument validations and a decent scheme for handling the Close of a stream. Currently if you close the stream while there is still data in the underlying BlockingCollection, you can no longer read the data. If I get sometime tomorrow I will flesh this out a little more, but maybe you can give some feedback first.

Update: Yurik has provided an implementation of this solution as a wiki, enhancements should be directed to that answer.

public class BlockingStream : Stream { private BlockingCollection _data;
private CancellationTokenSource _cts = new CancellationTokenSource(); private int _readTimeout = -1; private int _writeTimeout = -1;

    public BlockingStream(int maxBytes)
    {
      _data = new BlockingCollection<byte>(maxBytes);      
    }

    public override int ReadTimeout
    {
      get
      {
        return _readTimeout;
      }
      set
      {
        _readTimeout = value;
      }
    }

    public override int WriteTimeout
    {
      get
      {
        return _writeTimeout;
      }
      set
      {
        _writeTimeout = value;
      }
    }

    public override bool CanTimeout
    {
      get
      {
        return true;
      }
    }

    public override bool CanRead
    {
      get { return true; }
    }

    public override bool CanSeek
    {
      get { return false; }
    }

    public override bool CanWrite
    {
      get { return true; }
    }

    public override void Flush()
    {
      return;
    }

    public override long Length
    {
      get { throw new NotImplementedException(); }
    }

    public override long Position
    {
      get
      {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
      }
      set
      {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
      }
    }

    public override long Seek(long offset, SeekOrigin origin)
    {
      throw new NotImplementedException();
    }

    public override void SetLength(long value)
    {
      throw new NotImplementedException();
    }

    public override int ReadByte()
    {
      int returnValue = -1;
      try
      {
        byte b;
        if (_data.TryTake(out b, ReadTimeout, _cts.Token))
        {
          returnValue = (int)b;
        }
      }
      catch (OperationCanceledException)
      {
      }
      return returnValue;
    }

    public override int Read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
      int bytesRead = 0;
      byte b;
      try
      {
        while (bytesRead < count && _data.TryTake(out b, ReadTimeout, _cts.Token))
        {
          buffer[offset + bytesRead] = b;
          bytesRead++;
        }
      }
      catch (OperationCanceledException)
      {
        bytesRead = 0;
      }
      return bytesRead;
    }

    public override void WriteByte(byte value)
    {
      try
      {
        _data.TryAdd(value, WriteTimeout, _cts.Token);  
      }
      catch (OperationCanceledException)
      {
      }
    }

    public override void Write(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
      try
      {
        for (int i = offset; i < offset + count; ++i)
        {
          _data.TryAdd(buffer[i], WriteTimeout, _cts.Token);
        }
      }
      catch (OperationCanceledException)
      {
      }
    }

    public override void Close()
    {
      _cts.Cancel();
      base.Close();
    }

    protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
      base.Dispose(disposing);
      if (disposing)
      {
        _data.Dispose();
      }
    }
  }

When you construct the stream, you pass the maximum number of bytes the stream should buffer before blocking the writer. Here is a small test of the functionality, this is the only test that was done...

  class Program
  {
    static BlockingStream _dataStream = new BlockingStream(10);
    static Random _rnd = new Random();
    [STAThread]
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
      Task producer = new Task(() =>
        {
          Thread.Sleep(1000);
          for (int i = 0; i < 100; ++i)
          {
            _dataStream.WriteByte((byte)_rnd.Next(0, 255));            
          }          
        });

      Task consumer = new Task(() =>
        {
          int i = 0;
          while (true)
          {
            Console.WriteLine("{0} \t-\t {1}",_dataStream.ReadByte(), i++);
            // Slow the consumer down.
            Thread.Sleep(500);
          }
        });

      producer.Start();
      consumer.Start();

      Console.ReadKey();
    }