<s>
A	O
SAML	O
identity	B-General_Concept
provider	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
system	O
entity	O
that	O
issues	O
authentication	O
assertions	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
sign-on	O
(	O
SSO	O
)	O
profile	O
of	O
the	O
Security	O
Assertion	O
Markup	O
Language	O
(	O
SAML	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
SAML	O
authentication	O
authority	O
that	O
participates	O
in	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
SSO	O
Profiles	O
of	O
SAML	O
is	O
called	O
a	O
SAML	O
identity	B-General_Concept
provider	I-General_Concept
(	O
or	O
simply	O
identity	B-General_Concept
provider	I-General_Concept
if	O
the	O
domain	O
is	O
understood	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
an	O
authentication	O
authority	O
that	O
participates	O
in	O
SAML	O
Web	O
Browser	O
SSO	O
is	O
an	O
identity	B-General_Concept
provider	I-General_Concept
that	O
performs	O
the	O
following	O
essential	O
tasks	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
given	O
SAML	O
identity	B-General_Concept
provider	I-General_Concept
is	O
described	O
by	O
an	O
<md:IDPSSODescriptor>	O
element	O
defined	O
by	O
the	O
SAML	O
metadata	O
schema	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
an	O
authentication	O
assertion	O
,	O
a	O
SAML	O
identity	B-General_Concept
provider	I-General_Concept
may	O
also	O
include	O
an	O
attribute	O
assertion	O
in	O
the	O
response	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
that	O
case	O
,	O
the	O
identity	B-General_Concept
provider	I-General_Concept
functions	O
as	O
both	O
an	O
authentication	O
authority	O
and	O
an	O
attribute	O
authority	O
.	O
</s>
