Network latency in the context of Processing delay

⭐ Core Definition: Network latency

Network delay is a design and performance characteristic of a telecommunications network. It specifies the latency for a bit of data to travel across the network from one communication endpoint to another. It is typically measured in multiples or fractions of a second. Delay may differ slightly, depending on the location of the specific pair of communicating endpoints. Engineers usually report both the maximum and average delay, and they divide the delay into several parts:

Processing delay – time it takes a router to process the packet header
Queuing delay – time the packet spends in routing queues
Transmission delay – time it takes to push the packet's bits onto the link
Propagation delay – time for a signal to propagate through the media

A certain minimum level of delay is experienced by signals due to the time it takes to transmit a packet serially through a link. This delay is extended by more variable levels of delay due to network congestion. IP network delays can range from a few milliseconds to several hundred milliseconds.

↓ Menu

Network latency in the context of Transmission Control Protocol

The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is one of the main protocols of the Internet protocol suite. It originated in the initial network implementation in which it complemented the Internet Protocol (IP). Therefore, the entire suite is commonly referred to as TCP/IP. TCP provides reliable, ordered, and error-checked delivery of a stream of octets (bytes) between applications running on hosts communicating via an IP network. Major internet applications such as the World Wide Web, email, remote administration, file transfer and streaming media rely on TCP, which is part of the transport layer of the TCP/IP suite. SSL/TLS often runs on top of TCP. Today, TCP remains a core protocol for most Internet communication, ensuring reliable data transfer across diverse networks.

TCP is connection-oriented, meaning that sender and receiver firstly need to establish a connection based on agreed parameters; they do this through a three-way handshake procedure. The server must be listening (passive open) for connection requests from clients before a connection is established. Three-way handshake (active open), retransmission, and error detection adds to reliability but lengthens latency. Applications that do not require reliable data stream service may use the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) instead, which provides a connectionless datagram service that prioritizes time over reliability. TCP employs network congestion avoidance. However, there are vulnerabilities in TCP, including denial of service, connection hijacking, TCP veto, and reset attack.

View the full Wikipedia page for Transmission Control Protocol

↑ Return to Menu

Network latency in the context of Processing delay

Network latency Study page number 1 of 1

Play TriviaQuestions Online!

Skip to study material about Network latency in the context of "Processing delay"

⭐ Core Definition: Network latency

Network latency in the context of Transmission Control Protocol