latency

communications 1. The time it takes for a packet to cross

a network connection, from sender to receiver.

2. The period of time that a frame is held by a network device

before it is forwarded.

Two of the most important parameters of a communications

channel are its latency, which should be low, and its

bandwidth, which should be high. Latency is particularly

important for a synchronous protocol where each packet

must be acknowledged before the next can be transmitted.

(2000-02-27)