'''Network throughput''' (or just '''throughput''', when in context) refers to the rate of message delivery over a [[communication channel]] in a [[communication network]], such as [[Ethernet]] or [[packet radio]], in a [[communication network]]. The data that these messages contain may be delivered over physical or logical links, or through [[network nodes]]. Throughput is usually measured in [[bits per second]] (bit/s, sometimes abbreviated bps), and sometimes in [[data '''packets]] per second''' (p/s or pps) or data packets per [[time-division multiplexing|time slot]].
The '''system throughput''' or '''aggregate throughput''' is the sum of the data rates that are delivered toover all terminalschannels in a network.<ref>[[Guowang Miao]], Jens Zander, K-W Sung, and Ben Slimane, Fundamentals of Mobile Data Networks, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|1107143217}}, 2016.</ref> Throughput isrepresents essentially synonymous todigital [[digitalBandwidth (computing)bandwidth consumption]];it can be determined numerically by applying the [[queueing theory]], where the load in packets per time unit is denoted as the arrival rate ({{mvar|λ}}), and the drop in packets per unit time is denoted as the departure rate ({{mvar|μ}})consumption.
The throughput of a communication system may be affected by various factors, including the limitations of the underlying analog physical medium, available processing power of the system components, [[end-user]] behavior, etc. When taking various protocol [[Overheadprotocol (computing)|overheadsoverhead]]s into account, the useful rate of the data transfer can be significantly lower than the maximum achievable throughput; the useful part is usually referred to as [[goodput]].<!--[[User:Kvng/RTH]]-->
