Network delay

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.^[1][2]: 5 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

Graphical depiction of contributions to network delay

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.

See also

• Age of Information
• End-to-end delay
• Lag (video games)
• Latency (engineering)
• Minimum-Pairs Protocol
• Round-trip delay

References

1. "What is latency?". IONOS Digitalguide. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
2. S. Bradner, ed. (July 1991). Benchmarking Terminology for Network Interconnection Devices. Network Working Group. doi:10.17487/RFC1242. RFC 1242. Informational.

External links

• Impact of Delay in Voice over IP Services (PDF), retrieved 2018-10-31
• Internet Delay Space Study at Rice University (PDF), retrieved 2018-10-31