This metric measures the physical time it takes for a transmitter to output a complete block of data. It is calculated by dividing the data size by the channel's data rate. It is distinct from propagation delay, which is the time it takes for those bits to travel across the physical distance to the receiver. In low-bandwidth networks, transmission time often dominates the total latency.
Upgrading to Gigabit Ethernet cut our transmission time for those large database frames down to microseconds.
Also heard as
- serialization delay
- packetization delay
Do not mix it up with
- Latency: Transmission time is just the time to put the data on the wire; latency includes propagation delay, processing, and queuing.
Related terms
Latency
The time it takes for a packet of data to travel from its source to its destination.
Round-trip time
The total time required for a data packet to travel from a source to a destination and for the acknowledgment to return.
Bitrate
The speed at which digital information travels across a network or interface.