Encyclopedia

handshaking

Also found in: Dictionary, Medical, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia.

handshaking

[′hand‚shak·iŋ]
(communications)
The establishment of synchronization between sending and receiving equipment by means of exchange of specific character configurations.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

handshaking

(1)
Predetermined hardware or software activity designed to establish or maintain two machines or programs in synchronisation. Handshaking often concerns the exchange of messages or packets of data between two systems with limited buffers. A simple handshaking protocol might only involve the receiver sending a message meaning "I received your last message and I am ready for you to send me another one." A more complex handshaking protocol might allow the sender to ask the receiver if he is ready to receive or for the receiver to reply with a negative acknowledgement meaning "I did not receive your last message correctly, please resend it" (e.g. if the data was corrupted en route).

Hardware handshaking uses voltage levels or pulses on wires to carry the handshaking signals whereas software handshaking uses data units (e.g. ASCII characters) carried by some underlying communication medium.

Flow control in bit-serial data transmission such as EIA-232 may use either hardware or software handshaking.

handshaking

(2)
The method used by two modems to establish contact with each other and to agreee on baud rate, error correction and compression protocols.

handshaking

(3)
The exchange of predetermined signals between agents connected by a communications channel to assure each that it is connected to the other (and not to an imposter). This may also include the use of passwords and codes by an operator.
This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

handshaking

Signals transmitted back and forth over a communications network in order to establish a valid connection between two stations. A "hardware handshake" uses dedicated wires such as the request-to-send (RTS) and clear-to-send (CTS) lines in an RS-232 serial transmission. A "software handshake" sends codes such as "synchronize" (SYN) and "acknowledge" (ACK) in a TCP/IP transmission. See RTS, CTS and RS-232.
Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
Mentioned in
References in periodicals archive
The two confederates were not informed about our objectives and received no information about previous research results on tactile contact and handshaking. The sample size was very small (N = 37) and we used only women as confederates.
A 'primitive' is a defined sequence of 4 bytes, beginning with a special 10-bit character such as a K28.5 or K28.3, SATA and SAS primitives are used for a variety of signaling and handshaking functions, and perform most of the low-level, time-critical functions.
Cox did have to give special thought to the job of president, making sure the leaders used proper hand-washing techniques after marathon handshaking appearances and sunscreen for outdoor events.
At the touch of a button the Tilt Image Stabilization system lets users compensate for handshaking as well as minute vibrations.
The controller's internal flash memory is factory preprogrammed with Embedded Flash File System firmware, which recognizes the external flash media upon power-up and performs all the necessary "handshaking" routines for media support.
Every single person leaves his or her seat and heads for centre aisle, joining in a melee of hugging and kissing and handshaking and talking.
He bluntly told him to do "less handshaking in future" - or at least ensure that he wore a glove.
Whereas most handshaking pictures -- the infamous grip and grin cliches a -- fail to communicate because the hands are clasped for the purposes of a posed picture, these shaking hands are spontaneously supporting Clinton's candidacy.
There is much handshaking and exploitation of patriotic and religious symbols, but little chance to hear from ordinary working people, from parents who see the ineffectiveness of our schools, or from former welfare recipients who have received little training to help them effectively enter the work force but still have young children to care for.
That's a lot of handshaking and fund-raising between now and then.
In this instance the authors deserve a large amount of handshaking for the well-written quality of their book.
Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.