latency

[′lat·ən·sē]

(computer science)

The waiting time between the order to read/write some information from/to a specified place and the beginning of the data-read/write operation.

(medicine)

The stage of an infectious disease, other than the incubation period, in which there are neither clinical signs nor symptoms.

(physiology)

The period between the introduction of and the response to a stimulus.

(psychology)

The phase between the Oedipal period and adolescence, characterized by an apparent cessation of psychosexual development.

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.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

latency

(1) Essentially any delay or lapse in time. In general, it is the time between initiating a request in the computer and receiving the answer. Data latency may refer to the time between a query and the results arriving at the screen or the time between initiating a transaction that modifies one or more databases and its completion.

Disk latency is the time it takes for the selected sector to be positioned under the read/write head. Channel latency is the time it takes for a computer channel to become unoccupied in order to transfer data. Network latency is the delay introduced when a packet is momentarily stored, analyzed and then forwarded.

(2) With malicious software, latency is the period between infection and the first obvious damage to the host system. Many viruses or logic bombs written by amateurs have a short latency and are therefore relatively easy to detect; however, more vicious malware can lie dormant or replicate to many other hosts and then wreak havoc unexpectedly. See logic bomb and virus.

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

Wave eV latency of the basal region electrode is longer than that of the apical region electrode (27, 28).

Examination and Comparison of Electrically Evoked Compound Action Potentials and Electrically Evoked Auditory Brainstem Response Results of Children with Cochlear Implantation without Inner Ear Anomaly

To differentiate themselves and compete on a more equal footing with the incumbents, OTT providers must fix the home experience and take advantage of technological advancements to achieve lower latency delivery.

The battle for eyeballs

[11] observed that latency of wave III and wave V was delayed, which was highly significant in individuals with T2DM.

Auditory Late Latency Response in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

With increasing arm length, APB LLR latency increases and its amplitude decreases.

Effect of arm length and body mass index on abductor pollicis brevis long latency reflex

Residual latency >2.37 msec showed a sensitivity of 0.897, a specificity of 0.818, a PPV of 0.955, and a NPV of 0.647.

Comparison of Interpolation Methods in the Diagnosis of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

According to the values obtained from CTS patients and control subjects, there were significant differences in the median motor distal latency (MDL), median minimum F responses, L-I, M-U, M-R, digit I, II, III and palm-wrist (median nerve) latencies, amplitudes, and conduction velocities (p<0.0001) (Table 1).

Lumbrical-interosseous recording technique versus routine electrodiagnostic methods in the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome

However, the effective collaboration in VEs is strongly affected by the network latency. In CVEs, as the users are geographically distributed, a considerable amount of latency occurs in the collaborative work.

NETWORK LATENCY EFFECT ON USER PERFORMANCE IN COLLABORATIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT USING TASK DISTRIBUTION MODEL

By solving the scalability and latency issues caused by live unicast streaming, nanoCDN enables operators to mutualize their head-end, rely on cost-effective Android STBs, and extend their eligibility by supporting ABR streaming for all screens, the company notes.

Want Reduced Latency for OTT Live Video Streaming?

Also, it was found that there was a statistically significant positive and weak correlation between diabetes duration and N135 latency in 15-minute check size (R = 0.330, p = 0.011).

Pattern Visual Evoked Potential Changes in Diabetic Patients without Retinopathy. (Research Article)

The unmatched latency and flexibility of Hibernia Networks' Ultra Low Latency service empowers IPC with the network performance needed to meet the dynamic requirements of our customers and the fast-moving global financial market ecosystem.

IPC SELECTS HIBERNIA NETWORKS FOR ULL SERVICE