Service quality: bandwidth, latency, jitter, and ping

Quality of Service, bandwidth, latency, jitter, and ping are the core concepts of this lesson, which focuses on the parameters defining network connection quality.

The text introduces the concept of Quality of Service (QoS), explaining the difference between a connection’s theoretical capacity and its actual performance. It then presents fundamental concepts such as bandwidth, throughput, latency, RTT, and jitter.

The lesson also describes the role of buffers and jitter buffers, which are used to compensate for irregularities in data reception—particularly in streaming and real-time communications.

The final section explains why different types of media require different levels of Quality of Service: text and images are less time-sensitive, whereas video calls, live streaming, and online gaming require low latency and continuous data flow. Finally, the “ping” command is introduced as a tool for verifying host reachability and measuring response time.

Quality of Service Download

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Bibliography

Primary sources

Blake, S., Black, D., Carlson, M., Davies, E., Wang, Z., & Weiss, W. (1998). An Architecture for Differentiated Services. RFC 2475. IETF / RFC Editor.

Nichols, K., Blake, S., Baker, F., & Black, D. (1998). Definition of the Differentiated Services Field (DS Field) in the IPv4 and IPv6 Headers. RFC 2474. IETF / RFC Editor.

Braden, R., Clark, D., & Shenker, S. (1994). Integrated Services in the Internet Architecture: An Overview. RFC 1633. IETF / RFC Editor.

Wroclawski, J. (1997). Specification of the Controlled-Load Network Element Service. RFC 2211. IETF / RFC Editor.

Shenker, S., Partridge, C., & Guerin, R. (1997). Specification of Guaranteed Quality of Service. RFC 2212. IETF / RFC Editor.

Almes, G., Kalidindi, S., & Zekauskas, M. (1999). A One-way Delay Metric for IPPM. RFC 2679. IETF / RFC Editor.

Almes, G., Kalidindi, S., & Zekauskas, M. (1999). A One-way Packet Loss Metric for IPPM. RFC 2680. IETF / RFC Editor.

Almes, G., Kalidindi, S., & Zekauskas, M. (1999). A Round-trip Delay Metric for IPPM. RFC 2681. IETF / RFC Editor.

Demichelis, C., & Chimento, P. (2002). IP Packet Delay Variation Metric for IP Performance Metrics. RFC 3393. IETF / RFC Editor.

Morton, A., & Claise, B. (2009). Packet Delay Variation Applicability Statement. RFC 5481. IETF / RFC Editor.

Schulzrinne, H., Casner, S., Frederick, R., & Jacobson, V. (2003). RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications. RFC 3550. IETF / RFC Editor.

Postel, J. (1981). Internet Control Message Protocol. RFC 792. IETF / RFC Editor.

Conta, A., Deering, S., & Gupta, M. (2006). Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMPv6) for the Internet Protocol Version 6 Specification. RFC 4443. IETF / RFC Editor.

Bradner, S. (1991). Benchmarking Terminology for Network Interconnection Devices. RFC 1242. IETF / RFC Editor.

Bradner, S., & McQuaid, J. (1999). Benchmarking Methodology for Network Interconnect Devices. RFC 2544. IETF / RFC Editor.

Secondary sources

Kurose, J. F., & Ross, K. W. Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach. Pearson.

Tanenbaum, A. S., & Wetherall, D. J. Computer Networks. Pearson.

Stallings, W. Data and Computer Communications. Pearson.

Forouzan, B. A. Data Communications and Networking. McGraw-Hill.

Comer, D. E. Computer Networks and Internets. Pearson.

Peterson, L. L., & Davie, B. S. Computer Networks: A Systems Approach. Morgan Kaufmann.

Perkins, C. RTP: Audio and Video for the Internet. Addison-Wesley.

Stevens, W. R. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols. Addison-Wesley.

Index

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