response time

The response time is an important parameter of computer technology and network technology. It is the time span between the triggered action and the correlating reaction.

In computer technology, the response time is composed of the reaction time and processing time; in network technology, the response time also includes all runtimes and latency times of the network.

While response time behavior in computer technology is an important criterion for real-time applications, it plays an important role in real-time communication for interactions that must be executed in fractions of a second. It is largely determined by signal propagation times in the transmission media and the Internetworking components, such as switches and routers. Due to the frequently used store-and-forward method, buffering is required, which determines the dwell time in the network component.

An improvement in response time can be achieved by reducing the computation time and improving the latency. Latency is the amount of time that elapses between the sending of an action and the start of the response. In Internetcommunication, the term ping time is used.