Wiktionary
n. 1 (context networking English) A process of managing the rate of data transmission between two nodes to prevent a fast sender from outrunning a slow receiver. 2 (context environmental engineering US English) Laws, regulations, and economic incentives or disincentives used by waste managers to direct waste generated in a specific geographic area to a designated landfill, recycling, or waste-to-energy facility. 3 (context aviation US English) A practice of holding aircraft on the ground in anticipation of congestion at destination airspace and airports.
Wikipedia
In data communications, flow control is the process of managing the rate of data transmission between two nodes to prevent a fast sender from overwhelming a slow receiver. It provides a mechanism for the receiver to control the transmission speed, so that the receiving node is not overwhelmed with data from transmitting node. Flow control should be distinguished from congestion control, which is used for controlling the flow of data when congestion has actually occurred. Flow control mechanisms can be classified by whether or not the receiving node sends feedback to the sending node.
Flow control is important because it is possible for a sending computer to transmit information at a faster rate than the destination computer can receive and process it. This can happen if the receiving computers have a heavy traffic load in comparison to the sending computer, or if the receiving computer has less processing power than the sending computer.
Flow control may refer to:
- Flow control (data)
- Flow control (fluid)
- Air traffic flow control
Flow control is a major rapidly evolving field of fluid dynamics. It implies a small change of a configuration serving an ideally large engineering benefit, like drag reduction, lift increase, mixing enhancement or noise reduction. This change may be accomplished by passive or active devices. Passive devices, like turbulators or roughness elements, are steady and require no energy by definition. Active control requires actuators which may be driven in a time-dependent manner and require energy. Examples are valves and plasma actuators. The actuation command may be pre-determined (open-loop control) or be dependent on sensors monitoring the flow state (closed-loop control).
Usage examples of "flow control".
And with very little time spent on the ground amid contaminants like dust and insects, the Skyports had finally been able to take advantage of the well-known theories of laminar flow control, enabling the huge craft to fly with less than half the drag of planes with a fraction of their capacity.
BB worked in Hegemony Flow Control Records and Statistics and spent most of his life reclining on a free-fall couch with half a dozen microleads running from his skull while he communed with other bureaucrats in datumplane.
As I sat there listening to a description of molten glass flow control systems, I began mentally adding up the salary bill and overheads for the entire operation and could not help wondering if our talents might not be better employed elsewhere.
Environmental systems function, atmospheric control function, exhaust flow control function—.
There is no real flow control for the session service because it is assumed a LAN is fast enough to carry the required traffic.