collision detection


collision detection

[kə′lizh·ən di‚tek·shən] (computer science) A procedure in which a computer network senses a situation where two computer devices attempt to access the network at the same time and blocks the messages, requiring each device to resubmit its message at a randomly selected time.

collision detection

(networking)A class of methods for sharing a datatransmission medium in which hosts transmit as soon as theyhave data to send and then check to see whether theirtransmission has suffered a collision with another host's.

If a collision is detected then the data must be resent. Theresending algorithm should try to minimise the chance that twohosts's data will repeatedly collide. For example, theCSMA/CD protocol used on Ethernet specifies that theyshould then wait for a random time before re-transmitting.

See also backoff.

This contrasts with slotted protocols and token passing.