Dynamic bandwidth allocation is a technique by which traffic bandwidth in a shared telecommunications medium can be allocated on demand and fairly between different users of that bandwidth. This is a form of bandwidth management, and is essentially the same thing as

statistical multiplexing Statistical multiplexing is a type of communication link sharing, very similar to dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA). In statistical multiplexing, a communication channel is divided into an arbitrary number of variable bitrate digital channels or ...

. Where the sharing of a link adapts in some way to the instantaneous traffic demands of the nodes connected to the link. Dynamic bandwidth allocation takes advantage of several attributes of shared networks: # all users are typically not connected to the network at one time # even when connected, users are not transmitting data (or voice or video) at all times # most traffic occurs in bursts—there are gaps between packets of information that can be filled with other user traffic Different network protocols implement dynamic bandwidth allocation in different ways. These methods are typically defined in standards developed by standards bodies such as the

ITU The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Union ...

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

, FSAN, or

IETF The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster or requirements an ...

. One example is defined in the ITU G.983 specification for

passive optical network A passive optical network (PON) is a fiber-optic telecommunications technology for delivering broadband network access to end-customers. Its architecture implements a point-to-multipoint topology in which a single optical fiber serves multiple e ...

(PON).

See also