Propagation delay is the time duration taken for a signal to reach its destination. It can relate to
networking
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
,
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
or
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...
. ''Hold time'' is the minimum interval required for the logic level to remain on the input after triggering edge of the
clock pulse.
Networking
In
computer network
A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections ar ...
s, propagation delay is the amount of time it takes for the head of the signal to travel from the sender to the receiver. It can be computed as the ratio between the link length and the propagation speed over the specific medium.
Propagation delay is equal to ''d / s'' where ''d'' is the distance and ''s'' is the
wave propagation speed. In wireless communication, ''s''=''c'', i.e. the
speed of light
The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit fo ...
. In
copper wire, the speed ''s'' generally ranges from .59c to .77c.
This delay is the major obstacle in the development of high-speed computers and is called the
interconnect bottleneck in IC systems.
Electronics
![Full-Adder Propagation Delay]()